Quantcast
Channel: Business Insider
Viewing all 101983 articles
Browse latest View live

23 powerful men accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of Harvey Weinstein

0
0

harvey weinstein

After numerous women accused the producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault or harassment, similar accusations against several famous and powerful men have surfaced.

Some people have become emboldened by the voices of Weinstein's accusers and are coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct in what is being referred to as the "Weinstein ripple effect."

Here's a list of men who have been accused of sexual misconduct since news of the Weinstein allegations broke:

SEE ALSO: The company Harvey Weinstein built has been hit with its first new lawsuit accusing it of enabling sexual abuse

Ben Affleck

The actress Hilarie Burton accused Ben Affleck of groping her breast during a 2003 interview.

Burton tweeted a video of the interview and wrote: "Girls. I'm so impressed with you brave ones. I had to laugh back then so I wouldn't cry. Sending love."

Affleck tweeted an apology to Burton, saying he had "acted inappropriately."

The makeup artist Annamarie Tendler in a tweet also accused Affleck of groping her during a Golden Globes party in 2014.

Affleck has not responded to Tendler's tweet.

A representative for Affleck declined a request for comment from Business Insider.



Roy Price

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the film producer Isa Hackett alleged that Roy Price, the former head of Amazon Studios, sexually harassed her while they were promoting the series "The Man in the High Castle" in 2015.

Hackett worked as an executive producer on the series based on her father's book.

Hackett said she met Price on July 10, 2015, at San Diego's Comic-Con to promote the series with him and that he invited her to an Amazon staff party that evening. She and Price shared a cab to the party, where Hackett said Price told her, "You will love my d--k."

Hackett said she declined Price's advances but that the inappropriate behavior persisted throughout the evening.

Hackett said she reported Price's behavior to Amazon immediately.

After the interview was published, Amazon suspended Price indefinitely, and he resigned soon after.

Price has yet to publicly address either the allegations or his resignation.



Bob Weinstein

Amanda Segel, the former executive producer of "The Mist," accused Bob Weinstein of consistently making unwanted advances on her in an interview with Variety.

Segel said that while working with Weinstein on the TV series, he continued to ask her out to dinner despite her repeatedly telling him she was uninterested in a romantic relationship. Segal said his advances stopped only once she told The Weinstein Company, which was producing "The Mist," that she would leave the series if his behavior continued.

"'No' should be enough," Segel said. "After 'no,' anybody who has asked you out should just move on. Bob kept referring to me that he wanted to have a friendship. He didn't want a friendship. He wanted more than that. My hope is that 'no' is enough from now on."

Weinstein's lawyer, Bert Fields, released a statement to Variety denying Segel's allegations.

"There is no way in the world that Bob Weinstein is guilty of sexual harassment, and even if you believed what this person asserts, there is no way it would amount to that," Fields said.

Weinstein did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Kevin Spacey will seek 'evaluation and treatment' after a series of sexual misconduct allegations

0
0

kevin spacey

  • Kevin Spacey's representatives told Business Insider that Spacey will "seek evaluation and treatment" following a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
  • Four men have come forward to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct. 

 

Actor Kevin Spacey is said to be seeking "treatment" in light of a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him.

"Kevin Spacey is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment," his representatives said in a statement to Business Insider. "No other information is available at this time."

Following actor Anthony Rapp's allegation that Kevin Spacey made a sexual advance on him at age 14, a number of other men have come forward to accuse the "House of Cards" star of sexual misconduct. 

Spacey's subsequent accusers include actor Roberto Cavazos, independent filmmaker Tony Montana, and an anonymous man who described himself as being in a "position of responsibility and authority" in Hollywood.

Last week, Spacey's apology to Rapp sparked criticism when he chose to come out as gay in the same statement

Following Rapp's accusation, Netflix suspended production on its Spacey-led political drama "House of Cards."

SEE ALSO: All the men who have accused Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The time of day you eat is just as important as what you eat — a nutritionist explains

A British town is going to burn a 36-foot effigy of Harvey Weinstein

0
0

Harvey Weinstein effigy

  • An effigy of Harvey Weinstein is set to burn at a bonfire in Edenbridge, England, on Saturday.
  • Each year, the town chooses one celebrity to burn alongside an effigy of the 17th-century militant Guy Fawkes.
  • The town's "Bonfire Society" said Weinstein was the "obvious choice," following the multitude of sexual harassment and assault allegations against him.

 

A British town plans to burn a 36-foot effigy of disgraced film executive Harvey Weinstein, following the multitude of sexual harassment and assault allegations made against him over the past month.

Each year, according to the Associated Press, the town of Edenbridge's "Bonfire Society" chooses one celebrity to scorch alongside an effigy of the 17th-century militant Guy Fawkes. 

Fueled by a dark, historical sarcasm, towns in Britain light bonfires and fireworks on November 5 to commemorate Fawkes' failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605.

On Saturday, Edenbridge will give the Fawkes treatment to Weinstein, whom the society described as an "obvious choice" to burn.

Weinstein's caricatured effigy finds the movie mogul in a bathrobe — in line with his reported wardrobe preference for alleged sexual misconduct — with a clapperboard that reads "Final Cut" covering his genitals. 

The Edenbridge society told the AP that while there is "nothing funny" about Weinstein's allegations, the bonfire event is meant to be a light-hearted affair. 

SEE ALSO: 23 powerful men accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of Harvey Weinstein

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The time of day you eat is just as important as what you eat — a nutritionist explains

Hollywood director and producer Brett Ratner is suing a woman who says he raped her

0
0

Brett Ratner Getty final

  • More than a week before The Los Angeles Times published a report filled with multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against director and producer Brett Ratner, a woman wrote in a Facebook post that Ratner raped her 12 years ago. 
  • Ratner has filed a defamation suit against her.
  • Ratner said that her accusation is false, caused him extreme distress, and was published with the intention of damaging his reputation. 


On Wednesday, director and producer Brett Ratner filed a defamation suit in Hawaii federal court against Melanie Kohler, who accused him of rape in a Facebook post, Variety reported. 

In addition to the alleged rape, Ratner has also been accused of sexual harassment or assault by six actresses, according to a report from The Los Angeles Times. One of those six women was actress Olivia Munn, who said Ratner masturbated in front of her when she went to deliver food to his trailer.

Kohler was not named or quoted in the LA Times report, but she posted her story on Facebook October 20, more than a week before it was published.

In the post, Kohler wrote that "Ratner was a rapist on at least one night in Hollywood about 12 years ago." Kohler alleged that Ratner took advantage of her drunkenness and forced himself on her. 

Ratner's lawsuit alleges that this accusation is not true, and that the Facebook post was published with the intention of damaging Ratner's reputation. Ratner claims that Kohler's post caused him extreme distress, in addition to harming his reputation, both personal and professional.

