sexual assault

By Andrew Dalton | Associated Press LOS ANGELES — A woman has sued director Roman Polanski, alleging he raped her in his home when she was a minor in 1973. The woman aired the allegations, which the 90-year-old Polanski has denied, in a news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, on Tuesday. The account is similar to the still-unresolved Los Angeles criminal sexual assault case that prompted Polanski in 1978 to flee to Europe, where he has remained since. The woman who filed the civil lawsuit said she went to dinner…

"These are the defenses that many women like Ms. Abdul had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power," reps for Abdul stated A day after Nigel Lythgoe called Paula Abdul a “fabulist” in response to her sexual assault complaint against him, the former American Idol judge accused him of “classic victim shaming.” “Mr. Lythgoe’s answer to Ms. Abdul’s complaint is classic victim shaming,” read a statement from Abdul’s lawyers sent to Rolling Stone. “Mr. Lythgoe fails to appreciate that he…

Three years after Drake Bell was sentenced in a case related to allegations of sexual contact with an underaged girl he met online, the former Nickelodeon star is opening up in a new docu-series about how he was the victim of alleged sexual abuse, back when he was a child actor working for the network. Bell, best known for his starring role in “Drake and Josh,” claims he was abused by Brian Peck, his former dialogue coach on “The Amanda Show,” according to a promotional clip for the series, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of…

A New York lawsuit accusing Steven Tyler of sexually assaulting a model in the Seventies was dismissed on Wednesday, according to court documents reviewed by Rolling Stone. Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that plaintiff Jeanne Bellino’s case failed to meet the criteria for New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act because Bellino didn’t allege that Tyler had presented “a serious risk of physical injury” to her. “We agree with the judge’s reasoning, and are grateful for this result on behalf of…

Paula Abdul and two Jane Doe accusers accused the former American Idol judge of sexual assault in separate suits in January Nigel Lythgoe has been accused of  forcibly touching a woman in the back of a car in 2016, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This is the third time in two months that the former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer has been accused of sexual assault. In a new lawsuit filed Saturday in Los Angeles Superior Court, a Jane Doe accuser claimed Lythgoe…

All Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) wants to do is get to the coastal Greek town of Malia, get some quality time with her BFFs — Em (Enva Lewis) and Skye (Lara Peake) — and spend the next few days getting royally fucked up. This unholy trinity of 16-year-olds have just finished their final exams back in London, and now they’re heading to one of those sunbaked Mediterranean resorts favored by British teens looking to blow off steam. The plan is to use “party” as a verb as much as possible, and the fact that they manage to…

After a miserable NFL parody cold open and a cheeky monologue featuring host Dakota Johnson (dressed to the nines in a black jumpsuit reminiscent of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag), musical guest Justin Timberlake, and his pal Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live Weekend Update co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che took over. And you just knew they were going to address columnist E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial win over Donald Trump. Yes, in June of 2019, Carroll penned a column in The Cut alleging that…

WWE founder Vince McMahon resigned from parent company, TKO Group, a day after a former employee accused him of sexual assault and trafficking in a recent lawsuit. In 2022, McMahon announced he was stepping down from the WWE after an internal probe that found allegations of a hush-money payment to a former employee, with McMahon allegedly paying $3 million to the then-unnamed female, a WWE paralegal, to keep their “consensual” affair private. Following the investigation, he returned to WWE in July 2023.…

Paula Abdul and two anonymous Jane Doe accusers filed suits against Lythgoe in the past month JoJo Siwa is returning as a judge for the upcoming season of So You Think You Can Dance, replacing former judge and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, who stepped down this month following multiple lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault. Siwa served as a judge on the show’s 17th season in 2022, alongside the late Stephen “tWitch” Boss, as well as with actors Matthew Morrison (who was dismissed from the…

Vince McMahon is accused of sexual assault and trafficking in a new lawsuit filed by a former employee against the WWE founder and his wrestling company. In 2022, McMahon announced he was stepping down from the WWE amid an internal investigation that found allegations of a hush-money payment to a former employee, with McMahon allegedly paying a secret $3 million to the then-unnamed female, a WWE paralegal, to keep their “consensual” affair private. However, on Thursday, the woman — Janel Grant, who was hired…