Month: January 2020

Oprah Winfrey said Friday that Russell Simmons attempted to pressure her about her involvement with a documentary in which several women detail sexual abuse allegations against the rap mogul, but his efforts were not what prompted her to leave the project.
“He did reach out multiple times and attempted to pressure me,” Winfrey told The Associated Press through a spokesperson on Friday. It was not anything Simmons said that prompted Winfrey to withdraw from the “On the Record” film, according to Winfrey, but rather inconsistencies in the story of one of Simmons’ accusers, Drew Dixon, that she felt needed to be addressed.
Winfrey said Friday that she still believes Dixon and other women in the film, but that more reporting was needed. “On the Record” directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering have said they have ample evidence against Simmons, a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings.
Winfrey has said she wanted to delay the release of the film, scheduled to premiere Jan. 25 at the Sundance Film Festival, but that that view was not shared by the film’s directors. “On the Record” had been part of her partnership with Apple, which no longer will distribute the documentary.
Winfrey, who herself has spoken openly of been sexually abused, announced she was leaving as executive producer on Jan. 10, saying that more work was needed and that and the filmmakers were “not aligned” in their “creative vision.”  The film’s producers, Impact Partners, said in a statement earlier this week that the movie was ready for Sundance.
“We have always championed the voices of those who have been wrongly silenced. The women in this film have made a great sacrifice by coming forward to tell their stories in their own words. We are honored to support them,” the Impact statement reads. “We stand firmly behind the work of the intrepid filmmakers who continue to break new ground by advancing important stories in the public interest.”
The AP does not typically name alleged victims of sexual abuse, but Dixon has told her story publicly, including on CBS This Morning earlier this week.
The communications between Winfrey and Simmons and her concerns about Dixon’s story were first reported by The New York Times.
Simmons has denied any wrongdoing. On Friday, a Simmons representative issued a statement, saying “If defending himself against terrible accusations is considered intimidation then there would be no justice.”
Speaking to The Associated Press on Friday, Winfrey disputed allegations by the makers of “On the Record” that she gave them little warning before her Jan. 10 announcement. In a story which ran early Friday, Dick and Ziering told The Hollywood Reporter  that they received just 20 minutes notice before Winfrey issued her statement.
“It was very disappointing and upsetting,” Ziering told The Hollywood Reporter. We were concerned about the survivors and what the hell this is going to do to them. That was our first thought. 'Oh my God. Let's tell everybody and figure this out.' "
Winfrey told the AP that Dick and Ziering knew well of her intentions. She said she had raised concerns last month about the film needing more work. According to Winfrey, she told Dick and Ziering that "new information'' had made her see gaps she "thought needed to be filled" and that it was better to "take a rest.''
"They said they would go on with or without me,'' Winfrey told the AP. She said the bottom line for her was thatThe film isn’t ready.” 
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More than two years after France promised to return colonial-era treasures to their African homes, Benin — ostensibly the first recipient of the groundbreaking policy — still awaits them. But on Friday, a small museum outside Cotonou celebrated the return of antique royal scepters gifted by a group of Paris gallery owners.In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron sparked joy — and unease — when he announced colonial-era treasures from Africa would be returned, or shared through exhibitions and loans. The first gesture would be the speedy return to Benin of 26 objects looted by French colonial forces in 1892.But turning that promise into reality is not so easy. Only last December did France’s culture minister offer a concrete timetable, saying the objects now housed at Paris’ leading African art museum would be returned by 2021.Enter a group of Paris Left Bank gallery owners, whose private efforts are moving much more quickly than public ones. They have not only acquired and returned precious antiques to Benin for years, but raised funds to build a small museum outside Cotonou to house them.On Friday that institution, the Petit Musee de la Recade, welcomed one of its biggest troves to date: more than two dozen pieces, including 17 scepters, coming from the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey, located in parts of what is modern day Benin.Speaking by phone from Cotonou, Paris gallery owner Robert Vallois said the gesture doesn’t constitute restitution of ill-gotten art. Instead, he and his colleagues bought the antiques in France, with the specific intent of returning them to Benin.Macron’s restitution promise has been more complicated to realize. It means changing French laws and ensuring old and fragile pieces are properly housed.With French support, Benin is building a new museum in Abomey, once the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey. Jose Pliya, head of Benin’s national agency for heritage promotion and tourism development, spoke to VOA about the process last year.”We really have to have the good condition — temperature, isolation, conservation — to welcome them … a lot of things have to be done. The training of all the conservators in Benin, how to protect the pieces,” Pliya said.Despite the roadblocks, Macron’s restitution vows add pressure on other European countries and museums with African collections.Vallois said he and his gallery group are not part of such debates. Instead, they’re following their own counsel — and what’s important to them is that the objects return to their countries of origin.
