Latest news with #metoo
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Brazenly Preyed On Me as Epstein Watched: Model
Stacey Williams, a former model who once dated Jeffrey Epstein, says Donald Trump groped her in his Trump Tower office in 1993—while casually chatting with Epstein just feet away. In a new episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, Williams says the incident unfolded after Epstein had suggested they stop by Trump Tower while taking a walk down Fifth Avenue. 'Donald came out of his office right outside of, in sort of the waiting area, and started groping me while the two of them continued having a casual conversation,' Williams tells host Joanna Coles on The Daily Beast Podcast. 'He's just moving his hands sort of up and down my body and like smiling at him and Jeffrey smiling back.' Williams was 25 at the time, while Trump was around 46. Williams first came forward with the allegations in October 2024 during a call organized by Survivors for Kamala, a group of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence supporting Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. At the time, the Trump campaign denied her account. 'These accusations, made by a former activist for Barack Obama and announced on a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false. It's obvious this fake story was contrived by the Harris campaign,' Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to The Guardian at the time. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast. Williams says she first met Trump—then still a real estate developer—during a taping of Saturday Night Live, where she says he immediately made her feel 'uncomfortable' by being 'extremely flirtatious,' even though his then-girlfriend and future wife, Marla Maples, was present. But she says Epstein, 'always talked about Donald,' and that Trump was 'ever-present in those conversations and in those months.' When Epstein proposed dropping by Trump's office, she didn't think twice about it. 'I knew at that point how close they were, what good friends they were,' Williams said. 'That wasn't the first time I'm hearing about the degree of their connection where it's normal or comfortable to just stop by his office in the middle of the day.' 'So I said, oh, all right. OK, let's stop by,' she recalls. Williams says that she froze as Trump began groping her, caught off guard by how brazenly he did it while carrying on his conversation with Epstein. 'I was just confused because they were continuing to talk, as if nothing's happening,' she says. 'Everything Donald does is hidden in its brazenness. You just do it right out there and everyone goes 'Well, that can't be happening because it's totally wrong and he's doing it right in front of everyone, so therefore it can't be happening.' I mean that's what went through my head at that point.' Noting that she had, by that point, garnered a reputation in the modeling industry for standing up for herself in the face of inappropriate photographers, Williams added: 'For me to freeze, you know how masterful he is, in a way, to pull that off.' Afterwards, in the elevator down, Williams says Epstein 'had a really enraged look on his face.' 'By the time we get out on the street—we got out on Fifth Avenue—he just turned and started yelling at me and said, 'Why did you let him do that?'' she recalls. Williams, now 57, suspects that Epstein had expected her to fight back as she had told him she was used to pushing back against unwanted advances. She says she stopped seeing Epstein soon after. Later in 1993, she says Trump sent her a postcard with an aerial view of Mar-a-Lago, writing, 'Stacey—your home away from home. Love, Donald,' using a black Sharpie. Leavitt has previously argued that the handwriting on the postcard was not Trump's. Two friends confirmed to The Guardian, which first reported Williams's story, that she had told them years ago about the alleged incident. Williams' accusation of groping and unwanted sexual advances echoes a broader pattern: about two dozen women have accused the former president of sexual misconduct spanning several decades, according to The Guardian. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996. Williams, a native of rural Pennsylvania, arrived in New York as an 18-year-old in 1986 after being signed by a modeling agency. She says she first met Epstein through her agent, but that they only exchanged numbers after meeting again at a Christmas party in the Plaza Hotel hosted by Trump in 1992, after which they dated casually for a period of a few months. She describes dating Epstein as 'not really dating' and 'very odd,' because 'he didn't like to go to restaurants. He said he didn't like humanity.' She says they spoke almost daily over the phone for around four to five months, and they 'didn't have a very sexual relationship.' Still, she saw flashes of a 'dark and twisted' side of Epstein, often through 'subtle' threats he would make. At one point, she says he told her he had filmed her nude in his bedroom. 'He liked to intimidate,' she says. Williams says the MeToo movement prompted her to revisit her experiences with Epstein and Trump and 'start connecting more dots.' Epstein and Trump were friends from the late 1980s through to 2004, when they had a falling out because Epstein 'stole' Trump's staff, the 79-year-old president recently revealed. Trump says he was never aware of Epstein's crimes. Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008, but only served a controversial 13-month stint in county jail. In 2019, he was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges and died in jail while awaiting trial on charges that could have led to a life sentence. His death was ruled a suicide.
