Josh Duggar of '19 Kids and Counting' Goes on Trial in Child Pornography Case - The New York Times

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1. Josh Duggar of '19 Kids and Counting' Goes on Trial in Child Pornography Case  The New York Times
2. Josh Duggar trial: Jury selection has been completed with 12 jurors and 4 alternates: LIVE UPDATES  Fox News
3. Josh Duggar Admitted He First Molested Girls at Age 12, Family Friend Says in Emotional Testimony  PEOPLE.com
4. Duggar seeks to bar child molestation witness, citing clergy privilege  INSIDER
5. jury selection begins in the trial of josh duggar  40/29 News
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Rumi Carter, 4, Is Big Sis Blue Ivy’s Mini-Me In Beyonce’s New Ivy Park Ad — Watch - Hollywood Life

Beyonce’s daughter, Rumi, looked identical to her sister Blue Ivy in a new campaign for Ivy Park.

Good genes run in the family! Beyonce, 40, released her new ad for Ivy Park and the video stars Bey’s two daughters – Rumi Carter, 4, and Blue Ivy, 9. In the video, Rumi looks like Blue’s mini-me and the resemblance is uncanny. In the middle of the video, Bey posed with her two girls as they all rocked matching outfits.

Beyonce held Rumi on her waist as she wore a black and white gingham sports bra with matching herringbone leggings. Bey opted to wear a skintight, low-cut zip-up bodysuit in the same pattern. Meanwhile, Blue stood on the opposite side of them wearing a matching crop top and high-waisted leggings.

In the video, both girls had their hair done the exact same way which made them look even more alike. Rumi’s hair was slicked back and parted in the middle with two braided pigtails while two thin braided pieces of her were left out framing her face.

Beyonce & Jay-Z with their twins, Rumi & Sir Carter. (Splashnews)

Blue’s hair was also parted in the middle and slicked back at the top with two pigtails on top, while the rest of her hair was down in the back and two pieces also framed her face.

Throughout the video, Bey rocked a slew of sexy looks including a skintight neon green long-sleeve bodysuit with no pants, which she wore while playing tennis. In another shot, she wore a tight long-sleeve sheer black and white herringbone jumpsuit with a matching choker necklace and headband.

Another one of our favorite outfits was her long-sleeve flannel print mini dress that was extra tight and cinched in her tiny waist. Last but not least, she showed off her fabulous figure in a tight blue sequin jumpsuit with a plunging V-neckline that revealed ample cleavage. On top of the one-piece, she wore a floor-length sequin herringbone coat.

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Hamilton's Anthony Ramos and Jasmine Cephas Jones Break Up After 6 Years Together - E! Online

The story of tonight is that Hamilton stars Anthony Ramos and Jasmine Cephas Jones are closing the curtain on their romance.

Amid speculation about their relationship status, a source confirms to E! News that the two, who began dating in 2015 after meeting during rehearsals for the original off-Broadway production of Hamilton, have gone their separate ways. Another source tells E! News that their engagement ended prior to their official split. Reps for the pair did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
 
News of their breakup comes just five months after Anthony gushed about his fiancée, referring to his other half as a "rock."
 
"She's a pillar," he told People in June. "What's amazing is that she's doing it on her own, too. She's having her own moment."
 
Last year, Jasmine won an Emmy for her performance in the short series, #FreeRayshawn. She made history alongside her father Ron Cephas Jones of This Is Us for being the first father-daughter duo to win Emmy Awards in the same year, and also as the first-ever Black woman to win in the Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category.

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Adele announces Las Vegas concert residency - CNN

(CNN)Who wouldn't want to spend a weekend hanging out with Adele and now we can.

The singer announced on Tuesday that she'll begin a Las Vegas concert residency in January at the Colosseum of Caesars Palace Hotel. Titled "Weekends With Adele," she'll perform two shows a weekend from Jan. 21 - April 16.

See you at Caesars in Vegasss ✨ pic.twitter.com/VngaofduHQ

— Adele (@Adele) November 30, 2021

Adele's fourth studio album, "30," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last week and is already the top selling album in the US of 2021, according to MRC data reported by Billboard.

The Colosseum has a crowd capacity of 4,100 and has been the residency home of Celine Dion, Elton John, Bette Midler, Cher, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart and more.

Presale tickets for the shows will be only be available through registration using Ticketmaster Verified Fan beginning Tuesday.

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Family of 9-year-old Astroworld victim rejects Travis Scott's offer to pay for funeral - New York Post

The family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, the youngest victim of the Astroworld Festival stampede, has reportedly turned down Travis Scott’s offer to pay for the boy’s funeral.

“Your client’s offer is declined,” the family’s lawyer Bob Hilliard wrote the rapper’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, in a letter obtained by Rolling Stone.

“I have no doubt Mr. Scott feels remorse. His journey ahead will be painful. He must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy,” he added.

Petrocelli made the offer on behalf of his client in a letter to Hilliard and his co-counsel last week.

“Travis is devastated by the tragedy that occurred at the Astroworld Festival and grieves for the families whose loved ones died or were injured,” he wrote Wednesday, a day after the boy was laid to rest, the news outlet reported.

Nine-year-old Ezra Blount seen outside the Astroworld music festival, where 10 people — including Ezra — were killed.

