Celebrity
Michael Jackson’s Employees Were Not Legally Obligated To Prevent Sex Abuse, Lawyer Argues In Court
LA – According to an attorney testifying before an appeals court on Wednesday, employees at companies controlled by Michael Jackson were not required by law to shield youngsters from the pop icon.
Jonathan Steinsapir, an attorney for the Michael Jackson estate, disputed a potential ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in California, which indicated that it was inclined to reinstate cases that had previously been dismissed involving two men who claim that Jackson sexually assaulted them for years when they were boys.
According to Steinsapir, the court’s rationale “would require low-level employees to confront their supervisor and call them paedophiles.”
According to Holly Boyer, the plaintiff’s Wade Robson and James Safechuck, should be held accountable for that duty.
Boyer informed the three judges in the videoconference session that “we do require that employees of the entity take those steps because what we are talking about is the sexual abuse of children.” We’re dealing with kids who are 7 and 10 years old and completely unprepared to defend themselves against their guru, Michael Jackson.
Boyer continued, “The defendant’s staff left the lads alone in this lion’s lair. The obligation to safeguard and warn is explicit.
Jackson passed away in 2009. Safechuck sued in 2014 after Robson had sued in 2013. After sharing their tales in the 2019 HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland, ” the two men gained additional notoriety.”
Employees at companies controlled by Michael Jackson were not required by law to shield youngsters from the pop icon.
The lawsuits were rejected in 2021 by a court that determined that Jackson’s two firms, MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc., of which he was the only shareholder and owner, could not be expected to operate similarly to the Boy Scouts or a church where a child in their care could expect their protection.
According to Steinsapir, evidence in the untried cases demonstrated that the parents did not expect Jackson’s staff to serve as monitors. He claimed that a deposition from Robson’s mother revealed that, when she initially brought her 7-year-old son into the pop star’s presence, she was completely unaware of the existence of the businesses.
They didn’t seek protection against Michael Jackson from the companies, according to Steinsapir.
Steinsapir said it was illogical for the corporations to be accused of careless hiring since they were hiring in the complaint and the court’s potential ruling.
“Anyone who might have a propensity for crime has a duty not to hire himself?” said Steinsapir.
Steinsapir frequently referred to the men’s claims as unsubstantiated and inaccurate, even though the hearing only addressed the legal requirements of businesses rather than the veracity of their claims.
When Jackson was 5 years old, Robson, a choreographer now in his 40s, first met him. He later made three Michael Jackson music video appearances.
Jackson allegedly raped him for seven years, according to his lawsuit.
When Safechuck, now 45, met Jackson while filming a Pepsi commercial, he was 9 years old, according to what he said in his suit. He said Jackson pampered him with gifts and frequent phone calls before engaging in sexual assaults.
The Associated Press normally does not identify anyone who claims to have been sexually abused. However, Robson and Safechuck have spoken out and given their consent for the publication of their names.
The men’s cases have already recovered from a 2017 dismissal that occurred because the statute of limitations had passed. The appeals court reinstated them due to a new California statute that temporarily enlarged the scope of sexual assault prosecutions. 2015 saw the dismissal of Jackson’s estate or the assets he left behind as a defendant.
The Michael Jackson estate has vehemently and repeatedly disputed that he molested any of the boys and has emphasized that both Safechuck and Robson testified to authorities that they had not been mistreated during Jackson’s 2005 criminal trial, in which Jackson was found not guilty.
Three judges heard the matter on Wednesday, but no decision was reached right away.
It “seems to me that these corporations were in an excellent position to prevent these injuries,” said Justice John Wiley. Wiley suggested they might have demanded that a chaperone be there for the kids.
Steinsapir responded, “Could my law firm tell me who I’m allowed to be with in my own home?” Steinsapir emphasized that the claimed molestation incidents occurred in Jackson’s home, not at work.
Attorney Boyer for the plaintiffs replied, “Michael Jackson’s workers staffed these houses. They established policies and procedures that allowed Jackson to be alone with these kids.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Jason Kelce Smashes Football Fan’s Phone
Retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce destroyed a Penn State football fan’s phone after the alleged heckler called his brother, Travis Kelce, a fag.
In now-viral footage published on X (previously Twitter) on Saturday, Nov. 2, the retired Philadelphia Eagles great was seen accompanied by football fans outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for the Penn State-Ohio State game.
As the individual capturing the tape lifted a fist to Jason, 36, and called his name for a fist bump, another man nearby hurled the homophobic slur at the retired Philadelphia Eagles star.
Hey, Kelce. How does it feel that your brother is a queer dating Taylor Swift?” the man questioned, referring to Travis, 34, who has been seeing Swift since 2023. Jason turned around seconds later, snatched the man’s phone, and crushed it to the ground.
“Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason,” the original X user who submitted the video remarked. “Wild scene in State College.”
“Kelce how does it feel that your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason Kelce proceeded to slam this kids phone on the ground.
Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason. Wild scene in State College pic.twitter.com/3PEdZXWhSg
— Chives (@jarrett_daveler) November 2, 2024
Additional footage on X shows Jason smashing the phone on asphalt before picking it up and walking away. The phone’s owner, wearing a Penn State hoodie at the time of the incident, was shown in many videos strolling closely behind Jason and recording him before the conflict occurred.
Another footage published on X, which appears to have been filmed after Jason shattered the man’s phone, showed the hooded Penn State supporter trudging through a mob to pick up his phone off the ground.
“Give me my phone, bro,” he seemed to say to Jason.
The NFL alum seized the gadget first, then stood in front of the man and asked, “Who’s the fag now?” Others appeared to interfere.
The incident occurred while Jason was at Beaver Stadium for an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay. The Ohio State Buckeyes won Saturday’s game 20-13 over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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Celebrity
Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
Shaun White, the Olympic snowboarding champion, already has an impressive medal tally, but his surprise proposal to Nina Dobrev deserves a gold medal.
On Wednesday, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. Dobrev posted photographs of the two hugging under an arch of white roses and showing off her five-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring.
“RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé,” Dobrev said in the caption.
However, the photographs only tell half the tale, as Shaun devised an elaborate plan to surprise Dobrev with his proposal.
Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
According to a Vogue interview published Wednesday, Shaun said he assembled a team of people from the couple’s inner circle and Vogue personnel to trick Dobrev into thinking she had been invited to an intimate dinner party with Anna Wintour.
Dobrev accepted the invitation, joking that Shaun made it “look so legitimate.”
He even asked Dobrev’s stylist to outfit her in Chanel for the event.
Dobrev said she recognized what was happening when she entered the venue and saw White standing beneath the flowery arch.
Shaun’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
“I went into shock,” Dobrev admitted, later adding that White “said all the right things” before she agreed.
According to the publication, after Shaun proposed, the couple partied into the early morning hours with close friends and relatives.
“Best night of my life,” Shaun captioned his Instagram story on Wednesday.
The duo first became romantically involved in 2020, and they have since publicly recorded their relationship, globe vacations, and White’s Olympic farewell on social media.
SOURCE | CNN
Celebrity
Hollywood Actress Teri Garr Passes Away at 79
Hollywood actress Teri Garr, known for her roles in classics like “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has passed away at 79. She died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” said publicist Heidi Schaeffer.
Admirers took to social media in her honor, with writer-director Paul Feig calling her “truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.”
Throughout her career, the performer, often known as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann, seemed destined for show business from a young age.
Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comic, and her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dancing classes at six and was performing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies by age fourteen.
She was 16 years old when she joined the road crew of “West Side Story” in Los Angeles, and she began starring in small roles in films as early as 1963.
In an interview from 1988, she described how she landed the role in “West Side Story.” After being rejected at her initial audition, she returned the following day dressed differently and was accepted.
Teri Garr, a comedian
Teri Garr then found steady work as a movie dancer, appearing in the chorus of nine Elvis Presley films, including “Viva Las Vegas,” “Roustabout,” and “Clambake.”
She has also appeared on various television shows, including “Star Trek,” “Dr. Kildare,” and “Batman,” and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show “Shindig,” the rock concert performance “T.A.M.I.,” and a cast member of “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
Her breakthrough role was as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 thriller The Conversation. This led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who offered her the Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant role in Young Frankenstein if she could speak with a German accent.
“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once said.
The film established her as a great comic performer, with New Yorker film writer Pauline Kael calling her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on screen.”
Her big smile and off-center appeal helped her land roles in “Oh, God!” with George Burns and John Denver, “Mr. Mom” (as Michael Keaton’s wife), and “Tootsie,” in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and discovers he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career.
A gift for spontaneous humor
Teri Garr, best known for comedy, has shown in films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion, and The Escape Artist that she can also tackle drama.
She had a gift for spontaneous humor, frequently playing David Letterman’s foil during early guest appearances on N.B.C.’s “Late Night With David Letterman”.
Her appearances grew so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing that rumors of romantic involvement circulated for a while. Years later, Letterman acknowledged those early appearances with helping the program become a success.
During those years, Garr began to experience “a little beeping or ticking” in her right leg. It started in 1983 and expanded to her right arm, but she thought she could handle it. By 1999, her symptoms had gotten so bad that she saw a doctor and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
After disclosing her diagnosis, Garr became a spokesman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, giving hilarious remarks at events in the United States and Canada.
Source: AP
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