Latest news with ##MeToo
NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Complaints made to Law Society after James Gardner-Hopkins accused of using LinkedIn to intimidate women
Multiple female lawyers claim that a former senior partner who was suspended for drunkenly groping interns at a Christmas party has been using a social media platform to intimidate them. James Gardner-Hopkins inadvertently became the face of New Zealand's #MeToo movement after his conduct towards junior female colleagues at Russell
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Tanushree Dutta claims her career was sabotaged following her #MeToo allegations against Nana Patekar: "My email accounts were hacked.."
Tanushree Dutta has once again come forward to shed light on the tumultuous years she has endured since her explosive revelations during the #MeToo movement. In her recent media interaction, she spoke about the alleged harassment she faced after accusing veteran actor Nana Patekar of misconduct. She claimed he life was hacked ever since she came out in public during the movement. Tanushree Dutta opens up about what she has been through in the past years In a recent interview with ABP, Tanushree Dutta once again opened up about her ordeal ever since she publicly shared her statement against Nana Patekar. She talked openly about how, ever since she joined the #MeToo movement, she has been allegedly targeted by Patekar. Speaking on the matter, she shared that when she questioned the actor's foundation, things took a turn for the worse. She shared that she was being followed, and added, 'My email accounts were hacked from 2021 to 2022, and I always used to wonder about how they would know where I'm going. My emails got all of my bookings, from flight bookings and hotel bookings, so if I was hacked, then he got to know it from there'. The former actress delves into how she was sabotaged Tanushree also added that her career had been sabotaged as well. Without taking any names, she shared how a big producer had cast her and wished to do films with her, only to later disappear and head to Bhutan. In the same conversation, she shared how her key witnesses had been threatened after she had filed her case. She alleged that they would get threatening phone calls from random PCO booth numbers, and to prove this, they had collectively submitted an affidavit to the court as well. The legal document also included testimonies, confirming Dutta's allegations against Patekar. She claimed that the key witnesses had signed the document to confirm that Nana Patekar was on set when he was not supposed to be, and had also behaved 'aggressively' with her and had touched her as well. She added that everything that she had stated in her FIR had been confirmed by these people. Tanushree Dutta mentions the 'Bollywood Mafia' When asked about the involvement of anyone else other than Nana Patekar in the case, she mentioned the term 'Bollywood Mafia'. Talking about Sushant Singh Rajput 's and Jia Khan's case, she added that there is a group within the industry like this that "sabotages other people's work, and ruins it for them, and does not leave them alone".
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Canada's hockey case exposed a toxic culture – yet the accuser ended up on trial
The stunning conclusion to a pivotal sexual assault trial has left some observers in Canada shocked but unsurprised – not only by a judge who seemed to scrutinize the female accuser more harshly than the five ice hockey players who ultimately walked free, but by yet another missed opportunity for a reckoning in the macho culture of a major professional sport. The blockbuster case seemed to crystallize any number of hot-button topics – the #MeToo movement, the nature of consent, the role of pornography, the impunity of men – in the most Canadian way possible: through hockey. The trial, which occurred over several weeks in May, saw five members of Canada's lionized World Juniors team – Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart and Cal Foote – charged with sexual assault after an incident in a hotel room in London, Ontario, seven years ago. The complainant, identified as 'EM', who was 20 at the time, alleged that she left a bar with McLeod and had consensual sex with him – but had no idea he then texted other players asking them to join in a 'three-way'. In court, EM testified that she was drunk and intimidated by multiple large men entering the room, which she estimated at times to be as many as 11, some of whom were just there to eat and socialize. EM also said that although she engaged in group sex acts with some of them, they were as part of a 'porn star' persona she adopted in order to placate the men in what she felt was a dangerous situation – and did not actually consent to any of the activity. The men, for their part, have claimed EM was sexually aggressive, begged them for sex and actively consented to all of it. McLeod also recorded two videos of EM after the group encounter had finished, in which she said she had consented to sexual activity. EM testified that while she didn't remember the videos being filmed, she recalled McLeod 'hounding' her to say she consented. In fact, EM testified over nine grueling days, seven of them under by cross-examination by five separate teams of lawyers, one for each accused. Only one of the men testified. So when Justice Maria Carroccia told a packed London courtroom last Thursday that she found the complainant to not be 'credible nor reliable', it elicited gasps. As an example of these 'issues related to credibility', the judge said it was 'telling' that EM testified she weighed 120 pounds – despite records showing she was 138lb. EM had explained she was just sticking to what she had estimated previously. The judge interpreted it as mendacity. 'The complainant, rather than answering the question truthfully, chose to repeat what she had said previously,' she said. Carroccia also questioned how drunk EM could have been, as videos did not show 'any obvious signs of impairment, such as stumbling' and suggested she 'initiated touching' with McLeod at the bar despite having initially said she did not. In the end, the judge determined that EM fully consented, and was essentially lying in court – a callous take that appeared to scrutinize the female complainant's claims far more harshly than the five men, according to Daphne Gilbert, a criminal law professor at the University of Ottawa. 'I was extremely disappointed in the decision, and to me, it's the worst possible outcome for [the woman] and efforts to tackle sexual violence generally,' Gilbert said, noting the judge's conclusion seemed an extreme one to reach based on EM's testimony, and appeared to indicate that she considered the complainant to be on trial, rather than the men. 