Today in Entertainment: Wendy Williams collapses during her live show; ‘House of Cards’ halts production in wake of Kevin Spacey accusations

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

How you doin’, Wendy Williams?

The answer is probably not as positive as usual, as the enthusiastic talk show host suffered a scary — not spooky — moment during Tuesday morning’s live broadcast.

Clad in a glitzy Statue of Liberty costume, Williams began slurring her words while introducing an audience participation segment late in the Halloween broadcast. Eyes wide, the host then went silent and stumbled before collapsing.

The show quickly cut to commercial, and upon returning Williams was adamant that her fall had not been staged.

“That was not a stunt. I’m overheated in my costume and I did pass out. But you know what, I’m a champ, and I’m back,” Williams proclaimed before continuing the show.

“Wendy fainted on-air this morning,” a spokesperson for “The Wendy Williams Show” told The Times via email Tuesday morning. “She is dehydrated and is on her way home to rest and sleep. She has been examined by medical professionals and finished the show in true Wendy spirit. She has never missed a day of work, and will continue all shows as planned. She will address this on-air tomorrow.”

It was a sentiment echoed on Williams’ official Twitter account as well.

“Everybody relax. I’m doing fine, just need some water and electrolytes,” read a tweet posted on Williams’ feed. “On another note, I stayed and laid Halloween, LOL! Shout out to my magnificent Glam Squad and Ceaser Galindo the costume designer. More on this tomorrow.”

Williams’ Halloween show wasn’t a total drag, however. Actor Jerry O’Connell stopped by in a truly disturbing costume attempting to depict multiple Kardashians at once.

Production has halted on “House of Cards” in the wake of a recent accusation levied against Emmy-nominated star Kevin Spacey, Netflix and Media Rights Capital said Tuesday in a joint statement.

“MRC and Netflix have decided to suspend production on ‘House of Cards’ Season 6, until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew,” the statement read.

“Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp came forward Sunday night with an accusation that Spacey had made an unwanted sexual advance on him in 1986, when Rapp was just 14.

Spacey quickly responded to Rapp’s allegation with an apology for his “drunken” behavior, which he said he did not recall, before using his official statement to come out as a gay man.

Some in Hollywood criticized Spacey’s timing as opportunistic and damaging to the LGBTQ community for conflating pedophilia and homosexuality.

On Monday, Netflix and MRC announced that “House of Cards” would conclude with Season 6. The companies also released a joint statement calling the accusation against Spacey “deeply troubling” and reporting that both organizations had sent executives to Baltimore to speak with cast and crew members currently on set.

“House of Cards” debuted in 2013 and quickly became a player in the prestige television movement, becoming the first original online-only streaming series to receive nominations in major categories at the Emmy Awards.

Cardi B channels Cruella de Vil.

(Donald Traill / Associated Press)

This year, a Tuesday Halloween arrives almost as an afterthought to the October costume parties that have flooded social media feeds for weeks.

You’ve seen the Kardashian family flit through dozens of costume combinations and witnessed a handful of celebs skulking down the red carpet as “Stranger Things” favorite Eleven, but have you seen some of the top-of-the-line costumes Hollywood has to offer?

Read on to find out which NBA stars are getting spooky, which couples are getting silly and which Oscar-winning actress is getting spoiler-y with some of the best celeb costumes of 2017.

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade as Milli Vanilli

Beyoncé and Jay Z as Lil’ Kim and the Notorious B.I.G.

Neil Patrick Harris and family as Carnival of Curiosities

Demi Lovato as Selena Quintanilla

Kristen Bell as Elsa (not Anna) from ‘Frozen’

Steph Curry as Jigsaw

LeBron James as Pennywise

Gwyneth Paltrow as Gwyneth Paltrow’s head (as seen in the movie ‘Seven’) with Brad Falchuk

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Recording Academy and Clive Davis will honor Jay-Z with the Grammy Salute to Icons Award at Davis’ annual pre-ceremony gala.

A 21-time Grammy winner, Jay is being singled out for his storied rap career, business acumen and philanthropic work.

He will be presented with the award at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on Jan. 27, the night before the 60th annual Grammy Awards.

“Jay-Z is a quintessential icon and I couldn’t be happier and more excited to share the evening with him,” Davis said in a statement. “What a night this will be!”

The honor comes amid a big year for Jay: He became the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he executive-produced a poignant documentary on Kalief Browder that earned critics’ praise (and saw him feted by the L.A. Press Club) and his comeback effort, “4:44,” was a searing character dismantling that showed the rapper hadn’t lost any hunger in a career that stretches over two decades. He even signed a new 10-year touring deal with Live Nation worth a reported $200 million.

Past honorees include Davis, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, Irving Azoff, Martin Bandier, Richard Branson, Ahmet Ertegun, David Geffen, Berry Gordy, Lucian Grainge, Debra L. Lee, Doug Morris, Mo Ostin and Antonio “L.A.” Reid.

“We are absolutely thrilled and delighted to honor Jay-Z with this year’s Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Award. His contributions as an industry trailblazer and music visionary only begin to touch on the tremendous impact he’s made both in entertainment and beyond,” Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Jay-Z also embodies the vibrant spirit of New York City and we couldn’t imagine a more fitting honoree as we return to Manhattan for this year’s Grammy Awards.”

Niall Horan on the “Today” show in New York City on Oct. 26, 2017.

(Charles Sykes / Associated Press)

One Direction has been on hiatus for two years, but the boy band is still making a bit of chart history.

With member Niall Horan’s solo debut “Flicker” topping the albums chart, One Direction has now joined the ranks of the Beatles as the only groups to have three of its members hit that No. 1.

“Flicker,” released on Oct. 20 through Capitol Records, moved 152,000 equivalent album units in its first week, according to Nielsen Music.

Horan follows Harry Styles’ album No. 1 earlier this year and a solo effort by Zayn Malik, who left the group ahead of its most recent album.

Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson have yet to release full-length projects, though both have scored hit singles since the band went on hiatus in 2015.

For those not well-versed in Beatles history, members John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison all dropped multiple solo albums that hit No. 1 (Ringo Starr peaked at No. 2).

In an interview with Billboard earlier this year, Horan said he was certain his old band would get back together eventually.

“When it will be, I don’t know,” he said. “I prefer not to do it after I’m 40. I’d prefer the next few years.”

(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

Actress Rose McGowan, who has been an outspoken voice in the Harvey Weinstein scandal, said that a months-old warrant for her arrest is an attempt to keep her quiet.

“Are they trying to silence me? There is a warrant out for my arrest in Virginia. What a load of ...,” McGowan tweeted Monday night in response to reports on the warrant.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department issued an arrest warrant for the Encino actress on Feb. 1 for suspected possession of a controlled substance.

The felony charge stems from a police investigation of the “Charmed” alum’s personal belongings that were left behind on a United Airlines flight arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport on Jan. 20, and tested positive for narcotics, authorities told The Times.

“The Airports Authority police have attempted to contact Ms. McGowan so she can appear in a Loudoun County, Va., court to respond to the charge,” police said. The warrant was also entered into a national law enforcement database.

As of Monday, the warrant had not yet been served.

McGowan, 44, who appeared in the Weinstein Co.’s “Scream” franchise, is among the scores of women accusing the disgraced mega-producer of serial sexual misconduct and bringing decades-old accusations to light. The “Once Upon a Time” actress tweeted earlier this month that she was raped by a man with the initials “HW,” which she confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter was a reference to Weinstein, the Associated Press said.

The 44-year-old has been rallying her so-called #RoseArmy and victims of sexual harassment and assault to come forward.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

It may be Halloween, but it was more like Christmas for Stephen Colbert, who could not help but break out into songs about Paul Manafort’s indictment on “The Late Show” Monday night.

“It’s almost Halloween, and this year is going to be super spooky for Donald Trump because special prosecutor and off-duty Lurch Robert Mueller just announced the first indictment in the Russia investigation,” Colbert said at the top of his show.

Mueller, of course, has been investigating possible connections between the Trump campaign and any efforts by Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Manafort, who served as Trump’s campaign manager, and his top aide Richard W. Gates III have been accused of 12 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

Colbert made the Halloween-vs.-Christmas comparison before breaking out into various Yuletide tunes gloating about how Manafort was likely “just the first of many.”

Still, the host didn’t let his joy keep him from taking a jab at how the arrest went down.

“The charges were actually filed on Friday but they gave Manafort until today to turn himself in,” said Colbert. “Wow, we white people really do get arrested differently. They might as well have sent him a formal invitation.”

Colbert also had plenty to say about the numerous charges the political consultant faces.

“Manafort’s been charged with 12 counts, including conspiracy to launder money, tax fraud and conspiracy against the United States,” he said. “What’s that crime usually called again? I can’t remember, for some treason.”

In response to the indictment, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted that the situation had “nothing to do with the president … the president’s campaign or campaign activity” and that “the real collusion scandal has everything to do with the Clinton campaign.”

But Colbert was not buying it.

“My God, of course,” he said. “Hillary Clinton colluded with Russia to lose the election.”

Watch the segment above.

(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Dan Rather, dogged plaintiff

The Producers Guild of America voted unanimously in October to expel Harvey Weinstein in the wake of serious sexual harassment and assault allegations. Now that expulsion is for life.

(Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

The Producers Guild of America has taken an unprecedented step to solidify its position on disgraced studio mogul Harvey Weinstein, announcing Monday that the organization’s board has voted unanimously to ban Weinstein from the guild for life.

“As was recently reported, the Producers Guild’s National Board of Directors voted unanimously to initiate proceedings to terminate the membership of Harvey Weinstein,” read a statement from the guild issued Monday. “The PGA Constitution requires that members be given 15 days’ notice before disciplinary action is taken. The Guild has received notice that rather than addressing the Guild’s charges, Mr. Weinstein elected to resign his membership in the Producers Guild.”

“In light of Mr. Weinstein’s widely reported behavior — with new reports continuing to surface even now — the Producers Guild’s National Board has voted unanimously to enact a lifetime ban on Mr. Weinstein, permanently barring him from PGA membership,” the statement continued. “This unprecedented step is a reflection of the seriousness with which the Guild regards the numerous reports of Mr. Weinstein’s decades of reprehensible conduct.”

The Guild’s National Board of Directors and Officers voted unanimously to expel Weinstein in an Oct. 16 meeting following high-profile allegations of sexual harassment and assault from dozens of women, including actresses Asia Argento, Rose McGowan and Gwyneth Paltrow.

At the same meeting, the PGA’s National Board — made up of 20 women and 18 men — voted to create a task force to research and address sexual harassment within the entertainment industry. While the membership ranks of Hollywood’s craft guilds reflect widespread gender imbalance across disciplines, 47% of the PGA’s 8,100 members are women.

A Los Angeles Times report comparing gender parity across guild organizations in Hollywood illuminates the stark juxtaposition of representation in the industry: In the Directors Guild, 23.4% of all members (including unit production managers, assistant directors and stage managers) are female and only 15.1% of its director members are women.

In its statement Monday, the PGA reiterated its commitment to forming a Hollywood task force to combat the kind of rampant harassment and abuse that the Weinstein scandal has forced to the fore: “Sexual harassment can no longer be tolerated in our industry or within the ranks of Producers Guild membership.”

The Regrettes, from left: Lydia Night, Sage Chavis, Maxx Morando and Genessa Gariano.

( (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times))

Lydia Night, the singer for the L.A. rock band the Regrettes, made her first public statement after being attacked onstage during a performance on Sunday, writing that “someone invaded my safe space in an aggressive manner and that is absolutely not okay.”

The incident took place while the Regrettes performed at the Growlers 6 festival at the L.A. Waterfront in San Pedro. Video from the festival posted on social media shows a woman in a superhero costume fighting through crowds, climbing onstage and shoving Night.

Representatives for the band said that Night does not have plans to file complaints against the festival or its promotion partner, Live Nation. Representatives for the Growlers 6 festival did not return for requests for comment and have not yet made a public statement on the attack.

“Being a performer is one of the most vulnerable things you can do. The last thing I want to worry about during a performance is being in danger in any way. The stage should always feel like a safe space for self expression and art,” Night said.