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A jury of seven men and five women was selected Friday for Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial after an arduous, two-week process in which scores of people were dismissed because they had already made up their minds about the disgraced Hollywood mogul. Opening statements are expected Wednesday in the case against the 67-year-old executive who has come to be seen as the arch villain of the #MeToo era. The once powerful and feared studio boss behind such Oscar winners as Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love is charged with raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing a sex act on another at his apartment in 2006. He has said any sexual activity was consensual. If convicted, he could get life in prison. During jury selection, prosecutors accused Weinstein’s lawyers of systematically trying to keep young women off the panel, though the final gender makeup of the jury turned out to be more closely balanced. Mistrial soughtFor its part, the defense raised an outcry and demanded a mistrial because one of the jurors is the author of an upcoming novel involving young women dealing with predatory older men. The request was denied, but Weinstein’s lawyers continued to claim outside court that the juror had withheld the information on her questionnaire. We got the best jury we could get under the circumstances, defense attorney Donna Rotunno told reporters. I'm obviously not happy with what happened in the end there. I think that was an absolutely ridiculous decision. The defense said it wasn’t specifically trying to exclude young women but didn’t want jurors too young to understand the way men and women interacted in the early 1990s. That was a different time in New York and on planet Earth,'' said another Weinstein attorney, Arthur Aidala, A stooped Weinstein, shuffling out of the courthouse with the use of a walker because of recent back surgery, had no comment when asked for his thoughts on jury selection.Ask Donna!” he said, referring to Rotunno. Donna Rotunno walks ahead of her client Harvey Weinstein, left, as they arrive at a Manhattan courthouse to attend jury selection for his trial on rape and sexual assault charges in New York, Jan. 17, 2020.Three alternates — one man and two women — were also seated and will sit through the trial and take the place of any jurors who can’t make it through to deliberations. On the first day of jury selection last week, one-third of the first 120 prospective jurors were promptly sent home after Judge James Burke asked if there was anyone who could not be impartial and about 40 hands went up. Each day for nearly a week afterward, dozens of people raised their hands when the question was asked of a new batch of potential jurors. Of the more than 600 people summoned for the case, some marked themselves for disqualification by admitting they knew one of Weinstein’s many accusers, had personal experience with sexual abuse or had read Catch and Kill, a book by Ronan Farrow, one of the first reporters to expose the allegations against Weinstein. Weinstein’s lawyers have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to move the trial out New York City, arguing that heavy publicity has turned the case into a carnival'' and that the media hub where celebrities and ordinary people often intersect can't possibly give their client a fair trial. The request is now before a state appeals court. Not a 'referendum'Cognizant of the media attention and the weight some people are attaching to the case, the judge cautioned potential jurors:This trial is not a referendum on the #MeToo movement.” Supermodel Gigi Hadid was summoned for jury duty and briefly remained in the running even though she said she had met the defendant. A man whose wife starred on a show that Weinstein’s studio produced said he couldn’t be impartial. A woman said she couldn’t be impartial because she has a close friend who had an encounter with the defendant in his hotel room.'' Another man was scratched for saying he couldn't be fair-minded because he had often spotted Weinstein in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood.On several occasions I’ve seen him on the phone screaming at someone,” he said. There was at least one instance of what jury consultants call stealth jurors'' — people eager to serve, especially on a high-profile case, because they hope to make a point or a profit. On Thursday, the judge threatened to hold a potential juror in contempt of court for asking his followers on Twitterhow a person might hypothetically leverage serving on the jury of a high-profile case to promote their new novel.” 
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Set in the 1933 Soviet Union, the historical movie drama “Mr. Jones,” director by Agnieszka Holland and first-time screenwriter Andrea Chalupa,  packs a powerful message. The movie tells a story of a young Welsh reporter searching for truth in the 1933 Soviet Union. Tatiana Vorozhko has the story, narrated by Joy Wagner.
