Bo Knows Football, and Whoopi Goldberg Knows Ugly.
Whoopi Goldberg claimed Saturday that women in Hollywood used sex with “ugly-ass” men to forward their showbiz careers, and emphasized the importance of “[teaching] young women better.” She also accused American white men of “coming after” women.
At a recent live show in Leeds, U.K., Goldberg touched upon the issues surrounding the #MeToo movement, according to RadarOnline.
“Now there’s some things my mother always said to me that I knew were true,” Goldberg explained in a profanity-laden monologue.
“It’s like, if some guy said to me we’re gonna have a meeting up in my hotel room… you don’t f***ing go — you don’t go. And if you do, cop to it. Say, ‘That’s right, I went up there and had sex with that ugly-ass man so I could get an Oscar and a Tony,’” Goldberg continued.
“Am I talking about myself?” she asked rhetorically. “No. We have to teach young women better.”
Goldberg then attacked American white men, saying, “Apparently American white men are angry … ’cause they’re top of the food chain, they can get anything they f***ing want but it’s not enough — so they’re coming after women.”
“Women are saying, ‘Are you kidding me?’ You can’t put this genie back in the bottle’. Women are not taking any bulls**t.”
Goldberg’s comments are the latest in a string of recent statements she has made on sexual topics. Last week, she admitted to the possibility of having made inappropriate sexual comments to actor Neil Patrick Harris when he was a young teenager. The week before that, she drew the ire of Donald Trump, Jr., when she implied that his young sons might have “tendencies” toward sexual assault.
Oprah Winfrey supported and help get Barack Obama Elected. I’m done with the damn argument.
The media mogul delivered a powerful speech at the Golden Globes Sunday night, almost immediately launching speculation on the topic.
Bringing a room full of Hollywood’s elite to their feet several times during the speech, Winfrey addressed the Me Too movement head on, lighting up social media with the hashtag #Oprah2020.
“It is not lost on me that at this very moment there are little girls watching me become the first black woman to get this award,” said Winfrey as she collected her Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.
This is not the first time rumors have circulated regarding Winfrey’s presidential aspirations. Political observers compared her speech to then Sen. Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Oprah herself has denied that she’s considering a run for president, but her partner Stedman Graham was later quoted as saying she “absolutely” would if people wanted her to.
For some, the specter of an Oprah presidential campaign raises questions on whether the country needs another big name celebrity with no political experience. But many don’t seem to mind.
Yes she will clean up the mess in Hollywood. Looks like she needs to start with her friends.
“I don’t see her as a celebrity, I see her as a leader,” said West Loop resident Kristine Singer.
“As a longtime Chicago resident, she’d have my vote,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
According to political veteran Thom Serafin, the bigger question is whether Winfrey would be willing to put herself through a grueling presidential campaign.
“I think she has the ability to educate, the ability to inspire, the ability to legislate. But you have to have the guts and stamina to go out on the campaign trail and take the crap you have to take 24-7. . . She was perfect in that event. She was just perfect. Can she be perfect in Iowa, New Hampshire, in Peoria where Caterpillar is leaving and there are no jobs? Those are questions I would suggest she has no interest in getting into,” said Serafin.
For those who’ve known her from the beginning, like Dennis Swanson, whom Winfrey thanked on stage for giving her a chance on AM Chicago many years ago, the possibility is not that far-fetched.
“I said, are you going to be able to handle success, that is my concern. She said, ‘Do you think I’ll be that successful?’ I said ‘Lady, you’re going to cost me a lot of money but you are going to shoot the lights out,'” said Swanson.
Winfrey finished her speech to a standing ovation.
“A new day is on the horizon. When that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women…and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure they become the leaders who take us to the time nobody ever has to say ‘me too’ again,” Winfrey said.
Only time will tell whether an Oprah for President campaign will materialize. If social media is any indication, just the idea of it has sparked tremendous debate. Oprah related posts have reached more than 1.5 million people on ABC7’s Facebook page.
A full transcript of Winfrey’s speech can be found here.
WISE gave John Skipper and Award and now we get the damn truth right?
Nearly two weeks ago, ESPN President John Skipper shocked the media world by suddenly resigning from his position at the “Worldwide Leader.”
At the time, Skipper said he needed to resign to deal with substance abuse issues.
In a statement, Skipper said:
I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction. I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem.
I have disclosed that decision to the company, and we mutually agreed that it was appropriate that I resign. I will always appreciate the human understanding and warmth that Bob (Iger) displayed here and always.
I come to this public disclosure with embarrassment, trepidation and a feeling of having let others I care about down.
As I deal with this issue and what it means to me and my family, I ask for appropriate privacy and a little understanding.
To my colleagues at ESPN, it has been a privilege. I take great pride in your accomplishments and have complete confidence in your collective ability to continue ESPN’s success.
This explanation seemed rather suspicious. Since Skipper had just signed a major contract extension the month before his resignation.