“Yesterday, someone invaded my safe space in an aggressive manner and that is absolutely not okay. Thank you for all of your concern and love. I am still pretty shocked about what went down, but I will be totally fine. I did not know the girl who attacked me. I was told she was on a lot of drugs and mistook me for someone else. Love you all and I’ll see you next month on the east coast.”

As allegations of sexual harassment and assault continue to pile up this year, some people are taking their disapproval and frustrations to the streets.

The Feminist Majority Foundation, along with Civican and We for She, are sponsoring a march they’re calling “Take Back the Workplace,” set for Nov. 12.

“We are marching in protest of sexual harassment in the workplace and to send a message to the people who commit it and to those who are complicit by allowing them to do it and covering it up,” reads the event’s official Facebook page.

The march will begin at Hollywood and Highland and wend its way through the streets before concluding outside the CNN building on Sunset Boulevard.

The demonstration arrives during a year rife with sexual assault accusations levied against powerful men, including Roger Ailes, Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly and James Toback.

On Saturday, KTTV-TV Channel 11 reporter Lauren Sivan —who alleged she was harassed by Weinstein in 2007 — was announced as the celebrity chair of the event.

“We’re also looking at specific legislation and policies in our government that we can demand be implemented so that no man or women, regardless of the industry, has to face this ever again,” author and comedian Tess Rafferty, who is also the march’s co-organizer, wrote on Facebook.

The march is scheduled to begin with protesters gathering at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center at 10 a.m. before starting at 11 a.m.

“House of Cards” will end its run on Netflix with its upcoming sixth season.

Confirmation of the drama’s conclusion comes as its lead actor and executive producer, Kevin Spacey, who plays ruthless politician Frank Underwood, is caught up in allegations of sexual impropriety.

In an article published Sunday on BuzzFeed, “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey made unwanted sexual advances toward him in 1986. (Rapp was 14; Spacey would have been 26.)

Hours later, in a statement responding to the allegations, the Oscar winner apologized for the alleged behavior and came out as gay. Spacey’s statement was met with criticism by the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD and others who say the actor deflected focus on Rapp’s accusation.

Netflix and Media Rights Capital, which produces the show, issued a joint statement Monday about the allegations.

“Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey,” the statement read. “In response to last night’s revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported. As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time.”

“House of Cards,” which premiered in 2013, was among Netflix’s early entrants in its push into original programming. The political drama, which also stars Robin Wright, has helped the streaming service’s ambitions to become a Hollywood heavyweight.

The final season, which is currently in production, will consist of 13 episodes and premiere in 2018.

Update, 1:05 p.m.: This story was updated with Netflix’s statement.

This article was originally published at 12:47 p.m.

Corey Feldman, who last week announced a campaign to fund a movie about alleged pedophiles in Hollywood, had to work to get his message across on the “Today” show Monday morning. Matt Lauer challenged Feldman’s claim that he needs $10 million to make that film.

Feldman said there is “a lot of darkness” in Hollywood right now, and it will keep unraveling, the actor and musician told Lauer. What we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg, Feldman said, and a feature film is the best way for him to share what he witnessed and experienced as a former child actor.

Also, the subject matter he’s dealing with would require him to have a team of lawyers and a security detail to be around him at all times.

“I’m not playing around,” Feldman said. “It’s serious stuff and I vow I will release every single name that I have any knowledge of. Period. And nobody’s going to stop me this time. As long as people support this.”

As of Monday morning, Feldman had raised about $160,000 toward the $10-million goal.

When pressed by Lauer — who noted that “we’ve been down this road before” with Feldman, who said he was going to reveal Hollywood pedophiles in his 2013 memoir, “Coreyography” — the “Goonies” actor explained: “The publisher prevented me from writing the names down. They made me change the names.”

In the book, Feldman did share stories of his own abuse, and that of the late Corey Haim, while the two were young actors. Haim, who struggled with substance abuse when he was older, died in 2010 at age 38. In recent years, his mother, Judy Haim, has tried to distance herself from Feldman.

“If he finally decides to release names and tell the world who they are, for the sake of more victims, I will be 100% behind it. But if he’s waiting to release the names in the movie, I don’t support that. He doesn’t need $10 million to do it,” she said in a statement to “Today.”

Haim was more blunt to the Hollywood Reporter over the weekend, saying: “Come on. It’s a long con. He’s a scam artist. If he was serious about this, he’d share the information he has with the police.”

Feldman explained to Lauer that the statute of limitations had expired in California and, talking to Megyn Kelly on Monday in a different “Today” segment, said it wasn’t easy taking allegations to authorities even when he was within the 10-year period. He said he gave the names to authorities in Santa Barbara County when they were investigating Michael Jackson.

“When you’re an 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kid, you try telling the police, which is a very big thing to do,” he said, “and especially when it wasn’t even my situation, I was just answering for a friend, so the fact that I found the courage to even throw it in there and hopefully get some support, and then they were like, sorry, and they just shut it down.”

In his “Corey Feldman’s Truth Campaign” video, the “Lost Boys” actor linked the movie-financing effort to a recent marijuana-related brush with police and the sudden resignation of several of his band members, whom he said were “afraid for their lives.”

“There are thousands of people in Hollywood who have this same information,” Feldman told Lauer on Monday. “Why is it all on me? Why is it that if I don’t release the names in the next two months, six months, or a year, I’m the bad guy? I’m the victim here. I’m the one who’s been abused. I’m the one who’s trying to come forward and do something about it.”

ALSO

Kevin Spacey’s apology for alleged sexual misconduct triggers swift backlash

Zachary Quinto says Kevin Spacey’s coming out was a ‘calculated manipulation to deflect attention’

‘Stranger Things’ star Finn Wolfhard leaves APA as his agent is fired amid claims of sexual assault and harassment

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Openly gay actor Zachary Quinto spoke out harshly on Monday against Oscar winner Kevin Spacey’s apology for an alleged incident with actor Anthony Rapp decades ago.

The “Star Trek: Beyond” and “American Horror Story” star called Spacey’s declaration “to live as a gay man,” which the “House of Cards” star mentioned in his Sunday apology to Rapp, a “calculated manipulation to deflect attention from the very serious accusation” that Spacey allegedly harassed Rapp when he was 14.

Quinto is among numerous celebrities and organizations to criticize Spacey’s statement. Here’s Quinto’s full statement:

NBC News terminated its contract with senior political analyst Mark Halperin following allegations that he sexually harassed a dozen women during his tenure at ABC News.

An NBC News spokesperson confirmed the termination Monday shortly before Eleanor McManus, one of Halperin’s accusers, appeared on the network’s “Megyn Kelly Today.”

Halperin has been off the air since the Wednesday report on CNN that women who worked at ABC News claimed they had been subjected to harassment, inappropriate physical contact or sexual assault by Halperin while he was political director from 1997 to 2007. A second report on Friday had detailed accounts from a total of a dozen women.

McManus, a forrmer CNN producer, appeared on “Megyn Kelly Today” on Monday to talk about one of the alleged incidents that occurred in the late 1990s.

Read More

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood is not happy with Kevin Spacey’s response to “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp’s allegations that the Oscar-winning actor made an unwanted sexual advance on him when Rapp was 14 years old.

“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years,” Spacey said in an official statement Sunday night.

Spacey’s statement also confirmed that the notoriously private actor is gay, which did not sit well with celebs and LGBTQ organizations. Many saw that as a craven attempt to shift attention from the issue at hand: the accusations of predatory behavior toward a minor.

“Coming-out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault,” said GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a series of tweets Monday morning.

“This isn’t a coming-out story about Spacey, but a story of survivorship by Anthony Rapp & those who speak out about unwanted sexual advances. The media and public should not gloss over that,” Ellis wrote.

Beyond the timing of Spacey’s announcement, others were incensed by what they considered a dangerous conflation of homosexuality and pedophilia, a tactic deployed against the LGBTQ community for decades.

Here’s a sampling of the initial reaction to Spacey’s announcement.

Selena Gomez shared the details of her harrowing kidney transplant in an emotional interview Monday morning. And her pal Francia Raisa, who donated her kidney to save Gomez’s life, was right there by her side.

The singer was diagnosed with lupus five years ago and revealed in September that she underwent surgery over the summer after the autoimmune disease started attacking the organ.

Gomez, 25, was suffering from arthritis and she was weeks away from dialysis when her friend stepped up to donate her kidney, Gomez said Monday in the first part of her “Today” show interview.

“I got to the point where it was really kind of life or death. It’s really hard to think about or swallow,” the Disney Channel alum said, explaining that since the transplant her arthritis went away and her blood pressure, energy and life have improved. Her lupus has only a 3% to 5% chance of coming back, she said.

“[Raisa] lived with me at an interesting time when my kidneys were just done. That was it,” Gomez said.

The donor list had been seven to 10 years long, and Raisa, seeing how much pain Gomez was in, volunteered to get tested after no one in Gomez’s family was a match. When they learned Raisa was a match, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” actress went through a grueling panel of testing in a day -- a process that should have taken six months, she said.

“The fact that she was a match, I mean that’s unbelievable. That’s not real,” Gomez added.

The duo, sitting side-by-side for the emotional interview with Savannah Guthrie, rehashed the operation itself and what they had to do to prepare for it. Raisa, 29, had to write a will, “which was scary because there’s no guarantee you’ll wake up,” she said.

Raisa’s procedure went smoothly, then it was Gomez’s turn. When Gomez woke up two hours later, she soon began hyperventilating and experiencing pain. The new kidney was turning around inside her body because one of the arteries had flipped. She had to undergo an additional six-hour procedure to correct in.

The tearful Gomez said her friend saved her life and they shared their story to raise awareness.

“I just really hope that we can help somebody. I don’t think what we went through is easy. I don’t think it was fun. I just hope that this inspires people to feel good to know that there [are] really good people in the world,” the singer said.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Harry Hamlin on keeping fit, staying sharp amid hectic acting life

Kevin Spacey on Sunday evening issued a public apology to “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed that the “American Beauty” Oscar winner made an unwanted sexual advance on him in 1986. Rapp was 14 years old at the time. Spacey would have been 26.

In the statement, Spacey said he chooses “now to live as a gay man.”

Rapp, 46, came forward with his allegation in a BuzzFeed article published Sunday evening. The piece described an encounter with the older actor that transpired when he was a teen working on Broadway in New York.

After a party at Spacey’s apartment, Rapp said he wandered into the bedroom and spent the evening watching TV. Later, Rapp said, Spacey entered.

“He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold,” he told BuzzFeed’s Adam Vary. “But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lays down on top of me.”

“He was trying to seduce me,” said Rapp, whose film credits include “Adventures in Babysitting,” “School Ties,” “A Beautiful Mind” and the musical adaptation of “Rent,” in which he reprised the role he originated on Broadway. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”

Less than three hours after Rapp’s story appeared online, Spacey responded to the allegation on Twitter.

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I’m beyond horrified to hear his story,” Spacey said in the statement.

“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”

In addition to apologizing to Rapp, the intensely private Spacey revealed that he is gay.

“This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life,” his statement continued. “I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”

Rapp said that he has wrestled with the events of the night in question for decades and over the years had confided to friends, who confirmed to BuzzFeed that he told them of the encounter. He said that he was emboldened to share his story by recent accusations of severe sexual assault made public by dozens of women speaking out against disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein.

“I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out, to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me,” Rapp said in a statement, which was posted to Twitter after the article’s publication.

Representatives for Spacey and Rapp declined to comment further.

“Everything I wanted to say about my experience is in that article, and I have no further comment about it at this time,” Rapp posted.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: ‘Birth of a Nation’ actress Gabrielle Union: I cannot take Nate Parker rape allegations lightly

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Julia Roberts and a part-time idol’s choices

Claire Foy, left, plays Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of “The Crown.” Olivia Colman has been tapped to take over as the queen in the next two seasons.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times, left; Jonathan Short / Associated Press)

If there’s one (fictional) queen saying “YAS” to news of Olivia Colman joining the cast of “The Crown” for seasons 3 and 4 as Queen Elizabeth II, it’s Claire Foy.