The accusations against Ratner come in the weeks following various sexual misconduct allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein, and other powerful men including Kevin Spacey, Roy Price, and Dustin Hoffman.

You can look at Ratner's lawsuit here:

Ratner Suit by gmaddaus on Scribd

SEE ALSO: Olivia Munn is one of 6 women who have accused director Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or assault

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The full 'Black Panther' trailer is here — and it's amazing

A second woman has accused Dustin Hoffman of sexual harassment

0
0

Dustin Hoffman

  • Producer Wendy Riss Gatsiounis said that Dustin Hoffman sexually harassed her during a meeting she had with him in 1991.
  • Riss Gatsiounis' claim follows a sexual harassment allegation made against Hoffman by writer Anna Graham Hunter on Wednesday.


A second woman has come forward to accuse actor Dustin Hoffman of sexual harassment.

"Genius" producer Wendy Riss Gatsiounis said that Hoffman sexually harassed her during a meeting she had with him in 1991, in an interview with Variety Wednesday.

Riss Gatsiounis met with Hoffman and screenwriter Murray Schisgal to discuss her new play “A Darker Purpose,” and the possibility of turning it into a movie. The producer said that during her first meeting with them, Schisgal asked her if she had a boyfriend or a husband.

According to Riss Gatsiounis, Hoffman told Schisgal to "shut up" and said, "Don’t you know you can’t talk to women that way anymore? Times are changing." 

Conversation then switched back to discussing Riss Gatsiounis' play. Hoffman and Schisgal asked her if she would be willing to rework her pitch and her play, to which Riss Gatsiounis agreed — and proceeded to spend three weeks on her rewrite.

Riss Gatsiounis then met with Hoffman and Schisgal a second time, and said Hoffman was "really different" this time.

According to Riss Gatsiounis, Hoffman began their meeting by asking her if she had "ever been intimate with a man over 40."

Riss Gatsiounis was in her 20s at the time, and Hoffman was 53.

“I’ll never forget — he moves back, he opens his arms, and he says, ‘It would be a whole new body to explore,'” Riss Gatsiounis said. “I’m trying to go back to my pitch, and I’m trying to talk about my play. Then Dustin Hoffman gets up and he says he has to do some clothing shopping at a nearby hotel, and did I want to come along? He’s like, ‘Come on, come to this nearby hotel.'”

According to the producer, Schisgal then encouraged her to go off with Hoffman, but Riss Gatsiounis declined Hoffman's advances and the actor left the meeting. 

“And then Murray Schisgal says, ‘Look, we’re not really interested in your play, because it’s too film noir-ish.’ And that was it,” Riss Gatsiounis said. 

Riss Gatsiounis said she called her agent Mary Meagher after her meeting with Hoffman and Schisgal, and Meagher told her it wasn't anything she had done, and that she had heard rumors "about him for years."

In a statement to Variety, Schisgal said he had "no recollection of this meeting or of any of the behavior or actions described.”

Riss Gatsiounis' claim follows a sexual harassment allegation against Hoffman made by writer Anna Graham Hunter Wednesday. In a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter, Hunter said Hoffman sexually harassed her when she was 17 years old, while interning as a production assistant on the set of "Death of a Salesman" in 1985.

According to Hunter, Hoffman — who starred in the film — would speak openly about sex in front of her, and inappropriately touched her on one occasion.

Hunter recalled asking for Hoffman's breakfast order one morning, to which the actor allegedly responded, "I'll have a hard-boiled egg … and a soft-boiled clitoris."

According to Hunter, Hoffman also felt her "ass four times" while she walked him to his limousine on one occasion.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Hoffman said: "I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am."

Dustin Hoffman did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Dustin Hoffman has been accused of sexually harassing and groping a 17-year-old woman in 1985

SEE ALSO: 23 powerful men accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of Harvey Weinstein

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 13 details you might have missed in 'Stranger Things' season 2

The 50 best video games of all time, according to critics

0
0

There are dozens of ways you could put together a list of the best video games ever made. You could look to classics, like "Super Mario Bros." here.

You could look at impact on the medium, or highest sales. You could write down your personal favorites on pieces of paper, then throw them into the air. Where the pieces land? That's your list.

But what we've got here is something slightly more scientific. Reviews aggregation site Metacritic compiles all reviews of games, then it averages those scores into an overall average. What you'll find below is the top 50 highest-rated games of all time, based on the averages obtained by Metacritic. We made one small change: Since there are a handful of duplicates on the list (multiple versions of the same game, released on multiple platforms), we've just taken the highest-ranked version of the game to make room for a handful of games that wouldn't have otherwise made the list.

Without further ado, these are the 50 best video games of all time:

SEE ALSO: The 50 best movies of all time, according to critics on Metacritic

50. "Devil May Cry"

Critic score: 94/100

User score: 8.6/10

Plot summary (from Metacritic): "In a large American metropolis, a man named Dante, a private investigator of the supernatural, is seeking revenge for the death of his mother and brother. The world is waiting, for Dante is no ordinary man, and with his father's sword in hand, he must enter the demon realm and avenge mankind."

Platforms: PC, iOS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One



49. "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4"

Critic score: 94/100

User score: 8.4/10

Plot summary (from Metacritic): "Build your skills, earn respect, and show that you've got what it takes to Go Pro. 190 progressively harder goals. No time clock, no constraints. Pro-specific challenges. Evolving levels. Interact with other skaters. Multi-player modes. Customize your game...Your career is what you make of it."

Platforms: GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Tapwave Zodiac, OS X, PC



48. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2"

Critic score: 94/100

User score: 6.4/10

Plot summary (from Metacritic): "'Modern Warfare 2' continues the gripping and heart-racing action as players face off against a new threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse. An entirely new gameplay mode which supports 2-player co-operative play online that is unique from the single player story campaign. Special Ops pits players into a gauntlet of time-trial and objective-based missions. Rank-up as players unlock new Special Ops missions, each more difficult. Missions include highlights from the single player campaign, fan favorites from 'Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare' and all new, exclusive missions. Setting a new bar for online multiplayer, 'Modern Warfare 2' multiplayer delivers new capabilities, customization, game states and modes, including: Create-a-Class Evolved. Secondary Weapons - Machine Pistols, Shotguns, Handguns, Launchers. Riot Shields. Equipment - Throwing Knives, Blast Shield, Tactical Insertion. Perk Upgrades. Bling (Dual Attachments). Customizable Killstreaks - AC130, Sentry Gun, Predator Missile, Counter-UAV, Care Package. Accolades (Post match reports)."

