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NXIVM has described itself as “a company whose mission is to raise human awareness, foster an ethical humanitarian civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.” Critics have alleged other definitions for the group; definitions such as “sex-cult” and “pyramid scheme.” Federal U.S. prosecutors, meanwhile, are focusing on NXIVM’s alleged criminal activity: racketeering, wire fraud, sex trafficking, and forced labour, for a start. The group’s spiritual leader and founder, Keith Raniere, goes on trial later this month, a bonus charge of possession of child pornography having been recently added to his already extensive list of alleged crimes. It’s ugly...

Millennium Films has confirmed that Bryan Singer remains attached to direct the upcoming “Red Sonja” despite new accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against him. Variety on Thursday obtained a statement from Millennium Chairman and producer Avi Lerner that brushed off a report in the Atlantic in which the “Bohemian Rhapsody” director is accused of inappropriate groping and sexual relationships with four young men. “The over $800 million ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has grossed, making it the highest grossing drama in film history, is testament to his remarkable vision and acumen,” Lerner said. “I know the difference between agenda driven fake news...

Over the past two decades, Bryan Singer’s films—The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Superman Returns, four of the X-Men movies—have earned more than $3 billion at the box office, putting him in the top tier of Hollywood directors. He’s known for taking risks in his storytelling: It was Singer’s idea, for instance, to open the original X-Men movie with a scene at Auschwitz, where a boy uses his superpowers to bend the metal gates that separate him from his parents. Studio executives were skeptical about starting a comic-book movie in a concentration camp, but the film became a blockbuster and launched a...

Bryan Singer, the director of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” is facing new allegations published in the Atlantic on Wednesday that he engaged in sexual misconduct with underage boys. In the report, four men allege that Singer had sexual encounters with them when they were teenagers in the late 1990s. One of the men, Victor Valdovinos, says he was a 13-year-old extra on the set of “Apt Pupil” when Singer fondled his genitals. The three other accusers are identified in the story by pseudonyms. One, identified in the story as Andy, says that he had sex with Singer when he was 15. Another...

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s latest unhinged rant includes comments about “Jewish power” and coercing women into anal sex. "Do you know that many of us who go to Hollywood seeking a chance have to submit to anal sex and all kind of debauchery and they give you a little part? It’s called the casting couch. See that’s Jewish power." #Farrakhan It’s called the casting couch…you see, that’s Jewish power,” he said, referencing Harvey Weinstein. Farrakhan has a long history of espousing anti-white and anti-Semitic views. Stunningly, many Democrats have met with Farrakhan and have not denounced him. Former...

SAG-AFTRA has called for a ban on auditions in hotel rooms and residences, where many reported incidents of sexual harassment and assault have occurred. “We are committed to addressing the scenario that has allowed predators to exploit performers behind closed doors under the guise of a professional meeting,” SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said in announcing the movie today. The ban on such meetings – called Guideline No. 1 – is the first expansion of the Code of Conduct the union released in February as part of its Four Pillars of Change initiative to confront sexual harassment in the workplace. The...

George Clooney has been accused of helping “blacklist” an actress after she complained of sexual and racial harassment. “Clooney helped blacklist me when I spoke up [about] harassment on ER,” claimed ER actress Vanessa Marquez in a post on Twitter. “Women who dont play the game lose career… I did.” “He’s not who he pretends [to be],” added Marquez in another post. “Wells, NBC, Amblin, WB, cast & crew & my agents all complicit in my #Blacklist [for] speaking UP in ’95” After one user expressed their shock that Clooney would be accused of covering up sexual harassment, Marquez replied,...

Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting. Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower, she recalled in an interview.

The Washington State Attorney General's Office last week filed a most unusual consumer protection lawsuit — charging a Seattle man with running a scheme for nearly a decade where he set up a fake talent agency for adult entertainers in order to trick women into posing nude and having sex with him. Michael-Jon Matthew Hickey is accused of creating a fictitious business and using deceptive ads with bogus employment offers to find his victims. The lawsuit alleges Hickey offered and advertised commercial services solely for his "own personal gain" and to "satisfy his sexual desires" with no intention of following...

Donald Trump has countered allegations of sexism by touting his support for female employees, saying he loves hiring women because they work harder and because it seemed to him “that there was something that they want to really prove.” Numerous studies and women leaders' own experiences show that Trump may be right — but if women do work harder, it may well be to combat sexism from men. On the same day the New York Times published its examination of Trump’s fraught relationship with women, explaining how the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has engaged in what it called “unwelcome advances,...