The Verge
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Three former Ubisoft executives are convicted of sexual and psychological harassment
A court in France has sentenced three former Ubisoft executives for sexual and psychological harassment. Serge Hascoet, Tommy Francois, and Guillaume Patrux each received fines and suspended prison sentences for their actions that were discovered as a part of a years-long investigation into sexual harassment and bullying at the game publisher. According to The Guardian, Hascoet, Ubisoft's former chief creative officer, allegedly commented that a female employee's mood could be improved if someone were to have sex with her in order to, 'show how to calm her.' Francois, Ubisoft's former editorial vice president, was additionally convicted of attempted sexual assault as well as sexual harassment related to an alleged incident where he tried to forcefully kiss a female employee at a party while colleagues held her down. Patrux, a former game director, was alleged to have thrown furniture in open-plan office space, throwing other objects at employees, and drawing swastikas on a colleague's notebook. Investigations into Ubisoft began in 2020 as a part of the #metoo movement in video games. Current and former employees took to social media in June 2020 to describe harmful incidents and attitudes at the Far Cry and Assassin's Creed developer that spanned decades. An internal survey conducted at that time reported that out of 14,000 employees surveyed, 25 percent had seen or experienced workplace misconduct, while 20 percent said they did not feel safe or respected at the company. In the aftermath, several Ubisoft executives, including Hascoet, resigned while others, including Francois, were fired. In 2023, five former employees, including Hascoet and Francois, were arrested by French police following an investigation into the company. According to French newspaper Le Monde, Francois blamed company culture at Ubisoft for his behavior, saying he was a part of a culture that was 'everywhere, in every department' and that he didn't think it was 'abnormal.' The Verge has reached out to Ubisoft for comment.
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Harassment by Ubisoft executives left female staff terrified, French court hears
Three former executives at the French video game company Ubisoft used their position to bully or sexually harass staff, leaving women terrified and feeling like pieces of meat, a French court has heard. The state prosecutor Antoine Haushalter said the trial of three senior game creators for alleged bullying, sexual harassment and, in one case, attempted sexual assault was a 'turning point' for the gaming world. It is the first big trial to result from the #MeToo movement in the video games industry, and Haushalter said the case had revealed 'overwhelming' evidence of harassment. In four days of hearings, female former staff members variously described being tied to a chair, forced to do handstands, subjected to constant comments about sex and their bodies, having to endure sexist and homophobic jokes, drawings of penises being stuck to computers, a manager who farted in workers' faces or scribbled on women with marker pens, gave unsolicited shoulder massages, played pornographic films in an open-plan office, and another executive who cracked a whip near people's heads. The three men deny all charges. Haushalter said 'the world of video games and its subculture' had an element of 'systemic' sexism and potential abuse. He said the #MeToo movement in the gaming industry had allowed people to speak out. 'It's not that these actions were not punished by the law before. It's just that they were silenced, and from now on they will not be silenced,' he said. Ubisoft is a French family business that rose to become one of the biggest video games creators in the world. It has been behind several blockbusters including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and the children's favourite Just Dance. The court in Bobigny, in Seine-Saint-Denis, heard that between 2010 and 2020 at Ubisoft's offices in Montreuil, east of Paris, the three executives created an atmosphere of bullying and sexism that one member of staff likened to a 'boys' club'. One alleged victim told the court: 'The sexual remarks and sexual jokes were almost daily.' Tommy François, 52, a former vice-president of editorial and creative services, is accused of sexual harassment, bullying and attempted sexual assault. He was alleged once to have tied a woman member of staff to a chair with tape, pushed the chair into a lift and pressed a button at random. He was also accused of forcing one woman wearing a skirt to do handstands. 'He was my superior and I was afraid of him. He made me do handstands. I did it to get it over with and get rid of him,' one woman told the court. At a 2015 office Christmas party with a Back to the Future theme, François allegedly told a member of staff that he liked her 1950s dress. He then allegedly stepped towards her to kiss her on the mouth as his colleagues restrained her by the arms and back. She shouted and broke free. François denied all allegations. Another witness told the court that during a video games fair in the US, François 'grabbed me by the hair and kissed me by force'. She said no one reacted, and that when she reported it to her human resources manager she was told 'don't make a big thing of it'. The woman said that later, in a key meeting, another unnamed senior figure told staff he had seen her 'snogging' François, 'even though he knew it had been an assault'. She said François called her into his office to show her pictures of his naked backside on his computers and on a phone. 'Once he drew a penis on my arm when I was in a video call with top management,' she said. The woman said these incidents made her feel 'stupefied, humiliated and professionally discredited'. François told the court he denied all charges. He said there had been a 'culture of joking around'. He said: 'I never tried to harm anyone.' Serge Hascoët, 59, Ubisoft's former chief creative officer and second-in-command, was accused of bullying and sexual harassment. The court heard how at a meeting of staff on an away day he complained about a senior female employee, saying she clearly didn't have enough sex and that he would 'show how to calm her' by having sex with her in a meeting room in front of everyone. He was alleged to have handed a young female member of staff a tissue in which he had blown his nose, saying: 'You can resell it, it's worth gold at Ubisoft.' The court heard he made guttural noises in the office and talked about sex. Hascoët was also alleged to have bullied assistants by making them carry out personal tasks for him such as going to his home to wait for parcel deliveries. Hascoët denied all the charges. He said: 'I have never wanted to harass anyone and I don't think I have.' The former game director Guillaume Patrux, 41, is accused of sexual harassment and bullying. He was alleged to have punched walls, mimed hitting staff, cracked a whip near colleagues' faces, threatened to carry out an office shooting and played with a cigarette lighter near workers' faces, setting alight a man's beard. He denied the charges. The panel of judges retired to consider their verdict, which will be handed down at a later date.
