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Predator and Prey: Assault, harassment, and other aggressions in the entertainment industry


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6 hours ago, Blergh said:

I have no idea what said 'serious allegations' may be re Mr. Brand much less whether he's innocent or guilty in this particular case/s.

However, can anyone recall him respecting others' boundaries instead of attempting to overwhelm them under the guise of being supposedly witty and clever?

Nope. And color me “not surprised” by whatever is about to come out.

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His preemptively releasing a defense reminds me of in both She Said and Catch and Kill how the various reporters were all very concerned about what would happen once they approached Weinstein about the allegations, as they had to do before publishing. They assumed he would try to get ahead of the story, so there was a lot of strategizing of how they could minimize his ability to do that while still doing their due diligence. In any event, Brand suddenly announcing all this made me think "Oh another one trying to get ahead of the story." Brand always has given me the creeps. 

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14 hours ago, BetterButter said:

This is a still-breaking story, following a joint investigation by the Times, Sunday Times, and Channel 4's Dispatches, there is a big expose due to air tonight (UK) so we'll know more after that. The BBC has the available details here. Accusations of rape and sexual assault during the height of his career.

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I can't say I'm surprised. Brand has always been sketchy. Someone I know who is married to a comedian says that comedians have been warning each other not to be alone in a green room with him for years.

ETA It's quite funny, though, that he outed himself by posting a pre-emptive denial before the expose has even aired.

Edited by Llywela
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5 minutes ago, Llywela said:

I can't say I'm surprised. Brand has always been sketchy. Someone I know who is married to a comedian says that comedians have been warning each other not to be alone in a green room with him for years.

Yeah the article covers that a little bit. It seems in general there were a lot of people who were aware of him in many circles.

There's also a lot of coverage about how well known his behavior was among TV executives, to the point they seriously suggested just not having women work on his shows and they would, at times, hire lesbians or older women specifically because they thought he wouldn't be interested and would leave them alone. 

One of the victims was a teenager, and when she was bring driven to his house and the driver realized where she was going, he pleaded with her not to go in Brand's house and even offered to drive her home free of charge instead. 

 

Edited by Zella
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1 minute ago, Llywela said:

Doesn't it just say everything about the industry and the people running it that that was their preferred solution, instead of, you know...firing the known sexual predator. They continued to give him the platform and just tried to find workarounds to prevent him preying on more women, when what they should have done was take him off the air. Honestly.

Yep! Let's bend over backwards to keep this predator on set rather than just . . . not working with him. 

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Never forget that there's video of the late Barbara Walters chastising Corey Feldman on her show  for openly claiming abuse by other performers,execs,etc. capped off with her saying 'You're hurting an entire industry!' rather than expressing any revulsion at the possibility of minor performers having been abused!Face Palm No GIF by Ryn Dean

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Katie Perry will release a statement that she never saw him behave that way when they were together. And something about provocative comedians blah, blah, blah.

Getting back to Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for a moment, a number of people have pointed out that in all their apologies, none of them were directed to Masterson's victims. And here's where they admit they don't bathe their kids or themselves very often.

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17 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Katie Perry will release a statement that she never saw him behave that way when they were together. And something about provocative comedians blah, blah, blah.

You think so?  I dunno.  The dude texted her he wanted a divorce seconds before she was due to be on stage during a major concert.  She claims that she hasn't spoken to him since then,  Also, there is this part of an interview she had in Vogue in 2013:

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Processing their split took time, but she was eventually given information that offered something like solace — and could even be a hint at the allegations Brand now faces. Perry said, “I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day.”

 

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3 hours ago, Zella said:

One of the victims was a teenager, and when she was bring driven to his house and the driver realized where she was going, he pleaded with her not to go in Brand's house and even offered to drive her home free of charge instead. 

Woooooooooooooooow. 

I'd never heard any of the rumors about him on that level, but I do remember stories about him starting to spout off a lot of the insane conspiracy theory nonsense that's been popular in some corners in recent years. So him being a creepy weirdo in other ways doesn't sound all that surprising to me as a result. 

