Latest news with #Novell
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘King of All Pimps' — who recruited then-NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer hooker Ashley Dupré — claims his reputation was trashed by murder claim
The self-proclaimed 'King of All Pimps' draws the line at being called a killer. A notorious pimp who regularly bragged about his high-end prostitution ring — and took credit for recruiting Ashley Dupré, the hooker whose tryst with then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer ended the 'Luv Guv's' career — claimed his reputation was trashed by a YouTuber who accused him of killing a young woman 15 years ago. Jason Itzler is now a foul-mouthed Internet streamer who goes by the online name 'MrBased,' known for 'IRL,' or 'in real life' videos of his everyday activities, often with an autistic TikToker with 3.8 million followers named Josh Block, aka 'World of Tshirts,' in tow. Itzler is suing YouTuber Alex Novell for defamation after Novell posted a 30-minute video in July titled 'When a Livestreamer Confesses to Murder.' The footage, narrated by Novell, outlines the still unsolved date rape drug overdose death of Wisconsin college student and aspiring model Julia Sumnicht in 2010 in Miami Beach — and includes audio of Itzler allegedly confessing to buying and providing the GHB Sumnicht took the night of her death. 'How Mr Based (Jason Itzler) got away with murdering Julia Sumnicht in Miami in 2010,' Novell, who has more than 33,000 YouTube subscribers, captioned his 30 minute video. In the film, Itzler repeatedly denies the allegations. He 'has suffered severe emotional distress, mental anguish and other physical and psychological injuries' because of Novell, Itzler said in a Manhattan Supreme Court defamation lawsuit. Novell also allegedly sent someone to trespass at Itzler's East Village home in February 2024 and 'physically attacked' and 'choked' him Jan. 1, Itzler claimed in the litigation. Court records show Itzler, who has 170,000 TikTok followers and an audience of 189,000 on Instagram, is facing harassment, criminal contempt and making a terroristic threat charges in two pending Brooklyn cases for allegedly threatening Novell and violating an order to stay away from him. Lawyers for Itzler didn't return messages. Novell sued Itzler in March in Brooklyn Supreme Court for $250,000 for assaulting him in Manhattan in August. Itzler denied the allegations, court records show. Novell slammed Itzler's lawsuit, saying it had 'nothing but bogus claims in it and it's an attempt to silence me and this film I made about this case.' Miami Beach Police did not return a request for comment. Itzler, 58, was a tabloid staple years before social media's cheap celebrity-making became derigueur. In the 2000s, Iztler bragged about running New York Confidential, one of the Big Apple's most infamous prostitution rings, and touted giving then-19-year-old 'little lamb' Dupré her start in the Big Apple's tawdry scene. In 2011 he bizarrely spread what multiple sources then deemed a made-up tale of singer Billy Ray Cyrus doing heroin with an escort at Trump International. In 2012, he was sentenced to four years in prison on drug, pandering and money laundering charges. Itzler and Dupré shot to tabloid fame as the then high-flying Spitzer's career crashed and burned after a federal investigation into high end hookers snared Spitzer, who had secretly spent $80,000 on escorts. The fateful tryst with Dupré, who used the name 'Kristen,' took place Feb. 13, 2008, in Washington D.C.'s Mayflower Hotel. The governor kept his black, calf-length socks on during their encounter. A month later he resigned, handing power to then Lt. Gov. David Paterson, on March 12, 2008. Spitzer was identified as 'Client 9' in the feds ongoing probe of prostitution ring the Emperor's Club, but was never charged. Like Itzler, Dupré has stunningly reinvented herself. In 2008 — the same year she was schtupping Spitzer — she began an affair with married New Jersey asphalt and road construction mogul Thomas Earle. The two married in 2013 and have three kids of their own. The former call girl — who briefly ran a lingerie business in New Jersey — now goes by the name Ashley Earle, offering parenting advice and clips of her young kids to her 310,000 TikTok followers. She declined comment on Itzler's latest drama. Her stepdaughter, 'Hot Mess' podcaster Alix Earle from Thomas' marriage to then wife Alisa, dwarfs her stepmom's social media power with a whopping 7.4 million TikTok followers.