'She didn't believe the complainant and only focused on what deficiencies she saw in the complainant, and doesn't speak about the men at all,' said Gilbert. 'I find that astonishing in a case like this,' she said. 'She just completely blamed EM, and in doing so, she invoked stereotypes.' But few stereotypes may ultimately have proved as powerful as the one of Canada's mainly young, mainly white and mainly male hockey stars being infallible national symbols – a stereotype which the case at first threatened to explode. The entire sordid saga did not emerge into public view at all for many years: police dropped their initial police investigation in 2019 after seeing video that made them think EM was not as drunk as she had stated; EM then sued Hockey Canada in 2022, which conducted its own investigation and settled with her for an undisclosed amount. It was only when the settlement was leaked to the media that a public uproar saw police reopen the investigation, and lay charges in early 2024. But it also revealed the existence of a secret Hockey Canada fund, which the organization eventually admitted it had specifically created to pay settlements in sexual assault cases against players – apparently lifting the lid off a long-simmering culture of abuse and cover-ups extending far beyond the case at hand. Sponsors dropped Hockey Canada like flies. In 2022 the incident spilled over into parliament, with hockey executives called in for questioning about what they knew of the London case and whether hockey had a problematic culture of the kind that would require the existence of a secret fund to settle assault claims. The furore led to multiple reforms, including mandatory training for athletes and staff on sexual violence and consent. The players themselves were barred from the NHL, though many have since been playing in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. Now that the trial is over, the immediate discussion has turned to whether the NHL would readmit them. The league said in a statement that even though the men had been acquitted, and the allegations found not to be criminal, they were disturbing and 'the behaviour at issue was unacceptable'. It said it was conducting an analysis and 'determining next steps'. Many observers think it's likely the players will be made eligible again. Sponsors, meanwhile, have quietly returned to Hockey Canada. It was a starkly different atmosphere from 2022, and evidence that the trial alone was probably never going to be enough to bring a true reckoning to hockey culture, said Taylor McKee, an assistant professor at Brock University in Ontario who specializes in hockey and masculinity. He said in order to address a culture of secrecy and lack of boundaries, Hockey Canada needed to turn a 'flamethrower' toward the issue. If one person has behaved in a way that is compromising someone else's safety, including sexual assault, McKee advocates for punishing the entire team. 'That's the kind of messaging I want to hear from Hockey Canada: a zero tolerance policy,' he said. But with cars passing the courthouse after the verdict honking in support of the players, and with the union for professional hockey players now advocating for the men's return, what appears more likely, at least for now, is for the story that threatened to shake the foundations of a sport being forgotten as quickly as possible.
Daily Mirror
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Loose Women star addresses Harvey Weinstein 'sex contract' that left her 'devastated'
The Loose Women star claimed the uncomfortable encounter with former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein left her "devastated" and fearing that she wouldn't be able to escape him Loose Women star Myleene Klass has alleged that Harvey Weinstein once offered her a "sex contract" in return for making her a movie star. The 47-year-old said the uncomfortable encounter happened when she interviewed the disgraced former film producer in Cannes, while working as a CNN reporter. Reflecting on the moment with Paul C Brunson on his We Need To Talk podcast, she said: "I met Harvey at a party and I did a mini interview with him in like the press run, and then after that he came and found me. "And I gave him the bare bones of what we were covering, to the point that I was so convinced that we were going to have a work meeting." She continued to explain: "We were going to actually have it as an interview that I even said, 'Shall I bring the crew? Or, is this the preliminaries just to pat out what it is we're going to be discussing?' And he's like, 'It's fine, don't bring the crew'." Myleene claimed that what followed during their one-to-one chat was an uncomfortable offer of a sex contract proposed by Harvey, now 73. Quizzed on what this meant by Paul, she explained: "Well, it's 'you have sex with me and I'll make you famous'. "And I said, 'I'm already famous in the areas I want to be.' Myleene recalled that Harvey continued to name the movies she could be in, along with a list of film stars she could be like, but she once again told him she wasn't interested. When asked if the producer was this precise about what the contract entailed, she claimed: "Yes," before adding: "I believe every woman who came forward, because I sat there. "I was utterly devastated because I didn't know if I was going to get out." Myleene went on to say that she thankfully managed to leave the meeting by telling him "we'd be in touch" in a business-like way. She added: "Any one woman who's been in that position where somebody's being predatory, they don't have to come with a weapon. "You know, it's, we feel it in our gut, we know immediately when we're in danger." In 2018, Weinstein was arrested in New York City and charged with rape and other sexual offences, following allegations from multiple women who contributed to the rise of the global #MeToo movement. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2020, though this sentence was overturned last year following claims of an unfair trial. During the latest hearing, Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting Miriam Haley, but acquitted of sexually assaulting Kaja Sokola. In 2023, he received an additional 16-year prison sentence following a separate conviction. At the time, he maintained his innocence and claimed he had been the victim of a "set-up". Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct, assault, and rape by more than 100 women in total, though not all allegations led to criminal charges.
