Latest news with #PenelopeCruz
Egypt Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Egypt Today
Penélope Cruz Speaks Out: Stands with Palestine, Slams Gaza Blockade
The Oscar-winning actress Penelope Cruz doubles down on her support for the Palestinian cause, condemning Israel's ongoing blockade on Gaza and calling for global accountability.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tom Cruise, 62, breaks his silence about 'girlfriend' Ana de Armas, 37
has broken his silence about his new reported girlfriend Ana de Armas. On Sunday the 62-year-old movie star told Extra what he thought of the brunette bombshell who used to romance his friend Ben Affleck. 'Very talented, great dramatic actress, comedic, tremendous ability, learns quickly,' Cruise told the site. This comes after 37-year-old Ana told Good Morning America that she will be working with Cruise on several projects. One of the GMS hosts, Michael Strahan, brought up her connection to Cruise: 'You're working with another big star, Tom Cruise, on another project that will lead you to do more crazy stunts,' Strahan said after touting her Ballerina movie with Keanu Reeves. 'It's so much fun,' Ana replied. 'We're definitely working on a lot of things.' She added: 'It's not just one, but a few projects—with [directors] Doug Liman and Christopher McQuarrie and, of course, Tom.' Flashing a big smile, she added, 'And I'm so excited.' Armas and Cruise have been getting serious in recent weeks, has learned, with one of his A-list exes even granting approval for the unlikely romance. It is understood Spanish actress Penelope Cruz - who dated Cruise from 2001 to 2004 - is 'happy' that her ex-boyfriend has found new love. Cruz, 51, and Armas have been friends ever since they co-starred in the 2019 movie WASP Network. 'Ana has said that Penelope is happy for her, she approves,' an insider told the Daily Mail. 'They know each other from the movie and also they have friends in common in Madrid from when Ana lived there for a while. 'Tom makes Ana feel safe and that is very important to her,' the insider added. 'She was flipped out by the fans and stalkers when living in Venice Beach [Los Angeles] so she moved to a remote part of Vermont.' In 2022, Armas dropped over $7 million for a sprawling six-bed home in the Green Mountain State. The timing for their new romance is perfect as he has a Mission: Impossible movie coming out as she is starring in Ballerina 'She loves being away from the crazy,' the source explained. 'She has been traveling with Tom to busy cities like London, but he always makes her feel safe because he is thoughtful and he has a ton of security. 'He never puts her at risk, she is completely taken care of when she is in his company.' Friends believe the relationship could last, with our insider pointing to the fact that Armas does 'not like to party', preferring quiet nights at home like her decades-older boyfriend. Though another source stressed that the pair are 'taking it day by day' and that Armas 'does not give her heart away easy.' 'Ana has a thing for older men and Tom fits the bill of her type. The proof is in the pudding. Being affectionate with someone is not something that Ana would do for a role,' the second source added.