Aspiring actors are being harassed by dodgy casting agents, say Equity Actors' union will draw up audition guidelines to stop probing questions Inappropriate behaviour by movie executives revealed by celebrities Helen Mirren said she felt 'like a piece of meat' after one casting call Actors are being increasingly pressured into having sex with sleazy casting agents to get sought-after parts, a union has warned. The president of Equity, which represents British performers, said the problem of the 'casting couuch' where actors are pressured into giving sexual favours in return for roles is getting worse and is 'completely out of order'....

Singer Cher criticized Republicans on Wednesday for cutting Amtrak’s funding after one of its trains crashed the night before. “Hrs ago, Republicans chose 2 cut Some of The meager Funds, 4 AMTRAK!!” Cher tweeted. “They did this EVEN AFTER the Train Crash & loss of Life, last nite!!” she said. “Majority of GOP congressmen & senators don’t give a flying Fk about the wellbeing of Americans,” Cher said in a separate tweet. “They defund Everything PPL DESPERATELY NEED.” Cher’s remarks followed Northeast Regional Train 188’s derailment in Philadelphia late Tuesday. The House hit Amtrak with reductions Wednesday as part...

Sheila Weller’s forthcoming tell-all ‘The News Sorority’ claims to offer up details on the scandalous and sometimes catty escapades of noteworthy newswomen, including how some apparently hold strong disdain for each other. Katie Couric cultivated an “American Girl identity” but she was also a bully with a “chip on her shoulder.” Diane Sawyer strived to be “America’s Aunt” but she rode her staff hard and used “staged humility” to disarm critics. Christiane Amanpour was fearless in the field and would remind her bosses, “Do you know that I’m the world’s best-known foreign correspondent?” And, when feeling threatened, these pioneering, primetime...

The organizer of a yearly conference for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students pursuing MBAs is in a huff because entirely too many straight students are attending the event, which includes a recruitment fair. Matt Kidd, executive director of Reaching Out MBA, has also charged that a few attendees made comments that he says some gay people did not appreciate, reports Campus Reform. For example, in addition to having the temerity to show up while failing to be gay, one straight attendee allegedly said “Dude, I’m not gay.” Another allegedly said: “There needs to be less focus on gay stuff...

Bryan Singer, director of X-Men and other Hollywood blockbusters, has been hit by another legal suit alleging he sexually assaulted a minor, The Daily Beast can reveal. Singer was already accused by the lawyer for Michael Egan, 31, of allegedly sexually assaulting and physically abusing Egan in a series of incidents in Hawaii and California as a teenager. The new lawsuit filed by Egan’s attorney, Jeff Herman, alleges that Singer and Broadway producer Gary Goddard sexually assaulted a British teenager. He is known in the lawsuit as “John Doe No. 117,” fearing “further psychological injury” if his name is disclosed.

The mother of the alleged victim of a powerful Hollywood pedophile ring says she tried for years to interest the media in the story. Michael Egan’s mother Bonnie Mound said, “I wrote every news channel, every magazine, every talk-show host, everybody, from Oprah to ‘20/20’ to ‘60 Minutes’…. Nobody wanted to do anything because of the high-profile people involved.” One of those alleged “high-profile people” is defendant Bryan Singer, who is said to have “manipulated his power, wealth, and position in the entertainment industry to sexually abuse and exploit the underage Plaintiff [Michael Egan], “through the use of drugs, alcohol,...

HONOLULU (AP) — A former child model and aspiring actor is accusing "X-Men" franchise director Bryan Singer of sexually abusing him as a teenager in a federal lawsuit filed in Hawaii. The lawsuit filed Wednesday says the prominent director of the forthcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past" forced Michael Egan III into sex during parties in California and Hawaii when he was 17 in the late 1990s.

Like father, like son. Sex-scandal-scarred Oscar winner Joseph Brooks' slacker son was slapped with attempted-murder and strangulation charges last night in the death of his swimsuit-designer ex-girlfriend at the posh Soho House hotel, police said. Nick Brooks, 24 -- whose dad was indicted last year on 82 counts of sexually abusing young actresses -- was booked after nearly two days in police custody, where he was grilled by cops and body-searched for DNA and other evidence. The felony strangulation charge is new to the New York penal code. Just eight days old, the provision is aimed at domestic abusers whose...

Viacom networks MTV, BET and CMT are giving an hour of free air time to President Obama less than three weeks before the midterm elections. The so-called “A Conversation with President Obama” will be live and commercial-free on six Viacom networks at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The networks will not give equal time to a Republican before the election, according to a spokeswoman. MTV denies that the Obama hour of TV is political, despite the timing, weeks before the midterm elections.

With an age gap of 23 years they said it would never last. But today artist Sam Taylor-Wood, 42, announced she is to marry her 19-year-old toyboy Aaron Johnson. The couple met when she cast the relatively unknown teenager as John Lennon in her debut feature film Nowhere Boy, which premiered in London last night. A spokesman for the couple confirmed their wedding plans this afternoon and said they were 'very happy'.