Courtesy of Taylor Blount via AP

Travis Scott performs at the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on Friday, November 5, 2021.

Amy Harris/Invision/AP

“Travis is committed to doing his part to help the families who have suffered and begin the long process of healing in the Houston community. Toward that end, Travis would like to pay for the funeral expenses for Mr. Blount’s son,” Petrocelli added.

The lawyer also insisted that acceptance of Scott’s offer would “have no effect” on the lawsuit filed by Ezra’s father, Treston, against his client and other parties in connection with the death.

In his response, Hilliard reportedly wrote: “There may be, and I hope there is, redemption and growth for him on the other side of what this painful process will be — and perhaps one day, once time allows some healing for the victims and acceptance of responsibility by Mr. Scott and others, Treston and Mr. Scott might meet, as there is also healing in that.”

Travis Scott’s offer to cover the funeral expenses for 9-year-old Ezra Blount was rebuffed by the boy’s family.

Family Handout

A memorial for the victims of Astroworld Festival is set up outside NRG Park in Houston, Texas, on November 24, 2021.

Jennifer Lake/Sipa USA

He added: “To lose a child in the manner Treston lost Ezra compounds the pain. As a parent, Treston cannot help but agonize over the terrible idea that Ezra’s last minutes were filled with terror, suffering, suffocation and worst of all surrounded by strangers, his dad unconscious underneath the uncontrolled crowd.”

Hilliard told Rolling Stone on Monday that he and co-counsel Ben Crump also rejected a suggested meeting between Scott and the boy’s family.

Rapper Travis Scott faces several lawsuits from the families of the victims.

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“We were pretty firm. With all due respect, no. This isn’t a photo-op story here. This is a ‘who’s responsible and why’ type of investigation. And he’s on the shortlist,” he told the outlet about the performer.

Petrocelli, who famously represented Fred Goldman at the wrongful death trial that found O.J. Simpson liable in the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.

Ezra had been sitting on his dad’s shoulders when Scott opened his set at NRG Park in Houston on Nov. 5. Both were caught up in the chaos that unfolded when fans rushed the stage.

The boy’s death raised the tragic concert’s death toll to 10. On the night of the show, eight victims were pronounced dead. The ninth victim was a 22-year-old college student Bharti Shahani.

Crump has filed a lawsuit for the Blount family and nearly 100 other families in civil suits against various persons and entities connected to the tragic concert. 

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Cassie Randolph eager to 'move past' drama rehashed on 'Coming Out Colton' - Page Six

Still a thorn in her side. 

After the trailer dropped on Monday for Colton Underwood’s new Netflix series, “Coming Out Colton,” a source exclusively told Page Six that his ex Cassie Randolph is frustrated that their tumultuous breakup is being rehashed. 

“Cassie really just wants to move past any drama having to do with Colton. She’s being roped back into all this Colton mess because of the Netflix show,” the insider said.

“There are a lot of bad memories associated with the end of their relationship and she wishes there was a way to completely separate herself from his narrative.” 

Former “Bachelor” lead Underwood, 29, handed his final rose to Randolph, 26, while filming the Season 23 finale of the ABC reality show in late 2018. Though they never got engaged, the pair continued dating — and even lived together at one point — until announcing their split in May 2020. 

Randolph got a restraining order against Underwood in September of that year for allegedly stalking her, attaching a tracking device to her vehicle and sending her disturbing text messages. She dropped the order less than two months later.

In the preview for “Coming Out Colton” — which details Underwood’s experience entering the gay community — the former football player admits he put Randolph “through hell” because of his “own insecurities” about his sexuality. 

“Cassie filed a restraining order against you. You went off the rails,” Underwood’s dad, Scott, tells him in the clip, while a friend adds elsewhere, “What you put her through was bulls–t.” 

Underwood has previously apologized to Randolph publicly, most notably when he came out in an emotional April appearance on “Good Morning America” and in a May cover story interview with Variety. 

Meanwhile, Randolph has remained largely silent about Underwood’s revelation and his subsequent apologies.

Initially, she addressed the influx of support she received in the wake of the news while promoting her YouTube channel in April, telling fans, “Thank you everyone for all the kind comments and messages.”

Later, in a video, she said, “I’m not gonna be further discussing it or commenting on it for now. There’s a lot of layers to it, and I just think the best thing for me at this time is to move forward and just focus on going forward.”

Although Randolph would rather not be a peripheral character on “Coming Out Colton,” she is pleased to see that Underwood seems remorseful.  

Randolph won Underwood’s final rose on “The Bachelor” Season 23 before the pair called it quits in May 2020.

Getty Images

“It’s nice to see that he appears genuinely sorry — and it’s comforting to know that his friends and family are holding him accountable for everything he did to Cassie,” the source said. 

The trailer also sees Underwood reconnect with his former “Bachelor” suitress Onyeka Ehie, an ally who has applauded him on social media for sharing his truth. According to Variety, Ehie offers “full-throated support” for Underwood in their on-camera conversations.

However, a second source told us that most of the women of Season 23 are “unequivocally Team Cassie.” 

“The collective attitude among the girls of Season 23 is that they’re happy for Colton but are more concerned about Cassie in this situation,” the insider elaborated. 