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Harvey Weinstein's alleged rape victim reveals his bombshell claim about Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz
A former model who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape revealed what the onetime producer said about Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz. Kaja Sokola, now 39, took the stand in New York City on Thursday, when she tearfully shared how she was allegedly raped and molested twice by the disgraced movie mogul under the guise of helping her acting career. When she tried to leave at one point, she said Weinstein became angry and told her he made Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz's careers. Paltrow starred in the Weinstein-produced film Emma in 1996 and went on to star in Shakespeare in Love two years later, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. In 2017, she became one of the first women to accuse the now disgraced producer of sexual assault - detailing how Weinstein allegedly put his hands on her and suggested they give each other massages in his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel shortly after he cast her in the lead role for Emma. Cruz, meanwhile, starred in Vicky Christina Barcelona in 2008, for which she won the Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actress. One year later, she went on to star in the romantic musical comedy Nine, also produced by Weinstein. However, she never claimed to have been sexually assaulted by the movie mogul. That was not the case for Sokola, who told a New York City jury that Weinstein held her down on a hotel bed and forced oral sex on her just days before her 20th birthday in 2006. 'He forced himself on my vagina - he raped me,' she declared to the court on Thursday, her voice rising with pent-up disgust and outrage. Sokola, who weighed only 125lbs at the time, alleged Weinstein used his much greater mass to hold her down, and she couldn't push him off. She described how Weinstein's left hand was on her stomach, and his right hand was on her left thigh as he allegedly forced the sex act on her. 'He pinned me to the bed, I couldn't move under him... his whole body was pining me to the bed... it was like a rock was on me, it was too heavy,' she told the jury. 'My legs were becoming numb, he was so heavy. 'I felt like I was dead - I was completely numb... my hope had died.' But Juda Englemayer, one of Weinstein's lawyers, told that the movements she described were implausible. 'His hand's over here, his other hand's over there, his mouth is here - all while he's holding her down - it doesn't work,' he said. 'Imagine Harvey playing Twister, that's what it's like. If people get past their disgust of Harvey and think about it, it doesn't make sense.' Earlier in the day, Sokola broke down on the stand, sobbing uncontrollably, as she told the jury about another time Weinstein allegedly abused her when she was just 16. She told the jury he groped her vagina under her underwear, and forced her to touch his penis in 2002 after luring her to an apartment. The naive teen, who had barely even kissed a boy before, was forced to watch the alleged assault in a bathroom mirror, Weinstein's 'black and scary' eyes staring back at her, she told the court. Weinstein stared at Sokola as she gave her testimony for the first time, sometimes putting his hand over his mouth and constantly chewing cough drops. At two other points during Thursday's proceedings, Weinstein appeared to doze off with his head slumped to his right, and had to be prodded awake by his lawyers. Sokola, meanwhile, stared straight at Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey as she testified, refusing to even look at Weinstein when she entered the courtroom. Weinstein faces a New York Supreme Criminal Court jury in Manhattan for his retrial on rape and sexual assault charges. The ailing 73-year-old was convicted of sexually assaulting aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and raping production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006. But last year, the New York Court of Appeals astonishingly ruled that Weinstein did not receive a fair trial - and tossed out his 23-year sentence. Weinstein is still behind bars at Rikers Island prison in NYC serving 16 years for unrelated sex crimes, but is being held at Bellevue Hospital during the new trial due to his declining health. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is once again accusing Weinstein of these crimes - as well as an additional charge of sexual assault against Sokola. Weinstein is only criminally charged with forcing oral sex on Sokola in 2006, but she sued him in 2019 over the 2002 incident in a case that was settled. He maintains his innocence and his lawyers told the court the women consented to sex acts with Weinstein as a 'quid pro quo' to further their careers. On Thursday, jurors also heard from Sokola's sister, Ewa, who testified about meeting Weinstein at a restaurant with her sister in 2006. She told the jury that they had a friendly chat with the movie mogul before he and Kaja left to, Weinstein claimed, read some scripts. When Kaja returned alone, she was very quiet and said nothing at the table until her sister asked if anything was wrong, but she brushed her off. Ewa said her sister was 'extremely tense' and likened her mood to waiting for the results of a university exam, where you are dreading a bad result. ADA Lucey last month told jurors in her opening statement that the once-renowned movie and television producer preyed on the teen's desire to be in the movies. 