Kevin Spacey is facing an additional seven charges in the U.K.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the charges stem from sexual offenses against one man between 2001 and 2004. They include three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
Spacey, 63, previously pleaded not guilty to five other charges of sexual assault in a London court back in July. The charges stem from claims by three men that Spacey had sexually assaulted them in England almost 20 years ago.
Last month, Spacey was found not liable in a civil sexual abuse trial brought by actor Anthony Rapp. Rapp had accused the actor of climbing on top of him at a party when he was 14 and Spacey was 26.
At November’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the members of Duran Duran read a letter from their original guitarist Andy Taylor, revealing he has stage four prostate cancer. Now, in a new interview, he’s opening up about his cancer battle.
Talking to UK TV 5 News, Andy says he first realized something was wrong at age of 56 after experiencing an “arthritic sort of pain” while out jogging, and says he began to have these “symptoms, and didn’t recognize them for what they could be.” He then noticed “what felt like tumors” on his neck, and a biopsy revealed the cancer was stage four metastatic, which he called “a death sentence,” saying, “no one can be prepared” for that news.
The 61-year-old Taylor now hopes to encourage others to get tested, and suggests women, who he realizes comprise the bulk of the Duran Duran fan base, do their part to get their men to get tested, saying ladies should “give them a nudge, go get a test.”
“Every minute is like an hour, every day is like a week,” Andy explains. “You really want to get the most out of life. And I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had so much in terms of living the dream.”
At November’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the members of Duran Duran read a letter from their original guitarist Andy Taylor, revealing he has stage four prostate cancer. Now, in a new interview, he’s opening up about his cancer battle.
Talking to UK TV 5 News, Andy says he first realized something was wrong at age of 56 after experiencing an “arthritic sort of pain” while out jogging, and says he began to have these “symptoms, and didn’t recognize them for what they could be.” He then noticed “what felt like tumors” on his neck, and a biopsy revealed the cancer was stage four metastatic, which he called “a death sentence,” saying, “no one can be prepared” for that news.
The 61-year-old Taylor now hopes to encourage others to get tested, and suggests women, who he realizes comprise the bulk of the Duran Duran fan base, do their part to get their men to get tested, saying ladies should “give them a nudge, go get a test.”
“Every minute is like an hour, every day is like a week,” Andy explains. “You really want to get the most out of life. And I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had so much in terms of living the dream.”
Green Day has premiered a cover of the Elvis Costello classic “Alison.”
The minimalist recording shows a tender side of the punk trio, featuring Billie Joe Armstrong‘s singing backed only by guitar and harmonized vocals. You can listen to it now via digital outlets.
Green Day originally recorded “Alison” during the sessions for their 1997 album, Nimrod. It’ll be included on the upcoming Nimrod 25th anniversary edition, due out January 27.
The reissue also includes a variety of other previously unreleased demos, as well as a full live recording from a 1997 concert in Philadelphia.
The original Nimrod spawned the singles “Hitchin’ a Ride” and “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” and has been certified double-Platinum by the RIAA.
Meanwhile, Green Day recently confirmed that they’ve been working on a new album to follow their latest effort, 2020’s Father of All…
“Gossip” will appear on Måneskin’s upcoming album, Rush!, due out January 20. The record also includes the previously released singles “Supermodel” and “The Loneliest.”
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans are in a bind over whether and how to punish embattled Rep. George Santos, a lawmaker who both attracts nonstop controversy and holds a critical seat in the narrowly divided chamber.
The New York Republican, who has lied about or embellished his business experience, education, religion, athleticism and more, is swatting away calls for his resignation from Long Island Republicans and a growing number of his GOP congressional colleagues — seven so far.
It’s leaving Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a conundrum over whether to keep Santos in the fold and face ceaseless questions over his conduct — or banish him with barely any votes to spare given his party’s slim majority.
“His vote is needed but is it really worth it?” one House Republican, granted anonymity to candidly discuss the debate over Santos, lamented when asked about the pickle. “After this s***show, if we keep this up, we won’t have a majority in two years.”
Faced with the choice of choosing a smaller House margin or a bigger headache, it appears that most lawmakers are publicly opting for the headache, claiming his fate is out of their hands.
“Well, that’s something between George and his constituents. So, I think that is what it is. He’s gonna figure that out with people back home,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told reporters Wednesday of the political storm around Santos.
“When you have your local party saying something so vocally that is not a helpful sign, but we are going to leave this up to regular normative process that is both traditional for this body and under the law,” Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., added, referencing the push from the Nassau County GOP for Santos to step down.