At the time, Breitbart Sports noted:
The timing of Skipper’s resignation seems a bit of a mystery. Skipper had just signed a multi-year contract extension in November. How does one develop a long-term substance problem in a month? Perhaps ESPN just became aware of Skipper’s issue in the last month, though, that too would seem unlikely. Moreover, it’s likely that ESPN would at least attempt to offer some kind of counseling as opposed to compelling Skipper to resign, if they just found out about Skipper’s issue after signing him to a brand new deal.
Could there be something another, bigger story behind this announcement?
Well, Clay Travis of Fox Sports Radio and Outkick the Coverage reports that there is something bigger indeed, behind Skipper’s resignation. Travis reports that in the days following Skipper’s announcement, several reports came to him offering a much different explanation for Skipper’s immediate departure.
“In the next couple of days I was told by multiple sources I trust inside ESPN that the reason for Skipper’s “resignation” was because of sexual harassment issues inside the company. In the wake of the Boston Globe story about sexual harassment I was told Skipper’s own issues suddenly emerged and that was why the resignation happened so abruptly.
And ESPN decided to blame substance abuse issues instead.”
Travis also poked a hole in Skipper/ESPN’s “substance abuse” claim by tweeting photos from a tipster, which appear to show Skipper and ESPN radio host Dan LeBatard at a bar in North Carolina:
A trip out to have a couple of drinks with your friend would all be perfectly normal and a total non-story except for the fact that Skipper just resigned from ESPN 11 days ago citing his struggles with substance addiction and his desire to get help for that addiction.
Now maybe Skipper wasn’t addicted to alcohol — and it was some other drug instead — but if you have such an issue with substance addiction that you need to immediately resign from ESPN should you really be out drinking 11 days later with one of the most prominent employees at your former company? And if you’re Skipper’s good friend, Dan LeBatard, would you let your friend go out drinking with you if you knew he had a true issue with substance abuse and you were crying about it on your radio show 11 days ago?
That seems highly unlikely.
That does indeed seem unlikely. ESPN wouldn’t be unique among major media and entertainment organizations, for forcing out high-profile executives or performers over sexual harassment charges. After all, the last few months have seen dozens of actors, journalists, comedians, politicians, and others, face removal for some form of sexual misconduct.
So why lie about it? If in fact, ESPN is lying about the reasons for Skipper’s resignation?
The answer may be found higher up the food chain. Disney CEO Bob Iger is a rumored2020 Democrat presidential candidate. Considering how crucial the female vote is, especially in a Democratic primary, one would think that Iger would move aggressively to quash any potentially damaging sexual harassment scandal at one of his larger networks.
Would Iger engage in that type of politically-calculated micromanagement?
Well, he’s done it before.
In the weeks after Jemele Hill called President Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter, Iger personally intervened to prevent Hill’s suspension. Now, why would Iger do that?
Could it be because of Iger’s concern that the optics of suspending Hill, who is black, for criticizing President Trump; could be interpreted as Iger siding with Trump against a black female employee? Which would leave his Democrat primary opponents with a strong and heavy argument that he’s not the right candidate to protect black people from the “cruel and racist” Republicans?
That seems like an extremely plausible theory.
And if that seems like a plausible theory, is it so far-fetched that Iger would concoct a story about substance abuse to conceal a high-profile sexual harassment scandal, which may or may not extend far beyond John Skipper?
Doesn’t seem like that big of a stretch at all, does it?
Lock all 3 of these POS’s up. Hell yes they are hypocrites.
The Justice Department’s inspector general said the department suffered from “systemic” problems regarding sexual harassment complaints over the last five years, according to a Washington Post report that peculiarly failed to mention former President Barack Obama or Attorney Generals Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch.
The DOJ requires “high level action” to solve the issue, which includes mishandling or ignoring complaints of sexual misconduct, according to the IG’s report. Over the last five years, the number of sexual misconduct allegations has increased and includes “senior Justice Department officials across the country,” according to WaPo.
Despite the issue increasing in severity during Obama’s second term, Washington Post reporter Sari Horwitz declined to mention senior administration officials, even though the “most troubling allegations” according to the IG, happened under their watch.
One woman, who was allegedly the victim of repeated groping and “sexually charged comments” became so distressed by her harasser that she “was terrified I was going to get in the elevator and he would be in there.”
On top of complete negligence in the handling of the complaint, the DOJ allowed “potential criminal assault violations,” according to the IG report. Despite these serious allegations, the IG’s office “found no evidence in the case file that a referral was made to the [Inspector General] or any other law enforcement entity.”
Theodore Atkinson, who worked in the DOJ as an attorney in the Office of Immigration Litigation under Holder according to his LinkedIn, admitted to stalking a female coworker, hacking into her personal email account and constructing a “fictitious online profile to entice her,” the IG wrote. For his behavior, Atkinson simply received a “written reprimand and reduction in title,” with no suspension or pay cut.
Atkinson was, however, recently given a “Special Commendation Award from the Civil Division.”