Foy, who played the key role for the first two seasons, had known from the start that her time on the Netflix drama about the British monarch’s long reign would be brief. Series creator Peter Morgan had always intended to replace key cast members in later seasons as the characters aged.

Colman, whose other credits include the U.K. drama “Broadchurch” and AMC’s “The Night Manager,” will now take the crown, the Los Angeles Times confirmed. And her predecessor approves.

“All I want to do is shout from the rooftops!” Foy told The Times by phone Friday afternoon. “I think she’s just amazing. She’s an extraordinary actress. I think the best thing about it is, she’ll completely reinvent it and make it her own.

Foy, who is currently promoting the upcoming second season of “The Crown,” said she and Coleman have talked on the phone about the gig — mostly about what to expect production-wise.

“If she ever wants to know anything about the queen, I’m more than willing to divulge,” Foy said. “But at the same time, everything is out there already. I think the most important thing for her is to just go out and do it and not think about anyone else who has ever done it before.”

“I can’t wait to see her in it,” she added. “I can’t wait. I can’t wait.”

In the meantime, there’s still plenty of Foy as Queen Elizabeth II to see. The second season of “The Crown” comes to Netflix on Dec. 8.

(Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)

Reality competition mainstay Simon Cowell is back home after a fall resulted in a brief hospital visit.

The “America’s Got Talent” judge was taken from his house early Friday morning on a stretcher and was seen wearing a neck brace, the Associated Press and TMZ reported. Cowell reportedly fainted and tumbled backward down a steep staircase at his London home.

Upon returning Friday afternoon, the 58-year-old “American Idol” alum was photographed giving a thumbs-up as he walked himself into the mansion.

“I’ve got a bit of concussion. I feel better now,” Cowell told the Daily Mirror.

Cowell is slated to appear as a judge on the new season of the U.K. talent show “The X Factor” on Saturday.

“I will be back, but I don’t know about tomorrow,” he said to the Mirror.

In her first public address since helping blow the Harvey Weinstein exposé wide open and igniting the exposure of several more prominent Hollywood figures accused of sexual misconduct and abuse, Rose McGowan addressed a crowd of “Me Toos,” reclaimed her time and roared.

“My name is Rose McGowan, and I am brave — and I am you.”

The filmmaker, actress and activist kicked off the inaugural Women’s Convention in Detroit on Friday with a stirring and personal speech two weeks after accusing Weinstein of rape in a series of tweets.

She began by thanking her “fabulous, strong, powerful” #RoseArmy of supporters.

“I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed,” she said. “I have been maligned. And you know what? I’m just like you. Because what happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in this society. And that cannot stand, and it will not stand.

“We are free. We are strong. We are one massive, collective voice — that is what #RoseArmy is about,” she continued. “No more will we be shunted to the side. No more will we be hurt. It’s time to be whole. It’s time to rise. It’s time to be brave.”

Rose McGowan speaks at the Women’s Convention in Detroit on Friday.

(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

McGowan didn’t utter Weinstein’s name once. She didn’t need to. Acknowledging that seeing “the monster’s face” plastered across media reports in the past few weeks has been difficult for her, she called for resilience and unity in a widening cultural movement that reaches beyond Hollywood’s power structure.

“In the face of unspeakable actions from one monster, we look away to another — the head monster of all, right now — and they are the same. And they must die. It is time. The paradigm must be subverted,” she said.

Encouraging the continued exposure of abusers within and outside of the entertainment industry, McGowan also called for more diverse representation behind the camera.

“Hollywood may seem like it’s an isolated thing, but it is not. It is the messaging system for your mind,” she said. “It is the mirror that you’re given to look into. This is what you are as a woman. This is what you are as a man. This is what you are as a boy, girl, gay, straight, transgender, but it’s all told through 96% males in the Directors Guild of America.”

The DGA’s membership is currently 76.6% male, yet a 2015 study by the DGA found that only 6.4% of all feature film directors were women. And a USC Annenberg study of 900 top-grossing films over the past decade found that women directed a paltry 4.1%.

McGowan capped her speech at the first annual Women’s Convention, coordinated by the organizers of the Women’s March and held this weekend at Detroit’s Cobo Center, by raising her fist in the air: “My name is Rose McGowan, and I am brave — and I am you.”

For the record, Oct. 28, 11:48 am: A previous version of this post said that current membership of the Directors Guild of America was 85% male and that women comprised less than 7% of the DGA in 2013 and 2014. According to the most recent statistics from the DGA, the guild’s membership is 76.6% male. Also, the 2013 - 2014 number was an accounting of the number of women who directed feature films, not the total membership.

Read The Times’ full coverage of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.

( Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images)

It’s hair today, bald tomorrow for Alexander Skarsgård.

The Swedish tall drink of water debuted a shocking new haircut on the red carpet for Louis Vuitton’s “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” exhibit in New York on Thursday night.

The “Big Little Lies” and “True Blood” alum shaved the top of his head, leaving a nearly bare scalp and neatly trimmed sides as the remaining evidence of his once-glorious golden locks.

According to Yahoo and TMZ, the new mane — or lack thereof — is believed to be for his role in Kim Nguyen’s drama “The Hummingbird Project,” which he is shooting with Salma Hayek and Jesse Eisenberg.

On the bright side, we’re guessing his hair will grow back. (Please.)

Giving fans another sneak preview of her forthcoming album, Taylor Swift unveiled a new video for the song “...Ready for It?” on Friday.

But maybe you won’t be ready for a CGI-augmented Swift on the prowl, driven by a gritty beat that wouldn’t sound out of place at a Skrillex party.

Directed by recent visual collaborator Joseph Kahn, the video is dense with allusions to our hooded heroine’s labyrinthine psyche. She walks through graffiti-filled corridors, past objects and clues that might or might not mean something.

Where’s she headed? Toward a stage, where a seemingly nude and sexless version of herself is crouched on the ready. The song’s rhythm bangs as, before our very eyes, this Swiftian tabula rasa transforms into some sort of android. Within moments, she’s on an android stallion. (Wait, is this a Björk video?)

Her hooded doppelganger watches this and apparently has an issue with what’s going on. With the touch of an invisible screen, the horse vanishes and android Swift drops to the ground, rendered helpless.

Not so fast, though. (Spoiler alert!) All is not lost.

As this unfolds, the song’s lyrics move into the bridge: “Baby, let the games begin!/ Baby, let the games begin!”

“Reputation” will be released Nov. 10. Watch Swift’s new video below.

(Leon Bennett / Getty Images)

E! News senior correspondent Ken Baker, who has been an outspoken critic of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, has now been accused by two women of sexual harassment and is under investigation at the cable network, according to published reports.

A former E! News employee alleged that Baker invited her to sit on his lap after calling her into his dimly lit office in 2012, according to the Wrap. She said that he often made inappropriate comments or touched her in ways that made her uncomfortable.

In addition, a former E! News intern alleged that Baker repeatedly propositioned her for sex over the years. She also accused Baker of kissing her in 2011 without her consent and sending her a text message in 2015 in which he said he wanted to give her a Tiffany & Co. sex toy with his name engraved on it. The former intern provided a picture of the text message to the Wrap, which published it on Friday.

The women shared their stories about Baker with the Wrap under the condition of anonymity.

Baker did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment. However, in a statement to the Wrap, he said he was “very disturbed by these anonymous allegations, which make my heart ache.”

“I take them very seriously,” he said. “I care deeply for people’s feelings and sincerely live in a way that treats people with dignity and respect.”

The entertainment journalist and author, 47, was also named in a 2007 lawsuit during his time at Us Weekly and was accused of putting his children’s nanny on the magazine’s payroll, sending her inappropriate text messages and threatening to damage a news editor’s career.

Meanwhile, E! News, which is owned by NBCUniversal, told The Times that it “has a longstanding commitment to providing a safe working environment in which everyone is treated with respect and dignity.” The network said that it takes all complaints of misconduct seriously and thoroughly investigates all allegations of harassment.

According to Variety, Baker will not appear on the air while the company investigates the allegations.

Seth Meyers is not exactly Donald Trump’s biggest fan, but on Thursday night’s episode of “Late Night” the host shared how even members of the political right seem to prefer a world where Hillary Clinton is president.

“The Trump administration seems permanently inundated by scandal and constantly under siege, including from senior members of Trump’s own party,” said Meyers. “Which might explain why many on the right seem to want to live in an alternate reality where Trump actually isn’t president”

Meyers pointed out that despite Republicans’ decrying him as “a threat to democracy and national security,” Trump kept his focus this week on touting his superior intelligence and memory and the unbelievably good things others have said about him.

“Now to be fair, you might also have an inflated ego if there was a whole TV channel dedicated to showering you with praise,” said Meyers, who seemed disgusted with Fox News’ coverage of the president.

In fact, the only thing Fox News hosts seem to like to do more than interview Trump is revisit “debunked and overblown stories” regarding Hillary Clinton, he said.

Meyers then blasted Fox News for trying to claim that the “real” Russia scandal is how the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund the research that led to the infamous “Russia dossier.”

After reminding viewers that the research was initially funded by a Republican client during the primary, Meyers gleefully slammed Sean Hannity, who has been an especially vocal proponent of this “real” scandal narrative.

For Meyers, it’s perfectly clear why Fox News hosts can’t stop focusing on Clinton.

“Fox News would much rather talk about Hillary than Donald Trump … because the right, in the Trump era, doesn’t have coherent principles or an ideology,” Meyers said. “It just has enemies, which is why they prefer to inhabit an alternate reality where Hillary Clinton is president.”

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHVES: Cleese & Co. Building a Better ‘Fish’

“Andi Mack” will feature the Disney Channel’s first story arc about a character coming out as gay.

The tween series will introduce the storyline during its Season 2 premiere on Friday when the titular character’s best friend, Cyrus (Joshua Rush), shares that he has a crush on the same boy she does. Cyrus comes out to his and Andi’s pal Buffy (Sofia Wylie).

“In the season premiere of #AndiMack, a teen girl and her friends model inclusion and respect for others. Friday 8:00 p.m.” said a tweet from the network’s public relations account.

It will be the first time the Disney Channel depicts a character’s journey to self-discovery as an LGBTQ individual, according to ABC News, whose parent company is Disney. The series reportedly consulted child-development experts for the episode and screened it in advance for LGBTQ advocacy groups such as GLAAD, Common Sense Media and PFLAG.

“‘Andi Mack’ is a story about ‘tweens’ figuring out who they are,” a Disney Channel spokesperson said on Tuesday. “[Creator] Terri Minsky, the cast and everyone involved in the show takes great care in ensuring that it’s appropriate for all audiences and sends a powerful message about inclusion and respect for humanity.”

While the storyline is groundbreaking for the network, it isn’t the first time an LGBTQ character has appeared on the Disney Channel. A 2014 episode of “Good Luck Charlie” featured a lesbian couple, GLAAD said.

“With more and more young people coming out as LGBTQ, Andi Mack is reflecting the lives and lived experiences of so many LGBTQ youth around the country,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.

The series revolves around 13-year-old Andi Mack (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her contemporary coming-of-age story when she learns that her older sister Bex (Lilan Bowden) is in fact her mother. Her journey to self-discovery is aided by her best friends, Cyrus and Buffy, who are also figuring out their places in the world.

Guitarist Jeordie White, who made his name as Twiggy Ramirez in Marilyn Manson’s shock-rock outfit, has responded to allegations that led Manson (Brian Warner) to release him from the band.

In a statement addressing a former girlfriend’s accusations that he raped her, White said that he had only recently been made aware of the allegations, which date from more than 20 years ago.

“I do not condone nonconsensual sex of any kind,” White wrote, according to Pitchfork, adding later that “if i have caused anyone pain, I apologize and truly regret it.”

White also told the site Metal Injection that he wishes to “spend this time with my family and focus on maintaining my several years of sobriety.”

Unclear, however, is the precise nature of White’s break from the band. White characterized his departure as “taking a leave of absence from Marilyn Manson.”

Earlier in the week, Manson posted a statement to Twitter that suggested the erstwhile Twiggy had been given his walking papers.

