Russell Simmons Denies Nonconsensual Encounters Russell Simmons’ sexual misconduct woes were highlighted by the New York Times in a new article detailing the stories of three women who allege that Russell raped them while either working for or with Russell at various times in the late 80’s and the 90’s. In the article, a singer named Tina B., a music journalist named Toni Sallie, and a former Def Jam executive named Drew Dixon all describe in detail the incidents at which Russell pinned them down and/or attacked them to force them into intercourse. Despite his track record for dating and “partying” with teenage girls , the fact that allegations such as these have been following him for at least the last 16 years , and his good buddy Brett Ratner — whom was rumored to have teamed up on women with — has also been outed as an abuser …Russell says it’s all a bunch of bull and he has never forced himself on any woman or young girl who didn’t want him. I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual… I have already apologized for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations. I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction. I have re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working on behalf of the communities to which I have devoted my life. I have accepted that I can and should get dirt on my sleeves if it means witnessing the birth of a new consciousness about women. What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done. So, essentially Russell claims every single woman claiming misconduct or rape is a bold face liar. Hmmm…what do you think? Getty Iamges
Russell Simmons Denies Nonconsensual Encounters Russell Simmons’ sexual misconduct woes were highlighted by the New York Times in a new article detailing the stories of three women who allege that Russell raped them while either working for or with Russell at various times in the late 80’s and the 90’s. In the article, a singer named Tina B., a music journalist named Toni Sallie, and a former Def Jam executive named Drew Dixon all describe in detail the incidents at which Russell pinned them down and/or attacked them to force them into intercourse. Despite his track record for dating and “partying” with teenage girls , the fact that allegations such as these have been following him for at least the last 16 years , and his good buddy Brett Ratner — whom was rumored to have teamed up on women with — has also been outed as an abuser …Russell says it’s all a bunch of bull and he has never forced himself on any woman or young girl who didn’t want him. I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual… I have already apologized for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations. I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction. I have re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working on behalf of the communities to which I have devoted my life. I have accepted that I can and should get dirt on my sleeves if it means witnessing the birth of a new consciousness about women. What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done. So, essentially Russell claims every single woman claiming misconduct or rape is a bold face liar. Hmmm…what do you think? Getty Iamges
Kevin Mazur/VF13/WireImage Here we go again… Russell Simmons & Brett Ratner Face Assault Allegations Well, this is disturbing. After a report surfaced claiming that Brett Ratner and Russell Simmons were investigated for sexual battery in 2001, a new story about the powerful duo has surfaced. Russell Simmons is facing sexual assault allegations from a woman who claims he did so while she was underage. The L.A. Times published a story today featuring model Keri Claussen Khaligi who alleges that Simmons “yanked off her clothes” when she was 17 as his friend Brett Ratner watched. Khaligi also told the publication that she pleaded with Ratner for help, but was ignored and later was raped in the shower by Simmons. “Ratner was an up-and-coming music video director and a protege of Simmons, the Def Jam Recordings mogul. They took Khalighi to dinner one night in 1991 at Mr. Chow in New York, and then back to Simmons’ apartment to show her a music video they’d been working on. Quickly, Simmons began making aggressive sexual advances, yanking off her clothes, Khalighi said. “I looked over at Brett and said ‘help me’ and I’ll never forget the look on his face,” she recalled. “In that moment, the realization fell on me that they were in it together.” Khalighi said that Simmons, who was then about twice her age, tried to force her to have intercourse. “I fought it wildly,” she said. He eventually relented and coerced her to perform oral sex, she alleged. “I guess I just acquiesced.” Ratner, meanwhile, “just sat there and watched,” she said. Feeling “disgusting,” Khalighi said she went to take a shower. Minutes later, she alleged, Simmons walked up behind her in the shower and briefly penetrated her without her consent. She said she jerked away, then he left. “It hurt so much.” WOWWWWW. Simmons has since responded and he’s strongly disputing her account and claiming that everything that occurred between them was with “full consent and participation.” (So he’s admitting to sex with a 17-year-old?) He’s also disputing the account of another woman, Tanya Reid, who claims that in 1994 Ratner and Simmons harassed her while she worked at a South Beach hotel. Reid told The Times that Simmons called the front desk and told her that he wanted Ratner to “hold her down” so he could perform oral sex on her. Later she claims that she acquiesced to oral sex with Ratner after he allegedly exposed himself and pushed her head down. “I mean no disrespect to her when I say I do not recall a conversation with a hotel front desk clerk over a quarter of a century ago,” said Simmons in his statement. Statement of Russell Simmons in Response to LA Times Article. pic.twitter.com/iwT7Wy3SoY — Russell Simmons (@UncleRUSH) November 19, 2017 His pal Ratner is disputing the accounts of four other women who accused him of sexual misconduct and the claims of six others including Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. In addition to being called out by women accusing him of harassment, a Hollywood actor is blasting Russell Simmons for comments he made on their alleged assault via email. WENN Hit the flip.