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An unprecedented show for the people of Saudi Arabia, with a young girl taking center stage and representing the kingdom’s younger generation, was held at Riyadh’s King Fahd stadium on Jan. 16, 2020.The event, attended by thousands of enthusiastic Saudis, was the grand finale of the Riyadh Season, a huge entertainment festival attended by millions over the past three months. The show, titled “Leila, the Land of Imagination” and incorporating dancing, music and fireworks, was about a 10-year-old girl who explores the history of Saudi Arabia and dreams of a future without prejudice. The event was the brainchild of Italy’s Marco Balich, responsible for more than 30 ceremonies for the Olympic Games. His all-female creative team worked inside and outside the kingdom for over a year and a half to create an unforgettable experience for the audience.  “Leila, the Land of Imagination,” the grand finale of the Riyadh Season, told the story of a young girl who represented Saudi’s new generation looking toward the future, in Saudi Arabia, Jan. 16, 2020. (Sabina Castelfranco/VOA)For Saudi entertainment authorities, it was a musical and fireworks extravaganza — the culmination of a festival with more than 200 artistic and sporting events in 12 areas of the capital. Many foreign visitors also participated. Balich, the executive producer, called it a “moment where energy is blossoming in Saudi Arabia. Women are now driving and taking positions and this new energy is transforming Saudi Arabia into a land of opportunities for the younger generation.”
  
“2020 is an amazing year for Saudi Arabia because things are actually physically changing,” Balich said. “Abaya [is] not compulsory anymore, music is everywhere, concerts, entertainment, 500 movie theaters. And this ceremony, this big show in the stadium summarizes, in a way, this kind of energy.”The grand finale of the Riyadh Season involves more than 400 performers, at the King Fahd Stadium in Saudi Arabia, Jan. 16, 2020. (Sabina Castelfranco/VOA)Creative director Angela Alo led the team that put the show together, involving more than 400 performers. Saudi Arabia is changing, she said, and the show represented that change. The journey of the main character Leila, whose name means “daughter of the night” in Arabic, was the result of wild imagination, she added.Balich also discussed the young Saudi girl.”Leila is a young girl that has a 70-year expectancy in front of her, of a country that is changing rapidly,” he said. “I believe that she can be the symbol of this gracious and gentle revolution that is happening in this country.”Najua, a young female dentist in the audience at the stadium, said it was the first time she had seen such a show, adding it was “really fantastic.”
 
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The 2020s might be the decade faltering millennials finally roar to financial health after a tough start brought on by the Great Recession, which lasted from 2007 until 2009. Coming of age during the worst economic downturn in the United States since the 1930s meant that many of these young people, who are now in their mid-20s to late-30s, experienced a delayed entrance into the job market or accepted lower-paying jobs for which they were overqualified.       Many millennials were hard hit due to a variety of factors, including high unemployment, student loan debt, and an increased cost of living, particularly if they graduated from high school or college during the downturn. 
“Since then, we’ve really had a lot of wage stagnation, particularly given that so many millennials started behind where they thought they would be,” says Jason Dorsey, president and lead millennial researcher at the Center for Generational Kinetics. “And it’s taken them longer to recover — if they have recovered.”  In this April 27, 2019, photo, millennials Andy and Stacie Proctor in the kitchen of their new home in Vineyard, Utah.Experts also say U.S. millennials are the first generation to feel the full impact of decades of Juan Hernandez of Hartford, Conn., was among millennials nationwide with student debt who worried about being able to qualify for a home loan, March 7, 2016.Millennials are at the age when Americans traditionally buy homes, start saving for the future, and invest for their retirement. It also will help that many have paid down their student debt now that they’ve been out of college for a number of years.“And at the same time, many of them will become potentially two-income households and that’s also really helpful for many of them,” Dorsey says. “It’s sort of a perfect storm. It just happens to align with the 2020s. It’s not that the 2020s are this famous decade, but more so that millennials are hitting the times when they should start really saving and investing, and earning higher incomes relative to their spending.”And if millennials blame previous generations for their current financial straits, it might cheer them up to know this is also the time many of them can expect to start inheriting wealth from their more well-off baby boomer parents or other relatives.   
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