New York Post
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘King of All Pimps' — who recruited then-NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer hooker Ashley Dupré — claims his reputation was trashed by murder claim
The self-proclaimed 'King of All Pimps' draws the line at being called a killer. A notorious pimp who regularly bragged about his high-end prostitution ring — and took credit for recruiting Ashley Dupré, the hooker whose tryst with then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer ended the 'Luv Guv's' career — claimed his reputation was trashed by a YouTuber who accused him of killing a young woman 15 years ago. Jason Itzler is now a foul-mouthed Internet streamer who goes by the online name 'MrBased,' known for 'IRL,' or 'in real life' videos of his everyday activities, often with an autistic TikToker with 3.8 million followers named Josh Block, aka 'World of Tshirts,' in tow. 6 Ashley Dupré was a high-end call girl whose 2008 tryst with then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in a Washington DC hotel room ended the politician's career. AP 6 Itzler is now a live streamer known as Mr. Based who often films himself with an autistic New Yorker, Joshua Block, who uses the name World of T Shirts. Instagram/jason_itzler_nyc Itzler is suing YouTuber Alex Novell for defamation after Novell posted a 30-minute video in July titled 'When a Livestreamer Confesses to Murder.' The footage, narrated by Novell, outlines the still unsolved date rape drug overdose death of Wisconsin college student and aspiring model Julia Sumnicht in 2010 in Miami Beach — and includes audio of Itzler allegedly confessing to buying and providing the GHB Sumnicht took the night of her death. 'How Mr Based (Jason Itzler) got away with murdering Julia Sumnicht in Miami in 2010,' Novell, who has more than 33,000 YouTube subscribers, captioned his 30 minute video. 6 Julia Sumnicht was with Jason Itzler and his photographer pal in the hours before she died of a GHB overdose in March 2010, according to investigators hired by her family. No arrests have been made in the case. YouTube/Marie Sumnicht In the film, Itzler repeatedly denies the allegations. He 'has suffered severe emotional distress, mental anguish and other physical and psychological injuries' because of Novell, Itzler said in a Manhattan Supreme Court defamation lawsuit. Novell also allegedly sent someone to trespass at Itzler's East Village home in February 2024 and 'physically attacked' and 'choked' him Jan. 1, Itzler claimed in the litigation. Court records show Itzler, who has 170,000 TikTok followers and an audience of 189,000 on Instagram, is facing harassment, criminal contempt and making a terroristic threat charges in two pending Brooklyn cases for allegedly threatening Novell and violating an order to stay away from him. Lawyers for Itzler didn't return messages. 6 YouTuber Alex Novell claims Itzler has attacked him, and made at least two videos about the 'King of All Pimps.' YouTube/This, With Coffee Podcast Novell sued Itzler in March in Brooklyn Supreme Court for $250,000 for assaulting him in Manhattan in August. Itzler denied the allegations, court records show. Novell slammed Itzler's lawsuit, saying it had 'nothing but bogus claims in it and it's an attempt to silence me and this film I made about this case.' Miami Beach Police did not return a request for comment. Itzler, 58, was a tabloid staple years before social media's cheap celebrity-making became derigueur. In the 2000s, Iztler bragged about running New York Confidential, one of the Big Apple's most infamous prostitution rings, and touted giving then-19-year-old 'little lamb' Dupré her start in the Big Apple's tawdry scene. In 2011 he bizarrely spread what multiple sources then deemed a made-up tale of singer Billy Ray Cyrus doing heroin with an escort at Trump International. In 2012, he was sentenced to four years in prison on drug, pandering and money laundering charges. 6 Dupré, now a suburban New Jersey mom of three, was an aspiring singer when she first met Itzler and entered the world of high end prostitution. Itzler and Dupré shot to tabloid fame as the then high-flying Spitzer's career crashed and burned after a federal investigation into high end hookers snared Spitzer, who had secretly spent $80,000 on escorts. The fateful tryst with Dupré, who used the name 'Kristen,' took place Feb. 13, 2008, in Washington D.C.'s Mayflower Hotel. The governor kept his black, calf-length socks on during their encounter. 6 Spitzer was not criminally charged. He resigned in March 2008. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images A month later he resigned, handing power to then Lt. Gov. David Paterson, on March 12, 2008. Spitzer was identified as 'Client 9' in the feds ongoing probe of prostitution ring the Emperor's Club, but was never charged. Like Itzler, Dupré has stunningly reinvented herself. In 2008 — the same year she was schtupping Spitzer — she began an affair with married New Jersey asphalt and road construction mogul Thomas Earle. The two married in 2013 and have three kids of their own. The former call girl — who briefly ran a lingerie business in New Jersey — now goes by the name Ashley Earle, offering parenting advice and clips of her young kids to her 310,000 TikTok followers. She declined comment on Itzler's latest drama. Her stepdaughter, 'Hot Mess' podcaster Alix Earle from Thomas' marriage to then wife Alisa, dwarfs her stepmom's social media power with a whopping 7.4 million TikTok followers.
