Tag: celebrities

What did TV bosses hear about Russell Brand, and when were they told? The repeated warnings over controversial comic whose ‘sinister behaviour’ was an ‘open secret’ among BBC and CH4 senior executives

Repeated warnings over Russell Brand to TV bosses made his ‘sinister behaviour’ an open secret among BBC and Channel 4 executives – it has been claimed as alleged concerns reach back as far as 2004-6.

It comes amid reports that accusations about his ‘sinister’ behaviour towards women were an ‘open secret’ among TV and radio executives following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.

Bosses at the BBC and Channel 4 are accused of turning a blind eye towards the entertainer while he worked for them as a presenter between 2006 and 2013. 

The broadcasters insisted they took all necessary steps to deal with him, but executives could still be called before a Government select committee where MPs will grill them over what they knew.

Channel 4 and the BBC have since launched probes into Russell Brand‘s behaviour in light of allegations of predatory behaviour towards staff and audience members in the wake of separate rape and sexual assault allegations, as friends of the comedian begin to distance themselves from him.

The first time the star’s behaviour was reported is claimed to be while he was working on EFourum and Big Brother’s Big Mouth between 2004 and 2006.

But one researcher alleges they complained about Brand pursuing audience members for sex, but their concerns were dismissed.

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Russell Brand says he is victim of ‘co-ordinated campaign’ after receiving ‘extremely disturbing letters’ from media firms outlining ‘serious criminal allegations’ as he insists all relationships were consensual as he is backed by Elon Musk and Andrew Tate

Elon Musk and Andrew Tate have backed Russell Brand‘s claims that he is a victim of a ‘co-ordinated media attack’, as the comedian took to his YouTube channel to ‘absolutely deny’ what he called ‘very serious criminal allegations’ made against him.

The video comes ahead of a much-anticipated Channel 4 Dispatches investigation set to air at 9pm tonight, with speculation building over who or what could at the centre of the investigation.

Sources said the long running current affairs documentary series will feature details about a well-known celebrity, which the Mail have been told are shocking.

There is no indication that Brand will feature in the programme, however, last night he made a video address to fans where he insisted any relationships he had ‘during his time of promiscuity’ were ‘consensual’.

Brand said he had received two ‘extremely disturbing letters’ from a ‘mainstream media TV company’ and a newspaper which the comedian said listed ‘a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, which are untrue’.

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Russell Brand accused of raping, sexually assaulting 4 women — including 16-year-old he called ‘the child’: report

Russell Brand was accused of raping, sexually assaulting and abusing four women over the course of seven years — and one victim was a 16-year-old he allegedly called “the child,” according to a bombshell report the British actor and comedian denied prior to its release.

The allegations against the 48-year-old stem from the height of his fame between 2006 and 2013, according to a joint investigation published Saturday by the Times of London and Channel 4 Dispatches.

One woman alleges the “Get Him to the Greek” star raped her against the wall of his Los Angeles home and was treated at a rape crisis center the same day, according to medical records cited by the outlets.

The woman later told Brand that she had been scared and felt taken advantage of, telling him, “When a girl [says] NO, it means no” — to which he responded he was “very sorry,” text messages cited by the report show.

Another accuser who was 16 at the time alleged that the then-31-year-old called her “the child” and assaulted her during their “emotionally abusive and controlling” three-month relationship, according to the report.

The woman — who is known only by the pseudonym “Alice” and was above the age of consent in the UK — said Brand was “grooming” her, an allegation a relative backed up to the Sunday Times during its investigation.

Alice said he told her to read Vladimir Nabokov’s salacious “Lolita,” save his number in her phone under the name “Carly” and even gave her “scripts” to lie to her parents.

“It was isolating,” she told the outlet.

Brand allegedly even sent a car to take Alice out of school and to his home, she said. On one occasion, his driver told her not to go into the comedian’s home.

“‘Please. I’m asking you not to go in there. You could be my little girl, and I would want someone to do this for her,” Alice recalled the chauffer saying.

Alice also accused Brand of once making her choke when he “forced his penis down her throat” and she allegedly punched him in the stomach to get him to stop.