“There is concern among Bachelor Nation about how Colton’s show is going to make her feel. They want her to feel supported as it plays out.”

The first source noted that it’s a “complicated situation” for Randolph, who may have worries about the way she’s discussed on “Coming Out Colton,” but is nonetheless thrilled that Underwood may be able to help others struggling to come out. 

“At her core, Cassie supports Colton telling his story if that helps him and other people in the LGBTQIA+ community,” said the insider. “The part that sucks is that there’s really no way for him to tell his story without mentioning their breakup.” 

These days, Randolph — who does not maintain communication with Underwood — is coupled up with musician Brighton Reinhardt, with whom she became Instagram official in August. 

Randolph is now dating musician Brighton Reinhardt.

Instagram

“Cassie couldn’t be happier and is thriving in her love life. Brighton is such a great boyfriend and she is grateful to have found love with him even after all the trouble she experienced with Colton and ‘The Bachelor,’” the source explained. 

“Having Brighton by her side certainly makes this Netflix stuff easier to deal with.”

Reps for Randolph, Underwood and Netflix were not immediately available when contacted by Page Six for comment. 

“Coming Out Colton” premieres Friday on Netflix. 

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Billy Porter makes a dramatic red carpet entrance at The Fashion Awards 2021 - CNN

Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

On a frigid night in London, the fashion industry has stepped out on the red carpet for the Fashion Awards 2021, hosted by the British Fashion Council.

Billy Porter is on hosting duties for the night at Royal Albert Hall, and made a dramatic entrance to the event with an entourage of dancers. The "Pose" and "Cinderella" actor wore a glittering patterned black and silver gown with sculpted shoulders by designer Richard Quinn, as well as black platform-heeled boots. The dancers arrived in floral print and black PVC outfits -- some entirely incognito in head-to-toe jumpsuits, also made by Richard Quinn. They spun, rolled and did splits ahead of Porter's entrance, writhing around him as he walked in.

Richard Quinn is one of five designers vying tonight to win the BFC Foundation Award, which honors emerging talent. Priya Ahluwalia, Nensi Dojaka, Bianca Saunders and Bethany Williams are also nominees.

Other celebrities who wore Quinn tonight include Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a billowing floral gown, Hailee Steinfeld in a shimmering backless polka-dot jumpsuit, and Addison Rae in a pink and black mermaid gown.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas attend The Fashion Awards 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall on November 29, 2021 in London, England. Credit: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images

Elsewhere on the red carpet, Gabrielle Union arrived in a statement-making chartreuse Valentino couture gown, Maria Sharapova wore a dress made from recycled Evian bottles by Iris van Herpen, and Tom Daley wore a deep blue asymmetrical suit by Christian Dior.

Gabrielle Union made a statement in Valentino couture. Credit: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images

"British fashion to me...there's something that's so incredible when you can go from street style to formal style, unique style, gender-bending queer style," said Daley on the red carpet in a TikTok video posted by The Fashion Awards, which live-streamed the red carpet on the social media platform. "Just to represent yourself however you want to, wear what what you want and just be you, and I love that about London (especially)."

British Olympic diver Tom Daley poses on the red carpet upon arrival. Credit: Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty Images

Lily Allen and Demi Moore both arrived in Fendi, with Moore posing in her ombre knee-length gown next to Fendi creative director Kim Jones. Tonight, Jones is up for Designer of the Year, competing for the title with Jonathan Anderson, Demna Gvasalia, Daniel Lee, and Prada co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.

The event follows a 2020 awards ceremony that was completely virtual due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and comes as many countries around the world announce new travel restrictions because of the Omicron variant. It also takes place one day after the devastating news of trailblazing designer Virgil Abloh's death. Abloh, Louis Vuitton's artistic director of menswear and founder of Off-White, died of cancer at age 41.

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Gotham Awards Underway In New York (Updating Live) - Deadline

The Gotham Awards  kicked off Monday night in lower Manhattan honoring the best independent films of 2021 with a vaccinated, Covid-tested, in-person ceremony at its longtime Cipriani Wall Street home. It’s a big deal as the first, and the first live, major awards event at a time when the industry has struggled to gather together. It may also be a pivotal time as interesting films for grownups are finally seeing some traction at the box office after a dismal year.

Already, Emilia Jones has won the Breakthrough Performer award for her starring role in Apple’s CODA, and Maggie Gyllenhaal won Best Screenplay for Netflix’s The Lost Daughter. Drive My Car, the Cannes screenplay winner and Japan’s submission to the International Feature Oscar race, won Best International Film.

In the gender-neutral Outstanding Performance in a New Series category there were two winners: Thuso Mbedu for Amazon Studios’ The Underground Railroad and Ethan Hawke for Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird.

In the nonfiction categories, Denmark’s Oscar entry, the animated Flee, won for Best Documentary, while PBS’ Philly D.A. from Topic and Independent Lens won a new award, for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series

Lost Daughter and Rebecca Hall’s Passing, also from Netflix, swept the top nominations, which were announced last month in 12 categories. In an interesting shift by organizer Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly IFP), the acting awards are no longer defined by gender; the Best Actress and Best Actor categories are now combined in Outstanding Lead Performance and Outstanding Supporting Performance with double the nominees – to 10, from five.