CBC
16-04-2025
- CBC
Conduct board orders Whitehorse RCMP officer to resign after finding he sexually assaulted colleague
A Whitehorse RCMP officer must quit his job in the coming days — or get fired — after sexually assaulting a colleague in 2022, the force's conduct board has ruled. Board chair Sara Novell issued her final decision in Const. Cole Williams's case via video conference on Friday, directing Williams to resign within 14 days, failing which he will be dismissed. The decision comes after a hearing last year where Novell found that Williams kissed and touched a coworker without her consent after she invited him into her apartment to wait for a taxi following a night out in Whitehorse. Novell concluded on a balance of probabilities that Williams sexually assaulted the woman and thereby violated a section of the RCMP's Code of Conduct requiring members to "behave in a manner that is not likely to discredit the Force." "Const. Williams' actions run contrary to the higher standard expected of police officers," Novell said. "There can no longer be acceptance for this kind of misconduct." Williams does not face criminal charges. His lawyer, Gordon Campbell, wrote in an email that Williams "continues to maintain that this was a false allegation where the board misapprehended the evidence." "He intends to pursue his appeal rights to remedy this miscarriage of justice," Campbell wrote. A Yukon RCMP spokesperson declined comment. Novell, in the course of delivering her decision Friday, summarized her earlier findings in the case. Williams and a female RCMP employee went for drinks in Whitehorse the night of April 29, 2022, visiting a restaurant and a bar and leaving the latter after it closed around 2 a.m. The woman's identity is under a publication ban. Williams accompanied the woman to purchase a snack at a gas station and the pair tried walking through the McDonald's drive-thru, Novell continued. Williams then called for a taxi several times without success, after which the woman invited him to her apartment to wait. The pair got to her apartment after 2:30 a.m., where they sat on the couch, watched TV and then "wrestled" with each other over a lavender spray bottle, laughing as they sprayed each other with it. Williams then pushed the woman down, placing his knee between her legs and kissing her neck and chest without her consent, Novell said. The woman turned her head toward the TV and "displayed no movement" until Williams stopped kissing her. The interaction lasted under a minute. Woman felt 'disgusted, used, isolated' Representatives for both the Yukon RCMP and Williams made submissions earlier this year on what measures the conduct board should impose, with Williams' lawyer asking for a 45-day financial penalty while the force requested his dismissal. Williams, Novell noted, provided 37 "very positive" reference letters from friends, family and coworkers, who described him as respectful, compassionate and a "diligent, reliable, well-liked and respected team player, who goes above and beyond." A supervisor also described Williams as an "extremely competent and promising police officer who has much to offer the RCMP," and said he had no discipline history in his less than two years with the force. However, Novell said the mitigating nature of Williams's character and employment references were "significantly" outweighed by aggravating factors including the seriousness of the misconduct. While Williams' lawyer had argued the sexual assault was on the lower end of the spectrum, Novell disagreed. "Sexual assault, by its very definition is serious misconduct," she said. "There is absolutely no place, on or off-duty, in the workplace or not, for any touching… or any other physical contact of a sexual nature where one party does not consent." Hearing that an officer sexually assaulted someone, Novell said, could "severely damage" the public's trust in the RCMP and discourage victims of sexual assault from coming forward. General deterrence, she said, was of "particular importance" so that other RCMP members would give "serious consideration" to their actions on and off-duty. Novell said the impact on the complainant was also aggravating, with the woman saying the incident left her feeling "disgusted, used, isolated." As well, the woman reported that it negatively affected her perception of men, particularly members of the RCMP, as well as her relationship with her husband and her mental health. Given the circumstances, Novell said it was "inappropriate" to impose "educative and remedial" measures for Williams.
