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The television producer Dan Schneider filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against the creators of the documentary series “Quiet on Set,” which aired accounts of sexual abuse and other inappropriate behavior on sets at Nickelodeon, where Schneider was once a star creator of content. The five-episode series, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” included interviews from former employees who denounced Schneider as a boss and objected to sexualized humor in his shows, leading him to release a video in March in which he apologized for some of his behavior on the job, such as soliciting massages on set from staff members. But the show also focused on Nickelodeon employees who had been convicted of child sex crimes — including Brian Peck, a dialogue coach for Nickelodeon, who was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing the “Drake & Josh” star Jared Drake Bell. Schneider’s lawsuit accuses the documentary of improperly conflating him with those who had been convicted of abusing children and took issue with segments of the series that his lawyers said “falsely and repeatedly state or imply that Schneider is a child sexual abuser.”

Persons: Dan Schneider, Schneider, ”, Brian Peck, Drake, Josh ”, Jared Drake Bell, “ Organizations: Nickelodeon, Kids

☆ Jonathan Glazer Condemns ‘Occupation’ and Violence in Israel and Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Israel-Hamas war was prominently addressed on the Oscars stage on Sunday in an acceptance speech for “The Zone of Interest,” which follows the domestic life of a Nazi commandant whose house is just outside the Auschwitz concentration camp. The director Jonathan Glazer read from prepared remarks after the film won for best international feature, offering thanks to collaborators before turning to the conflict. “All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present — not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather, ‘Look what we do now.’ Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present.”Glazer, who is Jewish, said that he rejected “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,” he said.

Persons: Jonathan Glazer, ” Glazer, ” Organizations: Nazi Locations: Israel

☆ Expecting Protests at the Oscars, Police Plan to Beef Up Security
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Los Angeles police said it would increase its presence at the Academy Awards on Sunday night to make sure that potential protests related to the Israel-Hamas war do not disrupt the Oscars ceremony. Randy Goddard of the Los Angeles Police Department said it had gathered intelligence, based partially on social media posts, suggesting that at least one group “would like to stop the Academy Awards.”“It’s going to be our goal to ensure that the Academy Awards is successful, that guests can arrive safely and get into the venue,” said Commander Goddard, the police official leading the department’s management of the Oscars. “But, also, we are going to try very hard to make contact with the groups as they show up, and lay out the expectation that we as the police are here to support your First Amendment constitutional rights.”Some groups may try to block traffic or use other disruptive measures that demonstrators have leveraged at other events around the country, he said. Others may focus their efforts closer to the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, where the Oscars take place.

Persons: Cmdr, Randy Goddard, ” “, ”, Goddard Organizations: Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Department, Dolby Theater Locations: Israel, Hollywood

☆ Jon Stewart Will Return to Host ‘The Daily Show’ on Mondays
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Jon Stewart will return to host “The Daily Show” on Monday nights during the 2024 election campaign, the network announced on Wednesday, bringing the comedian back to the television program that he turned into appointment viewing. “The Daily Show” has been without a permanent host since Trevor Noah stepped down in 2022. The first episode with Stewart, who left the show in 2015 after serving as host since 1999, will air on Comedy Central on Feb. 12 and on Paramount+ the following day. Stewart will also executive produce all episodes of “The Daily Show.” The episodes from Tuesday to Thursday will be hosted by a rotating lineup of the show’s news team. Chris McCarthy, the chief executive of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, said in a statement that Stewart was the voice of a generation.

Persons: Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah, Stewart, Chris McCarthy Organizations: Comedy Central, Paramount, Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios

☆ South African Government Seeks to Halt Auction of Mandela Items
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The South African Heritage Resources Agency is seeking to prevent an auction of dozens of Nelson Mandela’s personal belongings, saying on Thursday that it has filed court papers to appeal a ruling that had allowed the sale of the items to go forward. Guernsey’s auction house in New York said this week that it planned to auction about 70 of Mr. Mandela’s items on Feb. 22 as part of a fund-raising effort to support the establishment of a memorial garden near where Mr. Mandela, the former South African president, is buried. South African officials had blocked an earlier effort to sell the items on the grounds that some of them are objects of national heritage. But the organizers of the planned sale, led by Mr. Mandela’s oldest daughter, Dr. Makaziwe Mandela, won a court judgment last month. In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the High Court in Pretoria found that the government’s claim to the items as heritage objects was “overbroad.”