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, OS X



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Tyrese throws down ultimatum: If The Rock is in the next 'Fast and Furious' movie, he won't be

0
0

Tyrese Gibson Dwayne Johnson Getty

  • Tyrese Gibson said, in an Instagram post, that if Dwayne Johnson is in the ninth "Fast and Furious" movie, he will not return to the franchise.
  • Gibson blamed the one-year delay of the movie on Johnson agreeing the make a spinoff movie to be released next year.
  • Gibson said he needs the work because he's "almost broke swimming in legal fees."

 

Tyrese Gibson's feud with Dwayne Johnson has entered a new realm: The Ultimatum. 

On Wednesday, Gibson, who plays Roman in the "Fast and Furious" franchise, took to his Instagram and continued his mostly one-sided feud with costar Johnson, who plays Hobbs in the movie, by stating that if The Rock returns for the ninth "Fast" movie, he will not return as Roman. 

"You mess with family and my daughter's survival I mess with yours......... close your eyes dude you’re a 'Clown,'" Gibson wrote in his post. 

Here it is:

Gibson has taken to Instagram numerous times since news broke that the ninth movie in Universal's lucrative "Fast" franchise won't be coming until 2020. The actor-musician has put the blame on Johnson, believing that the movie was pushed so a spinoff movie starring Johnson's Hobbs character, and Jason Statham's Shaw, could be released in 2019.

Another Instagram post by Gibson on Wednesday went a little deeper into why Gibson is so angry at Johnson — or the situation Johnson has put him in.

"I was never mad at The Rock - I was just mad that he was 'pitched' an idea privately and said yes to it without thinking of what I’m dealing with personally," Gibson wrote. "I’m almost broke paying legal fees." 

Gibson continued: "Going home to your daughter every night.... it’s was 60 days before I seen my baby..... and all I asked you to do 'privately' was NOT accept a role that would deeply effect us all....... You are simply NOT the people’s champ..... you are a selfish champ.....," he wrote. "I’m almost broke swimming in legal fees, CAA tried but couldn’t book me anything cause my ex wife killed my reputation so no one wants to hire me."

Gibson is currently in a custody battle with his ex-wife for his 10-year-old daughter, Shayla.

Here's that post:

Father God I see you and I finally get it............... Life is confusing at times when you’re moving along and your “role” or “purpose” isn’t revealed to you.......... Proudly I’m a Capricorn born Dec 30th 1978 Dr King was taken away from us April 4th 1968 and when I found out Dr King WALKED the streets of WATTS during the WATTS RIOTS it changed my life forever!!!!!! The King family it’s random but I just wanna thank you for love and thank you for your sacrifice and thank you for what your mother and “FATHER” selflessly did for us all........... #VoltronStudiosHollywood coming soon....... I repeat coming soon.... Ok? Take care guys......God bless you..... ps Lee Daniels dude you’re a fellow Capricorn please listen to me don’t you EVER wear your facial hairs like that ever again Ok? And FYI I was never mad at The Rock - I was just mad that he was “pitched” an idea privately and said yes to it without thinking of what I’m dealing with personally I’m almost broke paying legal fees and is doing what we committed to doing for the #FastFans and #FastFamily cause the fast is tradition it’s not just another Movie Fast was created to COUNTER images of racism to counter that WE ARE NOT ONE RACE...... So the rock how does it feel bro?.... going home to your daughter every night.... it’s was 60 days before I seen my baby..... and all I asked you to do “privately” was NOT accept a role that would deeply effect us all....... You are simply NOT the people’s champ..... you are a selfish champ..... I’m almost broke swimming in legal fees CAA tried but couldn’t book me anything cause my ex wife killed my reputation so no one wants to hire me.. It’s not about I know I know I know right?? Says the man on the Forbes list.. Make sure you kiss your 2 daughters when you get home I wish I could but I can’t afford to fight for my baby anymore so they’re likely going to take her away....... Thanks Dewayne see you guys in 2020 and I will not delete this post cause the TRUTH of selfish people in Hollywood needs to be mentioned.................. to this day Dewayne has NOT called me back as u see me crying every 3 hours over my baby know #ShaylaRocks

A post shared by TYRESE (@tyrese) on Nov 1, 2017 at 6:55am PDT on

It sounds like Gibson is in a tough spot, but butting heads with one of Hollywood's most bankable stars at the moment might not be the right play.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best movies of all time, according to critics

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The most underrated foods — according to Anthony Bourdain and Danny Bowien

Oprah picked a sweater made by an Amazon-owned brand as one of her 'Favorite Things'

0
0

Oprah's favorite things

  • Oprah Winfrey releases a list of her "Favorite Things" ahead of the holidays every year.
  • She picked a sweater from Lark & Ro — a brand owned and exclusively sold by Amazon — as one of her "Favorite Things" for 2017.
  • The selection comes amid a push by Amazon to be a bigger player in apparel.

 

Oprah is leaning into Amazon's fashion options.

Though she has been making her wish list for years, the media mogul started releasing her annual holiday "Favorite Things" recommendation in conjunction with Amazon in 2015. Since then, it has always featured a smattering of Amazon-branded products, like Kindles and Echoes, and included links to where products are available for sale on the website.

This year, however, marks the first time that Oprah has chosen an item of clothing from Amazon's own stable of private-label brands, recommending a Lark & Ro cashmere sweater that retails for $128.

What she had to say about it was a little different from the stock description:

Butt? Sure. Stomach? Of course. Thighs? You bet. But I've yet to meet a woman who carries her weight in her shoulders. That's why these off-the-shoulder sweaters flatter almost everyone.

A high-profile endorsement like this one from one of America's most beloved personalities could mean a lot for Amazon's still-young clothing labels. Lately, it's relied more on celebrities' star power, like when it launched a new line called Dear Drew with Drew Barrymore.

Amazon is trying to become a much bigger player in apparel overall, and it has launched numerous private-label brands for both men and women.

It's also launched a service for Amazon Prime members called Prime Wardrobe, which takes a lot of the hassle out of buying clothes online by making them easier for customers to return. Rumors are also swirling that it will enter the sportswear business, which accounts for a large chunk of apparel sales in the US.

Amazon is expected to pass Macy's as the US' largest apparel seller this year, according to Cowen & Co. Its clothing and accessory sales are expected to grow nearly 30% next year, to $28 billion. Currently, Amazon claims only 6.6% of the apparel market, but that is expected to increase to 16.2% in the next five years.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's bookstores are generating almost no revenue — and there's an obvious reason why

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Scott Galloway correctly predicted Amazon would buy Whole Foods — here's who he thinks Amazon should acquire next


The directors behind 'The Girlfriend Experience' explain their radical approach to season 2

0
0

the girlfriend experience Matt Sayles AP final

  • Season two of "The Girlfriend Experience" will be told through two different storylines. 
  • Directors Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz wrote and directed the stories separately.
  • The two made the season despite having the same budget they had in season one.

 

Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz teamed to direct the entire first season of Starz’s hit show, “The Girlfriend Experience,” and though both are helming season two (premiering November 5), they are doing things very differently this time around.