Asked on Thursday morning about the apparent discrepancy in the statements, Manson’s rep told The Times that, according to management, Manson has indeed “parted ways” with White, and added, “Twiggy can say whatever he wants to say but [that] they parted ways is official.”

Update, 12:37 p.m.: The story was updated with a statement from Marilyn Manson’s representative.

Samantha Bee skipped recapping Donald Trump’s latest feuds and devoted Wednesday night’s entire episode of “Full Frontal” to climate change.

“This week we are taking a break from talking about the president attacking Gold Star families and instead talking about something else: our planet constantly attacking us in every way imaginable,” said Bee.

She was referring to the multiple severe hurricanes and devastating wildfires that have ravaged the country this year.

“Despite all these disasters, climate change is never the top story,” said Bee. “But we can’t avoid the subject any longer.”

While Bee made it clear that climate change didn’t cause the storms or fires, she pointed out that the science behind it does affect the severity of those natural disasters. She even noted how climate change is also linked to the increasing spread of Lyme disease.

“Look, I get it, it’s hard to remember that climate change is slowly destroying the world,” said Bee. “Maybe because it doesn’t have a Twitter account to remind us of our mortality every five minutes.

“Climate change isn’t some far-off threat in the distance future like Beyoncé aging. It is upon us, like Billy Crystal turning back into a baby,” Bee added.

But, of course, there are plenty of climate-change deniers out there. In fact, it turns out that, according to some polls, Americans are more afraid of clowns than climate change.

So Bee enlisted singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson for a little ditty about how much the Earth is not OK. Sure, the song was catchy, but also terrifying.

Bee even used actual physical fear to persuade climate-change skeptics to change their minds by sending them through a special horror house.

You can check out Michaelson’s performance here, and watch Bee join her guests in the horror house here. Both segments contain some adult language.

There are more Eggo waffles and Easter eggs to be devoured when “Stranger Things” returns for another season this weekend. And fans are getting a seat at the table because the series is getting an official after-show.

“Beyond Stranger Things” will rehash each episode of Netflix’s sci-fi series in a round-table discussion -- strategically set up around a Dungeons & Dragons board game -- with the show’s creators Matt and Ross Duffer, executive producer Shawn Levy, as well as the series’ cast and writers.

REVIEW: ‘Stranger Things’ returns with new tales of terror from the Upside Down

Actor and super-fan Jim Rash will host the show, touching on the inspiration for the spooky series, behind-the-scenes stories and analysis of “Stranger Things 2,” which begins streaming Friday. All seven episodes of “Beyond Stranger Things” will premiere on the same day.

Viewers are advised to watch Season 2 in its entirety before watching the after-show to avoid major spoilers, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The after-show will automatically begin playing once viewers complete the final episode of Season 2.

“Beyond Stranger Things” is the streaming giant’s first go at after-show programming and is billed as a Netflix original series. It is produced by Embassy Row, which produced Netflix’s “Jerry Before Seinfeld” comedy special and currently produces AMC’s “Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul” after-shows, “Talking Dead” and “Talking Saul,” respectively.

Watch a sneak peek of the new series below.

Feeling trapped and facing a barrage of propositions years ago in Harvey Weinstein’s hotel room, Ashley Judd says, she made a deal with the now-disgraced producer: She would say yes to his sexual advances after she won an Academy Award for one of his films.

He countered with after she was nominated for one. She held firm.

The actress found herself alone with Weinstein in his room for what she thought was going to be a business appointment, she told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in a clip that aired Thursday on “Good Morning America.” She hadn’t been warned, she said, and had no idea of what he might do.

Judd remembered her stomach lurching when the person at the desk told her she would be meeting with Weinstein in private, rather than somewhere public like the hotel patio. But, she thought, it was a business appointment.

Full coverage: Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal

About what she’d eventually offered Weinstein, the 49-year-old said, “Am I proud of that? I’m of two minds. The part that shames myself says no. The part of me that understands the way shame works says, ‘That was absolutely brilliant. Good job, kid. You got out of there.’”

The interview — more of which ABC will air Thursday on “World News Tonight With David Muir,” “Nightline,” ABC News Digital and ABC News Radio — is Judd’s first public declaration since her statements in a New York Times investigation helped open the floodgates on three decades of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein.

Ashley Judd escaped Harvey Weinstein’s advances by proposing a deal.

(Evan Agostini / Invision)

“There’s this constant grooming negotiation going on ...,” she said of the hotel meeting, during which the producer allegedly pressured her constantly to do what he wanted and steered her into a hallway near a closet where she had no exit.

“I thought with this volley of no’s, which he ignored — who knows, maybe he heard them as maybe, maybe he heard them as yeses, maybe they turned him on.”

She came up with the idea to make a deal.

“Finally, I just said, ‘When I win an Oscar in one of your movies, OK?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, when you get nominated.’ And I said, ‘No, when I win an Oscar.’ And I just fled.”

Inviting young women to his hotel room for a meeting was, she said, “his pattern of sexual predation. That’s how he rolled.”

As for pictures put forth by Weinstein showing him holding her hand at a Vanity Fair Oscar Party when she was in her late 20s, Judd said things like “ick” and “gross.” His camp has said the images prove the two were friends.

“No,” she said. “That’s deny, attack, reverse the order of offender and victim.”

Judd said he had actually grabbed her hand as they crossed paths at the event, and that’s what the picture shows.

ALSO

Actress Natassia Malthe says Harvey Weinstein raped her in 2008

MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin put on leave over sexual harassment claims

James Toback’s 200-plus accusers now include Julianne Moore

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Like Family

A few weeks before their “Justice League” debut, Warner Bros. is already teasing another DC Entertainment adaptation. But instead of focusing attention on superheroes, this new movie would star a big bad villain, Deathstroke.

Despite the recent pivot to happier, feel-good fare thanks to “Wonder Woman,” and with the swashbuckling “Aquaman” movie finally wrapped, Warner Bros. looks to take a risk on a darker, fairly bloody character.

The Times can confirm that “The Raid” director Gareth Evans is in talks to write and direct a “Deathstroke” feature starring former “True Blood” werewolf Joe Manganiello.

Fun fact: Manganiello was already on the radar to play Deathstroke. Fans even assumed he would appear in either “Justice League” or the standalone Batman movie, especially after Batman himself (Ben Affleck) released some footage of the character (presumably on the “Justice League” set) via Twitter.

However, it looks like most of that cameo has been scrapped in favor of a solo flick.

Deathstroke is a genetically engineered super soldier who goes by the name Slade Joseph Wilson when he’s not moonlighting as a mercenary. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez in 1980, first appearing in the comic “New Teen Titans” No. 2. A highly skilled, hyper-violent killer, Deathstroke’s weapons of choice are a powerful staff that shoots energy blasts and a sword.

After “Suicide Squad” proved there’s money to be made in giving villains a showcase, DC Entertainment has more villain-centric movies in the works, including a Joker origin story in development with Warner Bros. But which movie will actually start production first?

Tamar Braxton and Vince Herbert at the Grammys in 2014.

(Jordan Strauss / Associated Press)

Tamar Braxton has called it quits on her marriage to Vince Herbert, who is also her manager.

The singer and reality TV personality, who has been in a relationship with the record executive since 2003 and told him “I do” in 2008, filed for divorce Tuesday in L.A. County, according to the Associated Press. The separation happened this month.

The couple have one child, 4-year-old Logan Herbert. While Braxton is asking for joint custody, she also wants their son to live with her.

In March 2016, Braxton suddenly left the show “The Real,” where she had been a cohost for two seasons. Producers said in a statement at the time that the decision to part was mutual and that she was leaving to pursue a solo singing career.

That pursuit has been the focus of the couple’s WEtv reality show “Tamar & Vince,” which Braxton said earlier this month would be back for its fifth season starting Nov. 9. The show is a spin-off of “Braxton Family Values,” also on WEtv.

In mid-September she said on Instagram that “Bluebird of Happiness,” which dropped Sept. 29, would be her “BEST & LAST album.” Herbert helped launch not only Tamar Braxton’s career but also Lady Gaga’s.

Sources told the entertainment site Jasmine Brand that the split had been coming for a while, while a Braxton rep told TMZ the decision to file was “extremely difficult.”

(Brian Sevald / NBAE via Getty Images)

Rapper Eminem’s camp prevailed Wednesday in a copyright dispute with a political party in New Zealand that used a version of his song “Lose Yourself” without permission in a 2014 election ad.

The lawsuit was brought by the song’s publisher, Eight Mile Style, which according to the New Zealand Herald was awarded the equivalent of about $412,000 U.S. The court in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, deemed that sum to be the “hypothetical license fee” the party should have paid for the song in the first place, as well as damages and interest.

“This decision is a warning to soundalike music producers and their clients everywhere,” a Sydney, Australia-based attorney whose firm repped Eight Mile Style told the Associated Press. “It sets a major precedent in New Zealand and will be influential in Australia, the U.K. and elsewhere.”

The ad, which can still be seen online but is no longer on the National Party’s YouTube channel, featured footage of a skilled rowing crew in action on the water contrasted to a floundering rowboat crew going nowhere, with a voiceover urging voters to choose National Party candidates to “stay on course to prosperity.” The instrumental backing track is titled “Eminem Esque.”

The court ruling, according to the Guardian, declared that “Eminem Esque has substantially copied ‘Lose Yourself.’ The differences between the two works are minimal; the close similarities and the indiscernible differences in drum beat, the ‘melodic line’ and the piano figures make Eminem Esque strikingly similar to ‘Lose Yourself’.”

In May, an attorney for Eight Mile Style referred to the Oscar- and Grammy-winning “Lose Yourself,” which was used in the movie “8 Mile.” as “without doubt the jewel in the crown of Eminem’s musical work.” The rapper starred in the movie, along with the late actress Brittany Murphy.

The defense had argued in part that the song was not very original in the first place. The judge agreed with the plaintiff, the AP said, noting that the song is rarely licensed for ads.

However, it also decided that the National Party hadn’t behaved recklessly because it sought what the Herald called professional, commercial and media advice before using “Eminem Esque.” Therefore, damages were restricted to the copyright violation.

Peter Goodfellow, president of the National Party, told the AP in a statement that he was disappointed with the ruling because the party had purchased the music in good faith. The party has already filed claims against the U.S.-based supplier and Australia-based supplier of the soundalike music.

The ad ran on TV 186 times during the party’s successful 2014 election campaign.

Eminem, of course, doesn’t stay out of politics entirely. He just keeps his opinions in the United States.

Fats Domino performing in 1993 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

(Patrick Kovarik / AFP/Getty Images)

When Fats Domino sat at a piano and let loose, he did so with a flair that turned those 88 keys into 88 drums.

An original framer of the rock ‘n’ roll constitution whose way with rhythm was as singular as John Hancock’s signature, Domino delivered melodies via vocal runs that explored desire, heartbreak and the allure of his New Orleans home.

The artist, who died early Tuesday at 89, documented life’s emotional highs and lows while organized chaos swirled around him.

His seminal song “Walking to New Orleans” found him far from home but so desperate to return that he was willing to wear out two pairs of shoes to get there.

He had already indicated the city’s draw on his first record, “The Fat Man.” Written by Domino and his longtime bandleader (and Imperial Records kingpin) Dave Bartholomew, its lyrics connect the singer’s girth with his prowess: “All the girls they love me/ ‘Cause I know my way around.”

Domino in 1980.

(Ralph Gatti / AFP/Getty Images)

That rhythm was driven both by Domino’s fingers and a backbeat courtesy of drummer Earl Palmer, who at the time was a member of Bartholomew’s outfit. Palmer once said that their work on the 1949 recording of “The Fat Man” was the first ever to be propelled solely by a back beat, an approach that came to define early rock ‘n’ roll.

Although Domino lacked the wild onstage energy of Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard, when he worked the piano he did so with a raucous dialect that drew upon influential New Orleans pianists Professor Longhair and Champion Jack Dupree.

Across the eras, Domino eased his style into the contemporary conversation and infused his immediately identifiable style into works that spanned genres.

