Latest news with #Chanukah
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Smokey Robinson sued for $50 million as ex-employees allege sexual assault, failure to pay overtime
Four former employees have sued Motown legend Smokey Robinson and his wife, alleging the singer sexually assaulted them on multiple occasions and failed to pay them properly for hours worked while claiming that Frances Robinson berated them. According to the complaint filed May 6 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Robinsons are accused of negligence, sexual battery and sexual assault, false imprisonment, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, gender violence, and hostile work environment, in addition to a host of labor violations related to wages, breaks, meal periods, and holiday and overtime pay. Read more: Smokey Robinson on love, Motown and sex at 83: 'I feel as good as I felt when I was 40' The plaintiffs' attorneys did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times' requests for comment. A former publicist for the singer said she was not currently working for Smokey Robinson; his talent agent did not respond immediately to The Times' request for comment. The women are suing under the pseudonyms Jane Doe 1 through 4 due to the sexual misconduct allegations, including rape, that are leveled against the 85-year-old singer, the lawsuit says. Three are former housekeepers and one was the singer's personal assistant, cook and hairdresser, per court documents reviewed by The Times. All four women allege in the lawsuit that Robinson summoned them to various places at his homes in Chatsworth, Ventura County's Bell Canyon and Las Vegas when his wife wasn't around. Sometimes emerging naked from a shower, he forced them to have various types of sex with them — vaginal, oral and digital — over a number of years, the lawsuit says. They accuse Frances Robinson of "regularly screaming ... in a hostile manner, using ethnically pejorative words and language" toward them and say in the documents that she knew what her husband was doing and failed to rein him in. Read more: Smokey Robinson's wild mispronunciation of 'Chanukah' is the gift that keeps giving One plaintiff was "unwilling to report ... Smokey Robinson's unlawful acts to the authorities due to her fear of losing her livelihood, familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame and humiliation to her and her family, the possible adverse effect on her immigration status, as well as being threatened and intimidated by Defendant Smokey Robinson's well-recognized celebrity status and his influential friends and associates," the lawsuit says. That sentiment, with or without the immigration issue, was echoed by the other plaintiffs. All four plaintiffs say they worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for the Robinsons but were not paid minimum wage or overtime. They also worked holidays without receiving a holiday rate, the lawsuit says. The housekeepers made between $10 and $18 an hour while the assistant made $15 an hour before getting a raise to $20 an hour. Jane Doe 1 worked for the Robinsons from January 2023 until February 2024. Jane Doe 2 worked from May 2014 to February 2020. Jane Doe 3 worked from February 2012 to April 2024. Jane Doe 4 worked from October 2006 to April 2024. Read more: 'The best friendship in history': MusiCares honors Motown's Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson Minimum wage in California was $6.75 per hour in 2006 and increased gradually over the years. In 2024, it was $16 per hour for those not working for large fast-food chains. In Los Angeles County in July 2024, the minimum wage was $17.27 per hour, while the minimum in Las Vegas was $12 per hour. The plaintiffs say in the lawsuit that they quit because of the alleged sexual misconduct and hostile work environment. In addition to legal fees and court costs, the lawsuit seeks general damages of "not less than $50 million" on most of the charges plus punitive damages to be determined at trial. Get notified when the biggest stories in Hollywood, culture and entertainment go live. Sign up for L.A. Times entertainment alerts. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
CBS News
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
How a singer added the title of rabbi to her playlist, and mixed sign language into sermons
Charlene Brooks has a pretty neat day job, and then some. As a professional singer, she has done it all; from rock to country, jazz to Broadway. But that's just the beginning. Brooks also is Rabbi Charlene Brooks, but the people at Congregation Bene Shalom in Skokie, Illinois, simply call her Rabbi Char. How did she get from singer to rabbi, and why does she conduct services in sign language? It's a long story, and Rabbi Char loves a good story. "I grew up mostly in Andersonville, which was a very nice neighborhood, especially if you were Scandianvian; and if you were Jewish, it was a little more difficult," she said. Singing came easily. So did a love of records. "I would play them and play them, and dance around the living room like I had an audience of a thousand people," she said. She got really serious about singing after college, and when a job in accounting just didn't cut it, she jumped at an offer to put together a band and hit the clubs on Rush Street in downtown Chicago. "It was six nights a week, six hours a night, no monitors, just singing my heart out," she said. Brooks even traveled, singing country songs at state fairs and one-woman shows. "During that time, I joined this temple with my family," she said. "I remember sitting there in the sanctuary, and listening to the cantor, thinking, 'That's