Latest news with #TheFastandtheFurious'
USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Judge dismisses multiple claims in Vin Diesel sex abuse lawsuit from ex-assistant
Judge dismisses multiple claims in Vin Diesel sex abuse lawsuit from ex-assistant Show Caption Hide Caption Elon Musk faces allegations of workplace harassment at SpaceX Elon Musk has been accused of pursuing sexual relationships with women at SpaceX, including a former intern 20 years his junior. unbranded - Newsworthy Over a year after Vin Diesel was sued by a former assistant, who accused him of wrongful termination and sexual assault, the judge in the case is dismissing some of its most potent claims. In a tentative ruling on June 3, Judge Daniel M. Crowley agreed to dismiss four different claims of harassment made by Diesel's former employee Asta Jonasson. Jonasson, who originally sued the actor in December 2023, has alleged he sexually assaulted her in the fall of 2010 during the filming of "Fast Five," the fifth installment of his brand-making "Fast and Furious" franchise. She was then unceremoniously fired, she alleges, a claim that lies at the center of the parts of the lawsuit Crowley opted to dismiss. USA TODAY has reached out to lawyers for both Diesel and Jonasson for comment. 'The Fast and the Furious' turns 20: Vin Diesel recalls fixing Paul Walker's 'goofy lines' A technical rather than substantive error, Crowley ruled that because Jonasson levied her claims under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, she would have been required to file a complaint with the state's Civil Rights Division within a certain time frame. She would have had to file the complaint within a year of the incident, a deadline which came and went in 2011, Crowley wrote, calling it an "incurable procedural defect" that required he dismiss Jonasson's claims of a hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation and a failure to prevent harassment on the part of Diesel and his company. While this week's ruling notches a small win for the action star, he will continue to face Jonasson's six other allegations, which include accusations of sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Vin Diesel to stay with 'Fast and Furious' franchise after sexual assault lawsuit What is Vin Diesel accused of? According to the original lawsuit, Jonasson was hired by Diesel's production company, One Race (also named in the suit), to work for him in various capacities, including accompanying the actor to parties and ensuring she was nearby in photos if the actor attended events without his longtime girlfriend. After a late night in September 2010, Jonasson's lawyers allege she was asked to wait for Diesel in his suite at the St. Regis hotel while he entertained hostesses from a club. When the women left, Diesel grabbed Jonasson's wrists and pulled her onto the bed, according to the lawsuit. She escaped and asked Diesel to leave, but he allegedly began to grope her breasts, kiss her chest and run his hands along her waist and upper legs, including her inner thighs. Jonasson was afraid to "forcibly refuse her superior" for her personal safety and job security, but after Diesel moved to pull down her underwear, Jonasson screamed and ran down a hallway. According to the lawsuit, Diesel pinned her to the wall and placed her hand on his genitals and then masturbated, while "terrified, Ms. Jonasson closed her eyes, trying to dissociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him," according to the suit. Hours later, Diesel's sister and president of One Race, Samantha Vincent, called Jonasson to fire her after fewer than two weeks on the job, the suit says. Though Jonasson signed a nondisclosure agreement when she accepted the position, she was able to file the claims because of the Speak Out Act, which prevents the enforcement of nondisclosure agreements in instances of sexual assault and assault and harassment, and California's AB2777, which temporarily waives statutes of limitations for sexual abuse allegations occurring in 2009 or later. Contributing: Melissa Ruggieri, Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: (4673) and and en Español
New York Times
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Stream These Movies and TV Shows Before They Leave Netflix in February
The highlights of this month's Netflix departures are a star-studded bunch, with memorable turns by Chadwick Boseman, Russell Crowe, Vin Diesel, Kirsten Dunst, Mia Goth, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Chris Hemsworth and others. And catch two great 'Office'-adjacent comedy series of recent years before they leave. (Dates reflect the final day titles are available and are subject to change.) 'Run All Night' (Feb. 1) Stream it here. Between their collaborations on the airplane thriller 'Non-Stop' and the train thriller 'The Commuter,' Liam Neeson and the director Jaume Collet-Serra teamed up for this taut action flick, which basically amounts to 'Taken' but set in New York with gangsters. Neeson plays an ex-hit man for the Irish Mob who puts his life and that of his estranged son (Joel Kinnaman) in danger when he kills his boss's trigger-happy offspring. Ed Harris is electrifying as the boss, instilling genuine fear with even his offhand gestures; Vincent D'Onofrio shines as a police detective; and Common is ferocious as a fellow hired gun. Neeson, meanwhile, sneaks in some real acting between the punches. 'The Fast and the Furious' Collection (Feb. 11) Stream it here. These early entries in one of the most lucrative and durable of all modern action franchises offer up a fascinating lesson in cinematic evolution and adaptation. The initial outing, 'The Fast and the Furious' (2001), was a fairly straightforward 'Point Break' riff with Paul Walker as a cop who goes undercover in the Los Angeles street racing subculture to bust a petty thief (Vin Diesel) and gets too close for comfort with him and his crew (which also included Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster). Two years later, Walker returned in '2 Fast 2 Furious,' but his chemistry with Diesel was sorely missing, and the 2006 spinoff 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' took the series further afield. But the four principles returned for 'Fast & Furious' (2009; not on Netflix) and solidified the series's new friskier style in the bone-crunching, physics-defying heist spectacles 'Fast Five' and 'Fast & Furious 6.' 'Blackhat' (Feb. 15) Stream it here. The director Michael Mann, always on the cutting edge, wrote and directed this 2015 cyber-thriller about a convicted hacker (Chris Hemsworth) who is offered his freedom if he can help an F.B.I. team track down a dangerous cybercriminal. The plot doesn't entirely hold together, and Hemsworth's casting is a touch hard to swallow. But Mann's distinctive and unmatched style more than holds 'Blackhat' together. And the considerable chemistry of Hemsworth and his character's romantic interest, played by Tang Wei, keeps the sparks flying. 'Pearl' (Feb. 15) Stream it here. The second, and finest, of the three collaborations between the writer-director Ti West and the actress Mia Goth (preceded by 'X' and followed by 'Maxxxine') is this 2022 period thriller, telling the origin story of the psychotic old woman played by Goth in 'X.' We meet the title character in 1918, isolating on her family's Texas farm during the Spanish flu pandemic, awaiting the return of her husband from World War I. But Pearl needs attention and affirmation, and she decides she wants to be a movie star — no matter what it takes. West's supersaturated photography and classical style recall the Golden Age of Hollywood melodrama, while his sly script both deploys and subverts the conventions of contemporary horror. 'Southpaw' (Feb. 20) Stream it here. Jake Gyllenhaal is startlingly convincing as a professional boxer whose life and career are turned upside-down in this sports drama from the director Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day'). Gyllenhaal, whose months of transformative training for the role pay off big onscreen, plays the character's cockiness and fall from grace with equal authenticity, while Rachel McAdams makes the most of her few scenes, and Forest Whitaker transcends the clichés of the crusty, seen-it-all corner man. Most of the narrative will be plenty familiar to sports film fans, but Gyllenhaal's towering performance and Fuqua's attentiveness to detail keep 'Southpaw' from feeling too shopworn. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