He fueled his version of Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” with an arrangement that suggested a second-line New Orleans brass band. He even did a version of the Beatles’ “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey.”

Check out these 10 essential Domino recordings that forever altered rock ‘n’ roll.

Metallica will lend its support to victims of recent fires in the Bay Area.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Metallica, the Dave Matthews Band and rapper G-Eazy are banding together to support Bay Area relief efforts in the aftermath of the catastrophic wildfires that ripped through the region earlier this month.

The acts have teamed up with the nonprofit Tipping Point and a coalition of local businesses calling themselves Band Together Bay Area to put on a benefit concert at San Francisco’s AT&T Park on Nov. 9. More acts are expected to join the set.

The major fundraising campaign will support recovery efforts and raise money for low-income, vulnerable communities hit by the Northern California fires, which left 42 people dead and caused more than $1 billion in damage. The organization has already collected $6.5 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday and range from $49.50 to $199.50, with all proceeds benefiting the relief effort. First responders, volunteers and families affected by the fires will have prime seats reserved for them.

Metallica co-founder Lars Ulrich said in a video posted on Twitter that he was saddened and flabbergasted by the devastation. Guitarist Kirk Hammett said that the blazes nearly burned his Sonoma County home and took a “mental and psychological toll,” according to the Chronicle.

“My heart goes out to all those affected by the devastating fires,” Oakland rapper G-Eazy told the newspaper. “The Bay Area is forever my home, my heart and soul, and it hurts to see so many people lose everything.”

“The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah was still in disbelief Tuesday that Bill O’Reilly had reportedly paid out a $32-million sexual harassment settlement just before the former Fox News host signed his last contract with the network.

“$32 million? Do you know how much money that is?” asked Noah. “...I’m sorry that I’m stuck on this, but it’s just an amazing amount of money to pay out, especially if you’re not guilty.”

Noah then shared the recording the New York Times released of O’Reilly denying the allegations, claiming he had “shocking evidence” to prove his downfall was somehow “politically and financially motivated.”

“So let me get this straight,” said Noah. “You have evidence. Shocking evidence that would totally exonerate you. But you’re not going to go to court because it will hurt your kids? As opposed to what’s happening now?

“You know how phony that sounds, right? ‘I would take this to trial, but the idea of my kids hearing a judge declare me not guilty would be too much for them,’” he added.

After pointing out that O’Reilly has yet to reveal any “shocking evidence,” Noah did note that O’Reilly has blamed pretty much everybody he could including “his enemies, the liberal media and his former colleagues for the situation that he’s in.”

Oh, and also God.

“Wow. He’s mad at God?” asked Noah. “He’s mad at God for not protecting him? This is one of those times that I wish we could hear what God has to say.”

Luckily, God (played by new “Daily Show” correspondent Dulcé Sloan) was on hand to set the record straight.

“I came to talk about Bill O’Reilly and why he dragged [me] into his drama,” said God. “I’ve had nothing to do with humans, any of y’all basically, since the Titanic.

“I came down to tell Bill O’Reilly to keep my name out of his mouth,” God continued. “Bill O’Reilly did this to himself and now he’s mad at me? Hasn’t [he] ever heard of ‘personal responsibility?’”

Watch the segment, which includes some adult language, here.

Paul Walker’s daughter, who previously settled with the estate of the man who was driving in the fatal crash that killed her actor father in 2013, has settled a wrongful-death suit she filed against Porsche as well.

“The matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all involved,” Jeff Milam, her attorney, told The Times on Wednesday.

Meadow Walker was 16 when she filed suit against the automaker in 2015, alleging that her father initially survived the crash in November 2013 but died because he couldn’t release his seat belt to escape from the sports car as it burned after a high-speed crash in Santa Clarita.

Now 18, the younger Walker reached a settlement with Porsche on Oct. 16, according to documents obtained by the Blast. The deal — terms of which are reportedly confidential — includes a request that the wrongful-death case be dismissed, and also notes that the “Fast & Furious” franchise actor’s father, Paul William Walker III, had also reached an agreement with the car maker.

Meadow Walker’s attorney, Jeff Milam, alleged in 2015 that Porsche’s 2005 Carrera GT was not designed to protect its occupants in a crash, even at speeds below its advertised capabilities. It was marketed as a race car with a 605-horsepower engine capable of up to 205 mph. A sheriff’s report put Rodas’ speed at 80 to 93 mph in a 45 mph zone leading up to the impact.

Porsche attorneys argued in 2015 that the actor was “a knowledgeable and sophisticated user” of the sports car and, as a willing passenger, was responsible for his own death.

A judge previously dismissed a suit against Porsche brought by Kristine Rodas, the widow of Roger Rodas, who was driving when the Carrera GT hit a tree at a high speed and burst into flames. Her suit alleged that design flaws caused her husband’s death. The judge decided a roll cage or racing fuel cell would not have prevented Roger Rodas’ death from blunt force trauma.

Paul Walker and Roger Rodas were longtime friends. The actor’s daughter reached a $10.1-million settlement with Rodas’ estate in 2014. Of that money, about $7.2 million went into a trust for Meadow Walker, while nearly $2.9 million was set aside for legal fees, court records said.

Paul Walker was 40 and a passenger in Roger Rodas’ Porsche Carrera GT when the two left a charity event in Valencia in 2013 and shortly afterward hit a tree and a concrete lamp post, exploding into flames.

A memorial quickly grew around the crash site, and fans’ and friends’ public mourning continued for days. The actor was on a break from production on “Furious 7” when he died, and digital effects were used to complete his performance in the film.

UPDATES

12:27 p.m. The estimated speed of the car before impact was added.

12:12 p.m.: A statement from attorney Jeff Milam was added.

(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Samantha Bee goes ‘Full Frontal’ after long ‘Daily Show’ run

Kate del Castillo in her office with her dog, Lola, at her L.A. home in March.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

If ever there was an example of the adverse effects of late-night Twitter use, it’s the story of how Kate del Castillo became entangled in one of the most bizarre stories of modern times.

The outspoken actress has long been a household name in Latin America and beyond thanks to her roles in numerous telenovelas such as “Muchachitas” (“Girls”) and “La Reina del Sur” (“Queen of the South”). Then a 2012 tweet, in which she expressed having more trust in Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman than the Mexican government, thrust her into a media frenzy of a different sort — and captured the attention of the notorious drug lord in the process.

The tweet eventually led to text message exchanges and, ultimately, a secret introduction in Sinaloa in 2015. Del Castillo met with Guzman, who was on the run from Mexican authorities after breaking out of maximum-security prison (a second time), with the intent of making a film about his life after being contacted by his lawyers. Adding a real-life telenovela twist to the encounter: she was joined by actor Sean Penn— with whom, she reveals in the documentary, she developed a brief intimate relationship — who would go on to chronicle the experience for Rolling Stone magazine.

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Notorious celebrity and fashion photographer Terry Richardson has been banned from working with any magazines under the Condé Nast International umbrella.

Condé Nast U.S. operates independently of the international group and has not worked with Richardson for years. “Condé Nast has nothing planned with him going forward,” a U.S. spokesperson said Tuesday.

In a leaked memo obtained by the Telegraph, an executive with the overseas media group -- which publishes international editions of Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair, among others -- told key staff that Richardson shoots already commissioned or those that have been completed but not published “should be killed and substituted with other material.”

Richardson, whom Britain’s Sunday Times called “the Harvey Weinstein of fashion,” has a reputation for sexual content in much of his work. He has teamed with the likes of Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Beyoncé and Kate Upton.

Over the years, a number of less-famous models have gone on the record with various media outlets to allege Richardson’s sexual misconduct during shoots and elsewhere.

Julianne Moore has joined the hundreds of women accusing director James Toback of sexual misconduct.

Since The Times published its investigation of the “Bugsy” screenwriter on Sunday, in which 38 women went on the record about their alleged dealings with Toback, more than 200 more have come forward alleging experiences of harassment with the filmmaker.

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FOR THE RECORD

Oct. 25 12:35 p.m.: A previous version of this article misidentified Toback as the director of “Bugsy.” Toback wrote the movie’s screenplay.

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(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Moore, who stars in George Clooney’s new film, “Suburbicon,” and has publicly shamed disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein over allegations of sexual assault, shared her tale Tuesday in direct tweets to Times reporter Glenn Whipp, who broke the Toback story.

The Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress said that Toback approached her in the 1980s using the same language detailed in The Times investigation and wanted her to audition at his apartment.

“I refused,” she wrote, “One month later he did it again with the EXACT same language. I said don’t u remember u did this before?”

The women accusing Toback reported a pattern of behavior, carried out over four decades, that included the director approaching them in New York and Los Angeles, boasting of his movie credits and relationships with stars such as Robert Downey Jr.

Then, under the pretext of interviews or auditions, he asked explicit questions about their sexual histories, often proposing that they remove their clothes, Whipp reported. The encounters often ended with Toback rubbing up against them suggestively or masturbating in front of them, ejaculating into his pants or onto their bodies, they alleged.

James Toback is accused of sexually harassing hundreds of women.

(Dave Bedrosian / Future-Image)

Moore, 56, becomes the best known star to share her alleged experience with Toback. Louise Post, guitarist and vocalist for Veruca Salt, detailed her story to The Times, and “Today” show anchor Natalie Morales said that she also had an encounter with Toback in Central Park. Meanwhile, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn said that he had been warning women about Toback for years.

Since the Times investigation was published, the Los Angeles Police Department has fielded numerous phone calls related to Toback. In New York, the Manhattan district attorney also said women are being encouraged to call the office’s sex crimes hotline in relation to Toback, who lives in New York.

Toback, 72, has denied the allegations, saying that he had never met any of the women in the story or, if he did, it “was for five minutes and have no recollection.”

Making full use of SiriusXM’s liberal policy on cussing, Kid Rock told radio host Howard Stern Tuesday morning that he isn’t actually running for office in Michigan.

”... no, I’m not running for Senate,” Kid Rock said. “Are you ... kidding me? Who ... couldn’t figure that out?”

The musician, who was born Robert Richie, had been teasing a run in his home state for months, going so far as to buy and promote a supposed campaign domain, kidrockforsenate.com.

At a Grand Rapids, Mich., concert in September, he walked onto the stage to the tune of “Hail to the Chief” and stood in front of a lectern that read “United States of ‘Merica.”

Turns out that all the while he was promoting — surprise, surprise! — his forthcoming album.

Sounding exasperated that anyone would believe his repeated deceptions, he told Stern that after someone started the rumor of his run earlier this year, he decided to throw caution to the wind and said: “‘Let’s get some signs made!’ We started going with it.”

He fooled at least one of his potential future colleagues.

“Well, maybe this is all a joke — but we all thought Donald Trump was joking when he rode down the escalator at Trump Tower and announced his campaign too,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in July, as reported by the Boston Herald.

With Kid Rock’s would-be run now over, he will likely focus on his craft, and whether he can replicate the sophisticated lyricism of his most accomplished couplet: “Bawitdaba, da bang, da dang diggy diggy diggy/ Said the boogie, said up jump the boogie.”

Director James Toback photographed in September at the Venice Film Festival premiere of his new movie, “The Private Life of a Modern Woman.”

(Tiziana Fabi / AFP/Getty Images)

As accusations of sexual harassment against director James Toback continue to mount – now numbering in the hundreds – the Writers Guild of America, East, of which Toback is a member, issued a statement Tuesday morning condemning him.

“The allegations against James Toback are deeply troubling. They are both extensive and consistent, and this sort of behavior cannot be tolerated,” the WGAE said.

For now, the guild did not announce any steps to revoke Toback’s membership. But the WGAE stated that it is “conducting a thorough review of all the ways the union can fight to ensure that our members can work in an atmosphere free from sexual harassment and aggression.”

On Sunday, The Times released an investigation detailing dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct involving Toback stretching back decades, a report that prompted a further flood of accusations.

Toback earned an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for the 1991 film “Bugsy” and has written and directed a dozen films, including “The Pick-Up Artist,” “Black and White,” “When Will I Be Loved” and, most recently, “The Private Life of a Modern Woman.”

