Bridgerton star Simone Ashley: I feel ‘safe and comfortable' filming sex scenes
She told Harper's Bazaar: 'It's about, 'What if?' and how love conquers all.
'Bridgerton represents nudity with a sense of romance, and I felt very safe and comfortable in what I was choosing to show to the world.'
The fourth season of the regency era drama series is due to be released next year, with Simone telling the magazine: ''That show just gets bigger and bigger.
'Everyone has gone off to do incredible things, but we come back and it's like time hasn't moved.'
She also spoke of moving to Los Angeles by herself when she was just 18, adding: 'I was really scrappy.
'Since I was little, if I wanted something, I would do anything I could to get it. So, I took some modelling jobs to pay the bills and got into acting through that.'
Ashley, who appears on the digital cover of the magazine, said her album was made following a recent break-up.
She said: 'It's going to be somewhat confessional … and beautiful and messy.
'Good songs don't come from times when my life is regimented and predictable.
'They come when I am feeling vitality, and usually you either feel that way when your heart's broken, or you're euphoric.
'This work has been an amazing channel to put all those feelings into.'
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Graziadaily
2 hours ago
- Graziadaily
What Happened Behind Closed Doors At Cult Clothing Chain, American Apparel? Netflix Uncovers
Given that leggings haven't been en vogue for more than 10 years and American Apparel storefronts have been absent from UK high streets since 2017, it's easy to forget what a chokehold the shop had on noughties and 2010s culture. From skater dresses to nylon disco pants, the clothing brand had a way of marketing '80s-inspired gym gear as 'wardrobe staples' and we all lapped it up. Now, though, a new Netflix documentary as part of the Trainwreck series exposes the darker side of the clothing empire – including how founder, CEO and chairman Dov Charney allegedly encouraged sexually explicit behaviour in the workplace and routinely violated boundaries. The American Apparel tote bag in 2016 in Tokyo. (Photo by Onnie A. Koski/Getty Images) American Apparel first opened its doors in 1989 and proudly claimed its clothes were 'sweat shop free' and made in the US and that employees were paid well over the minimum wage. Over time it became known for its risqué clothing adverts where models were often seen posing with their legs apart or almost nude – many of which were shot by the founder himself. It arrived in the UK in 2004 and became an immensely popular signal of the 'indie sleaze' sartorial movement. However, 10 years later in 2014 Charney was ousted after allegations of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour towards employees. In 2011, five former American Apparel employees filed sexual harassment lawsuits against the entrepreneur. Because three of those cases were cleared by a judge and two went to arbitration, he was never found liable. While Charney has repeatedly denied the allegations of harassment, he also said 'sleeping with people you work with is unavoidable'. Speaking to The Guardian in 2017, he said, 'I never had a romantic relationship with a factory worker. Ever! It wouldn't be possible! But a creative equal? Yeah! And if anything, I'll tell you, I don't know who was the predator – you know what I'm saying?' As for his dismissal at work, Charney claimed his ousting was illegal and demanded reinstatement. However, he was later replaced with Paula Schneider. By 2015, American Apparel was facing bankruptcy. In 2016, the company rejected a $300 million takeover bid from Hagan Capital Group and Silver Creek, two investment firms aligned with Charney. In January 2017, it was acquired for $88 million by Canadian sportswear manufacturer Gildan Activewear. American Apparel still exists online today. American Apparel founder Dov Charney. (Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images) In the new Netflix documentary, former employees alleged that new hires were given a 'welcome bag' containing a vibrator, a book called The 48 Laws of Power, a Leica camera and a Blackberry so that they would always be on call. Charney is shown to be an overpowering figure with little regard for the feelings and boundaries of his staff. It also showed archival footage of the former founder Charney walking around the factory naked in front of female employees. Other employees in the documentary claimed Charney often wanted to conduct business in his private home – one man called Jonny Makeup actually lived there too. It was described as a 'playboy mansion for hipsters'. Makeup told the filmmakers, 'I'll probably be in therapy until the day that I die.' The episode also featured employment and civil rights lawyer Toni Jaramilla who spoke about working with several women who claim they experienced sexual harassment while working for Charney at American Apparel. They signed non disclosure agreements to not comment on Charney or the clothing brand, however some allegations were leaked, so the Netflix special uses voice actors to read excerpts from their complaints. One claims Charney invited 18-year-olds to his bedroom and used to walk around in front of employees in a towel. Aside from allegations of sexually inappropriate conduct, the documentary heard that Charney regularly abused his power too. One employee named Carson said Charney once called him at around midnight and said, 'I hate you! I hate you!' over and over again, before hanging up. 