Persons: Nelson, Mandela, Mandela’s, Makaziwe Mandela, ” Organizations: African Heritage Resources Agency, South Locations: New York, Pretoria

☆ Auction of Nelson Mandela Items Set After Court Fight With Government
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Nelson Mandela’s eldest daughter is moving forward with an auction next month of the former president’s personal belongings after a two-year legal battle with the South African government, which had tried to block such a sale saying the items were artifacts of national heritage. The proposed sale had drawn attention when it was announced in 2021. South African officials balked, objecting in particular to the sale of a key to the Robben Island prison cell where Mr. Mandela was held. Proceeds from the auction are intended to finance a memorial garden honoring Mr. Mandela, who dedicated most of his life to emancipating South Africa from white minority rule, the organizers said. He died in 2013 at 95, 23 years after his release from prison and 19 years after he was elected president.

Persons: Nelson Mandela’s, Mandela Organizations: South Locations: South Africa

☆ Sean Combs Accused of Sexual Assault by a Second Woman
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The producer and music mogul Sean Combs was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 1991 in a lawsuit she filed on Thursday, a week after he settled a suit that accused him of raping and physically abusing Cassie, an R&B singer once signed to his label. In the latest lawsuit, the plaintiff, Joi Dickerson-Neal, accused Mr. Combs of drugging her during an evening out in New York when she was on a break from Syracuse University, where she was a student. She was eventually driven to a place Mr. Combs was staying, where he raped her and recorded the encounter on video, according to the lawsuit. “Combs’s conduct forever changed the trajectory of her career, denying her what might have been a lucrative and successful career in the music industry,” the lawsuit said of Ms. Dickerson-Neal. The lawsuit was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan shortly before this week’s deadline for the Adult Survivors Act, a state law that allowed people who said they were sexually abused to file claims even after the statute of limitations had expired.

Persons: Sean Combs, Cassie, Joi Dickerson, Neal, Mr, Combs, drugging, “, Dickerson Organizations: Syracuse University, Court Locations: New York, Manhattan

Matthew Perry, who portrayed Chandler Bing in the acclaimed sitcom “Friends,” has died. The death was confirmed by Capt. He said the cause of death was not likely to be determined for some time, but there was no indication of foul play. Mr. Perry was well known to American television audiences, featuring in over 200 episodes in all 10 seasons of “Friends,” the hit NBC show that followed a group of friends and their journey as young professionals living in Manhattan. Mr. Perry starred alongside prominent actors like Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow.

Persons: Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing, ”, Scot Williams, Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Mr Organizations: Los Angeles Police, NBC, Warner Bros . Television Group Locations: Manhattan

☆ Dave Chappelle’s Remarks on Israel Draw Cheers and Walkouts in Boston
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The set was on Thursday, the first of a pair of shows Mr. Chappelle held at Boston’s TD Garden, and no jokes or commentary about the war had been planned, said the spokeswoman, Carla Sims. Mr. Chappelle’s remarks were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said that some audience members had cheered Mr. Chappelle as he spoke about the conflict while others walked out. “As a comedian and satirist, he has to navigate the complexities of competing truths, presenting perspectives that can be both thought-provoking and challenging,” Ms. Sims said of Mr. Chappelle. After initially declining to engage, Mr. Chappelle, who has not hesitated to address controversial issues in recent years, raised concerns about the way a group of Harvard students had been treated after writing an anti-Israel letter. At that point an audience member yelled that he should shut up, according to reports and the person who heard the recording.

Persons: Dave Chappelle waded, Chappelle, Carla Sims, Chappelle’s, Mr, Ms, Sims, Israel Organizations: Wall Street, Los Angeles Times, Harvard Locations: Israel, Boston, Gaza

☆ As Movie Theaters Embrace Swift, One Showcases Her Exes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Like movie theaters across the country that are facing the fallout of an actors’ strike and the shift to streaming, the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee was quite pleased to have Taylor Swift’s concert film coming to its screens. But “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which has been a box office rainmaker, comes with an unconventional stipulation: Theaters may only show it Thursdays through Sundays, said Cara Ogburn, the artistic director of Milwaukee Film, which runs the Oriental Theater. So what to do, she wondered, on the other three days of the week? “What if we show all Jake Gyllenhaal movies,” Ogburn suggested offhandedly, initially as a joke. The team’s resident Swiftie assured leadership that the theater would not be canceled for a lineup based on the pop star’s famous exes.