Based on Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 movie “The Girlfriend Experience” (he is an executive producer on the show), the anthology series looks at high-end escorts who engage their clients on an emotional level, not just a sexual one. The focus of season one was Christine Reade (Riley Keough), who juggles school and an internship at a law firm with being an escort in the evenings.

In the midst of discussing season two with Starz, Kerrigan and Seimetz threw out an idea: They wanted to direct separate storylines within the same season. 

The Girlfriend Experience 2 Starz finalSo instead of following one story, season two will have two. Each Sunday night, the first half-hour episode will be from one director’s standalone story, and the other half-hour episode will show the other’s.

“We were just interested in certain themes and thought it would be interesting to push the format of television,” Kerrigan told Business Insider while showing a sneak peek of the season at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, along with Seimetz. “Steven encourages us to just break the rules.”

“Just to keep the series fresh it just seemed like, why would we repeat what we did last season and tell the same thing?” Seimetz added.

Starz was all for it. Unlike the first season, when Kerrigan and Seimetz wrote the season together in Soderbergh’s office, this time the two split up. They wrote their stories separately and then shot them with their own with separate cast and crew.

For Kerrigan’s story, we follow Anna Greenwald (Louisa Krause), who after blackmailing one of her politically prominent clients, gets involved with one of his rivals, Erica Myles (Anna Friel).

Seimetz's story looks at Bria Jones (Carmen Ejogo), a former escort who enters witness protection to escape her ex, who has a criminal past.

The Girlfriend Experience 2 Starz2Seimetz said she was inspired to tell a story that went beyond the corporate world that season one was in. She wanted to “see how far I could take what the idea of the ‘girlfriend experience’ could mean.” That led her to shooting in drab locations and having Bria look as unglamorous as possible. The boring existence causes the character to be tempted to go back into the escort world.

Kerrigan wanted to delve deeper into the themes of money and power that were explored in season one, using the backdrop of politics. Anna and Erica build a relationship through teaming up to take down a dirty politician, but things then get more complicated when Erica’s former flame, Sandra (Emily Piggford), enters the mix.

“I was really interested in the power dynamics between three women in a sexual relationship and how that power dynamic changes,” he said.

Like Keough in season one, both leads for season two are unknown to most audiences. Kerrigan found Krause through an audition tape she sent in. Seimetz, who is also an actress (she plays Becky Ives on “Stranger Things”), was introduced to Ejogo through a casting director before the two starred in Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant.”

“I knew I was going to cast her in the show, so then being able to act with her in the movie before doing the show was great,” she said.

alien covenant foxSeimetz said Ejogo was informed she was going to be cast on the show before they made “Covenant,” which led to the two having a lot of talks about the show while taking breaks on the big blockbuster.

“Because I cast her so early I was writing for her,” Seimetz said. “So I would send her things as it developed.”

The directors' season two storylines are vastly different visually, and in tone, from one another. Kerrigan’s is full of wide shots, which he said he hoped would “emphasize the performative nature of politics and personal relationships.” Seimetz’s has a claustrophobic feel with all its tight close-ups. “I wanted it to look and feel more frantic than last season,” she said.

Despite basically making two TV shows at the same time, the two filmmakers say they were working with the same budget from season one. That didn’t seem to phase the two veterans of indie film projects. In fact, Kerrigan thought, “It was great!”

“Because we had complete creative freedom,” he said. “Steven gets final cut and in essence he gives it to Amy and myself. If we stay in those certain budget parameters, we can pretty much do what we want.”

The two said the biggest challenge from season one to season two was their interaction in the writing process. It was a lot harder to get to the finish line by themselves.

“It got lonely,” Kerrigan said of writing season two.

“Which is funny because we would fight,” Seimetz said with a laugh. “When you’re writing alone you just have yourself and you’re like, ‘This sucks.’ When you have someone else you have to do it. This time I needed it to feel like a job, so I hired an assistant and that really got me going.”

Watch the season 2 trailer below:

SEE ALSO: The 9 biggest questions we have after watching "Stranger Things" season 2

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The full 'Black Panther' trailer is here — and it's amazing

Everyone asks me the same question about spending 4 days with Tony Robbins — here's what I tell them

0
0

Rich Feloni Tony Robbins Fiji

  • I interviewed and shadowed Tony Robbins over four days at his Fiji resort Namale.
  • For the past three decades, Robbins has been the premier "performance coach," building a business empire and coaching clients like Paul Tudor Jones and Bill Clinton.
  • Robbins can be a polarizing figure, but I found him to be a genuine person with practical insights, not hollow positive thinking.


When I tell people that I spent four days with Tony Robbins, they always ask a version of the same question: "What is he really like?"

This can be asked with skepticism: "I remember his infomercials. He's just a con artist selling motivational speeches to desperate people, right?" Or they can be asked with reverence: "His lessons changed my life. Is he as inspirational in person? What did he teach you?"

I recently had the chance to travel to Robbins' Fiji resort Namale, where he was hosting the winners of Shopify's Build a Bigger Business competition, to form an opinion.

Robbins, who determined that his presentation and mentoring style was captured by a job he deemed "performance coach" at some point in the '80s, has been at it for almost 40 years now. In that time he's sold millions of books and audio tapes and given thousands of presentations to packed crowds. He has coached people like the Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, the tennis champion Serena Williams, and even President Bill Clinton.

Robbins is just as relevant today, having developed a massive online audience of fans who eat up articles and videos about his lessons.

It's hard to not have some sort of opinion of him at this point. Perhaps the reason people can feel so strongly either way about him is because no one else really does what he does, and so it's hard to put him into a context where he's not just fitting an exaggerated archetype, for better or worse.

Before I first spoke with Robbins during his 2014 book tour for his personal-finance guide "Money: Master the Game," I was unsure of what to expect.

When I was a little kid in the '90s, my dad would occasionally play Robbins' tapes in the car, and I remembered Robbins' deep, raspy voice more than the actual material. At one point my dad asked our family to take a sort of personality-test assessment from Robbins' website, and I objected on the grounds that it was all nonsense. This guy was monetizing meaningless motivation, I thought.

But about two decades later, I decided differently.

Tony Robbins genuinely wants to help

When I met Robbins, I got a first impression that was confirmed over several more interviews and finally developed further during the Fiji trip: He's an incredible communicator with a magnetic personality and a genuine desire to help people. And rather than acting as a huckster, he's a shrewd businessman who knows how to develop products for both the masses and the wealthy. On top of that, he has invested in and assists 30 companies, directly running 12 of them — one of his latest projects outside his coaching career is developing the coming Major League Soccer franchise in Los Angeles, LAFC.