'That was a regular day at American Apparel,' Carson explained, adding that he sometimes worked 36-hour shifts. There are also clips featured in the documentary where Charney can be heard calling his employees 'morons' and 'dummies'. Charney denies all allegations. It ends with archival footage of him saying, 'I'm not sorry about shit', in an interview with VICE. A spokesperson for Charney said: 'Charney has never been found liable for any misconduct — sexual harassment or otherwise — by any judge, jury, arbitrator, or independent investigation. Unfortunately, the Netflix documentary grossly misrepresents the story of American Apparel and Charney, relying on paid actors to emotionally restate long-disproven allegations.' The statement continues, 'No credible insiders — including Charney himself — participated in the production. One can only hope the full, unvarnished story of American Apparel and the forces behind its downfall will one day be told.' Charney swiftly founded another clothing manufacturer, Los Angeles Apparel, in 2016 which sold similar products to the original and operated from the same factory. However, when the pandemic took hold in 2020, Charney reimagined the business and started selling face masks and medical gowns. By June, he was condemned by public health officials and CBS News reported that Los Angeles Apparel got shut down for 'flagrant violations of mandatory public health infection control orders'. Charney then found a loophole and reopened the factory as an essential business, keeping employees at work, which sadly led to a large Covid outbreak and four employees died. He filed for bankruptcy in 2022, owing $30 million (£21m) to a hedge fund associated with his original brand American Apparel. According to Bloomberg, his debts and assets reached $50 million (£36m) each. According to the documentary, he then began working on Kanye West's fashion brand, Yeezy. Rolling Stone reported that Charney printed West's controversial 'White Lives Matter' T-shirts in 2022. Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel is available to stream on Netflix now. Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across entertainment, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).
Graziadaily
2 hours ago
- Graziadaily
Who Is Dov Charney? Former American Apparel CEO And Subject Of Trainwreck Netflix Documentary
As the subject of the latest Netflix documentary, Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel , its founder and former CEO Dov Charney has become a global talking point. He was axed from the top job in 2014 following allegations of misconduct in the workplace and the documentary serves to expose the darker side of the cult brand. But who was the man behind American Apparel? What was he accused of? And where is he now? Read on to find out. Dov Charney is an Canadian entrepreneur who grew up in Montreal to architect and artist parents. He started American Apparel, famed for its nylon '80s-inspired 'basics', in 1989 in South Carolina after dropping out of college and borrowing $10,000 from his parents. Charney later expanded the store to multiple countries around the world, including the UK, but was fired in 2014 after facing allegations of sexual assault and harassment, which he denies. Charney subsequently founded Los Angeles Apparel. The original brand is still available to shop online. In the new Netflix documentary, Charney is shown to be an overpowering figure with little regard for the feelings and boundaries of his staff. It showed archival footage of him walking around the factory naked in front of female employees. Former employees claimed Charney often wanted to conduct business in his private home, which was described as a 'playboy mansion for hipsters', and one former staff member called Jonny Makeup lived there too. Makeup told the filmmakers, 'I'll probably be in therapy until the day that I die.' The episode also featured employment and civil rights lawyer Toni Jaramilla who spoke about working with several women who claim they experienced sexual harassment while working for Charney at American Apparel. They signed non disclosure agreements to not comment on Charney or the clothing brand, however some allegations were leaked, so the Netflix special uses voice actors to read excerpts from their complaints. One claims Charney invited 18-year-olds to his bedroom and used to walk around in front of employees in a towel. Aside from allegations of sexually inappropriate conduct, the documentary heard that Charney regularly abused his power too. One employee named Carson said Charney once called him at around midnight and said, 'I hate you! I hate you!' over and over again, before hanging up. 'That was a regular day at American Apparel,' Carson explained, adding that he sometimes worked 36-hour shifts. There are also clips featured in the documentary where Charney can be heard calling his employees 'morons' and 'dummies'. Charney denies all allegations. It ends with archival footage of him saying, 'I'm not sorry about shit', from a 2017 interview with VICE. A spokesperson for Charney said: 'Charney has never been found liable for any misconduct — sexual harassment or otherwise — by any judge, jury, arbitrator, or independent investigation. Unfortunately, the Netflix documentary grossly misrepresents the story of American Apparel and Charney, relying on paid actors to emotionally restate long-disproven allegations.' The statement continues, 'No credible insiders — including Charney himself — participated in the production. One can only hope the full, unvarnished story of American Apparel and the forces behind its downfall will one day be told.' Charney reportedly lives in a mansion in Silver Lake called Garbutt House. Two years after he was fired from American Apparel, Charney launched the almost identical brand, Los Angeles Apparel. He sold the same 'basics' and even built the new company from the original American Apparel warehouse. 