Jurors have found R&B singer R. Kelly guilty of racketeering, including acts of bribery and sexual exploitation of a child, along with separate charges of sex trafficking.
Judge Ann Donnelly, who oversaw his trial, handed down the 30-year sentence — plus an additional five years of supervised release and a $100,000 fine — during a hearing where seven of his victims spoke about suffering under his control.
Donnelly condemned Kelly for the "serial rape and sexual abuse" he perpetrated on his victims.
"These victims were disposable to you," Donnelly said. "You left in your wake a trail of broken lives."
R. Kelly was convicted of multiple child pornography charges at a Chicago federal trial and acquitted on others.
Kelly was convicted on three of four counts of production of child pornography and three of five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
He was acquitted on one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiracy to receive child pornography as well as two counts of receiving child pornography.
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Kelly's co-defendants, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, were acquitted of all charges they faced.
McDavid, Kelly's former accountant and business manager, was charged with conspiracy to receive child pornography, receiving child pornography and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Brown, Kelly's former assistant, was charged with conspiracy to receive child pornography. Both pleaded not guilty.
A federal judge ordered the Bureau of Prisons to turn over nearly $28,000 from convicted R&B singer R. Kelly’s inmate account to pay some of his court-ordered restitution — the latest development in a case that illustrates how some inmates keep large balances behind bars while paying very little of what they owe to victims and in court fines.
The jury in the former That ’70s Show star’s trial say they were unable to reach a verdict on any of the three criminal counts that Masterson faced.
The six-man/six-woman panel informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo on Wednesday afternoon that they were stuck. “After thorough and considerable discussion, it is clear that we as jurors are adamant about maintaining our individual positions on each of the three counts,” the jurors said in a letter read aloud by Olmedo. Soon after, the judge formally declared a mistrial, something the defense has sought almost since Day 1 of testimony back in late October.
A retrial date of March 27 has been penciled in. and Masterson remains free on bail of $3.3 million. A hearing on next steps set for January 10.
Prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they will pursue a second trial against Danny Masterson, after a jury deadlocked on three rape charges at the actor’s first trial in November.
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“Our office has decided to retry this case,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told the court.
Though they could not reach a verdict, the jurors leaned toward acquittal, with votes of 10-2, 8-4 and 7-5 on the three counts.
Mueller argued that the jury ignored supporting testimony in the case.
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Judge Charlaine Olmedo denied a defense request to dismiss the case. She set date of March 29 for jury selection.
Justin Roiland, the co-creator and lead voice actor of the hit animated series Rick and Morty, is facing charges of felony domestic violence stemming from a 2020 incident.
NBC News reports that Roiland was arrested and charged with one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, and/or deceit following the incident, which involved a Jane Doe victim he was dating at the time.
Roiland pleaded not guilty to the two charges, and the criminal complaint, arrest affidavit, and subsequent legal hearings remain sealed. NBC News reported on the criminal case against Roiland after he appeared Thursday at a pretrial hearing in Orange County, California. A trial date has not yet been set, but Roiland was ordered to attend another pretrial hearing on April 27.
The incident reportedly occurred in Jan. 2020, and Roiland was charged in May 2020. He was arrested and released on a $50,000 bond in August of that year and was formally arraigned in Oct. 2020. That same month, a protective order was filed against Roiland prohibiting him from contacting or going within 100 feet of the Jane Doe victim; that protective order remains in effect until Oct. 2023.
It's remarkable that they (whoever "they" are) kept the lid on this for this long. It sounds like all went down in 2020 but nobody reported on it until now.
Max Peck wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:48 pm
It's remarkable that they (whoever "they" are) kept the lid on this for this long. It sounds like all went down in 2020 but nobody reported on it until now.
Looks like everything was sealed and it was only reported once he went to court for the pretrial hearing. Which is kind of hard to keep under wraps.
Guessing the court was trying to protect the woman.
That makes sense, I'm just a little surprised that it worked so well and that the entertainment industry gossip mills either didn't get wind of the earlier proceedings or sat on it if they did.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 3:54 pm
Ron Jeremy (who's 67 now!) has been charged with 3 counts of rape and one count of sexual assault (the details are a bit more specific than that). Can get up to 90 years in prison for the works.
US adult film star Ron Jeremy has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial for alleged sex crimes.
Mr Jeremy was indicted on 34 counts of sexual assault - including 12 of rape - over a period of more than 20 years.
A Los Angeles judge said on Tuesday that Mr Jeremy could not face the charges, as he was in a state of "incurable neurocognitive decline".
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Court proceedings were suspended last year after Mr Jeremy's lawyer said his client had not been able to recognise him during a visit to his cell.