McCarthy and other House leaders have said they plan to handle the issue internally for now and maintain he won’t be kicked out given that has not yet been convicted of any particular crime — a comment in line with House GOP tradition that also helps protect the party’s margins.
“He’s got a long way to go to earn trust. But the one thing I do know is you apply the Constitution equal to all Americans. The voters of his district have elected him. He is seated. He is part of the Republican conference. There are concerns with him, so he will go before [the House Ethics Committee]. If anything is found to be wrong, he will be held accountable exactly as anyone else in this body would be,” McCarthy said Thursday.
Possibly adding to Republicans’ reticence to nudge Santos out or even remove him is New York’s laws regarding how to handle a House vacancy, given New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s extensive leeway over when to schedule a special election.
Hochul would have no deadline on when to pick a date for a special election, allowing her to let local Democrats recruit a challenger and trigger the race at an opportune moment — something the party is suggesting it’s planning for.
“If there is a vacancy, we will be ready with a candidate, and we will win back that district,” said Nassau County Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs.
Republicans, too, note that the possibility of a lengthy vacancy in a chamber with a tissue-thin margin could play a role in deciding how much pressure to apply to Santos.
Hochul’s power is “very broad,” said Tom Doherty, a former aide to former Gov. George Pataki, R-N.Y. “And that then becomes a very political situation of, when is the best time for that election for Democrats to take place? That’ll be a consideration for her.”
Even if a special election were held soon after a hypothetical resignation, Santos’ seat, anchored in Long Island and parts of Queens, is highly competitive, and a Democratic win would cut into McCarthy’s wiggle room even more deeply than just a vacancy.
“You would fully expect this to be a competitive race, and it’s gonna be more competitive for Republicans now because of the fact that you have Santos, who is sort of tarnished,” Doherty said.
“It’s a headache on a number of levels. It’s a headache because the speaker and his people are going to have to answer about this constantly. But Republicans have a very, very slim margin. So, he needs every vote for the time being,” he said.
Amid the debate over his fate, Santos is insistent that he’ll serve his full two-year term — and suggested Thursday he could even run for reelection.
“I wish well, all of their opinions, but I was elected by 142,000 people. Until those same 142,000 people tell me they don’t want me, we’ll find out in two years,” Santos said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, which was guest-hosted by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Doherty suggested House Republicans’ narrow margin hands Santos leverage, which he could use to beat back pressure on him.
“The only thing that he’s holding on to at the moment is a congressional seat that a lot of people want and that he recognizes is important because Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans in D.C. need the seat,” he said.
Still, the maelstrom is only escalating.
Santos’ campaign and finances are the subject of several investigations now, ramping up his legal risk.
And with new falsehoods being reported nearly daily and a press corps following his every step in Washington, cracks have started emerging in Republicans’ willingness to kick the can down the road, both in New York and Congress.
A group of Nassau County Republicans Wednesday panned Santos’ exaggerations and called on him to step down, with Nassau GOP Chair Joseph Cairo saying at a press conference Wednesday that “he disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him our congressman.”
Seven House Republicans have also now publicly said that they think he should resign, a group that’s grown alongside the number of allegations about Santos.
“It is clear that George Santos has lost his confidence and support of his party, his constituents, and his colleagues. With the extent and severity of the allegations against him, his inability to take full responsibility for his conduct, and the numerous investigations underway, I believe he is unable to fulfill his duties and should resign,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., one of the latest member to push for Santos’ ouster.
If Republicans don’t vote to expel Santos, Republicans who want to see some kind of punishment for him are facing a minuscule list of options, short of a penalty from the House Ethics Committee, which is often loathe to dress down a colleague.
McCarthy has already indicated that Santos won’t serve on any top committees — spots on which almost never go to first-term lawmakers anyway — and other Republicans have voiced concerns about Santos sitting on any panel relating to national security.
For others, though, that doesn’t go far enough.
“If we are gonna be kicking Democrats off their committees, then he should be the first to go on our side, too,” the House Republican said. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s namesake family real estate firm was sentenced to the maximum allowable fine Friday in New York following its conviction on 17 counts, include a 13-year scheme to defraud.
The company will pay a fine of just over $1.6 million.
While a prosecutor, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass, conceded the amount is a fraction of the company’s earnings, he called the scheme it was convicted of “far-reaching and brazen.”
“The sheer magnitude of this fraud merits the largest financial sanction authorized by law,” Steinglass said. “The defendants cultivated a pervasive culture of fraud.”
Judge Juan Merchan imposed the maximum sentence and scolded the defense for continuing to blame the company’s accountant for the fraud.