Tonight’s show also includes four television categories with Netflix’s international sensation Squid Game up for its first wins in Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes), and Outstanding Performer in a New Series for star Li Jung-jae.

The event can be an industry bellwether coming early in awards season and following fall festival buzz. Last year’s Best Feature Gotham went to Nomadland, which went on to win the Oscar. (Other winners at the Gothams last year included Riz Ahmed as best actor for Sound of Metal and Nicole Beharie as best actress for Miss Juneteenth.)

Films released from March 1-December 31, 2021 and TV series from October 1, 2020-September 30, 2021 were eligible for this year’s 31st edition. Budgets are capped at $35 million, which eliminated some interesting indies from contention including Tick..tick…boom!, The Harder They Fall, The French Dispatch and The Tragedy of Macbeth.

The show is also recognizing an array of independent talent with honorary awards including Magnolia Pictures’ Eamonn Bowles, Industry Tribute; Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), the Directors Tribute; Netflix’s The Harder They Fall cast, Ensemble Tribute; Peter Dinklage (Cyrano) and Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Performer Tributes; late filmmaker/activist Kathleen Collins, inaugural Gotham Icon Award; and The Actors Fund, the Gotham Impact Salute.

Follow along below as we update with winners as they are announced as well as other coverage from inside the venue:

GOTHAM AWARDS 2021 WINNERS

Breakthrough Nonfiction Series

Philly D.A.
Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar, creators; Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin, executive producers (Topic, Independent Lens, PBS)

Outstanding Performance in a New Series
(tie)

Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)

Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)

Best Documentary Feature

Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie, producers (Neon)

Best International Feature

Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films)

Best Screenplay

The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix)

Breakthrough Performer

Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple)

Best Feature

Outstanding Lead Performance

Outstanding Supporting Performance

Breakthrough Director

Breakthrough Series (under 40 minutes)

Breakthrough Series (over 40 minutes)

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In Bill Cosby Case, Supreme Court Is Asked to Toss Ruling That Freed Him - The New York Times

The prosecutors who brought the 2018 sexual assault case are appealing the decision in June by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that overturned the jury verdict.

Prosecutors who say Bill Cosby belongs in prison are asking the United States Supreme Court to throw out an appellate court ruling earlier this year that overturned his 2018 conviction for sexual assault on due process grounds.

Mr. Cosby walked free from prison in June after serving less than three years of a three-to-10-year sentence.

His release followed a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Mr. Cosby’s rights had been violated when the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office pursued a criminal case against him despite what the appellate court found was a binding “non-prosecution agreement” given to him by a previous district attorney.

It was a dramatic reversal in one of the first high-profile criminal convictions of the #MeToo era.

The petition for review, filed last Wednesday by the district attorney’s office but only made public Monday, challenges that decision, arguing that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court erred in its ruling.

The Pennsylvania high court’s decision came in the case of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee to whom Mr. Cosby had become a mentor. He was arrested in 2015 on charges that he had drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home in a Philadelphia suburb 11 years earlier.

The arrest came at a time when dozens of other women had already come forward to accuse Mr. Cosby of sexual assault or misconduct.

A spokesman for Mr. Cosby, Andrew Wyatt, released a statement that referred to the decision to seek Supreme Court review as “a pathetic last-ditch effort.”

“In short, the Montgomery County D.A. asks the United States Supreme Court to throw the Constitution out the window, as it did, to satisfy the #metoo mob,” the statement said. “There is no merit to the DA’s request which centers on the unique facts of the Cosby case and has no impact on important federal questions of law.”

A lawyer for Ms. Constand, Bebe H. Kivitz, said Ms. Constand “is gratified that the District Attorney’s Office is appealing. This appeal demonstrates the prosecutors’ confidence in the verdict, and attempts to seek justice on behalf of all of Cosby’s victims.”

The accusations against Mr. Cosby, and his eventual conviction on three charges of aggravated indecent assault, painted a disturbing portrait of a man who for decades had brightened America’s living rooms as a beloved entertainer and father figure.

Mr. Cosby has consistently denied the accusations that he was a sexual predator, suggesting that the encounter with Ms. Constand, and those with other accusers, had been completely consensual.

It is by no means certain that the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to hear the case. The court denies the vast majority of petitions seeking review.

The justices only consider cases that involve federal law, and they rarely hear cases merely to correct erroneous rulings. Instead, they generally agree to hear cases in which lower courts have reached differing conclusions or ones involving legal issues of great public importance.

Some legal experts had not expected prosecutors to file an appeal to the Supreme Court, seeing the case as a matter of state rather than federal law, and one that involves a specific set of circumstances that do not involve far-reaching constitutional issues.

For the appeal to succeed, the justices would have to decide that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision relied on and misinterpreted a federal law or constitutional provision, experts said.

“The district attorney’s office really strains in its petition to make this into a precedent-setting issue — it’s not,” said Shan Wu, a former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., who has followed the case. “The unique facts make it highly unlikely that it would ever arise again.”

Mr. Cosby’s lawyers have 30 days to respond, though they may seek an extension.