Russell Simmons Was Investigated For Sexual Battery In 2001 And yet another one … Now that all of the sexual skeletons are falling out of producer Brett Ratner’s closet , a few are tiptoeing out of other industry heavy hitters that associate with him. And newly public info is now revealing that Russell Simmons was also accused of sexual misconduct, alongside Ratner, over 15 years ago. According to Variety , The Beverly Hills PD investigated Brett Ratner and Russell Simmons in connection with a sexual battery claim back in 2001. The victim, still unidentified, was a then-29-year-old woman. She filed a report at the police station on November 3 at 4:45 am, claiming that both Ratner and Simmons had held her against her will at Ratner’s home and both touched her without her consent. She said the incident occurred between 2 and 3 am that same morning. Prosecutors ultimately declined to press charges in the case, due to insufficient evidence. Russell Simmons responded to the story going public, stating that the allegations simply weren’t true, but he backs up the current movement of women exposing their truths: “This is an important and critical time for the empowerment of women and men who have been harassed. I have been a public figure for all of my adult life. And when you are in that arena over decades, you can find yourself in a position where you are vulnerable and susceptible to claims that are untrue.” Yikes. Well, it seems to all be water under the bridge now…but these days you never know exactly who’s next when it comes to harassment allegations. Getty/WENN
There’s no script, no budget and no confirmed Charles Grodin to complement the “buddy” part of the “buddy comedy” formula that worked so well 24 years ago, but that’s not stopping the zeitgeist from panicking over the current state of Midnight Run 2 . To wit, Brett Ratner is now linked up as the director. Like we’ve never heard that before . Everybody calm down! Not that it doesn’t get somewhat worse, as Mike Fleming reports at Deadline: The studio and [De Niro’s production company] Tribeca put the wheels in motion on the sequel early last year, when they hired Tim Dowling to write a draft. [David] Elliot & [Paul] Lovett, who were writers on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra , and are working on the sequel to Four Brothers (which they also scripted) will continue the storyline of Walsh, the ex-Chicago cop who, when last seen, set free the turncoat mob accountant The Duke at LAX and walked away with a wad of cash he’d use to open a coffee shop. So, yeah: Still early. Anyway, to recap, De Niro played bounty hunter Walsh and Grodin played Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas in the 1988 film, which was written with such profane, caustic fervor by George Gallo and directed by Martin Brest in his follow-up to Beverly Hills Cop . All of which raises a few questions: Would the retired Grodin reprise his role? (He’s said he’s open to it, but he’s also 77 next month and doesn’t exactly need the paycheck.) What is it with Ratner wanting sequels to Brest classics? (If it’s not Beverly Hills Cop 4 , then it’s Midnight Run 2 . Just give him Son of Gigli already and let’s be done with it!) And can Elliot and Lovett find a place for Yaphet Kotto to return as well? Because there is no Midnight Run 2 without perpetually vexed FBI agent Alonso Mosley delivering some serious comeuppance. [ Deadline ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
You’ve been hearing about it for years , and at last, the fabled Hugh Hefner biopic that will never get made has moved from Universal to Warner Bros. The one and only Jerry Weintraub will produce, at least until he won’t. “While Universal had filmmakers like Brett Ratner attached at one time or another and actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Hugh Jackman mentioned as possibles to play Hef, the project languished,” Mike Fleming writes at ML’s sister site Deadline. “Wentraub would not disclose what part of Hefner’s life he will cover, and he denied that Harry Potter scribe Steve Kloves is being talked to as a potential screenwriter.” Finally! We’re getting somewhere. [ Deadline ]
“When he stepped down as Oscar producer in November over the use of an anti-gay slur , Brett Ratner committed to work with GLAAD on issues pertaining to LGBT images in Hollywood. Now the media advocacy group announced a new video campaign, which will be produced and directed by Brett Ratner. The upcoming video series will feature Hollywood celebrities, athletes, musicians and politicians ‘coming out of the closet’ as supporters of equality.” I’ll Brett you’re GLAAD that’s settled, amirite ? Sigh. [ Deadline ]
John Mellencamp: It’s About You isn’t really about you, or me, or even about John Mellencamp, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who has built an enduring career with his eminently likable, real-person stage demeanor and his songs’ connection with the way regular people live. It’s About You is quite possibly mostly about the filmmaker, Kurt Markus, a commercial photographer who has shot portraits for publications including Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and GQ , as well as ad campaigns for the likes of BMW and Armani. But that’s surprisingly OK: Mellencamp invited Markus and his son, Ian, to tag along, video camera in tow, to record his summer 2009 concert tour and to eavesdrop, visually and otherwise, on recording sessions for his 2010 album No Better Than This . Mellencamp even told Markus at the outset, somewhat cryptically, that the movie should be about Markus. And so It’s About You — whatever the heck it’s actually about – is in the end a kind of visual journal, a photographer’s way of seeing and responding to what’s around him. Those events and moments and glancing touches might include a group of musicians huddled around a single microphone in Memphis’s hallowed Sun Studios, or the flash of producer extraordinaire T. Bone Burnett’s cuff-links during another session, held in the same room where Robert Johnson cut a potent handful of songs in 1936. Markus