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1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

You think so?  I dunno.  The dude texted her he wanted a divorce seconds before she was due to be on stage during a major concert.  She claims that she hasn't spoken to him since then,  Also, there is this part of an interview she had in Vogue in 2013:

Yeah my impression is she absolutely loathes him. I was never a Perry fan, but the way he dumped her was incredibly callous and at the very least suggested he was a major asshole. I read an interview with her maybe a couple of years ago where she didn't have much to say about him but what little she did say/hint at was pretty pointed. 

45 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I do remember stories about him starting to spout off a lot of the insane conspiracy theory nonsense that's been popular in some corners in recent years. So him being a creepy weirdo in other ways doesn't sound all that surprising to me as a result. 

Yeah I hadn't realized he had reemerged as a wellness guru. I definitely remember when he seemed to be everywhere 10-15 years ago as an actor and comedian and personality--since I found him already annoying and garden-variety creepy, the fact he was inescapable made him even more obnoxious to me--and then I hadn't heard about him in a long time. After reading The Times article, that seems to coincide with him returning to the UK, so I suppose American media coverage of him was much less significant than it had been. But I just assumed that he was still a "comedian."

 

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3 hours ago, ABay said:

Brand was surprisingly entertaining on Great British Bake Off, so much so that I started thinking maybe I'd misjudged him. Go with you first instinct, I guess.

Remember: Hitler was a vegetarian and a dog lover!

Those two tiny credits don't even begin to counter the grosses of debits!

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13 hours ago, Blergh said:
16 hours ago, ABay said:

Brand was surprisingly entertaining on Great British Bake Off, so much so that I started thinking maybe I'd misjudged him. Go with you first instinct, I guess.

Remember: Hitler was a vegetarian and a dog lover!

Those two tiny credits don't even begin to counter the grosses of debits!

He was also probably smart enough to "read the room". Bake Off is a kinder, gentler kind of show. If he was trying to broaden his appeal, it would make sense to tone down is asshollery.

There have been moments I thought he wasn't too terrible, but overall, I find him mildly repulsive, so I'm sticking with the ick. Now, maybe the allegations against him are false, but given his personality, his history and my instincts I'm leaning towards them being true. 

I feel like his bringing it up points to him being afraid she has proof and he's trying to discredit her before she can present it. Of course I'm already biased against him based on his horrendous personality, so take it with a grain of salt. 

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11 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I feel like his bringing it up points to him being afraid she has proof and he's trying to discredit her before she can present it.

I read online that the show actually incorporated his preemptive strike video into the final moments, and combined with everything that had come before it accusation-wise, it made him look even worse. If so, well played, show, well played. And it ties in with what I commented yesterday about the Weinstein case. They assumed he'd do something when he was approached with the accusations and strategized accordingly. Sounds like these producers did the same thing and correctly guessed that he'd try to get ahead of the story in a similar way to what he did. 

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21 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Getting back to Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for a moment, a number of people have pointed out that in all their apologies, none of them were directed to Masterson's victims. And here's where they admit they don't bathe their kids or themselves very often.

I am curious about a few things. One, why Kutcher/Kunis are under fire but both Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith also wrote letters but they have not either apologized or there has not been as much backlash to those letters.

Second, I also wonder if these people who wrote letters added something along the lines of "we understand what Danny did was wrong and against the law but when we knew him 25 years ago...."  Would they have gotten as much backlash?

 

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2 minutes ago, greekmom said:

I am curious about a few things. One, why Kutcher/Kunis are under fire but both Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith also wrote letters but they have not either apologized or there has not been as much backlash to those letters.

From what I know neither of them co-founded an anti-child sex abuse organization (Ashton and Demi were co-founders) or sat on the board of one which Kunis did. That's part of what made the fact that Kutcher/Kunis wrote letters of support come under fire more.

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Exactly. That, and they're much more in the public eye on a regular basis and made a video responding to the backlash (that didn't really help).

But from what I've read online, people are pretty disappointed with the cast in general for this. 

34 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Second, I also wonder if these people who wrote letters added something along the lines of "we understand what Danny did was wrong and against the law but when we knew him 25 years ago...."  Would they have gotten as much backlash?

Good question. Like I said above, I do think the conversation might've gone a little differently if the focus was more on them trying to reconcile the guy they thought they knew with the guy who did such awful things, and trying to sort out their conflicted feelings in that regard.