Mr. Cosby’s appeal to Pennsylvania’s highest court had argued, among other issues, that the entertainer had relied on a previous prosecutor’s statement in 2005 that Mr. Cosby would not face charges in the case.

The district attorney at the time, Bruce L. Castor Jr., had said he made the non-prosecution agreement verbally to Mr. Cosby’s lawyer, after determining there was insufficient evidence to win a prosecution on sex assault charges. He has pointed to a news release he issued announcing the end of the criminal investigation as evidence that an immunity agreement existed. He has subsequently testified that the agreement was intended to compel Mr. Cosby to testify in any civil suit that Ms. Constand might file by removing Mr. Cosby’s ability to exercise his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Shortly after the criminal investigation was dropped, Ms. Constand did sue Mr. Cosby, and settled in 2006 for $3.38 million.

During testimony in the civil suit, Mr. Cosby acknowledged giving quaaludes to women he was pursuing for sex — evidence that played a key part in the criminal prosecution later brought by Mr. Castor’s successors.

As the criminal case proceeded, the trial court — and an intermediate appeals court — found that no formal non-prosecution agreement ever existed.

But in its 6-1 ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that Mr. Cosby had, in fact, relied on Mr. Castor’s assurances that he wouldn’t be prosecuted and that the subsequent decision by a successor to charge Mr. Cosby violated the entertainer’s due process rights. The court barred a retrial, though two of the judges who voted in the majority dissented on that remedy.

“Petitioning to ask the High Court for review was the right thing to do,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Monday in a statement, “because of the precedent set in this case by the majority opinion of Pennsylvania Supreme Court that prosecutors’ statements in press releases now seemingly create immunity.”

The district attorney’s office referenced an argument put forward by one of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, Kevin Dougherty, who said in an opinion that no district attorney had the “power to impose on their successors — in perpetuity, no less — the kind of non-prosecution agreement that Castor sought to convey to Cosby.”

In their 33-page filing, the prosecutors also tried to counter the argument that Mr. Cosby had a right to rely on what Mr. Castor said was a promise not to prosecute him further, asserting that “a reasonably prudent person would have been reckless to rely on a supposed guarantee that the prosecutor did not clearly convey and may not have had the power to grant.”

Since being freed, Mr. Cosby, 84, has portrayed the decision as a full exoneration. The chief justice of the Pennsylvania high court, Max Baer, has said, though, that the court’s ruling did not find Mr. Cosby innocent, only unfairly prosecuted.

Patricia Steuer, 65, who has accused Mr. Cosby of drugging and assaulting her in 1978 and 1980, said that although she appreciated the effort to appeal what she viewed as a flawed decision, she was not optimistic about the outcome.

“It never occurred to me that they’d petition to the U.S. Supreme Court,” she said. “I’m grateful for that, but I don’t have a lot of hope that he’ll end back in prison.”

Julia Jacobs contributed reporting.

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Adam McKay Details Will Ferrell Split, Says Actor Hasn’t Returned His Emails: ‘I F**ked Up’ - IndieWire

Adam McKay opened up in detail for the first time about his professional split from Will Ferrell. The two collaborators worked together on some of the most definitive comedy films of the 2000s, including “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” and went on to form the production company Gloria Sanchez Productions. McKay and Ferrell announced in April 2019 they were ending their partnership, saying in a statement at the time, “The two of us will always work together creatively and always be friends. And we recognize we are lucky as hell to end this venture as such.” As McKay revealed in a new Vanity Fair profile, that promise turned out not to be true.

Ferrell told The Hollywood Reporter in October that “bandwidth” was the reason for his split from McKay, pointing to McKay’s increased producing responsibilities. The actor said, “Adam was like, ‘I want to do this, and this, and this,’ he wanted growth and a sphere of influence, and I was just like, ‘I don’t know, that sounds like a lot that I have to keep track of.’ To me, the potential of seeing a billboard, and being like: ‘Oh, we’re producing that?’ I don’t know. At the end of the day, we just have different amounts of bandwidth.”

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While McKay’s interest in producing more was the start of the end, the director told Vanity Fair that the final blow was his decision to cast John C. Reilly over Ferrell in his upcoming HBO drama series about the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers fan Ferrell was originally cast in the role of team owner Jerry Buss, but he was not McKay’s first choice.

“The truth is, the way the show was always going to be done, it’s hyperrealistic,” McKay said. “And Ferrell just doesn’t look like Jerry Buss, and he’s not that vibe of a Jerry Buss. And there were some people involved who were like, ‘We love Ferrell, he’s a genius, but we can’t see him doing it.’ It was a bit of a hard discussion.”

McKay wanted to cast John C. Reilly, whom he worked with on “Step Brothers” and who is also Ferrell’s good friend. McKay ended up making the casting change and hiring Reilly behind Ferrell’s back.

“I should have called him and I didn’t,” McKay said. “And Reilly did, of course, because Reilly, he’s a stand-up guy…I fucked up on how I handled that. It’s the old thing of keep your side of the street clean. I should have just done everything by the book.”

McKay said the last time he spoke to Ferrell was the phone conversation they had talking about breaking up. “I said, ‘Well, I mean, we’re splitting up the company,'” the director said. “And he basically was like, ‘Yeah, we are,’ and basically was like, ‘Have a good life.’ And I’m like, ‘Fuck, Ferrell’s never going to talk to me again.’ So it ended not well.”