“It’s not what the evidence has showed and it’s not what the jury found,” Merchan said.
He gave the company 14 days to pay.
The verdict, delivered Dec. 6, held the Trump Organization liable for the criminal conduct of some of its top executives, mainly Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer who was sent to jail on Rikers Island earlier this week for arranging nearly $2 million of his compensation off the books.
Trump himself was not charged and the company’s defense attorneys said he did not know about the scheme. However, his name came up dozens of times, mainly on defense examination of witnesses.
Defense attorney Michael van der Veen said in his closing statement that jurors “heard no evidence in this case that Mr. Trump or any of his children were aware of anything improper.”
Prosecutors said the former president sanctioned fraud. They showed the jury checks Trump signed and a memo he initialed
“This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not true,” Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass said during his closing statement.
Prosecutors said the Trump Organization arranged for Weisselberg and other company executives to receive part of their compensation in perks, like private school tuition and car payments, to evade taxes. In doing so, prosecutors said the executives had some intent to help the company pay less in salaries, bonuses and payroll taxes.
The defense argued the executives never intended to benefit the company and said the scheme the executives hatched was motivated solely by personal greed.
The trial revealed potentially embarrassing details about Trump, including nearly $1 billion in operating losses Trump reported over a two-year period in 2009 and 2010.
Trump’s outside accountant also testified that Trump reported losses each year for eight years from 2009 to 2018, some of the same years Trump was touting his business acumen on reality television and on the campaign trail.
“This was a case about greed and cheating. In Manhattan, no corporation is above the law,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at the time the verdict was announced last month. “For 13 years the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation got away with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes.”
In addition to the fine, the Trump Organization faces potential collateral consequences that could be more severe if banks call in loans or business partners cancel contracts due to internal clauses that prohibit doing business with felons.
Metallica has shared the single-day ticket details for the band’s upcoming M72 tour.
You may recall that the itinerary for the worldwide outing includes two concerts in every city, with a totally unique set list and different opener for each night. When the tour was first announced, you could only buy tickets as a two-show package, but that will change next week.
Tickets to individual shows will go on sale next Friday, January 20, at 10 a.m. local time. If you’re part of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club, you’ll have access to a presale beginning Monday, January 16, at 9 a.m. local time.
The M72 tour, which supports Metallica’s upcoming 72 Seasons album, will kick off in Europe in April and will come to the U.S. in August. Dates are currently scheduled through September 2024.
Opening bands include the reformed Pantera, Mammoth WVH, Five Finger Death Punch, Greta Van Fleet, Volbeat, Ice Nine Kills and Architects.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Metallica.com.
72 Seasons, the follow-up to 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, arrives April 14. It includes the lead single “Lux Æterna,” which has spent five weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Jamie Lynn Spears and the Pacific Coast High gang are back in a sequel to the popular 2000’s Nickelodeon sitcom Zoey 101, heading to Paramount+.
Tentatively titled Zoey 102, the full-length original movie will reunite Spears with most of the show’s original cast members — including Erin Sanders, Sean Flynn, Matthew Underwood, Christopher Massey, Abby Wilde and Jack Salvatore — “as they reunite for a wedding in the present day,” according to the streamer.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be back alongside my PCA family and continue the story of Zoey and all the characters fans know and love. As an executive producer, it’s been an exciting opportunity to work with such incredible talent as well as Paramount+ and Nickelodeon,” said Spears in a statement.
The original series, which ran for four seasons from 2005-2008, followed Zoey Brooks as she enrolled in Pacific Coast Academy, a school that previously only allowed boys to attend.
Zoey 102 is set to stream on Paramount+ later this year.
Taylor Swift was the surprise guest at a concert by the British band The 1975 in London on Wednesday night — and she gave the debut performance of her number-one single, “Anti-Hero.”
Last summer, The 1975’s frontman Matty Healytold Pitchfork that Taylor had heard their latest album Being Funny in a Foreign Language before it was released, and he, in turn, had heard her album Midnights before it dropped. The two artists share a producer, Jack Antonoff.
Healy later said in an interview that the band actually worked on Midnights but their contribution didn’t make the final cut. However, it seems the two artists are still tight: In addition to Taylor joining The 1975 to play “Anti-Hero” on acoustic guitar, she also performed their song “The City,” from The 1975’s 2013 self-titled album.
Taylor wore a mirrored mini dress for the performance, which Rolling Stone notes is her first live performance since her appearance in September at the Nashville Songwriters Association International Awards.
You can see fan-recorded clips of the performance on social media.