'We had six sewing machines, then 12 machines. It was a nail-biter,' Charney said in 2017. 'It still is a nail-biter. That's part of the chills and thrills of starting up a business. You're always on edge, but I love it. The workers are happy. It's exciting. We want to prove something.' However, when the pandemic took hold in 2020, Charney reimagined the business and started selling face masks and medical gowns. By June, he was condemned by public health officials and CBS News reported that Los Angeles Apparel got shut down for 'flagrant violations of mandatory public health infection control orders'. Charney then found a loophole and reopened the factory as an essential business, keeping employees at work, which sadly led to a large Covid outbreak and four employees died. He filed for bankruptcy in 2022, owing $30 million (£21m) to a hedge fund associated with his original brand American Apparel. According to Bloomberg, his debts and assets reached $50 million (£36m) each. The Cult of American Apparel documentary alleged that Charney was also hired to work as the CEO of Kanye West's clothing line Yeezy. In 2023, Rolling Stone reported that the former American Apparel head created the West's controversial 'White Lives Matter' t-shirts the year prior. It is unclear from what's available online whether Charney is in a relationship or has any children. Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel is available to stream on Netflix now.
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
'Expansively unsettling' and deeply personal horror film finally released in UK
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video David Cronenberg's latest film The Shrouds is here after being released in the US months prior – and it has been described as 'horrific' and 'fearless.' The revered director – best known for Crash, The Fly, Dead Ringers, and many other genre films – explores death and grief to devastating effect following the story of Karsh (Vincent Cassel), a creative entrepreneur who lost his wife Becca (Diane Kruger). He developed a technology known as The Shrouds, which allows users to monitor a deceased person's body as it decomposes via an app called GraveTech. After graves are destroyed in a GraveTech cemetery, including Becca's, Karsh begins to question if her death was part of a larger conspiracy as he investigates the attack. It has proved to be a deeply personal project for Cronenberg, inspired by his wife, Carolyn Cronenberg, who died of cancer at age 67 in 2017. After being released in the US back in April, the film has finally arrived in the UK as of today – but be warned, it has been hailed 'expansively unsettling' and 'hollowing.' It holds a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics' consensus reading: 'Ruminating on the love within loss, The Shrouds is a personal and peculiar examination of grief by director David Cronenberg.' In their review, Empire wrote: 'It's a hypnotic descent into the darkness of grief, punctuated by perverse Cronenbergian pleasures.' The Washington Post said The Shrouds 'throbs with raw, human, horrific honesty', while the San Jose Mercury pondered 'How lucky we are to have this boundary pusher still thinking up such bold and provocative films.' Globe and Mail boldly stated: 'With The Shrouds, the filmmaker — not only one of Canada's greatest creations, but cinema's, too — has delivered what might be his career-defining masterpiece.' The Ringer heaped praise on Cronenberg, adding: 'Like 2022's superb Crimes of the Future, The Shrouds serves as a reminder that, at 81 years old, Cronenberg is still one of the world's great filmmakers: bold, uncompromising, clever, and fearless.' Speaking to Variety, Cronenberg explained how he developed the concept of The Shrouds and how the film was almost a Netflix series. 'It was pre-pandemic. I went to L.A. to pitch it to Netflix. At that point, it was a well-formed idea, but it wasn't a script yet,' he revealed. 'The people I talked to there were very receptive, and Netflix gave me the OK to start writing what they call the prototype, which was the first episode of what was then going to be a series. 'And then they liked that enough to tell me to go ahead and write the second episode. After that, they decided not to go forward for various reasons.' More Trending Despite the subject matter of the film and its inspiration, the History of Violence director said he 'did not experience any catharsis' making it, describing grief as 'forever.' 'I don't really think of art as therapy. I don't think it works that way,' he continued. 'If you're an artist, everything you make, you work out of your life experience, no matter what that is. Whether you're rehashing something from your distant past or your present circumstances, there's always creative energy that can be mined from your life. ' The Shrouds is in cinemas now . Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Jurassic World Rebirth leaves fans with clenched stomachs after 'genuinely tense' film debuts MORE: Eagerly anticipated horror's producer explains why '0.0 percent watchable' film flopped MORE: Horror fans 'terrified' after disturbing VHS recordings appear in US towns