Persons: Taylor, “ Taylor Swift, Cara Ogburn, Jake Gyllenhaal, ” Ogburn, offhandedly, Swiftie Organizations: Oriental Theater, Milwaukee Film Locations: Milwaukee

The lawsuit also alleged that a backstage manager on the tour sent a photo “graphically depicting male genitalia” to a group text message that included the plaintiff, tour management and other crew members; the lawsuit said the singer’s management failed to properly address the message, responding to it with humor in a way that encouraged an “unsafe, sexually charged workplace culture.”The plaintiff also said she was subjected to long hours and frequently denied breaks, alleging that Nomura required her to be on her feet all day despite an ankle injury. Attempts to reach Nomura on Thursday were not immediately successful. In response to the lawsuit, a spokesman for Lizzo, Stefan Friedman, said that Daniels never had any contact with the pop star during her time with the tour. “As Lizzo receives a humanitarian award tonight from the Black Music Action Coalition for the incredible charitable work she has done to lift up all people, an ambulance-chasing lawyer tries to sully this honor by recruiting someone to file a bogus, absurd publicity-stunt lawsuit,” Friedman said. He went on, “We will pay this as much attention as it deserves.

Persons: Nomura, Lizzo, Stefan Friedman, Daniels, sully, ” Friedman, ” Organizations: Nomura, Black Music, Coalition

☆ A $4 Thrift Store Find That Could Sell for $250,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

You can walk out of the Savers in Manchester, N.H., with a shirt for as little as $4.99. Framed artworks too big for shelves lean invitingly against one of the walls. The thrift store’s manager says that shopping there is like a personal treasure hunt, which was certainly the case for one woman who made the find of a lifetime in 2017. Two women in the image appeared to be in a standoff, the elder displaying stern disapproval. The shopper was taken by the painting — Who were the women?

Persons: Wyeth, ” “ Robin Hood ”, “ Robinson Locations: Manchester, N.H, American

In the opening hours of the role-playing video game, it’s possible to land your spaceship on Earth’s moon or zip 16 light-years to Alpha Centauri. That sprawling celestial journey within Starfield, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, reveals both the tremendous potential and the monumental challenge of an open-world space adventure. Bethesda has hyped an expansive single-player campaign with 1,000 explorable planets. And expectations around the game, officially releasing on Sept. 6 after a 10-month delay, are nearly as vast. To compete, Microsoft went on a spending spree, acquiring Bethesda’s parent company in 2020 and agreeing to purchase Activision Blizzard in 2022, a $69 billion bet that is being challenged by regulators.

Persons: Starfield, It’s Organizations: Alpha Centauri, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard Locations: Starfield

☆ Auctioneer Who Helped Create Fake Basquiats Gets Probation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The man, Michael Barzman, avoided jail time for his role, which he eventually admitted involved working with an associate to create between 20 and 30 fake pieces that were promoted for sale as if they were genuine Basquiats. The fake Basquiats were displayed last year at a highly touted exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art, the F.B.I. A judge in United States District Court in Los Angeles sentenced Barzman to three years’ probation, 500 hours of community service and a fine of $500, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said. The fake Basquiats have roiled the Orlando Museum of Art, which promoted the exhibition heavily and staked its reputation on maintaining that they were genuine. raided the museum and seized the paintings in question.

Persons: Jean, Michel Basquiat, Michael Barzman, Barzman Organizations: Orlando Museum of Art, United, Court, U.S, The New York Times, FedEx Locations: Los Angeles, United States

The Orlando Museum of Art filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing its former director of seeking to profit from a scheme to show fake paintings that the museum had exhibited as newly discovered works by the celebrated artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, saying that the owners of the paintings had promised him “a significant cut of the proceeds” from their eventual sale. Lawyers for the museum say in the court papers that they are seeking an unspecified sum in damages for fraud, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. “The story of how the paintings ended up on the walls of O.M.A. is a truth stranger than fiction,” said the lawsuit, which was filed in circuit court in Florida. spent hundreds of thousands of dollars — and unwittingly staked its reputation — on exhibiting the now-admittedly fake paintings.