Vanity Fair notes that “McKay says he’s written emails to Ferrell, attempting a rapprochement, but has never heard back.” The director concluded, “In my head, I was like, ‘We’ll let all this blow over. Six months to a year, we’ll sit down, we’ll laugh about it and go, It’s all business junk, who gives a shit? We worked together for 25 years. Are we really going to let this go away?’ [But Ferrell] took it as a way deeper hurt than I ever imagined and I tried to reach out to him, and I reminded him of some slights that were thrown my way that were never apologized for.”

Head over to Vanity Fair’s website to read McKay’s profile in its entirety.

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At Jussie Smollett trial, Osundairo brothers at center stage - New York Post

CHICAGO — Two brothers stand at the center of the case that prosecutors will lay before jurors when the trial of Jussie Smollett begins this week.

The former “Empire” actor contends he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault in downtown Chicago on a frigid night in January 2019. The siblings, who worked with him on the TV show, say he paid them $3,500 to pose as his attackers.

Smollett is accused of lying to police about the alleged attack and has been charged with felony disorderly conduct. A class 4 felony, the crime carries a sentence of up to three years in prison but experts have said it is more likely that if Smollett is convicted he would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service.

Whether Smollett, who is Black and gay, testifies remains an open question. But the siblings, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, will take the witness stand where they are expected to repeat what they have told police officers and prosecutors — that they carried out the attack at Smollett’s behest.

Jurors also may see surveillance video from more than four dozen cameras that police reviewed to trace the brothers’ movements before and after the reported attack, as well as a video showing the brothers purchasing a red hat, ski masks and gloves from a beauty supply shop hours earlier.

Smollett’s attorneys have not spelled out how they will confront that evidence and the lead attorney, Nenye Uche, declined to comment. But there are clues as to how they might during the trial, which starts with jury selection Monday in a Chicago courtroom. It is expected to last a week.

Jussie Smollett arrives at the Leighton Courts Building for the start of jury selection in his trial.

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Buried in nearly 500 pages of Chicago Police Department reports is a statement from a woman who lived in the area who says she saw a white man with “reddish brown hair” who appeared to be waiting for someone that night.

She told a detective that when the man turned away from her, she “could see hanging out from underneath his jacket what appeared to be a rope.”

Her comments could back up Smollett’s contention that his attackers draped a makeshift noose around his neck. Further, if she testified that the man was white, it would support Smollett’s statements — widely ridiculed because the brothers, who come from Nigeria, are Black — that he saw pale or white skin around the eyes of one of his masked attackers.

One of the defense attorneys, Tina Glandian, suggested during a March 2019 appearance on NBC’s “Today” show, that one of the brothers could have used white makeup around his eyes to make Smollett believe he was white. To address skepticism on the jury, Glandian could ask the brothers about a video she talked about on the program that she said shows one of them in whiteface reciting a monologue by the Joker character from a movie.

Given there is so much evidence, including the brothers’ own statements, that they participated in the attack, it is not likely that Smollett’s attorneys will try to prove they did not take part. That could perhaps lead the defense to contend that Smollett was the victim of a very real attack at the hands of the brothers, perhaps with the help of others, who now are only implicating the actor so prosecutors won’t charge them, too.

Jussie Smollett arrives with family and attorneys for the first day of his trial for reportedly staging an attack on himself at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

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The $3,500 check could be key. While the brothers say that was their fee to carry out the fake attack, Smollett has offered a different and much more innocent explanation: that he wrote the check to pay one of them to work as his personal trainer.

“I would assume the defense is going to zero in on that,” said Joe Lopez, a prominent defense attorney not involved with the case. “If they texted messages regarding training sessions, checks he (Smollett) wrote them for training, photographs, the defense would use all of that.”

What they will almost certainly do is attack the brothers’ credibility — an effort that will certainly include a reminder to the jury that the brothers are not facing the same criminal charges as Smollett, despite admitting to taking part in the staged attack.

Jussie Smollett faces charges of felony disorderly conduct for lying to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime.

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“Everything Smollett is responsible for, they are responsible for,” said David Erickson, a former state appellate judge who teaches at Chicago Kent College of Law and who is not involved in the case. “They participated and they walk away? What the hell is that?”

Erickson said he expects prosecutors to confront that issue before Smollett’s attorneys do, as they won’t want to appear to be trying to hide something.

Finally, Smollett’s career could take center stage. On one side, prosecutors could make the same point that then-Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson made when he announced Smollett’s arrest in 2019: that Smollett thought the attack would gain him more fame and get him a raise on a hit TV show.

But Lopez said the defense attorneys might ask the jury the same question he has asked himself.

“How would that help him with anything?” he asked. “He’s already a star.”

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Julia Roberts' Husband Danny Moder Shares Rare Photo of Twins Hazel and Phinnaeus on Their 17th Birthday - E! Online

These birthday tributes are guaranteed to make you smile.

