Mel B's and SDivorce Trial Will Include 20 Sex Tapes

In an upcoming divorce trial for Melanie Brown or Mel B and estranged husband Stephen Belafonte, there will be 56 videos submitted for evidence. When Brown filed for a temporary restraining order earlier this year in April with allegations of physical and emotional abuse, she claimed that Belafonte had intimate videos of her and would threaten to release them if she tried to leave him. There are 20 videos that are claimed to be of Mel B partaking in sexual acts, one claimed to have her doing cocaine.

Brown's lawyer, Susan Wiesner, said that Mel B is shown in 90% of the videos and that many were made without her consent, including the act itself or the recording of it. Belafonte's legal team countered that they were all consensual. She also stated that he had more videos in his possession, but refuses to turn them over.

Philip Cohen, Belafonte's lawyer, said that Brown "takes the position she was drugged by Mr. Belafonte throughout the course of their 10-year marriage" and responded to the accusation that it's "nothing more than a smear campaign." In Brown's temporary restraining order, she made a claim that Belafonte had an affair with their German nanny, Lorraine Gilles. Due to the claim, the judge granted Gilles lawyer to question Brown during the proceedings.

The divorce trial will continue on Monday, November 6.



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Harvey Weinstein Loses Film Academy Membership

  

The bricks continue to fall.

Following accusations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board had an emergency meeting to vote on revoking his membership. The meeting took place on Saturday, October 14 in Los Angeles and resulted in his immediate expulsion.

"We do so not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues, but also to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over. What's at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society. The board continues to work to establish ethical standards of conduct that all Academy members will be expected to exemplify."

On October 5, The New York Times released the story that the 65 year-old producer had paid off women after being accused of sexual assault for decades. In 1997, actress Rose McGowan received a $100,000 settlement after an incident with Weinstein in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival. Other actresses such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale and more, have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct and assault.

According to The New Yorker, sixteen women who worked and still work for The Weinstein Company have accused him of sexual assault or had knowledge of it. These women "described a pattern of professional meetings that were little more than thin pretexts for sexual advances on young actresses and models." The article also stated that there was "in essence, a culture of complicity at Weinstein's places of business" where numerous of people knew about his behavior and either approved of the wrongdoing or looked the other way.

Weinstein has been fired from The Weinstein Company, the company he started with his brother Bob Weinstein in 2005. According to Vanity Fair and Us Weekly, the producer was also suspended from the British Film Academy and denounced by the Cannes Film Festival.


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CBS Criticized For Lack of Female Leads in Fall Line Up

On Tuesday, August 2, CBS was put on the hot seat at the Television Critics Association summer press tour about the representation in the series for the fall. The TV network's fall line up includes six series with all male leads:

1.  David Boreanaz in Seal Team
2.  Shemar Moore in S.W.A.T. 
3. Jeremy Piven in Wisdom of the Crowd
4. Bobby Moynihan in Me Myself and I
5. Mark Feuerstein in 9JKL
6. Sheldon Cooper in Young Sheldon

Thom Sherman, the senior executive Vice President of programming,  told reporters at the Television Critics Association on Tuesday, August 2 that there were shows developed starring women, but "the pilots weren't as good as the ones that got picked up." Sherman also said, "CBS has been so successful with broad appeal and we want to continue down that path."

Actress Jessica Chastain is unimpressed with the lack of female leads. The Martian actress posted an article by The Wrap on Twitter regarding the matter. "I'll just @netflix and chill. Or some @HBO greatness. Or anything by #RyanMurphy. There's so many incredible options that don't include @CBS."

Along with the lack of female protagonists, there are five white male leads with Shemar Moore being the exception in S.W.A.T. The casting department also consists of white individuals and reporters asked Sherman the reasoning for that as well. "They've been together for a long time. We are cognizant of the issue, we hear you and we will be looking to expand the casting department."

The CBS Entertainment president, Kelly Kahl, says that they are "making progress", but recognized that other channels are quick to make shows that promote diversity on and off the camera. One example Kahl gave was FX.


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Black Chyna Gets Temporary Restraining Order Against Rob Kardashian

Angela White, known as Blac Chyna, has a temporary restraining order against ex-fiancé Rob Kardashian. It was granted to her in a LA court room on Monday, July 10. Chyna decided to seek the restraining order after her ex-fiancé posted nude photos of her on social media last week. She went to court with her lawyer, Lisa Bloom. Kardashian wasn't present but his lawyers, Robert Shapiro and Sam Klein, appeared in court to represent him.