The WGAE is the only major Hollywood guild of which Toback remains a member. In the past 12 years, he fell out of both the motion picture academy and the Directors Guild of America, in both cases for not paying his dues.

Seth Meyers has had enough with Donald Trump’s feud with a fallen soldier’s widow.

Back from a weeklong hiatus, the “Late Night” host implored Trump on Monday night to just behave like a “normal, decent human being” by apologizing to Myeisha Johnson, the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson.

Sgt. Johnson was one of the four soldiers killed earlier this month during an ambush on a special forces patrol in Niger. According to his widow and Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson, Trump could not remember Sgt. Johnson’s name when he called to offer his condolences. Trump, of course, took to Twitter to refute their story.

“Look, just stop,” said Meyers. “Stop tweeting. Stop responding. Do what a normal, decent human being would do: Apologize and then be quiet.”

In addition to being critical of Trump’s habit of “attacking anyone who dares to challenge him -- whether it’s the news media, football players or a member of Congress,” Meyers was also unimpressed with the White House’s response to reporters who questioned White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s comments about Rep. Wilson.

Last week, Kelly, while disputing Wilson’s account of the phone call between Trump and Johnson, criticized the Florida Democrat for listening in on the conversation. He then misrepresented a speech Wilson made at the dedication of a new FBI building in 2015.

“In another authoritarian turn, when the White House was asked on Friday about Kelly misstating those facts, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said reporters cannot question Kelly because he’s a four-star Marine general,” said Meyers.

Meyers then shared a clip of Trump attacking a retired four-star Marine general: Gen. John Allen, who had criticized Trump during last year’s Democratic National Convention.

“That’s right, he’s a ‘failed general,’” said Meyers, repeating Trump’s words. “As opposed to Donald Trump who’s a general failure.”

Watch the segment above.

(Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Drake looks to seize the moment — then make it last

(Kris Connor / Getty Images)

It’s another uptown girl for downtown man Billy Joel.

The musician welcomed his third child, the second with wife Alexis, on Sunday, according to the birth announcement posted on Joel’s website on Monday.

The piano man’s daughter Remy Anne was born at 7:50 p.m at New York University Hospital in the Big Apple and weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces. Accompanying the birth announcement was a photo of the three-time dad carrying the pink-clad, wide-eyed newborn.

“Alexis and Remy are doing well and everyone is thrilled,” the announcement said.

Joel, 68, and Alexis, 35, are already parents to 2-year-old daughter Della Rose. The singer-songwriter and his 31-year-old daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, whom he had with ex-wife Christie Brinkley, were both at Alexis’ side as she gave birth, the announcement said.

Joel revealed that he and his wife were expecting again during a Belfast Telegraph interview published this month.

The six-time Grammy Award winner and his fourth wife started dating in 2009 and wed in July 2015 during a secret ceremony at his Long Island estate. They welcomed Della Rosa the following month.

Lisa Bloom, left, and Kathy Griffin.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times, from left; Rich Fury / Associated Press)

If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: Kathy Griffin and Lisa Bloom are beyond done.

Griffin, who’s on tour in Australia, took a shot at her former attorney Sunday on Twitter: “Dear @LisaBloom pls stop calling me. If you’d like to refund me the tens of thousands of $$ I wasted on your services maybe I’ll talk to you.”

Bloom responded that same day, saying Griffin was the only client she has ever had “who chose to extemporize at a press conference rather than read from notes we planned in advance.” Now, Bloom said in her statement, Griffin blames her for the bad reaction to comments that were decidedly ad-libbed.

In addition to the tweet, Griffin spoke to the Daily Beast about their relationship after discussing it in a Facebook video posted last week.

“If you want my Lisa Bloom statement, anybody, OK, here it is. Yes, I got Bloomed. Yes, I did not have a good experience with her. Yes, I feel that she and her husband exacerbated my personal situation. OK, there ...,” Griffin said in the video, which she offered as a call for women to band together. She added that she doesn’t intend to sue Bloom and or wish bodily harm on her.

Kathy Griffin, right, with Lisa Bloom at Griffin’s press conference in June.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Speaking to the Daily Beast several days after that video, Griffin accused Bloom of “fame-whoring” and “badgering” her to go on a national media tour that she didn’t want to do.

Bloom, also speaking to the Daily Beast, disputed the notion that she had been peppering the comic with calls. “Please show call logs then. I sent one text to Kathy in the last three months, and placed one call to Randy [Bick, Griffin’s manager-boyfriend] recently.”

Bloom further noted: “Kathy has now made a video about how women should stand together, and yes she’s attacked me, a lifetime women’s rights attorney, and not the rest of her team, all of whom were men.” Bloom called that “sad,” but she wishes her former client the best.

Interest in Griffin’s opinion about her former attorney was renewed recently; Griffin was the most recent high-profile client Bloom represented before she briefly took on Harvey Weinstein as a client. Bloom quit as his counsel about two days into his sexual harassment scandal.

Griffin’s Facebook video from Oct. 19 appeared to be inspired by reporters from various outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, reaching out for comment on Bloom. The Times profiled Bloom in a story published the same day as the video.

Here is Bloom’s full statement on Griffin’s recent remarks:

Stevie Wonder at the 2013 performance in Los Angeles of his 1976 album “Songs in the Key of Life,” for his annual holiday benefit show.

(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Stevie Wonder will perform two of his watershed 1970s albums, “Talking Book” and “Innervisions,” back to back for the 21st edition of his annual House Full of Toys benefit concert, slated to take place Dec. 10 at Staples Center.

“Even though House Full of Toys will be celebrating 21 years,” Wonder said in a statement, “the joy of giving in the spirit of song will make this night such pleasured fun for the old and young.”

The idea to perform two albums follows previous holiday benefit shows in 2013 and 2014, when he focused on his 1976 album “Songs in the Key of Life,” performing the double album in its entirety with numerous guests, including several who performed on the album four decades earlier.

The success of those shows prompted a tour in which Wonder took the presentation to nearly a dozen cities.

“Talking Book,” released in 1972, represented his maturation as a songwriter, instrumentalist, vocalist and producer after he had first gained fame as a wunderkind who scored a No. 1 single and album at age 13 with the hit “Fingertips (Part 1)” and the companion album “Little Stevie Wonder/The 12 Year Old Genius.”

“Talking Book,” arriving nearly a decade later, became his second Top 10 album up to that point in his career, and spawned two more No. 1 singles, “Superstition” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” The album also helped earn him a slot as the opening act for the Rolling Stones on their 1972 U.S. tour supporting their “Exile on Main Street” album.

“Innervisions,” which followed in 1973, further demonstrated his remarkable artistic growth and ambition through such career high watermarks as “Higher Ground,” “Living for the City,” “All in Love Is Fair” and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing.”

Stevie Wonder and Queen Latifah at the 2016 edition of Wonder’s annual House Full of Toys benefit show in L.A.

(Randy Lewis / Los Angeles Times)

It earned Wonder his first album of the year Grammy Award, and began a remarkable run of three such awards for his consecutive album releases — “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” in 1974 and “Songs in the Key of Life” in 1976.

When Paul Simon took the award in 1975 for his album “Still Crazy After All These Years,” which was released between “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” and “Songs in the Key of Life,” he famously thanked Wonder “for not releasing an album last year.”

House Full of Toys began more than two decades ago, with Wonder inviting various musician friends to perform for audiences who were asked to bring new unwrapped toys to be delivered during the holidays to underprivileged families around Los Angeles.

Last year’s event featured Queen Latifah, Lionel Richie, John Legend, Rachel Platten, Anderson .Paak and other guests. Performers for this year’s event have not been announced.

Tickets go on sale Oct. 27, and range from $49.50 to $159.50. Full information is available at axs.com.

Producer Amy Ziering and director Kirby Dick.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Documentary filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering — the duo behind the Oscar-nominated “The Invisible War,” about rape in the U.S. military, and “The Hunting Ground,” a look at sex abuse on college campuses — say they have wanted for years to make a film about sexual assault in Hollywood but couldn’t get cooperation from the entertainment industry.

Then allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein opened the floodgates. And now their Untitled Hollywood Sexual Assault Documentary project has the green light.

“Everyone was frightened about what would happen to their careers, and worried about whether they would be sued. Distributors were unwilling to fund or release the film, and few people were willing to talk on the record,” producer Ziering said in a news release Monday. “Then the Weinstein stories broke, and it’s like an invisible dam collapsed.”

The documentary will focus on “the underlying current of abuse and manipulation at the hands of power,” director Dick said in the news release. “Our film will also underscore the courage it takes to come forward and be a catalyst for change.”

Financing is coming from Impact Partners, a New York documentary-investment group that also worked with Dick and Ziering on “The Hunting Ground.”

A release date has not yet been set.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ewan McGregor.

(Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images, left; Charles Sykes / Associated Press, right)

Ewan McGregor and his wife of 22 years have quietly called it quits, and now he looks to have something romantic going now with “Fargo” costar Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The “Moulin Rouge” actor was photographed “snogging” Winstead in a busy London cafe, the Sun reported Sunday. After an hour in “deep conversation,” they zipped away on his motorcycle, the paper said.

Earlier this month, according to E! News, the two were spotted getting affectionate at a hotel and spa. They had arrived at the English countryside establishment via helicopter, the outlet said.

Turns out McGregor, 46, and Eve Mavrakis, 51, split in May, according to a family source who talked to People. The former couple have four daughters, the oldest of whom, Clara McGregor, is a model in her 20s.

Also in May, Winstead, 32, and her writer husband, Riley Stearns, announced that they had “decided to move on” from their 15-year relationship. “We are still ride or die, just in a different way now,” she said on Instagram in a now-deleted post that was captured by People.

“We still love each other very much, but we’re different people with different paths and different futures. I can’t wait to see where we both end up,” Stearns wrote at the time, also on Instagram, also deleted.

Winstead and McGregor joined the “Fargo” cast in the show’s third season. It shoots primarily in Calgary, Canada, where, according to the actress’ Instagram, it can be “pretty lovely.”

Of course, the locations the show hit in Los Angeles were pretty lovely as well.

Matt Damon, left, and George Clooney.

(Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images)

Oscar winners George Clooney and Matt Damon on Monday further condemned producer Harvey Weinstein, their former mentor who had a hand in launching their careers in the 1990s.

The “Suburbicon” director and the film’s star have been sucked into the Weinstein narrative since the scandal broke earlier this month. On Monday, instead of promoting their film during an interview on “Good Morning America,” they spoke of the scandal that has dominated Hollywood and of the mogul’s reputation as a bully.

Clooney previously said he was unaware of Weinstein’s misconduct, and Damon has been accused of gutting an earlier investigation of Weinstein, which he denied.

“You had to spend about five minutes with him to know that he was a bully, he was intimidating. That was his legend. That was his whole M.O.: Could you survive a meeting with Harvey?” Damon explained, speaking to Weinstein’s reputation since the days he ran his first studio, Miramax, before touching on the scores of allegations of sexual assault levied against the disgraced producer.

Read The Times’ full coverage of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal >>

“When people say ‘everybody knew’ – yeah, I knew he was an asshole,” Damon said. “He was proud of that. That’s how he carried himself. And I knew he was a womanizer.”

What Damon didn’t know, which he said in earlier rebukes of the producer, was the “level of criminal sexual predation.”

Damon, who co-wrote and starred in Miramax’s “Good Will Hunting” and went on to win Oscar gold for the screenplay, said he knew of actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s encounter with Weinstein through writing partner Ben Affleck but never discussed it directly with her. (Paltrow was among the numerous A-listers who came forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct.)

Meanwhile, Clooney said there had to be “a comeuppance for all of this.”

“We have to make it safe for people to feel that they can talk about this. And in doing that, I think that’ll scare away that kind of behavior,” Clooney said.

The actor-director added that he witnessed Weinstein bragging of affairs with actresses who were friends of his, but he never believed him.

“I didn’t really think that they were going to have affairs with Harvey, quite honestly. And clearly they didn’t,” he added. “But the idea that this predator, this assaulter ... was out there silencing women like that, it’s beyond infuriating.”