The WaPo investigation describes a number of other incidents that were reported but ultimately ended with no serious reprimands, including one sexual harassment case brought against a female top prosecutor in Oregon.
“Sexual harassment and misconduct is one of the very important areas we have to focus on and take seriously because of all the reasons the public is seeing now,” the IG said. “People’s attitudes have to change. Our interest is shining light on this kind of activity.”
Superficially, Lynch appeared to make gender and sexual harassment issues a top priority. In 2015, Lynch announced $2.7 million in grants to “strengthen the Justice System’s Response to Sexual Assault,” a DOJ press release stated at the time.
“The Department of Justice is committed to doing everything it can to help prevent, investigate and prosecute these horrendous crimes – including working to ensure that our greatest partners in this effort, the state and local law enforcement officers on whom we all rely, have the tools, training and resources they need to fairly and effectively address allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence,” Lynch said.
That same year, Lynch’s department issued new guidelines “to help law enforcement agencies prevent gender bias in their response to sexual assault and domestic violence, highlighting the need for clear policies, robust training and responsive accountability systems,” a press release reads.
Time’s Person of the Year: ‘Silence Breakers’ speaking out against sexual harassment
Time magazine named “The Silence Breakers” — women who triggered a #MeToo national outcry over sexual harassment — as the 2017 “Person of the Year.”
The magazine said President Trump was runner-up for the top title, while Chinese President Xi Jinping was third on the list.
Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal revealed the cover on Wednesday morning’s Today show, which features Ashley Judd, Taylor Swift, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler and a woman whose face is obscured, intended to represent the women who haven’t yet come forward.
“This is the fastest-moving social change we’ve seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women, and some men, who came forward to tell their own stories of sexual harassment and assault,” Felsenthal said. “The image you see partially on the cover is of a woman we talked to, a hospital worker in the middle of the country who shared her story with us and some others but doesn’t feel like she can come forward without threatening her livelihood.”
The Today show, which recently experienced its own harassment scandal that ousted former anchor Matt Lauer, also hosted actress Alyssa Milano and #MeToo creator Tarana Burke to talk about the cover, both of whom have spoken out about their own experiences with sexual misconduct
“This is the just the start, and I’ve been saying from the beginning that it’s not just a moment, it’s a movement,” Burke said.
Harvey Weinstein, whose scandal jump-started 2017’s months of reckoning over sexual harassment, looms large over the Time list, with Judd, one of the more than 80 women who have accused him of assault and sexual harassment, featured in the story. Also included is Selma Blair, who accused director James Toback of misconduct, with Swift speaking out against Denver radio DJ David Mueller whom she prevailed over in court this summer.
“When the jury found in my favor, the man who sexually assaulted me was court-ordered to give me a symbolic $1,” Swift told Time in an emailed interview, “To this day he has not paid me that dollar, and I think that act of defiance is symbolic in itself.”
Time’s list cuts across the entertainment, media, tech and service industries, including an unnamed housekeeper at the Plaza hotel.
It was the 91st year that the magazine has recognized the person or group of people who most influenced the news during the past year.
The shortlist included Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the Dreamers, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who launched a national protest against racism and police brutality, special prosecutor Robert Mueller, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump caused a stir in the run-up to the selection when he tweeted last month that he turned down a potential offer to be the “person of the Year” after he was told only that he would “probably” be given the title.
“Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot,” Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The magazine disputed the account, saying that the president is “incorrect about how we choose Person of the year.”
“Time does not comment on our choice until publication,” a spokeswoman told CNN.
Another Democrat has been revealed to have used the controversial Congressional “slush fund” in 2006 to cover up sexual harassment allegations — Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York.
What were the accusations?
Meeks was not himself accused of sexual harassment, but a former staffer said that she was harassed by him and his office after she reported sexual harassment by an employee of a donor to the congressman, according to the Daily Caller.
Andrea Payne, then a congressional aide, sued after she was fired for filing a complaint at the Office of Compliance, the agency at the center of the sex predator slush fund controversy.
“This is an action to recover for damages sustained by plaintiff when Rep. Meeks violated her constitutional rights by retaliating against her, and ultimately terminating her employment, because of her sexual assault lawsuit,” said Payne’s attorneys in her subsequent lawsuit.
Payne had filed a lawsuit against a physical therapy clinic where she says an employee had sexually harassed her. The owner of the business was a donor of Meeks and angrily confronted him about the lawsuit, according to the Daily Caller.
Who else benefited from the harassment slush fund?
Democrats Rep. John Conyers (Mich.) and former Rep. Eric Massa (N.Y.) used the same agency to secretly settle accusations of sexual harassment, while Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold (Tex.) also benefited from the office’s services, all at taxpayers’ expense.
Here’s Rep. Meeks discussing John Conyers’ sexual harassment allegations
Meeks discussed the allegations of sexual harassment against Conyers in a segment on MSNBC that has taken on new meaning with the current revelations.
“The two highest forms of claims of discrimination are race and sex/gender, which is reflective of a systemic problem in America we have to address,” Meeks said at the time.
