NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Motion Picture Academy expels Harvey Weinstein

LOS ANGELES

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been revoked by its board.

The decision was reached Saturday in an emergency session. The move by the Academy is virtually unprecedented.

The Academy is the world’s top movie organization and is home to the Oscars.

In a brief statement, the Academy said it sends a message that “sexually predatory behavior” in the film industry is over.

Weinstein was ousted a week ago from The Weinstein Co., the movie and TV production company he co-founded and which now is struggling to survive this scandal.

He has denied the accusations.

Woman who accused rapper Nelly of rape will not testify

SEATTLE

A woman who said the rapper Nelly raped her on his tour bus in a Seattle suburb last weekend is dropping her pursuit of criminal charges.

News outlets reported that lawyer Karen Koehler said in a statement Friday that her client wanted to stop the investigation and would refuse to testify in court.

Koehler says the woman “wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her.”

Auburn police arrested Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., Oct. 7. He was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree rape and released later that day.

He has not been charged with a crime.

Nelly’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, has called the rape claim a “completely fabricated allegation.”

Associated Press