As the story unfolds now, Clooney said, he insisted that he wants to know “all of it.” He also said that men who sexually harass people should know that it won’t be tolerated and that they “will be outed.”

“You’ll be out of the business. And more than that, you might be prosecuted,” he said.

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at 2004’s infamous Super Bowl halftime performance.

(David Phillip / Associated Press)

Justin Timberlake will return to the Super Bowl halftime show next year, the NFL announced Sunday night, 14 years after one of the pop star’s most notorious live performances on that same stage. Blame it on that “wardrobe malfunction.”

Timberlake and his performance partner, Janet Jackson shocked -- shocked! -- an estimated 140 million people with an incident that became known as “Nipplegate.”

At the conclusion of their well-choreographed 2004 performance of Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body,” the singer reached over to Jackson’s chest and tore off a section of clothing to reveal her breast.

The resulting uproar resulted in an FCC fine -- later rescinded -- and a statement from Timberlake that coined a new term: “I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance at the Super Bowl,” he said. “It was not intentional and is regrettable.”

The incident helped propel Timberlake to even greater fame, while simultaneously damaging Jackson’s career.

Asked by NBC Sports analyst Mike Tirico during a sit-down interview as part of Sunday night’s NFL broadcast whether the malfunction was discussed during negotiations, Timberlake responded with a grin and a stutter. “That ... that ... that won’t happen this time,” he said.

Timberlake added that he’s been studying halftime performances to make sure that he doesn’t mimic earlier spectacles.

“What I really want to do is take the opportunity to put together a performance that feels like it unifies,” Timberlake said. “I feel like that would be the ultimate accomplishment, and then the icing on the cake is at some point within that 12 minutes that everybody is shaking their booty.”

Added Timberlake, referring to another NFL analyst: “I have a goal to make Al Michaels dance.” He then pitched a new Twitter meme: “By the way, we can start a hashtag -- #almichealsshakeyourbooty. That would be the icing on the cake.”

Actually, the icing on the cake would be Timberlake inviting Jackson back onto the stage for a true show of unity, which some fans are calling for on social media.

Looking frail but still speaking with characteristic wit and charisma, the iconic singer Loretta Lynn surprised an excited crowd on Sunday night in Nashville when she appeared at the Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The singer, who suffered a stroke in May, presented at the behest of superstar Alan Jackson, who was inducted. By tradition, new inductees are introduced by fellow Hall of Fame members; Lynn, 85, is part of that club.

“The first time I ever met Alan, he looked like a scared little boy,” Lynn said after being led to the podium by Jackson. “He was practicing backstage, going through his songs, and I remember I looked at him and said, ‘You’re going to be one of the greatest singers in country music.’ He hasn’t let me down.”

Also inducted on Sunday were the late singer, songwriter and actor Jerry Reed and the songwriter Don Schlitz.

For her part, Lynn is still cracking, although health concerns prompted her to cancel some performances and push back the release of her new album. “Wouldn’t It Be Great” is expected to come out in 2018.

In a statement issued after her stroke via her Facebook page, she thanked everyone for the well wishes: “I’m just letting everybody know that Willie [Nelson] ain’t dead yet and neither am I, and I can’t wait to see all of you on the road!”

The official trailer for “Phantom Thread,” possibly the final role of Daniel Day-Lewis’ acting career, debuted Monday. The three-time Oscar winner announced back in June that he will be retiring.

From famed writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood,” “Magnolia”), “Phantom Thread” is set in the fashion world of 1950s London. Day-Lewis plays a dressmaker commissioned to design for members of high society and the royal family and who falls in love with a waitress, played by Vicky Krieps. Lesley Manville and Camilla Rutherford also star.

Due out on Christmas, the film is one of the final award-season contenders to be released. Will Day-Lewis nab another nomination come Oscars time? Perhaps.

Check out the trailer below:

Sam Smith sings at the Hollywood Bowl for the We Can Survive 2017 concert on Tuesday.

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Sam Smith seems to regret a couple of things in his life. But neither of them has to do with his sexuality. Or his singing.

It’s the tattoos. The ones on his biceps that say “Alone” and “Honesty.”

“They’re dramatic — I don’t know why I got them,” the 25-year-old singer said in a new interview with London’s Sunday Times, reportedly rolling his eyes a tad as he continued. “I look back on them now and I cringe. But I have to respect what I was feeling in the moment, you know?”

So maybe regret is too strong a word? However, two other tattoos give a hint about Smith’s sense of self. On each hand, he has inked the Venus symbol — the gender sign for female. And he knows how to rock that.

“I love a heel. I’ve got loads of heels at home,” says the singer, who was “obsessed” with Marilyn Manson and Boy George when he was 17. For 2½ years when he was in school, full makeup and “huge fur coats” were his style. No “male” clothing. No biggie, except he was the only gay person in his village. He got teased a lot, he said, but also had people who respected his style choice.

He particularly loves one drag shop in Sydney, Australia, which he frequents when he’s on tour Down Under. “Oh my God, I just buy everything — heels, dresses. We have a great time.”

But Smith isn’t quick to label himself, even as more specific terms about gender identity are knocking on the mainstream door. “I don’t know what the title would be,” he said, “but I feel just as much woman as I am man.”

But let’s back up a bit. In February 2015, when Smith was about to win a Grammy for best new artist, he told the Los Angeles Times that at that moment, all the talk about his sexuality was something he was dealing with more than ever.

“The fact that it’s still a headline makes me feel uncomfortable. There aren’t headlines talking about how Lorde is straight or how Beyoncé is straight,” Smith said. “I look at it from a very equal perspective. I want them to talk about my music. I want them to talk about my singing.”

But the singer — who hopes one day to have a Las Vegas residency like Elton John has had — has shifted his mind set a bit since that interview.

“I remember, at the beginning of my career, being called a ‘gay singer,’ and I didn’t want that,” he told London’s Sunday Times. “I wanted to be seen as a singer first, before people spoke about my private life. And now it’s changed — I’ve changed. I realize that maybe I don’t mind that title.”

(Richard Shotwell / Invision/Associated Press)

John Stamos is engaged to model-actress Caitlin McHugh.

The “Fuller House” star popped the question at Disneyland, sharing the news on Twitter and Instagram on Sunday.

“I asked...she said yes! ...And we lived happily ever after,” Stamos wrote, captioning an illustration of himself and his lady love embracing in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

The “Scream Queens” actor made a short film of romantic moments from several Disney and Pixar films, People reported, and was prompted to “just ask the girl” after finishing it off with a scene from “The Little Mermaid.” (Much to the chagrin of his fans on Twitter.)

After that, he and “The Vampire Diaries” actress celebrated at 21 Royal, a restaurant at the Anaheim resort where Walt Disney once hosted celebrities and dignitaries.

Stamos, 54, first revealed he was seeing a mystery woman during an appearance on “The View” in March 2016. Though he did not refer to her by name, he did disclose her love of Disney. The model-actress, 31, also starred in his short film “Ingenue-ish.”

This will be the second marriage for Stamos, who was previously wed to model-actress Rebecca Romijn from 1998 to 2004.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: ‘Life of Pi’s’ Ang Lee on going ‘to the edge’

James Toback at the Venice Film Festival in September.

(Dave Bedrosian / Future-Image)

After The Times published an investigation of writer-director James Toback’s decades of alleged sexual misconduct on Sunday, some readers were reminded that accusations had been percolating for years.

A story in the March 1989 issue of the defunct magazine Spy, titled “The Pickup Artist’s Guide to Picking Up Women: A Case-by-Case Look at Movie Director James Toback’s Street Technique,” compiled testimonies from 13 of Toback’s alleged victims, including the story’s author, Vincenza Demetz.

According to Demetz, the director went to great lengths to impress the women he sought to pick up. Toback flaunted his membership in the Directors Guild of America and the Harvard Club of New York, boasted about being pictured in a book of Helmut Newton photographs and even offered roles in his upcoming films.

“Out in the field, Toback can frequently be spotted casting future major motion pictures in the Fairway Market at Broadway and 74th Street, whiling away entire afternoons importuning females as they shop for fresh fruits and cheeses,” Demetz wrote.

Though Toback initially cooperated for the story, Demetz noted that he soon grew agitated: “If you print this piece, I promise it will be the single thing you regret most in your life.”

Read the full Spy article here. (It begins on page 86.)

ALSO

The Times’ Glenn Whipp explains how he broke the James Toback scandal story

38 women have come forward to accuse director James Toback of sexual harassment

How Harvey Weinstein used his fashion business as a pipeline to models

Bill O’Reilly reportedly paid $32-million harassment settlement before signing new Fox News contract

Writer-director James Toback attends the Norman Mailer Center’s gala in 2013.

(Michael Loccisano / Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Times revealed Sunday that 38 women have accused “Bugsy” screenwriter James Toback of sexual harassment going back decades. The reaction on social media was swift — and pretty unforgiving.

“Long overdue for this well known sack of ...,” tweeted TV food personality Anthony Bourdain, ending the post with an expletive. Director James Gunn weighed in with a lengthy post decrying Toback, which he shared on Twitter with the message: “Why I’ve despised James Toback for over 20 years.”

Actress and director Asia Argento, who told the New Yorker about how Harvey Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulted her, tweeted in support of the women coming forward, expressing pride for her “sisters” for “bringing down yet another pig.”

Toback’s accusers also took to Twitter to share their stories, with one former reporter sharing a snapshot of a Post-It note Toback gave her on the streets of New York in the 1980s.

Here’s more of the ensuing fallout from The Times’ story:

MORE: The Times’ Glenn Whipp explains how he broke the James Toback scandal story

Director James Gunn, above, responded to The Times’ investigation of James Toback’s alleged sexual misconduct.

(Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP/Getty Images)

Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct scandal opened the floodgates for victims of sexual assault to come forward with their own allegations of abuse by Hollywood heavyweights. Director James Toback is the latest to be accused.

After The Times broke a story in which 38 women came forward to allege harassment and assault by Toback, 72, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn weighed in. He took to Facebook on Sunday morning to back up the mounting allegations, saying that he’s been warning people about Toback for more than 20 years.

“I have personally met at least FIFTEEN WOMEN, probably more, who say that he’s accosted them in NYC,” wrote Gunn in his post.

Gunn accused Toback of using his clout to try to get women to sleep with him. “He essentially goes up to women and says, ‘Hey, I’m James Toback, and I’m a famous director, and I feel like there’s a connection between us.’

“He has done this to three girls I’ve dated, two of my very best friends, and a family member...twice,” Gunn added. “And that’s just people I know.”

Gunn shared the post on social media in a tweet that said “Why I’ve despised James Toback for over 20 years.”

“I don’t have any firsthand information about any of this,” wrote Gunn. “But the stories are so eerily similar, and I’ve heard them again and again from some of the people I trust most in the world, I know the chances of them being untrue, well, it would just be impossible.”

Read Gunn’s entire Facebook post below.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Sunday Conversation - Christopher Lloyd

(Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press)

The Directors Guild of America has filed disciplinary charges against member Harvey Weinstein, the organization announced Saturday

DGA President Thomas Schlamme said that the guild made the charges over a week ago, on Oct. 13. Typically, the DGA does not make public remarks about “internal union matters, but has decided to make an exception in this case,” according to a guild statement.

The DGA released the news after its quarterly National Board of Directors meeting in New York City on Saturday. In a statement, the guild also condemned sexual harassment, noting that the issue went beyond “one person” and urged those in the industry to break a “shameful code of complicity” by speaking out about the problem.

“As directors and team members who solve problems for a living, we are committed to eradicating the scourge of sexual harassment on our industry,” the statement read, with Schlamme adding the Weinstein controversy had inspired him “to look inside” himself.

“Unless we recognize what has become so acceptable in our culture and how we possibly, even unconsciously, are participants, everything else will be meaningless,” the president said.

The DGA is the last major Hollywood guild to speak out about Weinstein’s behavior. On Oct. 9, SAG-AFTRA called the producer’s alleged misconduct “abhorrent and unacceptable.” A few days later, the Writers Guild of America, East condemned Weinstein, too, calling his actions “deplorable.” And earlier this week, the Producers Guild of America expelled Weinstein and said it would create an anti-sexual harassment task force.