Persons: Jean, Michel Basquiat, Aaron De Groft, Groft, ”, “ O.M.A Organizations: Orlando Museum of Art Locations: O.M.A, Florida

☆ Justin H. Min, Travel Writer? The Path Not Taken for a Rising Star
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five years after Justin H. Min began pursuing acting by Googling “how to pursue acting,” he thought he was getting the hang of it. He had made a viral commercial, and he was in contention for three major roles. “I was not nervous and I did everything I wanted to,” Min recalled of the auditions. So Min told his manager he was moving. But rather than beg him to stay (as Min had secretly hoped), the manager gave his full blessing.

Persons: Justin H, Min, ”, “, ” Min Organizations: The Times, Netflix, Umbrella Academy Locations: British, London

It was 10 a.m., adoring union members had already more or less mobbed their president, Fran Drescher, and the crowd was growing by the minute. Outside Netflix offices in Hollywood, a festive, celebratory mood had taken over the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue. It was a workers’ strike, to be sure. But it felt a little like a summer Friday street party — one with a few famous guests. We bring so much joy to people by entertaining them,” Crew added.

Persons: Fran Drescher, “ We’re, ”, Amanda Crew, Dustin Milligan, “ Organizations: Netflix Locations: Hollywood, Sunset, Van, Silicon

Lisa Marie Presley, the singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, died in January as a result of “a small bowel obstruction” caused by scar tissue that developed after bariatric surgery years ago, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said on Thursday. Ms. Presley had been complaining on Jan. 12 of severe abdominal pain, according to an autopsy report released on Thursday by the medical examiner’s office. Later that day, she was found unresponsive at her home in Calabasas, Calif., by her ex-husband, who was not named in the report. Ms. Presley, 54, was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where she went into cardiac arrest and died that afternoon. The report stated that although Ms. Presley had a previous history of drug use, she was sober “for the past few years.” Still, health problems appeared to have occurred after her bariatric surgery, which is generally considered a treatment option for people with a high body mass index who failed to lose weight with diet and exercise alone.

Persons: Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley, Presley, ” Organizations: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Medical Locations: Los Angeles County, Calabasas , Calif

☆ As Strike Continues, Writers Turn Focus to Ryan Murphy’s Productions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He is among the high-profile showrunners who have donated during the strike to the Entertainment Community Fund, which provides grants to those working in film, TV and other disciplines. Disney owns the FX cable channel, which is home to his “American Horror Story” franchise, which began airing in 2011. “We’re not here in protest of Ryan Murphy, the guy, we’re here in protest of production happening without writers and while writers are on strike,” said Josh Gondelman, a member of WGA-East’s leadership, who was out picketing on Thursday. The Writers Guild had summoned its members to a so-called Horror/Fantasy Theme Day in Queens as the writers’ strike entered its third month. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of Hollywood companies, has said that its contract offer includes “generous increases in compensation for writers.”

Persons: Murphy, “ We’re, Ryan Murphy, ”, Josh Gondelman, ’ Organizations: Entertainment Community Fund, Walt Disney Company, Netflix, Disney, FX, WGA, Hollywood, Alliance, Television Producers Locations: Queens

☆ For Asian American Actors, Playing a Hot Mess Is Liberating
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“All-American Girl” debuted on ABC in 1994, though it lasted only 19 episodes. There were so few Asian American stories emerging — save occasional indie breakouts like “Better Luck Tomorrow” — that the “initial stabs” had to be “be kind of like our best foot forward — putting on our best face, showing them what we can do,” Yu said. “There was this underlying feeling of ‘Don’t air out our dirty laundry, don’t let them see us fighting,’” he added. They called it the “rep sweats” — the anxiety they felt any time they watched an Asian American onscreen. It was a pressure emanating from the fact that those appearances were so few and far between.

Persons: ”, Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, Philip Wang, “, Yang’s, Hudson, Randall, Yu, ” Yu, ’, we’ve Organizations: Luck, ABC Locations: American, America

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