Julia Roberts and Danny Moder's twins just turned 17 years old! And although the Oscar winner and the cinematographer tend to keep their kids out of the spotlight, they did make a rare exception over the weekend for Hazel Moder and Phinnaeus Moder's birthday. "17 of the Sweetest years of life," Julia, who also shares 14-year-old son Henry Moder with Danny, wrote in a Nov. 28 Instagram post alongside a photo of the twins as newborns.

Julia's niece, actress Emma Roberts, commented on the adorable picture, which originally appeared on the cover of People, with three heart emojis.

Meanwhile, Hazel and Phinnaeus' dad also celebrated their birthdays on his social media page. "These rabble rousers," Danny captioned a photo of the duo eating breakfast. "17 today. thank you for helping me through fatherhood."

In the comments of the post, many of Danny and Julia's celeb pals couldn't help but gush over their twins. "17!!!!!" Ali Wentworth wrote. "Happy Birthday!" While director Alex Richanbach commented, "This is insane, man. Happy birthday to these two grown ups!"

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BTS' LA concert highlights: Megan Thee Stallion surprises crowd, Jin channels 'Squid Game' - USA TODAY

Inside Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's First Thanksgiving Holiday Together as a Couple Again - E! Online

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's Thanksgiving holiday was a full family affair.

The couple spent the holiday, their first major one since rekindling their romance, in Los Angeles. She flew in from Canada, where she has spent the last couple of months filming The Mother, a Netflix thriller that she is also producing.

"Jennifer was very excited to come home and spend Thanksgiving with Ben," a source close to the actress and singer told E! News. "[Ben's] mom joined them and they had a lot of low-key family time with both of their families together."

The insider did not elaborate on where Ben and Jennifer had their Thanksgiving meal or who accompanied them to dinner.

"Jennifer enjoys the holidays and this was her first since she and Ben have been back together," the source said. "She wanted to make it special for him and for the kids and to start new traditions."

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Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Artistic Director, Dies of Cancer at 41 - Hollywood Reporter

Virgil Abloh, who most recently served as men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton, died Sunday after a private battle with cancer. He was 41.

A post on Abloh’s verified Instagram page announced his death, explaining that he battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma, for more than two years.

“He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture,” the post continued.

“Through it all, his work ethic, infinite curiosity, and optimism never wavered,” the Instagram caption read. “Virgil was driven by his dedication to his craft and to his mission to open doors for others and create pathways for greater equality in art and design.”

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Abloh, who founded the streetwear-focused luxury label Off-White and served as Kanye West’s longtime creative director, ascended to the prestigious role at Louis Vuitton in 2018, becoming the label’s first African-American artistic director and, as the New York Times noted in its story about Abloh’s Louis Vuitton appointment, “one of the few black designers at the top of a French heritage house.”

In a statement, the CEO of Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH, Bernard Arnault, said, “We are all shocked by this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer and a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow and we are all thinking of his loved ones on the passing of their husband, father, brother, son and friend.”

Abloh was born in Rockford, Illinois, in 1980 to immigrant parents from Ghana. (His mother was a seamstress and his father a manager in a paint factory.) He earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

“I often reference the 17-year-old version of myself, because I’m doing in large part the same thing today,” Abloh told GQ in 2017. “Back then, I used to DJ and get my hands on my dad’s records — Fela [Kuti] to James Brown to Miles Davis. I was only into the fashion that intersected with the niche cultures I was into — my favorite ‘fashion’ brands were [skateboard companies like] Alien Workshop, Santa Cruz and Droors.”

It was while doing work for a screen-printing store, Custom Kings, in Chicago that Abloh met Kanye West. The two went on to intern together at the same time at LVMH brand Fendi in 2009. Abloh caught the attention of Fendi’s then-CEO, Michael Burke, now the CEO of Louis Vuitton, at that time. “Virgil could create a metaphor and a new vocabulary to describe something as old-school as Fendi. I have been following his career ever since,” Burke later told the New York Times.

A few years later, Abloh founded Off-White — known for its collaborations with brands ranging from IKEA and Timberland to Jimmy Choo and Moncler — which he once described as “the grey area between black and white.”

In July of this year, LVMH took a 60 percent stake in Off-White and also announced that Abloh would take a bigger role at the fashion conglomerate in such areas as hospitality and wine and spirits. The year before, Abloh set up the Postmodern Scholarship Fund benefiting Black students in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

Regarding his ceiling-shattering ascent in the fashion world, Abloh once told British GQ, “I take pride in the fact that there’s a kid who’s living in, you know, Alabama, who never thought something like this was possible for him, almost to the point that he made life and career decisions to find some other thing he was passionate about. But all of a sudden, because I’m here, he knows [he can do it too].”

Abloh is survived by his wife Shannon, his children Lowe and Grey, his sister Edwina and his parents Nee and Eunice.

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Lindsay Lohan announces she is engaged - CNN

(CNN)Actress Lindsay Lohan announced she is engaged to Bader Shammas in a series of cuddly Instagram photos on Sunday morning.

"My love. My life. My family. My future," Lohan wrote on her verified Instagram account, tagging Shammas and adding a diamond ring emoji.

The post features four low-resolution photos showing the two in a happy embrace, including a look at Lohan's sparkling engagement ring.

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Lohan, now 35, is best known for her star performances in "The Parent Trap," in which she played identical twins, and the teen comedy "Mean Girls."