According to Bloom, the explicit posts that Kardashian made on social media are a crime and civil wrong in California and 38 other states. "It's also domestic abuse, which allows us to go in immediately and get domestic violence restraining orders to protect Chyna." With the restraining order, Kardashian must stay 100 yards away from Chyna, refrain from cyberbullying and posting any photos or videos of her online.

Klien said that the 30 year-old Arthur George sock creator regretted making the posts about Chyna.

Chyna claims that Kardashian has threatened to kill himself on multiple occasions since they broke up in December 2016. She says he sent her a photo of him holding a handful of pills. According to her filing, one text message read," I'm literally on the verge of killing my self and u couldn't care less." Chyna says she takes his threats seriously because he showed her a gun in the house before.

The Lash Bar owner, 29, also made a claim that back in April, her and Kardashian had an argument that resulted in him hitting her in her thigh. "I was terrified and my legs were hurt." She said that after running into her bedroom and locking the door, that Kardashian tore the hinges off the bedroom door. "It was a very experience for me," she said.

According to US Weekly, Kardashian's lawyers say that they have video of Chyna physically abusing him.

The judge granted Chyna what she wanted for the restraining order, but said the court isn't in the business of separating the parents from their child. They can continue to co-parent 9 month-old Dream Kardashian, who is currently in the care of her father.

A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 4.


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Gavin Russom Comes Out as Transgender

This star no longer wants to pretend.

Gavin Russom, who is the synth player and keyboardist for LCD Soundsystem, is a transgender woman. She came out in an interview with Pitchfork on Thursday, July 6. The 43 year-old musician can't see herself spending another year pretending. Russom says that "it's time to become a whole person."

The musician tried coming out in her early twenties and would dress feminine. However, due to mistreatment and violence, she shied away from it. "Sometimes, if they happened to be walking behind me at enough distance where they would read me as feminine, they would catcall me. Getting closer to me, they would see me as masculine and then become very angry. I was assaulted on a number of occasions."

She admitted that her troubles with transitioning led to addiction and substance abuse. She also struggled with self doubt and also dealing with her own transphobia. "I experienced trans-misogyny towards myself. But there's also something wonderful about that too, because it felt like now I could see it. And if I can see it, I can accept it and say unfortunately, this is the reality of living in a dysfunctional culture."

Russom took time to focus on herself and her health and is now in a stable moment in her life. She began transitioning at the beginning of this year.  Although Russom is transgender, she wants to keep her name.

LCD Soundsystem's album, American Dream, will be released on September 1 and their tour kicks off on October 17 in Washington D.C.

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Julia Stiles Is Expecting

There's a bun in the oven and it's growing!

Julia Stiles and her fiancé Preston J. Cook are expecting their first child together. The 36 year-old actress and her beau started dating in 2015 after meeting on the set of Go With Me, where Cook was a camera assistant on the set. He popped the question in December 2015.

 The Prince & Me actress was in London doing an interview with radio presenter Nick Snaith of Magic FM. Snaith posted a picture of him and Stiles on Instagram yesterday where you can see her in a black fitted dress that show caused her baby bump.

The mom-to-be did the interview to promote her new 10-part thriller series, Riviera. The actress plays Georgians, the wife to a billionaire who learns of his criminal behavior after he dies in a yacht accident.

Riviera is going to premiere on Thursday, June 15. The show will air on the U.K.'s Sky Atlantic.


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Over $13 Million Raised at Manchester Benefit Concert

Talented stars singing for a good cause.

Ariana Grande and other stars came together for her "One Love Manchester"  benefit concert to help raise money for bomb victims. The concert took place on Sunday, June 4, just 13 days after the tragic event where a suicide bomber caused the death of 22 people and injured dozens more.

Grande, 23, and her manager, Scooter Braun put the concert together pretty fast. According to The New York Times, Braun took roughly 10 days to plan and book the show. The location, Old Trafford Cricket Ground, wasn't booked until last week Tuesday with tickets going on sale a few days before the concert.

The "Side to Side" singer also gave away 14,000 free tickets. Over 50,000 fans attended the concert and fans were also able to watch it live on Grande's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Performances were done by Pharrell Williams, Cold Play, Justin Beiber, Miley Cyrus and more. A TV broadcast of the concert was shown at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital where some of the bomb victims are still recovering. Over $13 million was raised for the We Love Manchester Emergency fund which is in partnership with the British Red Cross and Manchester City Council.

"There's been so much negativity and such a lack of leadership when we're looking to have hope, "Braun said in an interview on Monday. "I think last night the City of Manchester became the symbol of hope."

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