A third accuser claimed the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” star sexually assaulted her when she worked with him in Hollywood and threatened legal action against her if she went public with the allegations, and a fourth alleged victim said she was sexually assaulted and physically and emotionally abused by him, the outlets reported.

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Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis Wrote Letters in Support of Danny Masterson Prior to 30 Year Sentence for Rape

Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis wrote letters of support for their That ’70s Show co-star Danny Masterson as he awaited sentencing after being convicted of raping two women nearly 20 years ago.

The letters, which were reported by Good Morning America and obtained by independent journalist Tony Ortega, were ostensibly designed to minimize Masterson’s prison time but don’t appear to have worked since the actor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, which was the expected maximum prison term for the case.

Ashton Kutcher’s letter emphasized the positive influence Masterson had on Kutcher during their time together on the long-running Fox sitcom That ’70s Show.

“As a role model, Danny has consistently been an excellent one,” Kutcher wrote, according to a copy obtained by Ortega. “I attribute not falling into the typical Hollywood life of drugs directly to Danny. Any time that we were to meet someone or interact with someone who was on drugs, or did drugs, he made it clear that that wouldn’t be a good person to be friends with.”

He added: “I do not believe he is an ongoing harm to society and having his daughter raised without a present father would a tertiary injustice in and of itself.”

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Musician Akon Says Black Americans Could Move to Africa, Become Millionaires, Cripple US ‘Overnight’

R&B singer Akon may have been born in the United States, but he wants to go back to his roots — which, to him, means constructing a city in his family’s ancestral home of Senegal, which he describes as a “real-life Wakanda.”

Ordinarily, I’d just think this was some idle talk by someone not in compos mentis. After all, one of Akon’s best-known songs was a collaboration with enthusiastic marijuana endorser Snoop Dogg (“I Wanna Love You”), so maybe Akon’s been hitting the wacky tobaccky a bit too often.

However, nothing short of megadoses of LSD could possibly have produced the delusions described by the singer in his promotional push on “Akon City,” in which he promised “every single African American would be a millionaire without even thinking twice” if they relocated to Africa and that America would be paralyzed “overnight” if its estimated 41.6 million black population up and left.

According to a report in AfroTech on Friday, the proposed city in the troubled West African nation of Senegal — which Akon says can be built for the low, low investment price of $6 billion — is intended “to be a safe space for Black Americans and others facing racial injustices.”

“The system back home treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. And they only go through it because they feel that there is no other way,” Akon said in 2020, according to The Associated Press, adding that the proposed African city would be a “home back home.”

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A LOT of Coincidences Surround the Maui Fire That Destroyed Lahaina

Maui just suffered its worst disaster, with a death toll at 115 as of Thursday and nearly a thousand people still missing. While this loss of life is tragic in and of itself, as time goes by, more questions pop up.  How did the fires begin?  How did they get so out of control?  How come damage seemed to occur almost exclusively to the natives while celebrity estates in the area were miraculously unharmed?

Why was the governor almost immediately making plans for the land?  Why has media been so restricted in what they can report on?

Officials always start by blaming climate change whenever some sort of natural disaster occurs.  I always start by assuming incompetence, and there was certainly plenty of that to go around in this situation.

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Cops probe if case of naked man stuffed in barrel along Malibu beach is tied to 2020 murder of rapper Pop Smoke

Los Angeles authorities are investigating a potential connection between the 2020 murder of Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke and a naked body that was found stuffed in a barrel floating off a Malibu beach this past week.

Family members have identified the remains stuffed inside the barrel as those of singer-songwriter Javonnta Murphy, 32, who was the brother of Jaquan Murphy — one of five people arrested in the wake of Pop Smoke’s murder.

Jaquan had originally been charged in the attempted murder of the rapper, but was later cleared of any wrongdoing. He is, however, awaiting trial for an unrelated murder in Los Angeles County. 

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is now looking into the possibility that Javonnta was killed in retaliation for Pop’s murder, TMZ reported.

The star, whose real name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, 20, was killed in a suspected home invasion at a Hollywood Hills home he had rented by a group of masked men at around 4.30am in February 2020. 

That July, two men and two teenagers were charged with his killing. All four defendants were members of the same street gang and are said to have learned of Pop Smoke’s whereabouts from his Instagram account. 