The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that Mr Jeremy had "severe dementia".
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A hearing on whether to put Mr Jeremy in a state-run hospital was set for next month, AP reported.
Justin Roiland has lost another job. Hours after Adult Swim cut ties with Roiland, Hulu is following suit, announcing that they would not be working with him going forward. Roiland was recently charged with domestic battery and false imprisonment. While he’s denied the allegations, these studios are clearly not taking any chances.
Roiland is the co-creator, executive producer, and a voice actor on two Hulu shows: Solar Opposites and Koala Man. Like Rick & Morty, both shows are expected to continue without Roiland. “We have ended our association with Justin Roiland,” read a statement from 20th Television Animation and Hulu Originals, per Deadline.
I feel bad for Naednek. In the span of 2 months he went from not knowing anything about Justin Roiland to now knowing too much.
Justin Roiland has lost another job. Hours after Adult Swim cut ties with Roiland, Hulu is following suit, announcing that they would not be working with him going forward. Roiland was recently charged with domestic battery and false imprisonment. While he’s denied the allegations, these studios are clearly not taking any chances.
Roiland is the co-creator, executive producer, and a voice actor on two Hulu shows: Solar Opposites and Koala Man. Like Rick & Morty, both shows are expected to continue without Roiland. “We have ended our association with Justin Roiland,” read a statement from 20th Television Animation and Hulu Originals, per Deadline.
I feel bad for Naednek. In the span of 2 months he went from not knowing anything about Justin Roiland to now knowing too much.
Unlike Hepcat, I don't generally have an issue with "cancel culture". Do stupid things, get shunned from society just as it always has been. From everything I've heard, domestic violence cases are a mess to untangle at best. Losing every professional gig in his life before he's been convicted seems a bit extreme.
If you read the Rick and Morty thread you’ll see I’m not decrying this as a bad thing, You try to have sex with underage girls, you definitely should lose the power you had that enabled such endeavors.
My issue with cancel culture is when it’s wielded by a mob who elevates simple ignorance or even stupid mistakes we’re all guilty of to life ending events.
Example: My elderly father still had the word “colored” in his vocabulary for a while when referring to African Americans. When told it was offensive, he immediately stopped and has never done so since. Cancel culture extremists would have decided he was a full on racist and the second coming of Hitler though had they heard that. When the simple fact was he didn’t know any better and just needed someone to help him understand it was hurtful.
Cancel culture wielded without any attention to context or empathy is dangerous. I truly believe that. You make more progress by helping people learn in situations like my father’s than you do by trying to destroy them.
gbasden wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:06 pm
Unlike Hepcat, I don't generally have an issue with "cancel culture". Do stupid things, get shunned from society just as it always has been. From everything I've heard, domestic violence cases are a mess to untangle at best. Losing every professional gig in his life before he's been convicted seems a bit extreme.
I don't know the details, but this is my thought as well.
Separately, "cancelling" someone is usually tied to loss of ad revenue (or other income). I.e. our viewership will drop because we keep the person employed. I can't help but think that most of Rick and Morty's audience won't care. I feel like at least half of R&M's audience view Rick unironically as a hero, stigginit to anyone who has feelings, including his own family.
Are any of those people going to stop watching because a key cast member (and creator) is accused of abusing his spouse? Would they care if he was convicted?
I guess my point is, what kind of viewership reduction could they expect from keeping him on, versus firing him.
I also feel like this is the end of Rick and Morty. I can't see how it can survive this loss.
Personally, I love Rick and Morty, but I don't care enough to have a personal opinion on whether Justin should have been fired or not. I don't know enough and I don't care enough. I'm sure many people do though. I'm curious how they will react, as a fanbase.
Lastly, I thought Dan was the shady misogynist harasser. I was surprised when it was Justin that was the first one to be "cancelled".
Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom Thursday following his conviction last year on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor, his second such lengthy sentencing in the past year.
Kelly, 56, is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court.
US District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber said in court Thursday that 19 years of the 20-year prison sentence would be served concurrently, or at the same time as his other sentence. One year would be served consecutively, or after that sentence is complete, he said.
Kelly was convicted in September on three counts of production of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. A motion for a new trial was denied last week.
It's been a daunting three years for Chris Avellone, but it seems like he'll finally be able to put the things that happened to him in the past. Now, the formerly renowned writer/designer will be rid of the accusations that he faced back in 2020 thanks to a settlement that involved a dismissal (with prejudice) of the claims alongside an undisclosed settlement which is stated to be of seven figures.
So, what happened? For those who need a refresher, Chris Avellone is a person who has been involved in several projects when it comes to gaming. Some of these projects involve work in series like Fallout: New Vegas, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, and a lot of other projects. In 2020, two women (Karissa Barrows and Kelly Rae Bristol) accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct over the course of several days.