(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Law and Disorder

The CW continues to mine DC Entertainment vault for TV content, and next up is an adaptation of comic book characters Traci Thirteen and her father Dr. Terrance Thirteen.

Officially titled “Project 13,” the project is being developed by the CW with actress and director Elizabeth Banks, The Times has confirmed. The news was first reported by Variety.

The one-hour drama will follow Traci – a twenty-something forensic scientist – who discovers her hidden extrasensory abilities after joining her estranged father to investigate mysterious cases involving the paranormal and other unexplained phenomena. As in the comics, Traci is a believer in the paranormal while Dr. Thirteen is a skeptic -- despite his family name being “Thirteen,” and his repeated encounters with unexplained phenomena.

In the comics, Traci’s abilities include teleportation, fire blasts of magic energy and spell casting. Most recently she appeared as a superhero in the DC Rebirth “Superwoman” series and is in a relationship with Natasha Irons (the niece of John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel).

Despite their relatively unknown status in the comics, Traci and Dr. Thirteen have shared panel space with DC heroes including Batman and Superman.

“Bitten” showrunner Daegan Fryklind will serve as the writer and executive producer of the project. Max Handelman is also attached to the project along with Banks as an executive producer. Banks and Handelman’s Brownstone Productions will produce the show in association with Warner Bros. Television.

The CW’s slate of DC superhero series includes “Supergirl,” “The Flash,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” and “Arrow” along with the upcoming “Black Lightning.”

No word yet on whether “Project 13,” will join “Black Lightning” as a show outside the “Arrowverse,” but the network is home to plenty of universes-free comic book creations such as “Riverdale” and “iZombie.”

Heather Kerr, right, with attorney Gloria Allred.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Former actress Heather Kerr said she was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a business meeting in 1989.

Speaking at a news conference Friday alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred, Kerr alleged that Weinstein forced her to touch his genitals and told her that she had to be good in bed and sleep with him, directors and other producers if she wanted a career in Hollywood.

“He told me this was how things work in Hollywood and that all the actresses that had made it had made it this way. He said, ‘name anyone,’” the 56-year-old recalled.

“He told me that first I would have sex with him and then he would take me to parties and show me who I had to sleep with after that. But first he needed to know how good I was.”

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The AFI Fest has added centerpiece galas for three festival favorites to this year’s lineup. Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name,” which premiered at Sundance, James Franco’s “The Disaster Artist,” which bowed as a work in progress at SXSW, and Scott Cooper’s “Hostiles,” which was unveiled at Telluride.

In addition, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris will receive a special tribute following a screening of his latest work, the hybrid docu-drama Netflix series “Wormwood,” on Nov. 11.

All Gala screenings will take place at the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Errol Morris tribute is set for the Egyptian Theatre.

The festival had previously announced an opening night gala for Dee Rees’ Sundance-premiered Netflix drama “Mudbound” and a closing night gala for the world premiere of Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World.”

Individual tickets are available beginning Nov. 1 and more info can be found at the AFI Fest website.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has shed some light on why he stepped away from his booming music career in 2015: He was dealing with substance abuse-related issues.

Sudden fame had a negative impact on him, the “Shape of You” crooner explained for an upcoming episode of Britain’s “The Jonathan Ross Show,” which airs on Saturday.

“I think you need to, when you get into the industry, adjust to it — and I didn’t adjust because I was constantly working on tour. And all the pitfalls that people read about, I just found myself slipping into all of them. Mostly, like, substance abuse,” he said, via People.

Sheeran, 26, who recently postponed the Asian leg of his tour after injuring himself in a bike accident, said he “never touched anything” but “started slipping into it, and that’s why I took a year off.” He didn’t really notice what was happening because it was going on gradually.

“Then some people took me to one side and were like, ‘Calm yourself down,’… It’s all fun to begin with, it all starts off as a party and then you’re doing it on your own and it’s not, so that was a wakeup call and taking a year off,” he explained.

He took time off starting at the end of 2015, ahead of the release of his third album, “÷,” earlier this year.

Sheeran said he focused on work, which he couldn’t do while under the influence.

“The more I worked, the less [that happened]. I’ve worked my whole life to get to where I am and you can’t lose that over something that you do in your spare time,” he said.

The Grammy winner also credited his girlfriend, Cherry Seaborn, with helping him cope with his issues. The two are living together and that grounded and helped balance him out, he said.

Hillary Clinton will be honored by the Women’s Media Center on Thursday in New York City.

(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be honored by the Women’s Media Center, receiving the Wonder Woman honor at the Women’s Media Awards in New York on Thursday.

“Hillary Clinton’s actions have inspired and protected women and men on every continent,” Gloria Steinem, co-founder of the Women’s Media Center, said in a statement Friday.

“She has battled negative forces and helped to maintain a fragile peace with her negotiating skill on behalf of this country and peace-seekers everywhere. She has handled all this with grace, grit, determination, integrity, humor and fortitude while remaining a steadfast feminist, advocate, activist, sister and tireless leader in the revolution. With this award, the Women’s Media Center declares Hillary Clinton our Wonder Woman,” Steinem added.

This is the first Wonder Woman accolade ever awarded by the group, which cited Clinton’s decades of global accomplishments and public service among the reasons she was chosen for the honor.

Clinton joins Maria Hinojosa, Ashley Judd, April Ryan, María Elena Salinas and Gail Tifford as an honoree at the 2017 ceremony, which will also celebrate the 80th birthday of center co-founder Jane Fonda and the film “Hidden Figures.”

The Women’s Media Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization co-founded in 2005 by Fonda, Steinem and Robin Morgan to increase the visibility and power of women in media.

Anyone hoping that Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” will be a cold blade of revenge will be surprised by the gooey romance of her new single, “Gorgeous.”

Released Thursday night, the song is a hard turn from the angry, slightly unhinged electro-rock of her recent singles. Instead, it’s a maudlin pop ballad about, yep, falling hard for a super-hot dude despite some minor reservations.

It’s built with modern sub-bass and synth pings (albeit with some silly flourishes like sampled baby talk and hokey chimes). But the drippy, devotional lyrics and Swift’s delivery are weirdly indebted to the kind of teen pop heard on mid-2000s TV shows such as “The Hills.”

It’s not quite what we expected from the new, supposedly more cold-blooded Swift we recently heard on “Look What You Made Me Do.”

(And for what it’s worth: Sunset and Vine in Los Angeles is home to a Bank of America, a Walgreens and an apartment block of YouTube vloggers — is that really the corner you want to be falling in love on?)

The song returns Swift to Shellback and Max Martin, the Swedish producers and writers who helped design much of her pop crossover album “1989.” That record was a global smash, and while “Reputation” will need no help hitting the top of the charts, it does seem like it’ll be more all over the map than previously expected.

(Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images for IMG)

Disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein is facing potential expulsion from the Television Academy in the wake of the growing sexual harassment and assault allegations levied against him.

Per the academy’s bylaws, the producer, whose Weinstein Co. is behind Emmy-winning series such as “Project Runway” and Netflix dud “Marco Polo,” will be subjected to a vote in November when the academy’s board of governors will decide whether to maintain his membership.

The outcome doesn’t seem promising for Weinstein, who has been accused of harassing dozens of women over the past three decades and is currently under investigation by police departments in Los Angeles, New York and London.

FULL COVERAGE: Harvey Weinstein scandal

“Sexual harassment in any form is abhorrent and totally unacceptable,” an academy spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday. “Television is a collaborative industry and we fully support those who have been affected by these allegations. The Television Academy stands united with those throughout the industry condemning such behavior in the strongest terms.”

The board met on Thursday to discuss the accusations against the producer and, “in accordance with the Academy’s established procedures, it was overwhelmingly decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings.” Such proceedings could result in terminating his membership.

Weinstein has already been ousted from his own studio, the Motion Picture Academy, BAFTA, British Film Institute and numerous other professional organizations that have distanced themselves from the producer. Several of them also moved to enact measures to help reduce workplace harassment.

Lupita Nyong’o with her Oscar after winning Best Actress for “12 Years a Slave” at the 86th Annual Academy Awards.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

With stories about women allegedly harassed by Harvey Weinstein surfacing all around her, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o decided she couldn’t keep her own story squashed down any longer.

She thought the things that had happened were unique to her, not a larger pattern of what she on Thursday called “sinister behavior.” She blamed herself for much of it.

“I had shelved my experience with Harvey far in the recesses of my mind, joining in the conspiracy of silence that has allowed this predator to prowl for so many years,” Nyong’o wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.

The “12 Years a Slave” actress was still at Yale School of Drama when she and Weinstein crossed paths at a 2011 awards ceremony in Berlin, where he was introduced to the then-aspiring actress as “the most powerful producer in Hollywood.” Dinner companions told her he was a good man to know in the biz, but someone to be “careful” around because he could be a bully, she wrote.

The interactions that followed between her and the producer went back and forth between seemingly appropriate and uncomfortably inappropriate, Nyong’o said.

The invitation to screen a movie with Weinstein and his children at his Connecticut home turned into a restaurant lunch where he tried to bully her into drinking alcohol, she wrote, followed by him cutting short her viewing of the movie after 15 minutes and taking her to his bedroom where he offered to give her a massage. She said she flipped the situation around.

“I began to massage his back to buy myself time to figure out how to extricate myself from this undesirable situation,” the actress said. Then he wanted to take off his pants, she wrote.

He couldn’t make it to see a production she was in, but invited her to bring anyone she wanted to see a staged reading of “Finding Neverland,” one of his. Dinner followed, with her friends relegated to a non-Harvey table.

“The talk was shop the whole time and Harvey held court with ease. He was charming and funny once more, and I felt confused about the discomfort I had previously experienced,” Nyong’o said.

Lupita N’yongo accepts the supporting actress Academy Award for her work in “12 Years a Slave” on March 2, 2014.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A couple of months later, he invited her to a screening of “W.E.” followed by a trip to the Tribeca Grill, which she said she assumed would be another group meal. It was not. His assistants, she said, had seemed uncomfortable as they set up the logistics with her.

“Before the starters arrived, he announced: ‘Let’s cut to the chase. I have a private room upstairs where we can have the rest of our meal.’ I was stunned,” Nyong’o wrote. “I told him I preferred to eat in the restaurant. He told me not to be so naïve. If I wanted to be an actress, then I had to be willing to do this sort of thing. He said he had dated Famous Actress X and Y and look where that had gotten them.”

She declined, and his tone changed, she said. As he escorted her out, sans meal, she checked in with him to make sure they were still “good” after she’d said no.

His response, according to the actress: “‘I don’t know about your career, but you’ll be fine,’ he said. It felt like both a threat and a reassurance at the same time; of what, I couldn’t be sure.”

They didn’t cross paths again until the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, which she was attending in support of “12 Years a Slave.”

“At an after-party, he found me and evicted whoever was sitting next to me to sit beside me,” she wrote. “He said he couldn’t believe how fast I had gotten to where I was, and that he had treated me so badly in the past. He was ashamed of his actions and he promised to respect me moving forward. I said thank you and left it at that. But I made a quiet promise to myself to never ever work with Harvey Weinstein.”

The following year, after her Oscar win, he tried to get her in one of his films, showering her with talk of a star-vehicle film in the offing for her later if she’d first take a role in a Weinstein Co. movie she’d already turned down. She held firm.

When she first met the now-disgraced producer, she wrote, she was “entering into a community that Harvey Weinstein had been in, and even shaped, long before I got there. He was one of the first people I met in the industry, and he told me, ‘This is the way it is.’ And wherever I looked, everyone seemed to be bracing themselves and dealing with him, unchallenged.”

Since then, she said, she hasn’t encountered treatment like that from anyone else. Still, she talked about the often-blurry lines in the workplace known as Hollywood.

“Our business is complicated because intimacy is part and parcel of our profession; as actors we are paid to do very intimate things in public,” wrote Nyong’o, who is now 34. “That’s why someone can have the audacity to invite you to their home or hotel and you show up. Precisely because of this we must stay vigilant and ensure that the professional intimacy is not abused.”