Time of India
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Tanushree Dutta reveals she was supposed to do a film with Sushant Singh Rajput: 'But even he died by suicide...'
Tanushree Dutta, a prominent voice in India's #MeToo movement, has revealed ongoing harassment over the past five years, including emotional breakdowns and safety concerns. She draws parallels between her experiences and Sushant Singh Rajput's death, alleging underworld threats and targeted surveillance. Dutta plans to file a detailed report with the police, expressing disappointment with law enforcement's response. Tanushree Dutta , one of the first voices in India's #MeToo movement, has made new and troubling claims about the harassment she says she has faced over the last five years. In a recent interview, she spoke about emotional stress, feeling unsafe, and even threats from the underworld. She also drew emotional parallels between her situation and the tragic death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput . Tanushree believes there is a continuous effort to silence her, and her story paints a dark picture of what she's been going through. Draws Parallels Between Her Life and Sushant Singh Rajput's In a recent interview with NDTV, the actress revealed that she sees haunting parallels between her own life and that of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She shared that they were once set to work together on a film before his untimely death in 2020. Breakdown Was a Result of Years of Harassment Opening up about her emotional breakdown caught on camera, Tanushree described it as the result of years of relentless harassment. She claimed that ever since she spoke out during the #MeToo movement, her life has taken a disturbing turn—alleging that her building's security was changed without her knowledge, her home was broken into, and a maid was planted to tamper with her food. The actor said the breakdown was a direct result of this long, painful ordeal. She also revealed that she was once set to work on a film with Sushant Singh Rajput—an opportunity that had renewed her hopes, knowing that an A-list actor was willing to collaborate with her. Reflecting on his tragic death in 2020, she said she believes there is a deeper connection between his demise and the harassment she has endured over the years. According to her, their stories are not entirely unrelated. Dutta, former Miss India Universe, made another alarming claim, stating that during a recent spiritual trip to Ujjain, the brakes of her autorickshaw were tampered with in what she believes was an attempt to kill her. She alleged that there is a deliberate effort to mentally torment her to the point where she either meets the same tragic fate as Sushant Singh Rajput or is pushed into a state of mental breakdown like Pooja Mishra. The actress has also reignited her allegations against actor Nana Patekar , whom she had previously accused of sexual harassment and misconduct during the #MeToo movement in 2018. In her latest statements, she hinted that her ongoing harassment may be linked to the powerful figures she spoke out against back then. Claims Underworld Involvement and Targeted Surveillance She further claimed that her troubles escalated after she questioned the workings of Nana Patekar's foundation. She alleged that a Rs 5 crore contract was handed to underworld operatives to eliminate her. According to her, while the underworld may no longer have figures like Dawood Ibrahim at the forefront, it continues to exist in subtler, more insidious forms. She also stated that she is constantly being followed. Plans to File Detailed Report with Police Tanushree said that while there's no immediate physical threat to her life, she's taking her time to carefully document every incident from the past five years. Her goal is to eventually present everything to the police in a well-structured manner. However, she expressed disappointment with law enforcement, stating that the police have done little so far, and that she currently places more trust in the media than in the authorities. Earlier in the day, she shared that she has been overwhelmed with media requests as she continues to speak out about the harassment she's been facing. Taking to her Instagram Story, she said she hasn't been keeping well and is adjusting to the sudden attention after years of living a quiet, spiritual life. She asked for patience, assuring that she would speak to everyone in due time.