so cool, I'd love to do that.' … and I ended up doing a Chanukah program, and the next thing I knew, I was cantoring here." It was a job she held for the next 27 years. "I started seminary somewhere in there – somewhere before the 27 years was over – and started studying Hebrew seminary, and was ordained. The rabbi passed away, and I was offered the job," she said. Brooks said she's never had to choose between her life on stage and on the bima. "As I was doing services on Friday nights, Saturday mornings, I was doing shows on Saturday nights, and a large part of the audience was my congregation," she said. Not a typical rabbi, and not a typical congregation. It's why you see Brooks and an interpreter communicate in sign language. Bene Shalom was formed over 50 years ago by a group of families who were deaf. "The deaf families had no place of their own that was dedicated with sign language and with respect," she said. "We have more hearing members than we have deaf right now. However, we're always respectful of the deaf people that are watching on zoom, or here with us in person. … and my daughter even comes in and adds to the sign language." While she loves being in front of her congregation, Brooks said there's something else that's important. "My goal as a rabbi, believe it or not, was to do funerals," she said. "Both of my parents were survivors of the Holocaust. They lost every human being they knew. … None of them had a funeral, or had anyone attend their death other than the other people dying." "As long as I can remember, I wanted to honor them," she added. Brooks said coming from a family of Holocaust survivors taught her to both endure sadness and cherish joy. "This conversation is a moment. The time you have a dinner where everyone's laughing, that's a moment. You have to grab on to that, because it could change in a heartbeat," she said. That belief is clear in Brooks' sermons. "I'm not happy unless people have laughed and they've cried; and then hopefully they've laughed as they're leaving," she said. Brooks said she once thought her mission in life was to sing, but she said that's only part of it. "The other part is taking that and helping people with it. That's my mission," she said. "I have a job where I can sing, and I can help people. Petty good." Brooks said she even writes original songs especially for sabbath services. She said it's one of her claims to fame, but she has many.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Arizona siblings visit Poland to learn more about their Jewish family history
The Brief Two siblings who attend Arizona State visited Poland recently to learn more about their Jewish family history. Their great-grandmother escaped the holocaust, and although she told them stories, some of the details were too much for her to recount. The siblings were able to fill in the gaps during their trip, while also learning more about other ancestors. PHOENIX - Monday, Jan. 27, marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day as 80 years ago, Auschwitz was liberated. The backstory Stories of surviving the Holocaust circle the globe to this day, and one of those stories comes from siblings who attend ASU. They're the first in their family to visit Poland since their grandmother escaped as a teenager. Yonatan Rosenbloom says the trip not only helped him and his sister Ilanit Rosenbloom connect the dots on some of their family history, but it showed them the strength of the Jewish people as a whole before, during and since the evil of the Holocaust. The two recently returned from perhaps the most important Chanukah trip of their lives. "It was an incredibly emotional trip. I don't think I expected myself to get as emotional as I was," Yonatan said. The emotion was connected to the siblings' ancestors, including those who fled the horrors of the Holocaust. "My dad's grandmother, so my great-grandmother and her brother, they fled Łódź, Poland," Yonatan said. He says the trip to Poland, organized by Chabad on Campus International, allowed them to learn more about their heritage than what they knew from their great-grandmother's stories. "Every time we tried to ask more questions, she'd get really upset and angry, didn't want to talk about it," Yonatan said, "Rightfully so." The Rosenblooms knew their great-grandmother was in a work camp for some time, but eventually made it to Israel. This trip gave them some closure as to what happened to their other ancestors. "We found who we think is my great-grandmother's brother there. It was the correct date of birth, the correct city of origin, and the correct name, so we're pretty confident it was him. Then we also found who we think may have been her parents as well. Also cause of death unknown," Yonatan explained. But while the trip shows what was lost, it also shows the beauty of the Jewish culture that rose above the atrocities. "This trip, in addition to going to the concentration camps and showing what happened there and seeing and experiencing the sights, they learn about the communities that were there before the war and the vibrant Jewish life that existed there," said Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, Executive Director of the Chabad at ASU. Big picture view The hope is that students will educate others upon returning to America. "I'm very in tune with my Judaism as is, but going here made me realize that it's not just who I am, but it's important to share that with others as well," Yonatan said. He said one of the most emotional moments of the trip was seeing the Star of David carved into the wood in the concentration camp barracks. A sign of commitment to their faith and heritage even in the darkest of times.