But yeah, who knows for sure. 

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48 minutes ago, greekmom said:

I am curious about a few things. One, why Kutcher/Kunis are under fire but both Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith also wrote letters but they have not either apologized or there has not been as much backlash to those letters.

 

I think it's several factors. One being they're both much less high profile (though I'll admit to being more personally disappointed because I liked them better.) Kutcher positioning himself as an outspoken advocate regarding sex trafficking victims also makes his letter look much more hypocritical than anyone else involved. Kunis and Kutcher also didn't do themselves any favors with their very inept non-apooogy apology video. Smith and Rupp quietly not apologizing and not addressing it period is probably a better strategy in the long run if you want it to blow over more quickly. I think a not insignificant factor too is that this led to a revisiting of a lot of gross interviews with Kutcher where his friendship with Masterson and his own questionable behavior gets reexamined. Smith and Rupp's letters don't position themselves as remarkably close friends with Masterson so much as a coworker they liked and got along with, and considering their ages relative to his, I'd say it's fair to guess that they didn't hang out with him extensively after work, so they're not being identified as being part of his social circle in the same way that Kutcher and Kunis are but especially Kutcher and it's not unreasonable to assume he did behave better around coworkers old enough to be his parents.

Edited by Zella
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40 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Like I said above, I do think the conversation might've gone a little differently if the focus was more on them trying to reconcile the guy they thought they knew with the guy who did such awful things, and trying to sort out their conflicted feelings in that regard.

They're never going to say that while he's still claiming innocence and an intent to appeal.  How many of them actually believe he's innocent, I have no idea, of course, but, unfortunately, I think many of them do.

I was skimming a bit, but Rupp's was the only one I saw that even mildly strayed from the party line -- maybe.  She said, "I am aware that Danny is convicted of 2 counts of forceable rape and, though it is so hard for me to wrap my head around this, I respect the law and the court. I always have."  Is she having trouble wrapping her head around the fact he's a rapist, or does she think he didn't do it and she has trouble wrapping her head around the fact the jury convicted him?

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42 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Good question. Like I said above, I do think the conversation might've gone a little differently if the focus was more on them trying to reconcile the guy they thought they knew with the guy who did such awful things, and trying to sort out their conflicted feelings in that regard.

I have a feeling they knew what kind of guy he was, what he did, but willfully ignored it because he was good to them. I mean, they knew he dared Ashton to stick his tongue in Mila's underaged mouth without concern for if she'd want that, so they knew he wasn't exactly clear on boundaries and consent. That they both think it's a cute anecdote and actually ended up together makes me think they are also not entirely clear on boundaries and consent either. 

As to Kurtwood and Debra, they knew him in a very different way. I seriously doubt they "hung out" with the younger crowd after filming ended, they likely weren't at parties where Danny showed his true colors. I think they might actually believe he wasn't as terrible because they didn't see it. They are still dicks for defending him when they don't know what he was really like, but not quite as dickish as his actual friends, who did see what he was really like and still think he was a great guy. 

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59 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I was skimming a bit, but Rupp's was the only one I saw that even mildly strayed from the party line -- maybe.  She said, "I am aware that Danny is convicted of 2 counts of forceable rape and, though it is so hard for me to wrap my head around this, I respect the law and the court. I always have."  Is she having trouble wrapping her head around the fact he's a rapist, or does she think he didn't do it and she has trouble wrapping her head around the fact the jury convicted him?

I noticed that too. She seems to think aloud as she writes, and there's almost a stream-of-consciousness quality to her letter, where she just randomly changes the subject without transitions or paragraphing. 

Smith's letter also directly talks about not really socializing with him and says he rarely saw Masterson in the decade after That 70s Show wrapped. 

57 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

As to Kurtwood and Debra, they knew him in a very different way. I seriously doubt they "hung out" with the younger crowd after filming ended, they likely weren't at parties where Danny showed his true colors. I think they might actually believe he wasn't as terrible because they didn't see it. They are still dicks for defending him when they don't know what he was really like, but not quite as dickish as his actual friends, who did see what he was really like and still think he was a great guy. 

