Saturday, January 27, 2018
NEWSMAKERS
Woman accuses Seagal of rape in 1993
NEW YORK
A once-aspiring actress has alleged Steven Seagal raped her at a wrap party for the film “On Deadly Ground,” claiming he undressed her and assaulted her on his bed while she focused on a photo of Seagal’s wife on the nightstand.
Regina Simons called the alleged assault “very predatory, very aggressive and traumatizing” during an interview that aired Friday on NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today.” She was 18 at the time.
Seagal’s lawyer did not immediately return calls to comment Friday.
Simons said she was surprised to find that she was the only one invited to Seagal’s 1993 party to celebrate the end of filming. She had been an extra and said “before I knew it, he was on top of me and I couldn’t move.” She says she froze and “felt like I left my body.”
During the alleged attack, Simons said she remembers looking at a photo of Seagal and “the lady from ‘Weird Science.’” At the time, Seagal was married to Kelly LeBrock, who starred in “Weird Science.”
Simon said she reported her allegations to Beverly Hills, Calif., police, where the incident occurred.
Other women have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct. Jenny McCarthy said the action star sexually harassed her during a 1995 audition, and Portia de Rossi accused Seagal of unzipping his pants during an audition.
A Seagal spokesman denied McCarthy’s accusations to The Daily Beast. McCarthy told the same story to Movieline in 1998.
Stormy Daniels to appear on Kimmel’s show
NEW YORK
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel is bringing adult film star Stormy Daniels on his show Tuesday on the night of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech.
Daniels is in the news after reports that she had an affair with the future president in 2006. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s lawyer arranged a payment to Daniels to prevent her from talking about the alleged encounter before the 2016 presidential election.
Kimmel announced the booking via Twitter. He wrote that he had many questions.
ABC on Friday confirmed the booking.
Prosecutors destroyed, withheld key evidence, Cosby lawyers say
PHILADELPHIA
Bill Cosby’s lawyers have accused prosecutors of withholding and destroying evidence that they say could have helped the 80-year-old entertainer defend himself against charges he drugged and molested a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
Cosby’s lawyers said in court papers Thursday that prosecutors waited until last week to tell them about an interview last year with a former Temple University colleague who said Andrea Constand told her she wasn’t sexually assaulted but could make up allegations to sue and get money.
The lawyers said they learned of the interview with Marguerite Jackson from a prosecutor during a Jan. 17 conference call. Detectives destroyed their notes from the interview, which was conducted before Cosby’s first trial that ended in a hung jury in June, the lawyers said.
Associated Press