Celebrity
R. Kelly To Learn If He Effectively Gets ‘Life’ Sentence until 2066
CHICAGO, Ill. — R. Kelly will find out whether he will spend the rest of his life in prison when a federal judge sentences him on child pornography and enticement of minors for sex on Thursday.
Prosecutors have asked the judge presiding over Kelly’s sentencing hearing in Chicago to order him to serve a 25-year sentence only after completing a 30-year sentence imposed in New York last year for racketeering and sex trafficking.
This would make the Grammy Awards winner, 56, eligible for release in 2066, a year before his 100th birthday. The defense seeks a sentence of around ten years to be served concurrently.
If Kelly is allowed to serve his new sentence and his New York sentence at the same time, he should be able to get out of prison around the age of 80. This gives him some hope that he will be able to go back to his life outside of prison.
Leinenweber stated at the start of the hearing that he did not believe Kelly used fear to entice underage girls for sex.
“The (government’s) entire grooming theory was sort of the inverse of fear of bodily harm,” the judge explained. “It was the fear of lost love, lost affection” (Kelly). … It just doesn’t seem to me to rise to the level of fear of bodily harm.”
Prosecutors argue that Kelly’s crimes against children and his lack of remorse justify the harsher sentence.
At the start of the hearing, a calm Kelly gave a brief statement when the judge asked if he had reviewed key presentencing documents for any inaccuracies.
“Your honor, I have discussed it with my attorney,” Kelly explained. “I’m going to rely on my attorney for that.”
Kelly’s accusers asked the judge to punish him severely.
In a statement read aloud in court, a woman who testified under the alias “Jane” said she had given up on her childhood dreams of becoming a singer and her hopes for fulfilling relationships.
“Robert Kelly has stolen my dreams,” the statement said. “I’ll never be able to make up for what I lost to Robert Kelly. “Robert has left a permanent scar on me.”
During Kelly’s trial, she was a key witness for prosecutors, and four of his convictions are linked to her.
Prosecutors seek an additional 25 years in prison for R Kelly.
Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Thursday to sentence singer R. Kelly to an additional 25 years in prison for his child pornography and enticement convictions in Chicago last year, which would be in addition to the 30 years he has already served in a New York case.
“When a pedophile takes your virginity at the age of 14… your life is never your own,” Jane wrote in her statement.
Another accuser, who went by the alias “Nia,” appeared in court and addressed Kelly directly. Nia stated, her voice quivering, that Kelly would repeatedly pick at her supposed flaws while abusing her.
“Now you’re here… because something is wrong with you,” she explained. “You will no longer be able to harm children.”
Kelly was convicted last year on six of thirteen counts by a Chicago jury: three counts of producing child porn and three counts of enticing minors for sex.
Kelly rose from obscurity in Chicago to become one of the world’s most famous R&B artists. Known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and sex-infused songs like “Bump n’ Grind,” he sold millions of albums even after allegations of sexual abuse against him surfaced in the 1990s.
Prosecutors described Kelly as a “serial sexual predator” who used his celebrity and wealth to entice, sexually abuse, and discard star-struck fans.
US Assistant Attorney Jeannice Appenteng urged the judge on Thursday to sentence Kelly to prison “for the rest of his life.”
She claimed that Kelly’s child abuse was made worse because he “memorialized” it
She claimed that Kelly’s child abuse was made worse because he “memorialized” it by filming victims, including Jane. She testified in court that Kelly “used Jane as a sex prop, a thing” for making pornographic videos.
In papers filed before the hearing, Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s lawyer, said that prosecutors gave an “embellished story” to try to get the judge to join the government’s “bloodthirsty campaign” to make Kelly a symbol of the #MeToo movement.
Kelly has suffered enough, according to Bonjean, including financially. She claimed he was once worth $1 billion but is now “destitute.”
In court on Thursday, Bonjean stated that Kelly would be lucky to complete his 30-year sentence in New York on his own. Giving him a second consecutive 25-year sentence “is overkill; it is symbolic,” she said. “Why? It’s because it’s R. Kelly.”
Kelly’s silence, she added, should not be interpreted as a lack of remorse.
While she advised Kelly not to speak because he is still appealing his convictions and could face further legal action, she added, “He would like to, he would like to very much.”
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.
Trending News:
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Romantic Date Night
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Romantic Date Night Has Alarming Details.
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
“
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Documents Show OpenAI’s From Nonprofit to $157B Valued Company Long Trip
-
Business4 weeks ago
Experts Are Perplexed By Tesla’s Sporty, Two-Seater Robotaxi Design.
-
Tech2 weeks ago
Apple Unveiled A Fresh Glimpse Of Their AI Featuring ChatGPT Integration.
-
Tech3 weeks ago
Connection Problems With The App Store Are Stopping Customers From Downloading Apps.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
OpenAI Plans To Establish Offices In Paris, Singapore, And Brussels To Facilitate Global Development.
-
Business4 weeks ago
Uber And Lyft Stock Prices Surge After Telsa’s “Toothless” Robotaxi Revelation.