Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Show all posts

Friday, March 16, 2018

BREAKING: Oscars Academy chief John Bailey 'faces harassment allegations'


March 17, 2018  06H:44  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
Motion Picture Academy President John Bailey speaks at Beverly Hills event in March 2018Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionJohn Bailey, 75, was elected as the Academy's President in August 2017 for a four-year term
by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Entertainment reporters, Los Angeles
The head of the organisation behind the Oscars is facing several allegations of sexual harassment, Hollywood trade publications report.
The Hollywood Reporter and Variety cite unnamed sources as saying three claims have been made against John Bailey.
Mr Bailey, a cinematographer, has led the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since last year.
The body approved a new code of conduct in December after a wave of harassment allegations shook the industry.
Mr Bailey, 75, has not yet commented on the reports.
They first emerged in Variety magazine, which said the academy had received three harassment complaints against Mr Bailey on Wednesday and had immediately opened a review.
The academy has confirmed that a review is under way but did not say who was involved.
"The Membership Committee reviews all complaints brought against Academy members according to our Standards of Conduct process, and after completing reviews, reports to the Board of Governors," it said in a brief statement.
Mr Bailey's work includes the films American Gigolo, The Big Chill and Groundhog Day. He was awarded the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
Two weeks ago he told the annual luncheon for Oscar nominees that what he called the "fossilised bedrock" of Hollywood's worst abuses was being "jack-hammered into oblivion".
He was elected as the academy's president for a four-year term in August 2017, shortly before the first high-profile allegations about Hollywood abuse emerged in US media.
The academy drew up a new code of conduct in response, warning its more than 8,000 members that it had "no place" for people "who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognised standards of decency".
Producer Harvey Weinstein was expelled from the organisation in Octoberfollowing sexual abuse allegations made against him.

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Friday, January 19, 2018

Michael Douglas: Former employee accuses actor of sexual harassment


January 19 2018  18H:05  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
Michael DouglasImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionMichael Douglas has said the claims are "a complete lie"
by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Entertainment reporters, Los Angeles
A former employee of Michael Douglas has described how she says she was sexually harassed by the actor - more than a week after he issued a pre-emptive denial of the claims.
Author and journalist Susan Braudy said Douglas's alleged treatment left her feeling "humiliated".
Her claims include that he performed a sex act in front of her.
The Hollywood star responded by saying: "This is a complete lie, fabrication, no truth in it whatsoever."
Douglas explained he "felt the need to get ahead" of the situation and share his concerns about the "nightmare" scenario.

'More powerful'

Braudy worked for Douglas's company Stonebridge Productions in the late 1980s.
She claims he used sexual language in front of her, including openly discussing extra-marital affairs, while she was running the firm's New York office.
Braudy also alleges that Douglas commented about her body, which made her then wear loose, dark clothing.
She alleged he masturbated in front of her during a one-on-one script meeting in his apartment in 1989 and that she rushed out, feeling humiliated.
"I realised he thought he could do anything he wanted because he was so much more powerful than I was," she said, adding that she ran home and vowed to never be alone with him again. She finished working for him later that year.
Susan BraudyImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionSusan Braudy said the #MeToo movement had helped her to come forward
Douglas, who originally spoke to Deadline, said: "I pride myself on my reputation in this business, not to mention the long history of my father and everything else.
"I don't have skeletons in my closet, or anyone else who's coming out or saying this. I'm bewildered why, after 32 years, this is coming out, now."
He also claimed there is no evidence against him and he feared that such accusations could set back the #MeToo movement that has grown in the wake of the Hollywood sexual harassment scandal.

'No due process'

Douglas said: "Being accused, without a chance [to defend yourself] in court. To not even really have the information in front of you, to be able to argue or defend yourself.
"There is no due process, no chance of seeing evidence in front of me from my accuser. It worries me."
Braudy told The Hollywood Reporter she was not surprised by the way Douglas had issued his denial.
She claimed the manner in which he did so was "part of the problem, as is his pretext of victimisation".
She added: "These are some reasons why so many women don't come forward with their stories - Lord knows it's taken 30 years and a movement for me to gather my courage."
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