I noted how practical his coaching approach seemed in person. I'll acknowledge that when I watched Joe Berlinger's 2016 Netflix documentary "I Am Not Your Guru," which followed one of Robbins' "Date with Destiny" multiday seminars, I felt that some of the interactions between Robbins and audience members seemed cult-like. Here was a god who appeared onstage to instantly solve the romantic, career, and spiritual problems of his enraptured followers.

But when such a long event is cut down to a narrative of just the dramatic scenes, it can take away some of the nuance of how Robbins connects with people. After spending four days hanging out with Robbins, talking about his career, observing coaching sessions he had with entrepreneurs, and then discussing them with those entrepreneurs, I saw Robbins in a different light.

He's certainly one of those figures with, as has been ascribed to the late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, a "reality distortion field" that can suck you in, but even weeks after the trip the documentary looked different to me on a second viewing.

The parts that previously looked to me like something out of a megachurch now looked like Robbins having fun with people who were letting loose rather than giving in to a cult. Robbins seemed more like a rock star lighting up a crowd of fans than a televangelist preying on a trusting audience.

It's this lack of context that can give a wrong impression of what Robbins actually does. For example, an old clip is floating around YouTube, not from Robbins' official channel, with the title "Tony Robbins — 30 years of stuttering, cured in 7 minutes!" It's portrayed like a David Blaine trick and so further confirms extremist biases around Robbins in either direction. It's not worth getting into an investigation of it, but it seems much more likely that Robbins helped this stutterer with a sense of self-worth, and that increased confidence in speech projection could allow for a sort of coping mechanism to the stutter, rather than triggering an instant "cure."

In person, Robbins is quite practical. The heart of the vast majority of the stuff you'll hear him telling crowds or individual people can be found in books about behavioral psychology, leadership, entrepreneurship, and personal finance — his talent is connecting the dots on some of these ideas and relating them to people in an intimate way in a remarkably fast time. He knows how to read people well and can talk to them in a way that works best for them.

Take his latest personal-finance book, "Unshakeable" — there's no get-rich-quick scheme or dangerous advice in there. In fact, it's mostly the sort of stuff you could find on Vanguard's website. But with Robbins' energetic, simple way of writing, financial concepts that would make the average reader fall asleep suddenly become enjoyable to read.

tony robbins workout fiji

Wealthy, successful people pay him for his pragmatism

He even takes this approach with his small batch of personal clients, which includes the billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones, who pays him a $1 million annual fee and a performance fee tied to that year's profits. Jones hired Robbins back in 1993, when Jones had hit a rough patch after becoming famous on Wall Street for correctly predicting the 1987 stock market crash.

Robbins studied all aspects of Jones' behavior and decision-making, comparing how he behaved during upturns with how he behaved during downturns. "I uncovered for Paul Tudor what he was doing at his best," Robbins told Business Insider last year. "I got to interview all the people around him," Robbins said. "I watched films. There were patterns that Paul Tudor was doing when he was at his very best, and he had dropped them out."

Jones began making money again, and he was convinced enough that Robbins had a role in that turnaround that he kept him as his coach. The two have checked in every day since then.

"The amazing thing about Tony is how he can deconstruct what drives certain behaviors and help you develop a plan for action with carefully-considered risk and reward propositions," Jones wrote to me in an email.

Jones introduced Robbins to Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund. Dalio agreed to be interviewed for Robbins' first personal-finance book. "He shocked me in his level of understanding because he had researched me and he had researched the investment area so well and he was so conceptual that the quality of his understanding was shockingly great, and the interview was very good," Dalio told me. Dalio became friends with Robbins after that interview and flew to Robbins' Florida home to launch his book, "Principles: Life and Work," with a Facebook Live interview in September.

Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce, often credits much of his success to studying Robbins' lessons from a young age, and he both meets with Robbins on a personal basis and regularly invites him to Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference.

There's a reason he's been able to inspire people for nearly 40 years

A ticket to Robbins' 3-1/2-day event "Unleash the Power Within" goes for $650 to $3,000, but he offers scholarships through his foundation (which, on a separate note, has a 93.48 rating from the charity watchdog Charity Navigator), and unsatisfied customers can receive refunds for many of his products and programs. And aside from a paperback edition of his book, there's plenty of free material from him on the internet. My initial cynicism around his pricing has essentially changed to my belief that he knows his audience and knows how to maintain a massive business around himself.

Robbins isn't a therapist or a business consultant, but he's also a bit of both — combined with a football coach.

Marie Forleo, who founded MarieTV and has collaborated with Oprah Winfrey, has worked with Robbins and said Robbins didn't replace either but was rather his own thing — and a valuable resource at that. "What Tony offers is something utterly unique that, frankly, I've never been able to get from any therapist or consultant I've worked with," she told me. "And I've worked with a lot."

tony robbins graham richIf the idea of attending a self-improvement seminar or reading a book with a title like "Awaken the Giant Within" turns you off, then what Robbins does probably isn't for you. But after interviewing him several times over the course of three years and shadowing him for four days, I'm convinced that while Robbins definitely isn't for everyone, he's a sincere guy who truly lives what he preaches and shows no signs of slowing down.

On our last day in Fiji, my colleague Graham Flanagan and I went to Robbins' private residence to grab some last-minute footage. We hoped to stretch our promised 10 minutes to 15. Instead, as his team loaded up cars in preparation for a flight to Australia, he had his personal trainer (and friend) Billy Beck III grab an SUV and take us on a trip to "the waterfall."

As his team anxiously waited for us back at the house so as not to throw his schedule out of wack, Robbins took us on a tour of his favorite parts of his property, culminating at a beautiful waterfall. To our surprise, he dived in, pulled his shirt off, and, catching the camera, gave a Tarzan-like yell as the water crashed on him. Then it was my turn to jump in.

We drove back down the hill to his house, talking about the recurring coaching techniques he's built into a "tool box" over the years. Along the way, he chatted with some of the resort's workers and sipped from a coconut one gave him. Back at the residence, a collection of about 20 staff members sang a traditional Fijian farewell song to Robbins before he left, which is what they do every time he leaves. Tears filled his eyes as he sang along.

Tony Robbins is a larger-than-life figure with plenty of quirks, but the person you're seeing is really him. You're either along for the ride or you're not.

SEE ALSO: A day in the life of Tony Robbins, who sleeps 3 hours a night before waking up to an 'adrenal support cocktail' and a plunge into freezing water

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tony Robbins takes us on a private tour of his massive beachfront mansion in Fiji

Snoop Dogg's new album cover features him standing over Trump's dead body

0
0

snoop dogg

  • Snoop Dogg's new album cover features a fake President Trump in a body bag. 
  • The artwork is a play on the cover of Ice Cube's 1991 album, "Death Certificate."


Snoop Dogg has released a new cover for his recent EP, "Make America Crip Again," and it features the rapper standing over a body bag that contains an imitation corpse of President Trump.