CBC
22-02-2025
- CBC
RCMP's discipline board refuses to step aside for referring to impugned Mounties as 'Three Amigos'
Social Sharing The members of an RCMP disciplinary tribunal tasked with hearing allegations of sexism and racism against a trio of Coquitlam Mounties say they don't need to step aside for having referred to the men as the 'Three Amigos.' A lawyer for Constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah had argued that by referring to his clients as the 'Three Amigos' in a handful of emails and a file name, the three-member conduct board had tainted the proceedings with an appearance of "real or perceived bias." But board chair Sara Novell told the impugned officers Friday that while the use of the term may have been "inappropriate and regrettable" — it was hardly grounds for recusal. Novell said the 'Three Amigos' term showed up on a file folder and about 10 administrative emails referring to the folder, something she said may have appeared "unprofessional," but that would not lead a regular person to conclude that the board was biased against the three men. 'A strong air of superiority' The decision means a code of conduct hearing against Dick, Mesbah and Solven will now move ahead, with testimony slated Monday morning from the whistleblower who launched the complaint in 2021. The RCMP wants all three Mounties fired for their alleged involvement in private chat group conversations in which officers are accused of bragging about "Tasering unarmed Black people," calling a sexual assault investigation "stupid," and mocking the body of a new female employee. Those allegations came to light last fall after the release of a search warrant detailing the circumstances which allegedly led the officer who sparked the investigation to complain to RCMP brass about what he saw as "atrocious" and "racist and horrible" activity by his colleagues. The court documents claim investigators also reviewed 600,000 messages posted to the RCMP's internal mobile data chat logs — finding evidence of "frequently offensive" usage by the three officers facing termination for "homophobic and racist slurs." "The reviewers had identified a variety of comments that were 'chauvinist in nature, with a strong air of superiority, and include flippant or insulting remarks about clients (including objectifying women), supervisors, colleagues, policy and the RCMP as a whole,'" the search warrant said. The hearing against the men was supposed to have started last Monday but was derailed by the last-minute challenge to the board's credibility — which arose after the disclosure of internal board documents referring to the case as the 'The Amigos.' A lawyer for the men claimed the use of the term gave rise to concerns the board viewed the men as friends who would stick together to protect each other despite facing individual accusations — separate from each other. But Novell rejected those concerns, pointing to the fact the board chose to disclose the internal documentation that gave rise to the 'Three Amigos' allegations as proof of a dedication to transparency and a lack of bias. 'Constant negativity' According to the search warrant, the whistleblower — Const. Sam Sodhi — was posted to Coquitlam in 2019. Sodhi claimed there were two chat groups for members of the Coquitlam detachment assigned to Port Coquitlam — one for all members of the watch and a second private group that began on WhatsApp but then moved to Signal. He said he was told once he was "worthy" of the private chat group, "we'll add you to it." The officer claimed he was admitted to the private chat group in March 2021 but left after a few days because of the "constant negativity." He said he was then accused of "not being a team member" and encouraged to return. The warrant says Sodhi claimed that outside of the private chat group, members of the group also "belittled Indigenous people, talking about how they were 'stupid' or 'drunk' and saying they have 'unfortunate bodies' and all have fetal alcohol syndrome." According to the search warrant, Sodhi complained to his superiors in May 2021. Dick, Solven and Mesbah have all denied the allegations against them.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Man Who Claims to Have Anti-Gravity Device Now in Deep Trouble