I meant to say this in my original comment and got distracted. Like you, I think it's quite likely they never saw that side of him in the same way his friends did. But I have wondered, after reading about how Masterson treated Topher Grace on set, if they ever witnessed the bullying he endured on set from Masterson. Perhaps that did largely occur away from the "adults" on set as well. But I'd suspect after working together day to day for several years that at the very least, there was maybe an awkward vibe on set that would be hard to ignore. I've certainly had jobs and coworkers like that. You don't quite know the backstory but you definitely know those two don't like each other.  

Edited by Zella
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Just BTW:

Quote

After multiple delays, Jonathan Majors’ misdemeanor assault case has its next key hearing set for Oct. 25 in New York.

During a Friday hearing, Judge Michael Gaffey decided on the Oct. 25 date after hearing from Priya Chaudhry and Seth Zuckermann, Majors’ attorneys, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. On Sept. 12, Majors’ team had filed a motion to dismiss the case, to which the D.A.’s office must respond by Oct. 6. The defense then must reply by Oct. 13. The judge confirmed that Majors can appear virtually at the next hearing, but he must attend in-person once the trial begins.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/jonathan-majors-trial-hearing-1235724165/

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6 hours ago, Zella said:

Sounds like these producers did the same thing and correctly guessed that he'd try to get ahead of the story in a similar way to what he did. 

Jian Ghomeshi did the same thing before his own allegations came to light and saw him get charged. Ghomeshi wound up winning his case because he had a very good lawyer. I wonder if Russel Brand hired Marie Henein too.

3 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

That they both think it's a cute anecdote and actually ended up together makes me think they are also not entirely clear on boundaries and consent either. 

I think for Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, it's a cute anecdote. They got married, after all, and they're still married. Kunis could not have been that troubled by what happened and, in the 1990s, something like that wouldn't have seemed so bad. The interview itself, with Rosie O'Donnell, happened in 2002, well before #MeToo changed our perception of such things.

I can only hope that, now, Kutcher understands that he was lucky the incident could have been much worse for him with a different woman. I would also hope that, now, Kutcher wouldn't think of doing something like that now if he was in the same situation. Bad as he was back then, as far as we know Kutcher didn't do anything as bad as Danny Masterson did, so at some point Kutcher should have some benefit of the doubt for simply being "young and stupid".

5 hours ago, greekmom said:

Second, I also wonder if these people who wrote letters added something along the lines of "we understand what Danny did was wrong and against the law but when we knew him 25 years ago...."  Would they have gotten as much backlash?

Or if any of them had said, "the Danny that did those acts then isn't the same person now- he's grown since then". I can only speculate that, perhaps, legalities prevent the letter writers from saying, directly, that Masterson committed the rapes, but it does bother me that none of the letters so much as even hint at possible remorse by Masterson for what he had done in the past.

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An old interview with Dannii Minogue has now resurfaced:

Russell Brand branded 'vile predator' in resurfaced Dannii Minogue interview

 

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Speaking with the Mirror at the time, at the Michele Watches launch party in London, Minogue remarked: "He is completely crazy and a bit of a vile predator. I certainly don't think he has cured his sex addiction, that's for sure. He wouldn't take no for an answer. [...] He always goes that step too far. Never quite far enough to slap his face, but usually too far.

 

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46 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Somebody probably told her if she was still married to Masterson, she'd be on the hook for any civil damages.

There's a hearing for a civil trial next week, so that was my thought too. 

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2 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Somebody probably told her if she was still married to Masterson, she'd be on the hook for any civil damages.

Regardless of whether Miss Phillips's MO for filing was due to  a better-late-than-never jolt of revulsion for his crimes and wanting to protect their daughter OR wanting to CHA her own $$ from getting tied with her legal spouse re the civil suits, I can't help but wonder if her brother-in-law Billy Baldwin may now be seeking out a self-kicking machine for having stuck his own neck (and trashing his own rep) for his participation re letterbombing the criminal judge on Mr. Masterson's behalf!

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Given the short turnaround between her "he's a great husband and father, so please give him a lesser sentence" letter and her wailing at the sentencing hearing when the judge wasn't moved and this petition for divorce, yeah, this is about financial separation, not a repudiation of him.

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1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Given the short turnaround between her "he's a great husband and father, so please give him a lesser sentence" letter and her wailing at the sentencing hearing when the judge wasn't moved and this petition for divorce, yeah, this is about financial separation, not a repudiation of him.