accompanies the visuals with a voice-over narration that’s sometimes grating and other times startling in its perceptions. The result is a kind of homespun video scrapbook, bumpy seams and glue splotches and all; it’s flawed, but at least it feels handmade and human. Mellencamp could have faded away when he was still John Cougar Mellencamp, in the late 1980s, but somehow he’s managed to thrive as a modern rock’n’roll troubadour, standing tall and sturdy even alongside more massive luminaries like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. His low-key manner, as it’s revealed in It’s About You , is probably part of the key to his longevity: Even when he’s singing about boarded-up houses and busted American dreams, he never comes off as haranguing or overly morose – there’s always a glimmer of cautious optimism in his eyes. Markus captures that gleam both in the performance footage and in the more spontaneous recording sessions. Some of these sessions took place at the First African Baptist Church, in Savannah, Ga., which Markus tells us is the oldest black church in America. He also tells us about – though doesn’t show us – the bullet-size holes in the church’s floor, used to provide ventilation for the runaway slaves who were once harbored there. And we see Mellencamp and his then-wife, Elaine (the two have since split), donning white robes before they’re dunked in the church’s baptismal pool. There’s a kind of offhanded grace in the image. It’s not that Mellencamp and his wife aren’t taking the moment seriously; it just seems to be more of a piece with everyday living rather than some monumental event. This isn’t, strictly speaking, a concert film, and at one point Markus half-apologizes for not having a sound person along: He wanted to keep the whole thing as intimate as possible, and for that reason, he even refuses to set foot on Mellencamp’s tour bus. He states that he believes some moments, even on tour, should be kept private. But the real intimacy of It’s About You comes through in Markus’s footage of faded, semi-deserted Midwestern downtown streets, with their battered storefronts and rusty signage. Markus narrates some of this footage in a sort of numbed monotone. And just when you might be wishing that he’d shut up and let the images speak for themselves, he comes out with something that stops you cold. “These empty shells of better days are the biggest attraction America has going for it,” he says at one point, meaning that they’re visions of something truly American that persist even in the face of economic hardship and decay. His camera shows us deserted drive-thru restaurants and shuttered shops in sections of San Antonio, and he remarks that it’s as if a plague had wiped out a whole population, suddenly and thoroughly. “It’s a Texas Pompeii,” he says, observing how sadly beautiful it all is. As captured by Markus, Mellencamp, now 60, is looking a little weatherbeaten himself, but in a handsome, vital way — he shows no sign of going the way of those sad, forgotten downtowns. Still, they’re a big part of what he’s all about. Because, in the end, it really isn’t about him. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
ABC released a cutesy trailer for the 2012 Academy Awards telecast that speaks loads to the youthful new direction the show’s makers were going in when they brought Brett Ratner aboard, before his untimely exit ; in a slick parody of globe-trotting Hollywood fare, two heroes are tasked with tracking down wizened Billy Crystal for hosting duties on the Big Night. Those heroes? None other than Transformers castmates Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox, because of course. Nothing says current like the girl who was the hottest thing on earth three years ago! Watch the trailer and see if it entices you with its “Hey kids, check us out!” hip comedy stylings. The trailer even comes courtesy of Funny Or Die, it’s so plugged in! And hey, isn’t that Vinnie Jones as a mysterious bartender with inside intel? And Bill Fichtner as Oscarcast producer Brian Grazer? (At least that much makes sense.) And, well, Robin Williams as a Himalayan ferryman? (That cameo actually just makes me sad that he’s not hosting or co-hosting with Crystal.) See, the Oscars are for everybody! This milquetoast-but-four-quadrant trailer proves it! Verdict: The 84th Academy Awards will be televised live on Feb. 26 at 4p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET, and from the looks of it we’ll be in for a loooong night.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the poster for the 84th Academy Awards, and it’s… nice? I mean, Oscar looks sexy as ever, and all those foggy images of awards-night glories past recall both the champagne-fueled afterparties and the preponderance of white folks who take this hardware home every year. But isn’t something missing? Like, the host? After all that hullabaloo about Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy that the Academy worked to deflect, and after all the lengths that the Board of Governors went to just to replace Murphy with an ultrasafe, ultrastable emcee, and after years of advertising hosts from Chris Rock to Jon Stewart to Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin to Anne Hathaway and Anne Franco, where is Billy Crystal? If I’m a casual viewer, I’m far likelier to take positive notice of the host than of the centrally positioned reminder that Driving Miss Daisy actually won Best Picture once upon a sad, sad time. Also: Can’t we get some more color in here? Sidney Poitier? Denzel Washington? Mo’Nique? If it has to be Best Picture alums, maybe Poitier and Rod Steiger from In the Heat of the Night ? Even Anthony Mackie and Jeremy Renner from The Hurt Locker . I’m not sure what this says about the young demographic that the aging Academy claims to covet; I doubt they’re watching Giant and/or The Sound of Music . Or maybe they are! Are you “young” and obsessive-compulsively watching Gone With the Wind on a DVD loop in honor of white, uptight, vaunted Academy legacies? Tell us in the comments! [via Awards Daily ]