The artwork is a play on the cover of Ice Cube's 1991 "Death Certificate," which featured Cube standing over the corpse of "Uncle Sam." 

When Snoop released the title track to the album in late October, he said that the song was "not a statement or a political act."

"It's just good music. Certain people feel like we should make America 'great again,' but that time they're referring to always takes me back to separation and segregation, so I'd rather 'Make America Crip Again,'" the rapper told Rolling Stone.

Earlier this year, Snoop Dogg's music video for his song "Lavender" featured him shooting at a clown dressed as Trump, which Trump took to Twitter to condemn.

Snoop Dogg released "Make America Crip Again," an eight-song project, on October 27.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling music artists of all time

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Adam Savage go undercover as Chewbacca at New York Comic Con

A cringeworthy clip of Brett Ratner and Serena Williams is making the rounds online following sexual-misconduct allegations against him

0
0

Brett Ratner Serena Williams

  • A clip from Serena Williams' short-lived 2005 reality series, "Venus and Serena: For Real," shows her boyfriend at the time, Brett Ratner, acting strangely.
  • The clip is making the rounds on the internet one day after the Los Angeles Times detailed multiple accusations of sexual harassment and assault against Ratner.


A strange clip of Brett Ratner and Serena Williams from her 2005 reality series, "Venus and Serena: For Real," is making the rounds online on Thursday, one day after the Los Angeles published a report detailing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against the Hollywood producer and director.

In the 90-second clip, Ratner and Williams, his girlfriend at the time, appear to be arguing over issues they've been having with their long-distance relationship while they watch a tennis match her sister is playing in.

Ratner is physically affectionate and touches Williams throughout the video, even though Williams does not appear to enjoy it.

"Give me some love," Ratner says as he continues to touch her. "Show me that you care."

A seemingly frustrated Williams eventually asks Ratner if he can just watch her sister play and says he's "being very disturbing."

Williams cheers for her sister, and Ratner joins in by yelling, "Sexy legs!"

In the clip, Williams tells Ratner she wants to see other people.

"It's too bad it didn't work out between us," she says.

Ratner replies, "Is this the breakup episode?"

Ratner then tries to kiss Williams, but she rebuffs him.

"They don't do this on Nick and Jessica's show," Ratner says, referring to Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's reality-TV series. Ratner tries to kiss Williams once more but is again rejected.

You can watch the clip here:

On Wednesday, the Times reported that six women had accused Ratner of sexually harassment or assault.

In a statement to Business Insider on behalf of the director, Ratner's attorney said Ratner "vehemently denies the outrageous derogatory allegations that have been reported about him" and was "confident that his name will be cleared once the current media frenzy dies down and people can objectively evaluate the nature of these claims."

In another statement to Business Insider, the attorney said Ratner would step away from all "Warner Bros.-related activities" until his "personal issues are resolved."

SEE ALSO: Hollywood director and producer Brett Ratner is suing a woman who says he raped her

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's why people are afraid of clowns — and what you can do to get over it

Gretchen Carlson's advice for her twenty-year-old self

0
0

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson spoke to Business Insider about what advice she'd giver her twenty-year-old self. In 2016, Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News founder Roger Ailes. Carlson's allegations led to his resignation and a $20 million settlement. The following is a transcript of the video.

Gretchen Carlson: I like to think of myself as a reformed perfectionist, and the way that you become that is by taking more risks. And taking those risks, I wish I would have done more earlier on in my career because what you learn from taking the risk is that you become a more unique person in the end and even in television you know trying to do something a little bit more out of the box instead of trying to be so much like that anchor mode, it took me a while to actually have the courage to take those risks just professionally, so that's the biggest advice that I could give to my younger self or to really anyone not even in the TV business but just in any aspect of their life.

I have a 12-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter and I've seen my daughter especially exhibit that bravery and telling me that she did what she did and standing up for herself because she saw her mom do it. And in the end, that's what we all want for our children. We want to be able to pass along that gift of courage and I want that for other parents out there. It’s why I wrote the book. I mean I hope they'll pass it along to their children as well, especially high school and college-age kids. This is where it starts. We have to raise our kids in equal fashion and give our kids the same opportunities and especially our boys, to be raised to respect women, not only in the home but when they get into the workplace then they exhibit that same amount of respect for their female colleagues. It's essential to stop this harassment cycle.

Join the conversation about this story »

An anonymous man has alleged that Kevin Spacey had a sexual relationship with him when he was 14 years old

0
0

Kevin Spacey

  • An anonymous man told Vulture that he and Kevin Spacey had a sexual relationship in 1983, when he was 14 and Spacey was 24.
  • The man alleged that Spacey attempted to rape him, and they never saw each other again after that.


A man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, alleged that he and Kevin Spacey had a sexual relationship when he was 14 years old, and that Spacey attempted to rape him, in an interview with Vulture Thursday.

Vulture worked to verify this man's story in various ways, which are detailed in the interview. In an email to Vulture, Spacey's attorney wrote that, “Mr. Spacey absolutely denies the allegations.”

This anonymous account follows multiple other allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey.

Spacey's accuser told Vulture he met the actor when Spacey was working as a guest teacher at a weekend acting class he attended in 1981, when he was 12 and Spacey was 22. He then met Spacey again while in line for Shakespeare in the Park in 1983, he said, and this time Spacey gave him his number, and they began a relationship.

The accuser recalled to the publication going to Spacey's apartment and beginning a sexual relationship almost immediately.

"My memory is that we met up three or four more times with, again, proclamations that we loved each other," he said. "Also, [he was telling me] that there were producers who were really interested in me as an actor and that he wanted to get me auditions."

The man said that while the two had sex multiple times, on one occasion, Spacey told him he wanted to have sex, and tried to penetrate him, despite him telling Spacey that he was not interested.

"Luckily, I threw him off me," the man said. "I saved myself in many ways in that minute from the much deeper trauma that would’ve come from having been raped."

Kevin Spacey did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Kevin Spacey will seek 'evaluation and treatment' after a series of sexual misconduct allegations

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's why people are afraid of clowns — and what you can do to get over it

361,000 Americans binge-watched the entire second season of Netflix's 'Stranger Things' in the first 24 hours, Nielsen says

0
0

Stranger Things Dustin

  • 361,000 people watched all nine episodes of "Stranger Things 2" the first day it became available on Netflix, according to Nielsen.
  • An average of 4 million viewers watched each episode of "Stranger Things 2."

 

"Stranger Things 2" is a certified hit — at least according to Nielsen.

The show became available for streaming less than a week ago, but it's already pulling in remarkable numbers, according to Nielsen data released Thursday.

A whopping 361,000 US viewers binge-watched all nine episodes of "Stranger Things 2" on Netflix within the first day that the new season was made available.