Her attorney when talking to TMZ about it even acknowledged she still considers him a wonderful spouse and parent. Nowhere in her lawyer's statement on her behalf does she concede that she thinks that Masterson did anything wrong. 

What I found most interesting, though our lawyers on here will know more about whether it is actually significant, is she lists her separation date from him as TBD, even though he's apparently been in jail since he was found guilty a few months ago. 

Edited by Zella
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On 9/20/2023 at 1:31 AM, Zella said:

Her attorney when talking to TMZ about it even acknowledged she still considers him a wonderful spouse and parent. Nowhere in her lawyer's statement on her behalf does she concede that she thinks that Masterson did anything wrong. 

What I found most interesting, though our lawyers on here will know more about whether it is actually significant, is she lists her separation date from him as TBD, even though he's apparently been in jail since he was found guilty a few months ago. 

Interesting points. However, I wonder if it may be possible that Miss Phillips HAS woken up and smelt the toxicity but is trying to keep the split as acrimony-free as  possible via publicly claiming him to be  perfect to keep all Mr. Masterson's cronies,etc. from dogpiling on her until the split's official (and she's got X $$$ in hand)?

Remember, he evidently went so far as have an accuser's preteen daughter taunted and harassed in her own school!

Not that Miss Phillips has been any prize herself thusfar but for the sake of her own preteen daughter, I hope she's finally attempting to act in her   actual best interests!

Edited by Blergh
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4 hours ago, stonehaven said:

I do also wonder if her praising Masterson through the lawyer is trying to keep the COS at bay from any retaliation they might try against her. She may be quietly removing her and her daughter from their clutches. 

I’d like to believe that for her daughter’s sake but Bijou isn’t any better that Masterson. There was her publicly calling her sister a liar and bullying accusations including her choking Heather Matarrazo. I think it’s far more likely she is praising him because it is how she feels. 

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32 minutes ago, Dani said:

I’d like to believe that for her daughter’s sake but Bijou isn’t any better that Masterson. There was her publicly calling her sister a liar and bullying accusations including her choking Heather Matarrazo. I think it’s far more likely she is praising him because it is how she feels. 

Yeah there are some really crazy violent stories about her on set. I could be wrong, but I suspect she was the girlfriend Danny Masterson married for a reason. It wouldn't surprise me if she was aware of his proclivities long before the trial and simply doesn't care. 

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1 minute ago, ABay said:

What an asshole. He gave me creep vibes when he was on Lewis.

Same.  It was one of those "I do not like thee Dr. Fell, the reason why I cannot tell" kind of things and then he went full on misogynist and blew his career out of the water and I realized I was right to think he was a jerk.  This though is a new low, even for him.  And ugh, him and Wooton, two more men who can only talk about women in terms of whether they're "shaggable" and who actually seem to have deluded themselves in to believing that all any woman cares about is whether he would sleep with her.   

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Sad to see what happened on the sets of the classics, especially the older ones when times (and standards) were different.

The story of the people who played Romeo and Juliet, though, sounds more depressing than the Shakespearean play itself. They've been taken advantage of their entire lives, and it seems like they're being taken advantage of again. I do hope one day there's justice for Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, because their lives don't deserve to be a tragedy.

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On 9/27/2023 at 11:48 AM, ABay said:

What an asshole. He gave me creep vibes when he was on Lewis.

Laurence Fox says he and Dan Wootton will be fired from the station tomorrow

He finally apologized, sort of, but he can't even apologize without sounding like a creep.

Quote

He issued an apology to Ava Evans, admitting he had been “demeaning” towards her – but in a rambling 15-minute video tirade on social media he tried to justify his attitude, saying he had been “cack-handed” but stood by the sentiment he had expressed.

 

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8 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

They've been taken advantage of their entire lives, and it seems like they're being taken advantage of again.

Boy howdy.  At least Solomon Gresen (the lawyer who completely bungled the filing of their lawsuit) is no longer involved, but opportunistic Tony Marinozzi is still coming up with ideas - and a circle of wackadoodles to implement them - and will wind up being another on Hussey's long list of people who turn out not to be trustworthy.

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