Hollywood Behaving Badly: Assault, Abuse and Other Crimes

[Babycakes]

Nov 4, 2017 1:16:21 GMT -4 HotLips said:

I didn't know who Dan Schneider was so I googled him. (snip) If there's other evidence about DS I'd like to read it, but I can't put much weight on blind items.

I can't even begin to remember which post it was from on ONTD, but there was a post about Spacey, Singer, and other predators of children, and someone posted this link to a twitter thread that has a lot of circumstantial evidence, but adds up to a lot of grossness. It's been an ongoing assumption that DS is a predator, and preyed on his female actresses. I can remember his name being thrown around all the way back when Jaime Lynn Spears got pregnant. He may not have actually had sex with them, but his foot fetish is pretty blatant.

[canuckcutie]

The reporter who wrote the LA Times article on Ratner says she’s been contacted by 45+ other women regarding him and she’s investigating their complaints.

I’ve heard rumours about Singer & his parties for years. Jessica Chastain tweeted an article about him last night!

[wixy]

I just read snippets of an Anthony Bourdain interview where he talked more on the Weinstein saga. He's dating Asia Argento who was raped by Weinstein so he's been particularly vocal. I quite liked what he had to say about his own persona and place in media that women he knows who've been harassed or worse never spoke to him about it. He says something along the lines of having to examine his own contributions to bro culture or mysognist perceptions through his shows/work etc that would make him seem an unlikely sympathiser or confidante.

It was refreshing to hear a Hollywood man admit those things esp in light of the Matt Damons and Clooneys. I honestly don't think I could ever watch a Clooney film again in light of his weak sentiments of this mess AFTER his pandering Oscars speech about how he's so proud of their little community. That infuriates me more than all the other weaksauce "we didn't know!" protestations.

[Deleted]

I just read snippets of an Anthony Bourdain interview where he talked more on the Weinstein saga. He's dating Asia Argento who was raped by Weinstein so he's been particularly vocal. I quite liked what he had to say about his own persona and place in media that women he knows who've been harassed or worse never spoke to him about it. He says something along the lines of having to examine his own contributions to bro culture or mysognist perceptions through his shows/work etc that would make him seem an unlikely sympathiser or confidante.

Where can we find this Anthony Bourdain interview?

[wixy]

I'm on my mobile so can't link but I think it's Slate ^^

[Deleted]

I think I found it. Thank you!

[The Brunette]

Bourdain also appeared on Seth Meyers last week.

Here's why I fucking hate Twitter: Bourdain's initial tweet in response to the John Besh scandal stated that there needs to be an end to "institutionalized meathead culture" in the culinary industry ... but his Kitchen Confidential was sort of the textbook for bad behavior in restaurants, and probably inspired a lot of chefs and cooks to go into the business for this reason. I'm very happy Bourdain has been given other forums to elaborate on his tweet and atone for his role in what we're seeing today.

One of my disappointments with the Besh fallout was that most celebrity chefs seemed to be mum, probably to protect their own - Bourdain was most vocal, but he's not working in restaurants anymore. As far as I can tell, these are the exceptions:

• When someone asked José Andrés on Twitter what he thought about the Besh scandal, he tweeted about how we need to respect women in the industry (and I puffy heart Andrés as much as I puffy hearted Besh, so I really hope he's not trash too!).
• Tom Colicchio tweeted that the Besh allegations will be addressed in the forthcoming Top Chef season, as Besh judged a challenge for an episode that was filmed in May - I understand they'll need to air the Besh footage, as not doing so would affect the show's continuity. (I am curious if they would have talked about the subject of sexism in the culinary industry if Besh wasn't involved in the new season - it should be noted that most Top Chef winners have been men.)
• And Scott Conant has pulled Besh from an event he's hosting at next year's South Beach Wine & Food Festival; Besh will be replaced by Conant's fellow Chopped judge Amanda Freitag. (It might be a coincidence that she's a woman, but it does make a statement.)

I admit I follow cooking shows and celebrity chef culture more than I watch movies, which is why I can talk about the Besh scandal for days. But the parallels between Hollywood and the culinary world are striking - especially regarding the responses of men involved in both. And while most of us don't know women who are working actors in Hollywood, many of us know women who have worked in restaurants ... and chances are, they've been sexually harassed on the job. 37% of sexual harassment complaints filed to the EEOC are from people working in restaurants.

[discoprincess]

Another one: Actor Kristina Cohen Alleges She Was Raped By Ed Westwick

Ed Westwick was best known for his role on Gossip Girl.

[Deleted]

Ronan Farrow's latest batch of reporting in the New Yorker reveals that HW paid multiple spy organizations (embedded within law firms? I'm unclear on that part) to gather damaging information about his victims (AND victims' family members!) in order to cut them off at the knees before they could seek justice. So, it wasn't just a disgusting serial rapist at work. He had a PAID NETWORK of fellow humans supporting his hobby of raping women. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

Again, I must exclaim: Not ONE person spoke up? Not one WOMAN spoke up? What the fuck is even happening?? HOW? I can't wrap my head around this.

[Ladybug]

Nov 7, 2017 10:32:22 GMT -4 @mulva said:

Ronan Farrow's latest batch of reporting in the New Yorker reveals that HW paid multiple spy organizations (embedded within law firms? I'm unclear on that part) to gather damaging information about his victims (AND victims' family members!) in order to cut them off at the knees before they could seek justice. So, it wasn't just a disgusting serial rapist at work. He had a PAID NETWORK of fellow humans supporting his hobby of raping women. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

Again, I must exclaim: Not ONE person spoke up? Not one WOMAN spoke up? What the fuck is even happening?? HOW? I can't wrap my head around this.

Maybe I'm misreading this, but it seems pretty clear why no one spoke up. He hired EX-MOSSAD AGENTS and private investigators to spy on, harass, and intimidate his victims. I wouldn't speak out either. He had the money to protect himself, and he used it. If he hadn't become a movie producer, he would've fit in perfectly with the mafia. When did he find the time to actually make movies? It seems he was too busy assaulting women, stalking them, and covering it up to have much time for anything else! Is the NYC district attorney investigating him? He needs to go to jail. I hope these firms get sued out the wazoo for ruining people's lives, careers, reputations, etc.

By the way, the comedian Nick Kroll's dad is the founder of Kroll, Inc., one of the "security" firms used by Weinstein and his lawyer. Not that Nick Kroll has anything to do with this personally, but that was an interesting bit of news I learned today.

I hope Ronan Farrow, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey win Pulitzer's for breaking the lid open on this. Here is a link to the latest NYer article.

The explicit goal of the investigations, laid out in one contract with Black Cube, signed in July, was to stop the publication of the abuse allegations against Weinstein that eventually emerged in the New York Times and The New Yorker. Over the course of a year, Weinstein had the agencies “target,” or collect information on, dozens of individuals, and compile psychological profiles that sometimes focussed on their personal or sexual histories. Weinstein monitored the progress of the investigations personally. He also enlisted former employees from his film enterprises to join in the effort, collecting names and placing calls that, according to some sources who received them, felt intimidating.