'This changed Kaja in ways she's still dealing with today,' she said. The allegations were previously detailed in a civil suit settled with Disney, Bob Weinstein and Miramax for $3 million, but Kaja Sokola was not identified in the lawsuit. In the weeks after, Kaja Sokola was photographed with Weinstein and a third person at an event, and his company wrote her a recommendation to the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. The court earlier heard from an official at the school that it had no record of Sokola attending. Lucey told jurors that power imbalances often 'cause victims to behave in ways that laypersons possibly might not expect.' Sokola kept quiet about Weinstein allegedly abusing her until after other allegations emerged against Weinstein in 2017, and sued him over the 2002 incident in 2019. Weinstein's defense attorney Arthur Aidala in her opening statement countered by portraying Weinstein's accusers as willing partners in a showbiz quid pro quo. 'The casting couch is not a crime scene,' Aidala told the majority-female jury. He then compared prosecutors´ allegations to the preview of a movie that 'falls flat on its face.' He conceded that Weinstein did 'fool around' with the alleged victims, but argued they did so 'consensually' in an effort to 'cut the line'. The attorney argued that each of the three alleged victims were 'flirtatious' in their interactions with Weinstein because he 'could change the trajectory of their lives and make dreams come true.' Addressing Sokola's allegations directly, Aidala claimed they were 'based on a lie' as he argued that the young model has a 'lot of problems' including an alleged eating disorder and alcohol addiction. The attorney then went on to praise the disgraced movie mogul, speaking to his notoriety in Hollywood and describing him as 'generous' and 'the greatest movie executive, at the very least of his generation.' Aidala then asked the jury to look at the full picture, calling the alleged incidents 'minutes' of the former producer's larger story. Weinstein pleaded not guilty to the two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and one count of third-degree rape. The new trial, presided over by state Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber, is expected to last roughly six weeks. If he were to be convicted, Weinstein could see decades tacked onto his already lengthy prison sentence. He is serving 16 years for a separate conviction in Los Angeles in 2022 - though his attorneys are also appealing that conviction.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
'Horrifying': ex-model tells jury that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. A former model tearfully testified Thursday that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old, calling it the most "horrifying thing I ever experienced" to that point. Kaja Sokola, an aspiring actor at the time, told jurors at Weinstein's retrial that the onetime movie honcho put his hand inside her underwear and made her touch his genitals at a Manhattan apartment in 2002. Sokola said she saw Weinstein's eyes — "black and scary" — staring at her in a bathroom mirror as it happened. Afterward, she said, he told her to keep quiet about what had happened, touting that he'd made the careers of A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz and that he could help her Hollywood dreams come true. "I'd never been in a situation like this," Sokola testified, as riveted jurors scribbled notes. "I felt stupid and ashamed and like it's my fault for putting myself in this position." Weinstein is not charged with any crime in connection with the alleged assault, which Sokola first detailed in a lawsuit a few years ago. The timing put it outside the statute of limitations for criminal charges. Sokola is testifying because Weinstein is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel four years later, around the time of her 20th birthday. Prosecutors say it happened after Weinstein arranged for Sokola to be an extra in the film "The Nanny Diaries." Sokola reported the allegation to authorities a few days into Weinstein's first trial in 2020, but was not a part of that case. Prosecutors added her to the retrial, joining two women who testified in the first case, after his conviction was overturned last year. Weinstein, now 73, looked down and away from Sokola as she recounted the earlier allegation, pressing his left thumb and index finger against his face like a shield. Sokola testified that she first met the then-studio boss at a Manhattan restaurant in 2002, three or four days before the alleged assault. During the short chat, she said, Weinstein asked her if she wanted to be an actress. A few days later, she said, he invited her to lunch — ostensibly to talk about acting — but instead took her to an apartment, where led her into a bedroom and then a bathroom, instructed her to take her top off and assaulted her. "He told me to take my clothes off and I didn't want to do that. I was panicking," Sokola testified. "And then he said that if I want to be an actress, that's what actors do in films, so I should get used to it. If a director says you have to take your clothes off, you have to take your clothes off. I was scared. I was scared of him." Sokola avoided looking at Weinstein as she walked to the witness stand — testifying for a second day after detailing on Wednesday her upbringing in Poland, how she got into modeling and her professional career as a psychotherapist and author who recently launched a film production company. She peered briefly at Weinstein when asked Thursday to point him out in court. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone. His lawyers contend that his accusers consented to sexual encounters with him in hopes of getting movie and TV opportunities, and the defense has emphasized that the women stayed in contact with him for a while after the alleged assaults. The women, meanwhile, say the then-producer used the prospect of show business work to prey on them. Sokola not part of 2020 trial Sokola sued Weinstein after industry whispers about his behavior toward women became a chorus of public accusations in 2017, fueling the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. Prosecutors have said Sokola eventually received $3.5 million US in compensation. Prosecutors have said they began investigating Sokola's claims in 2020 but set the inquiry aside after Weinstein was convicted. They revived the investigation after New York's highest court reversed his conviction. Weinstein's lawyers fought unsuccessfully to keep Sokola out of the retrial, accusing prosecutors of "smuggling an additional charge into the case" to try to bolster other accusers' credibility. One of the others, Miriam Haley, testified last week that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. The third accuser in the case, Jessica Mann, is expected to testify later. The Associated Press generally does not name sexual assault accusers without their permission, which Haley, Mann and Sokola have given.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ex-model tells jury Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16
A former model tearfully told a jury that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16, calling it the most 'horrifying thing I ever experienced' to that point. Kaja Sokola, an aspiring actress at the time, told jurors at Weinstein's retrial on Thursday that the onetime film mogul put his hand inside her underwear and made her touch his genitals at a Manhattan apartment in 2002. Ms Sokola said she saw Weinstein's eyes — 'black and scary' — staring at her in a bathroom mirror as it happened. Afterwards, she said, he told her to keep quiet about what had happened, touting that he had made the careers of A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz and that he could help her Hollywood dreams come true. 'I'd never been in a situation like this,' Ms Sokola said. 'I felt stupid and ashamed and like it's my fault for putting myself in this position.' Weinstein is not charged with any crime in connection with the alleged assault, which Ms Sokola first detailed in a lawsuit a few years ago. The timing put it outside the statute of limitations for criminal charges. Ms Sokola is giving evidence because Weinstein is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel four years later, around the time of her 20th birthday. Prosecutors say it happened after Weinstein arranged for Ms Sokola to be an extra in the film The Nanny Diaries. Ms Sokola reported the allegation to authorities a few days into Weinstein's first trial in 2020, but was not a part of that case. Prosecutors added her to the retrial, joining two women who testified in the first case, after his conviction was overturned last year. Weinstein, now 73, looked down and away from Ms Sokola as she recounted the earlier allegation, pressing his left thumb and index finger against his face. Ms Sokola said she first met the then-studio boss at a Manhattan restaurant in 2002, three or four days before the alleged assault. During the short chat, she said, Weinstein asked her if she wanted to be an actress. A few days later, she said, he invited her to lunch — ostensibly to talk about acting — but instead took her to an apartment, where led her into a bedroom and then a bathroom, instructed her to take her top off and assaulted her. 'He told me to talk my clothes off and I didn't want to do that. I was panicking,' Ms Sokola said. 'And then he said that if I want to be an actress, that's what actors do in films, so I should get used to it. If a director says you have to take your clothes off, you have to take your clothes off. I was scared. I was scared of him.' Ms Sokola avoided looking at Weinstein as she walked to the witness box — giving evidence for a second day after detailing on Wednesday her upbringing in Poland, entry into modelling and her professional career as a psychotherapist and author who recently launched a film production company. She peered briefly at Weinstein when asked on Thursday to point him out in court. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone. His lawyers contend that his accusers consented to sexual encounters with him in hopes of getting film and TV opportunities, and the defence has emphasised that the women stayed in contact with him for a while after the alleged assaults. The women, meanwhile, say the then-producer used the prospect of show business work to prey on them. Ms Sokola sued Weinstein after industry whispers about his behaviour towards women became a chorus of public accusations in 2017, fuelling the MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. Prosecutors have said Ms Sokola eventually received 3.5 million dollars (£2.6 million) in compensation. Prosecutors have said they began investigating Ms Sokola's claims in 2020 but set the inquiry aside after Weinstein was convicted. They revived the investigation after New York's highest court reversed his conviction. Weinstein's lawyers fought unsuccessfully to keep Ms Sokola out of the retrial, accusing prosecutors of 'smuggling an additional charge into the case' to try to bolster other accusers' credibility. One of the others, Miriam Haley, gave evidence last week that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. The third accuser in the case, Jessica Mann, is expected to give evidence later. The Associated Press generally does not name sexual assault accusers without their permission, which Ms Haley, Ms Mann and Ms Sokola have given.