But perhaps more impressively, 15.8 million US viewers watched the first episode of "Stranger Things 2" within the first three days. That puts it in the ballpark of cable TV's biggest smash hits. And, all episodes of "Stranger Things 2" averaged around 4 million US viewers, according to the data.

Nielsen employed its new SVOD solution — created to measure subscription-based streaming content — to calculate the number of US viewers who watched "Stranger Things 2" this past weekend. That measurement has been controversial, as Netflix and others have disputed its accuracy.

SEE ALSO: The 9 biggest questions we have after watching 'Stranger Things' season 2

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'They’re bad for chefs, they're bad for restaurants' — Anthony Bourdain goes on an epic rant against Yelp


HGTV 'Flip or Flop' star became 'addicted' to house flipping after making $34,000 on his first project — but hosting the show was a whole different game

0
0

Tarek El Moussa Flip or Flop

  • "Flip or Flop" is HGTV's most popular series next to "Fixer Upper."
  • The show, now in its seventh season, chronicles Tarek El Moussa and his now ex-wife Christina's adventures in house flipping.
  • When HGTV asked El Moussa to do 13 house flips in just 10 months for the show's first season, he felt in over his head.

 

Tarek El Moussa started selling real estate in Southern California at just 20 years old.

Around 2008, when he was 28, the US housing market fell into crisis mode. Americans were defaulting on their mortgage loans en masse and there was a huge uptick in the number of homes being sold or auctioned off for dirt cheap.

"The market had obviously become very depressed and I started seeing all these different deals coming across the table, and at the time I wasn't a house flipper so I wasn't buying those properties, but I saw that the [potential] profit was huge," El Moussa, now the star of HGTV's top-rated series "Flip or Flop," told Business Insider.

El Moussa was intrigued by the idea of buying a home below market value, investing money to renovate it, and selling it for a profit. After frantically reaching out to family and friends to raise funds, he found a business partner and they bought their first property in Santa Ana, California, for $115,000.

After putting in $20,000 into renovations and closing costs, they sold the house for $169,000, netting $34,000 in profit. That was when El Moussa "became addicted" to house flipping.

He was so obsessed with it, in fact, that he decided to pitch a TV show. El Moussa hired a production company to put together a short video about their budding house-flipping business and sent it to several networks.

A whole year — and two more successful house flips — passed until El Moussa heard from HGTV. They eventually shot a pilot episode starring El Moussa, the real estate broker, and his wife Christina, the designer.

When HGTV picked up the show for a full season, they asked El Moussa to do 13 house flips in 10 months.

Flip or Flop HGTV

"At the time I had no idea how I was going to pull it off, but I knew that somehow I could make it happen, so we signed the contract — we ended up pulling it off," he said.

The first season debuted in 2013 with little marketing, said El Moussa, because the network was worried it may be "out of their element and they weren't sure ratings were going to be good."

Within weeks, the show struck a chord with viewers and HGTV moved it to primetime. In 2016, "Flip or Flop" attracted a total of 17 million viewers, according to the network. The success has spawned an HGTV franchise with "Flip or Flop" seasons set to film in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Fort Worth, Nashville, and Chicago featuring other house-flipping experts.

Looking back, El Moussa is glad filming the show pushed him to take on more investments, even though it seemed intimidating at the time. Five seasons have aired since the first, and they've bought, renovated, and sold at least 14 homes in each season. "The bigger the disaster, the better the makeover," El Moussa says during the show's opening credits.

"We built a good brand, the show turned out really, really well — it's fun, fast-paced, exciting," he said.

The show will return this December with new episodes.

SEE ALSO: HGTV's 'Fixer Upper' makes house flipping seem like a good investment — but there's a catch

DON'T MISS: 'I became a bit of a monster': HGTV 'Fixer Upper' star Chip Gaines shares how he came to love the 'mind-boggling' process of borrowing money

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: HGTV stars who went from renovating houses to running a multimedia empire explain the keys to a great business plan

Samsung now has 3 different versions of its TV that transforms into a piece of minimalist artwork

0
0

dims

  • Samsung's 43-inch version of the Frame TV set is now available for $1300. 
  • The 43-inch set is the cheapest iteration of the Frame TV, a television set that doubles as piece of modern artwork.

Samsung's latest shape-shifting television set is now available for purchase online: a sleek, 43-inch 4K TV that doubles as a piece of minimalist artwork.

The 43-inch iteration of The Frame television set is the smallest— and cheapest — that the company has offered yet, making the promise of svelte hardware slightly more affordable for the average consumer.

Samsung debuted its Frame TV earlier this year with two models: the 65-inch set and the slightly smaller 55 incher. The Frame's allure lies in its ability to transform your wallspace into a work of art; a motion sensor picks up when you're in the room and instantly converts the screen into a pre-selected art piece that brightens and dims in relation to the room's lighting.

There's 100 free artwork options in Samsung's online art collection (think: clean architectural backdrops, technicolor still lifes, and a series of surrealist Nigerian sketches), but if none of these are to your liking, you can choose to pay $5 per month on an artwork-based subscription model that provides access to an ever-growing assortment of curated art. Otherwise, you can purchase single selections of digital artwork, all of which will run you about $20 a piece. Additionally, The Frame TV is equipped with all the bells and whistles of your standard modern TV set: sharp, 4K resolution and ports for HDMI, USB, and Ethernet.

Samsung has set up a clever business model for the set, offering a line of customizable accessories to trick out the TV in accordance with your tastes. In addition to a modish freestanding set stand which will run you about $599 for the 65-inch version, you can choose from a selection of woodsy bezels that clip onto the TV's sides and are available in either walnut, oak, or white. 

At $1,300, it's still a luxury item, but it's less than half the cost of Samsung's pricey 65-inch predecessor, making the option to gussy up your TV set just a tad more affordable. True, the Frame TV won't fool everyone into thinking it's a traditional piece of artwork — it still has that sheeny veneer of an LCD screen masquerading as fine art — but it's undoubedtly an improvement on the darkened flatscreen occupying your living room.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Google repeatedly mock Apple at its October Pixel event

Kevin Spacey gets dropped by his agent and publicist after 'House of Cards' employees accuse him of sexual assault

0
0

Kevin Spacey

  • Eight current and former employees who worked on Netflix's "House of Cards" say they either witnessed or were victims of sexual assault from actor Kevin Spacey.
  • The allegations include Spacey putting his hands down people's pants without consent.
  • As pressure mounts, Spacey's agency and publicist are reportedly no longer representing him.


After eight current and former employees who worked on Netflix's "House of Cards" accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault in a CNN report Thursday, Spacey's agency and publicist have dropped the actor, according to BuzzFeed News.

The accusers in CNN's report allege Spacey created a "toxic" work environment with his "predatory" behavior on the set of the hit Netflix show. The allegations included nonconsensual touching and crude comments towards staff members, many of them young and male.