Once a fixture of the tabloid media, she had several prominent legal and personal struggles about a decade ago, but she has had a lower public profile in recent years. She still has an Instagram following of 9.7 million people, while Shammas has a private profile with just under 600 followers.

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BTS Lights Up L.A.’s SoFi Stadium on Night One of Permission to Dance Tour - Variety

BTS kicked off its four-night takeover of Los Ang’s SoFi Stadium on Saturday night with a much-anticipated sold-out show that thrilled tens of thousands of proud Army who packed into the venue. The two-hour set, for the boy band’s Permission to Dance On Stage tour, was rife with confetti, smoke, pyrotechnics and — of course — the smoothest of dance moves. But it was the superstar power of BTS’ seven members — RM, Jin, V, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin and Jungkook — that ruled the night.

Among the highlights from the show:

The Production

Not one person should be surprised to learn that BTS certainly knows how to put on a dazzling performance. From the front row all the way up to seats in the upper levels, everyone in attendance gets an up-close and personal view of their favorite k-pop supergroup thanks to a massive video screen viewable from anywhere in the 70,000-capacity stadium.

.@bts_twt energizes the crowd as they perform at SoFi Stadium ✨ https://t.co/gedSqYvAiv pic.twitter.com/9BrpQCgWcC

— Variety (@Variety) November 28, 2021

Variety viewed the concert from the field level at Bootsy Bellows at SoFi Stadium, run by VIP Event Relations (VIPER), and from where we were standing, you could literally feel the heat from the pyrotechnics (which included flames on “Burning Up” and fireworks on “Dynamite”).

The stage itself was built like a T so that the band could run out into the center of the arena and give fans a 360 degree view of the action during bangers like “Boy With Luv” and “Butter.”

.@bts_twt are boys with luv at SoFi Stadium ❤️ https://t.co/gedSqYvAiv pic.twitter.com/mdMeFJuxE6

— Variety (@Variety) November 28, 2021

As much as possible, BTS aimed to keep fans fully engaged in the live show by bringing so much energy via their slick choreography (and even slicker cinematography) that it was impossible to figure out where to look.

The Outfits

BTS is known for their cutting edge style and the septet certainly didn’t disappoint for their LA appearance. They kicked off the night in all-white and silver ensembles, starting the show with “On,” before switching to a more black-tie (and effortlessly sexy) vibe as they reached “Black Swan” later in the set.

Other outfit changes included a funky ’70s style with some light pastels before fast-forwarding a couple decades into some ’90s-inspired looks with denim, backwards caps and neon and multicolored jackets.

“Crowd Surfing”

The group found a safe way to interact with as many fans as possible, moving beyond their stage (which extended midway through the floor section) and onto mobile platforms to “surf” through the crowd into the far end of the arena. During their performance of “Telapathy” BTS split onto two separate pods that were pushed around the outer rim of the floor seats in order to give the second level of Army a better view of their performance before meeting again on the other side.

Up-close view of @bts_twt at SoFi Stadium! ⭐️ https://t.co/gedSqYvAiv pic.twitter.com/zr9qrSPqz8

— Variety (@Variety) November 28, 2021

BTS Army

The fandom showed their allegiance to the seven-member K-pop group at every turn. The line-up for the opening night show started on Friday morning for a 7 p.m. Saturday showtime — yes, that means some fans were at the Inglewood arena for more than 36 hours before the show began, as they waited to snag merchandise at the boy band’s official booth.

One of the premier merch items was the BTS light stick, which was specially programmed to light up along with the show. During the performance, the tens of thousands of bulbs flicked and flickered along to BTS’ tunes, sparkling across SoFi Stadium and spelling out BTS Army in the crowd.

BTS’ tour continues in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, Dec. 1 and 2.

.@BTS_twt Army light up SoFi stadium.https://t.co/3hVJF1UCFJ pic.twitter.com/2t5h1fPvCN

— Variety (@Variety) November 28, 2021

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'RHOA' Star Sheree Whitfield's BF Pissed at Bravo, Wants Footage Scrubbed - TMZ

Sheree Whitfield's boyfriend isn't talking to her, but he wants a chat with the folks at Bravo ... because he's pissed off about his past appearances on his girl's reality show.

The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star's BF, Tyrone Gilliams, had his legal team fire off a cease and desist letter to the TV network ... claiming the show's been using his name and likeness without his permission.

According to the legal threat, obtained by TMZ, Tyrone says he never gave the green light for him to become a recurring 'RHOA' storyline back in the day. Even when he wasn't actually on camera, he was often discussed by cast members, and he says the network's been profiting off him without permission.

In the docs, Tyrone is threatening legal action if Bravo doesn't stop using his name and image STAT ... and he's going even further, demanding the network scrub every trace of him from 'RHOA' footage and social media posts, as well as putting the brakes on any marketing or advertising involving him.

Tyrone's been upset lately ... as we first told you, he's not on speaking terms with Sheree because 'RHOA' filming almost put him back in prison due to Sheree's plans to shoot scenes with him at a restaurant. That would've been a huge problem because he's currently sentenced to home confinement.

We reached out to Tyrone's attorney to see if NBC/Bravo's responded to the cease and desist letter ... so far, no word back. Ditto for the network.

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