One of the 1990s' brightest tech stars may be headed to prison amid a shocking fall from grace that includes everything from alleged anti-gravity tech to elder abuse allegations to claims of a massive Ponzi scheme. As Bloomberg reports, tech pioneer Joseph Firmage is being sued by people who invested in his anti-gravity quest, which coasted for way too long as his wealth and success dwindled in the face of the former digital guru's obsession with UFOs and aliens. In the 90s, Firmage was living the dream after becoming an executive at Novell, the company credited with making local area networks (LANs) scalable, at the tender age of 23. After leaving to found the digital design company USWeb, Firmage was named one of Forbes' "Masters of the New Universe" toward the end of the decade — but his success was squandered after he claimed he'd been visited by an alien being who revealed that computer chips came from extraterrestrial technology. Yes, you read that right. By 1998, just a few years into his tenure as USWeb's CEO, Firmage was asked to resign — and at that point, the "Fox Mulder of Silicon Valley" had little stopping him from taking his outrageous contentions even further. With his mainstream reputation and career summarily squashed by his intergalactic claims, the still-young tech master began the new millennium surrounded by a new crowd: true believers and other hangers-on who were drawn to his alien attestations and bold vision for a future with clean and limitless energy and an anti-gravity propulsion system, as Bloomberg recounts. In the ensuing decades, Firmage — the great-grandson of a Mormon apostle and the son of a well-connected military man — faded away from the national imagination even while getting more and more people to fund his science fiction dreams. Deploying his family's powerful background, the disgraced tech icon promised folks like Brandy Vega, the owner of a Salt Lake City production studio, that major military investments in his antigravity device were imminent. Over the years, as Vega told Bloomberg, the woman and her husband gave the charismatic computer con nearly $100,000, sometimes in installments as small as $200 that he needed for various doodads and repairs. When the couple became concerned that they were being bilked, Firmage would send one of his bigger investors — who Bloomberg did not, unfortunately, name — to smooth out their anxieties. By 2023, investors like the Vegas began asking for their money back. Firmage, who was also mounting an unlikely presidential bid, promised in a group text thread from July of that year that "Payments and Grants outbound expected to commence this evening." In the end, no such reimbursements materialized — and some of those investors have now filed suit against Firmage, alleging that he conned them out of tons of money. Not long after that exchange, Firmage was remanded to jail in Salt Lake County after being arrested for elder abuse amid allegations of financially and physically cutting off an 80-year-old woman he was living with — and who had been his late father's romantic partner — from her family and basic necessities like food and water. By the time Bloomberg got hold of him in October 2024, Firmage had been in that same county jailhouse for nearly a year, with courts saying that if he was released, he'd likely take up the abuse again. When the outlet spoke to him, the former web wizard seemed much worse for the wear even by his previously kooky standards. He insisted that he could not "admit to a financial crime, because I didn't commit one" and that he was in jail because he had been — apologies in advance — "gang-raped by an AI-equipped Jamaican financial crime syndicate." Between the civil suit by the jilted investors and the criminal elder abuse trial, which has not yet commenced, Firmage may owe millions and be behind bars for a long while. If his alien consiglieres are real, now would be a great time for them to contact him. More on tech wackos: Immortality-Obsessed Tech Guy Trying New Technique That Involves Removing "All Blood From Body"