They were able to see the address of the rapper’s Airbnb on a gift bag label and saw  that he had a stack of cash with him.

A friend of someone staying in the house had called 911 to report the intruders, according to police.

The rapper’s body was discovered shortly afterward, and he was subsequently declared dead after being taken to a hospital. 

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Leah Remini sues Scientology over alleged ‘harassment, intimidation, surveillance and defamation’

Actress Leah Remini has filed a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology for being “dead set on making her life a living hell now that she’s no longer a part of the church,” TMZ reported on Tuesday.

Remini is “being stalked and harassed by the Church of Scientology as part of a coordinated campaign to destroy her life because she left the religion,” TMZ learned from the complaint.

“According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Leah claims Scientology is stalking her and invading her privacy because the church is determined to silence her and others who are critical of the religion,” TMZ wrote. “Leah claims the alleged abuse coming her way is part of a broader policy and practice of intimidation within the Church of Scientology … which she says dates all the way back to founder L. Ron Hubbard.”

Remini posted a statement to Instagram outlining her reasons for suing the faith.

“After 17 years of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation, I am filing a lawsuit against Scientology and David Miscavige,” Remini said. “While advocating for victims of Scientology has significantly impacted my life and career, Scientology’s final objective of silencing me has not been achieved. While this lawsuit is about what Scientology has done to me, I am one of thousands of targets of Scientology over the past seven decades. People who share what they’ve experienced in Scientology, and those who tell their stories and advocate for them, should be free to do so without fearing retaliation from a cult with tax exemption and billions in assets.”

Remini added that she is advocating for Scientology’s alleged victims.

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‘Accidental’ death of Rolling Stones guitarist called into question by witness statement

After Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool in 1969, the authorities quickly decided that the Rolling Stones star had drowned accidentally.

But questions have lingered over the case in the years since, and now a previously unseen witness statement has cast renewed doubt on the police investigation.

Jones was found dead at his home in Hartfield, East Sussex on July 2 1969, just a few weeks after it was announced he was leaving the Rolling Stones. He was 27 years old.

Five days later, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, saying Jones drowned “whilst under the influence of alcohol and drugs”.

Two weeks after Jones died, Joan Fitzsimons, 29, was brutally attacked. A local cab driver, she had been at Jones’s house on the night he died and was a girlfriend of Frank Thorogood, a builder-cum-minder for Jones who was allegedly a suspect in the fatal drowning.

Before the attack, she had told friends in a pub that she was planning on telling the true story of Jones’s death to the national newspapers.

In the witness statement, given to officers investigating the assault on Fitzsimons, her brother, John Russell, described how she was “frightened” of Thorogood and that she believed there was more to Jones’s death than the official verdict.

Sussex Police denied there was any link between the attack on Fitzsimons and Jones’s death.

Just before 10pm on July 26 1969, Fitzsimons was found unconscious in the back of her lime-green Ford Zephyr, four miles outside Chichester, blinded in both eyes, with a fractured skull and three of her front teeth missing.

The statement that Russell gave to Sussex Police on July 30 1969 was placed inside the National Archives, with an order that it remain closed until 2041, but has now been released under a Freedom of Information request.

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Outspoken climate activist Steven Spielberg has taken delivery of his $250 million superyacht – Even longer than a football field, the diesel-powered 4,444 ton vessel has two swimming pools and, in all possibility, a plush movie theater and a helipad.

The thing about superyachts is that once you get on them, you never get off. Not literally but metaphorically. It stays in your spirit, features in your holiday plans, and there will never be a better way to unwind. This could be why despite selling the 282-foot-long superyacht Seven Seas for $150 million, Spielberg commissioned another Oceanco yacht, also called Seven Seas (named after his seven children). The original Seven Seas is now called Man Of Steel and is owned by Canadian steel billionaire Barry Zekelman.

This month, the 358 feet ship worth $250 million was delivered to the legendary American filmmaker. The Dutch shipyard, as expected, remained unfailingly tight-lipped about the owner’s identity. Still, it doesn’t take a genius to guess the boat with the same name could only belong to the world-famous director.

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