One former production assistant alleged to CNN that when he and Spacey were inside a car, Spacey had put his hands down the production assistant's pants without consent. The production assistant went into more detail on what transpired next but asked for his account to be omitted from CNN's report.

"I was in a state of shock," the production assistant said to CNN. "He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there."

The production assistant, who alleged that Spacey had previously sexually assaulted him before this incident, said that he notified a supervisor of Spacey's behavior, who then never allowed the two alone by themselves on the set.

"I have no doubt that this type of predatory behavior was routine for him and that my experience was one of many and that Kevin had few if any qualms about exploiting his status and position," the production assistant said. "It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors."

Another crew member in the report said Spacey "would put his hands on me in weird ways."

"He would come in and massage my shoulders from behind or put his hands around me or touch my stomach sometimes in weird ways that in normal everyday conversation would not be appropriate," the crew member said to CNN.

Other witnesses include a former camera assistant who said "everybody saw" the alleged behavior from Spacey.

"All the crew members commented on his behavior," the former camera assistant said to CNN. "What gets me is we have to sign sexual harassment paperwork before the start of the show and apparently [Kevin Spacey] doesn't have to do anything and he gets away scott-free with this behavior."

One former female production assistant on the set also believed that Spacey's conduct was well-known among the staff.

"It was very known that Kevin was inappropriate, and males I worked with complained to me about how they felt uncomfortable," she said to CNN. "Kevin does this thing which was play fights with them in order to touch them."

The former production assistant continued to recount Spacey "say hello, greet them, shake their hand and pull their hand down to his crotch and touch their crotch."

Following the latest report, MRC, the production company for "House of Cards," said in a statement to CNN that it was "deeply troubled" and would provide an "anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counselors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew."

The latest accounts come amid allegations that Spacey had made sexual advances towards actor Anthony Rapp when he was 14. Following the report, Spacey delivered an apology, saying his alleged actions were "deeply inappropriate drunken behavior." Spacey also noted in the same statement that he was now choosing to "live as a gay man."

After more people stepped forward to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct, Spacey's representatives said in a statement he was "taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment."

SEE ALSO: Kevin Spacey apologizes after accusation of sexual misconduct, comes out as gay

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Adam Savage go undercover as Chewbacca at New York Comic Con

'Wonder Woman' is now the highest-grossing superhero origin movie of all time (TWX)

0
0

Wonder Woman on battle field

  • "Wonder Woman" is now the highest-grossing superhero origin movie of all time, with $821.749 million worldwide.
  • It surpasses longtime chart-topper, 2002's "Spider-Man."

 

Finally some good news for Warner Bros. 

The studio has cause to celebrate, as its hit summer movie "Wonder Woman" has passed 2002's "Spider-Man" to become the highest-grossing superhero origin movie of all time. 

The movie based on the legendary DC Comic, starring Gal Gadot in the title role and directed by Patty Jenkins, edged passed Sam Rami's Sony blockbuster earlier this week, having now earned a worldwide total of $821.749 million. "Spider-Man" has a worldwide total of $821.708 million. This is obviously not counting inflation, in which case Spidey would still be ahead, coming in at over $1 billion.

spider-man, spidermanBut that shouldn't diminish the achievement by "Wonder Woman." The movie business is very different today from how it was 15 years ago. In the early 2000s, most of us had no idea how much streaming services would change our moviegoing appetites.

And we should also tip our caps to Warner Bros., which used the long-tail approach with "Wonder Woman." The studio kept it in theaters worldwide long after most superhero movie runs (partly to keep it in awards season talk), and that's a major reason why the movie is now number one.

This news couldn't come at a better time for the studio. Earlier this week, it was busy having to navigate the sexual misconduct allegations against director-producer Brett Ratner, who is a partner at RatPac-Dune Entertainment, a company that has financed many of the studio's recent successes, including "Wonder Woman," the fall hit movie "It," and Oscar favorite "Dunkirk." 

Ratner has since announced that he's stepping away from his involvement in all Warner Bros. projects.

SEE ALSO: The directors behind "The Girlfriend Experience" explain their radical approach to season 2

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Adam Savage go undercover as Chewbacca at New York Comic Con

The 22 best science movies and shows streaming on Netflix that will make you smarter

0
0

Michael Pollan cooked

It's getting cooler outside and the holidays are approaching, which means it's the perfect time to curl up on the couch and watch a movie.

If you're looking for something entertaining and beautiful that'll also inform you, there's an incredible variety of science- and nature-focused documentaries and TV shows on Netflix right now.

You can stream compelling documentaries that'll captivate you with the beauty of the planet, you can delve into the details of how food arrives on your plate, or you can explore the mysterious and alien world that exists in oceans around the globe.

But there's a downside to all of those options: It's a lot to choose from. So to make it easier, we've asked our colleagues to pick out some of their favorites from the Netflix documentary selection.

Films come and go from Netflix every month, but as of the date of publication, all these films should be available. We'll update this list periodically to reflect currently available documentaries.

Here are our favorites, listed in no particular order:

SEE ALSO: 24 health 'facts' that are actually wrong

"Cooked" (2016)

What it's about: In this four-part docu-series, journalist and food expert Michael Pollan explores the evolutionary history of food and its preparation through the lens of the four essential elements: fire, water, air, and earth. 

Why you should see it: Americans as a whole are cooking less and relying more on unhealthy, processed, and prepared foods. Pollan aims to bring viewers back to the kitchen by forging a meaningful connection to food and the joys of cooking. [Click to watch]



"Blackfish" (2013)

What it's about: This film highlights abuses in the sea park industry through the tale of Tilikum, an orca in captivity at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Tilikum has killed or been involved in the deaths of three people while living in the park. 

Why you should see it: This documentary opens your eyes to the troubles of keeping wild animals in captivity through shocking footage and emotional interviews. It highlights the potential issues of animal cruelty and abuse involved with using highly intelligent animals as entertainment. Sea parks have historically made billions of dollars by keeping animals captive, often at the expense of the health and well-being of animals. This documentary played a huge role in convincing SeaWorld to stop their theatrical "Shamu" killer whale shows. [Click to watch]



"Chasing Coral" (2017)

What it's about: Step into the alien world that teems with life beneath the sea. This film, by the team behind the film "Chasing Ice," is an attempt to document the transformation and loss of coral reefs around the globe. The filmmakers face rough oceans as they dive underwater to plant cameras and document the changes to reefs. What they reveal is both fascinating and tragic.

Why you should see it: Coral reefs cover less than 2% of the sea floor, but a quarter of marine life depends on them to exist. Without these fascinating and complicated creatures, much of the ocean as we know it wouldn't exist. The filmmakers reveal the otherworldly beauty of these underwater creatures, and capture just how fragile their existence is at this point. [Click to watch]



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Viewing all 101983 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images