Fast forward to yesterday when Chris Avellone posted a joint statement in which Karissa Barrows and Kelly Rae Bristol have retracted their comments about Chris as part of a settlement that involves providing him with a seven-figure payment that includes the return of the attorney fee award entered against Chris Avellone in California.
The joint statement states that Avellone never sexually abused either of them and claims they have no knowledge of him ever sexually assaulting any other women. The statement also goes on to mention that Chris Avellone never misused any corporate funds and that they are firm in their belief that Chris should be given a return to the industry and support with the endeavor:
Anything we have previously said or written about Mr. Avellone to the contrary was not our intent. We wanted to support women in the industry. In so doing, our words have been misinterpreted to suggest specific allegations of misconduct that were neither expressed nor intended. We are passionate about the safety, security, and agency of women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ persons, and every other community that has seen persecution in the video game industry. We believe Mr. Avellone shares a desire to protect and uplift those communities.
Hrothgar wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 2:09 pm
Wow, so where does he go to get his reputation back?
He takes Rick's time machine back to an era before people who knew him as a creep and an asshole outed him as a creep and an asshole.
I don't follow (quasi) celebrity. Was there something beyond the accusations mentioned here?
I think he might be thinking of Justin Roiland (who had a criminal domestic violence case dismissed) rather than Chris Avellone (who seems to have settled some sort of civil case, although I'm not sure who was suing who for what).
I guess she have to add Jonathan Majors to this list now. He was Hollywood's next golden boy, but after his domestic violence arrest this weekend I'm reading a lot of people who worked with him describing him from cruel to sociopath.
We were seeing him in everything and now we might see him in nothing.
McNutt wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:11 am
I guess she have to add Jonathan Majors to this list now. He was Hollywood's next golden boy, but after his domestic violence arrest this weekend I'm reading a lot of people who worked with him describing him from cruel to sociopath.
We were seeing him in everything and now we might see him in nothing.
I wouldn't be surprised. Even if it turns out to be nothing (and based on what you said, it may be legitimate), he's done for the foreseeable future.
As I mentioned in the Ant Man thread, Disney/Marvel has to be in a tizzy. They built their entire next phase, of which they are one film in, around him. They've been Ezra'd.
“Can’t I just say what happened?” A tall man in a flat cap asks, looking around the sparse meeting room. “Isn’t truth an absolute defense?” This is Doug Costello, the CEO of Wyrmwood Gaming. “It is,” says head of HR Bas Antoine, “if you have the whole story.” The two go back and forth, brainstorming a response, Costello repeatedly looking into a camera as he dramatically recounts allegations of sexual assault. “The person who was allegedly raped never worked at the company,” he says, eyebrows raised. “I don’t know her name.”
The scene is from a fourteen-minute video titled “Wyrmwood Responds to SA Allegations,” a record of a group of men discussing what to do about recently-surfaced allegations of sexual assault at their company. Throughout the video, Costello makes statements like: “You have to get police involved.” He mentions alcohol as a factor in the allegation. In part of the video, Wyrmwood’s lawyer, Frank E. Biedak, gives the go ahead to share the video on their YouTube channel, alongside a written statement.
Wyrmwood Gaming is an unusually transparent company; while its core business is making luxury wood products for tabletop gamers, including dice trays, deck boxes and gaming tables, its executives seem equally concerned with the production of Wyrm Lyfe, a YouTube-based reality show focused on their daily activities at the company, filmed with handheld cameras and uploaded two to three times a week.
The program has over 100,000 subscribers, and fans usually reply to new videos with praise or earnest questions. But the sexual assault discussion was not Wyrmwood’s usual content. Comments on YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter decried the video as a “tone-deaf” and “harmful” way to handle serious allegations. Several corporate partners, including Dispel Dice and the mental health organization Take This, announced they would end their relationships with Wyrmwood. The company took the video down from YouTube in less than two days.
In a statement addressing the allegations, Wyrmwood said: “We take any allegation of inappropriate conduct, including, but not limited to, sexual assault, sexual misconduct and safety issues, very seriously. We consider the safety and well-being of our employees a top priority. To that end, we’ve made very significant investments in HR and Safety and will continue to do so.”
But after io9 reviewed a saved copy of the video and began to investigate, it became clear this incident is emblematic of a company that appears to prioritize the image and ego of its executives over the people who work for it. Over the course of this investigation io9 spoke to nearly fifty sources, including current and former employees, who shared stories that included allegations of rampant misogyny, bullying, dangerous working conditions, and sexual harassment and assault.