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump spurs global rollback on the rights of women and girls
A global rollback of women's rights was already underway before US President Donald Trump took office. But now it's in hyper speed. Trump's actions, including his broad slashing of international aid, both cause direct harm and encourage other world leaders to walk away from women's rights. For years, most mainstream politicians saw advancing the rights of 'women and girls' as a priority, even if the reality did not always match the rhetoric. Doing so often seemed uncontroversial and bipartisan, including in the UK. Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie in 2014 opened an initiative on sexual violence in armed conflict. The same year, the UK's coalition government held a 'Girl Summit' promising global leadership to end child marriage and female genital mutilation. In 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that girls' education globally was a top priority. And just last month, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the appointment of Harriet Harman as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls. Her job: to champion gender equality worldwide. The 2023 US Agency for International Development (USAID) Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy was also unequivocal: 'Gender equality is a human right.' This statement reflects international law – 189 countries, the vast majority of the world, have agreed to be bound by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The #MeToo movement went viral in 2017. Women around the world shared experiences of gender-based violence and demanded solutions. No one was naïve about the challenge of dismantling centuries of patriarchy, but there was a feeling that women's legitimate demands could not be denied. Yet today we are struggling to slow the loss of rights protections. Trump's attack on women's rights within the US has already gravely damaged respect for reproductive rights and is having a much broader impact on the health and economic rights of women and girls inside the United States. Abortion is now illegal in 12 of the 50 US states, according to the Centre for Reproductive Rights. But his policies' harmful impact stretches far beyond the US. First, there are the aid cuts themselves. The Trump administration has drastically slashed US government funding for international aid, including to programs focused specifically on assisting women. The US had been the world's largest aid donor. Women and girls are dying as a result and many more will die unless these policies are reversed. The Trump administration has also cut crucial research on women's health. They have dismantled parts of the US government that were responsible for developing aid programming, including teams to end gender inequality. The administration has cut over US$500 million in Labor Department grants to uphold international labour standards in 40 countries, including programs to support gender equity and women's participation in the workforce, and to combat human trafficking – which disproportionately impacts women and girls. Women and girls will suffer The Trump administration's broader assault on what it refers to as DEI – efforts to redress inequities based on historical and current forms of racism and other forms of discrimination – is having a deeply chilling impact. Even the word gender seems to be an anathema to the US government, with, for example, the US mission to the UN seeking to remove this word from every UN resolution. Decades of hard work went into helping the aid sector be more cognisant of and responsive to how inequalities intersect. For example, if a population is facing a famine, donor governments and aid groups need specific strategies to get food to women and girls who, among other obstacles, face greater difficulties in accessing distribution centres. During conflicts, women and girls face gendered impacts that often include sexual violence, but also affect their livelihoods, access to education, safety, freedom of movement, and care-giving roles. Forced displacement often exposes them to further violence. These gendered impacts are further complicated when they intersect with other forms of marginalisation, including based on race, ethnicity, age, and disability. The disproportionate impacts that women and girls face exist across the entire range of human rights issues. Trump's crackdown on 'DEI language' makes it harder even to discuss these issues. During the first Trump administration, some countries, led by the Netherlands, filled gaps in international aid created by the already deeply harmful but far less drastic cuts. This time around, we see the opposite. Even among countries pledging to maintain their aid budgets there is no talk of increases, and often the news is much worse. Under US pressure to boost military spending and concerned that their security pact with the US is breaking down, European countries that have seen themselves as leaders on women's rights are sharpening their axes. The UK Labour government cut the already reduced aid budget again, a total reduction since 2021 of more than half, alongside a wave of cuts by other European countries. The Netherlands government is among those cutting. Make no mistake – women and girls suffer as a result. The World Health Organization – one of the UN bodies the US is withdrawing from – warns that the cuts have made the goals on reducing maternal mortality almost unachievable. Funding cuts are closing down some of the few facilities providing emergency medical care to survivors of rape in war zones. Programs around the world that provided life-saving assistance are closing their doors. Trump is leading the way to a cruel new world order in which women and girls are among the first victims. Governments everywhere have a duty to push back. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security
