Hollywood sexual harassment scandal

British comedian and actor Russell Brand speaks of an "extraordinary and distressing week" in his first public comments since rape and assault allegations were aired against him, but did not address the claims.

"Obviously it's been an extraordinary and distressing week and I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information you are being presented with," he says on a video posted to his YouTube channel, which has 6.64 million subscribers.

"I need your support now more than ever, more than I ever imagined I would," he adds. — AFP

Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison for the rape of a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room a decade ago.

The sentence was handed down by a Los Angeles court. Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for his separate 2020 conviction in New York for sex crimes.

The Academy Award-winning "Shakespeare in Love" producer, 70, is appealing in both cases. — AFP

A woman who was raped a decade ago by Harvey Weinstein is suing the disgraced movie producer for damages, according to a lawsuit lodged Thursday in Los Angeles.

Weinstein was convicted in December of attacking the woman, who has not been named, in a Beverly Hills hotel room.

The Oscar-winning former producer, 70, is already serving a 23-year sentence for his 2020 conviction in New York for sex crimes.

At a hearing expected this month in Los Angeles he faces a possible further 18-year term, increasing the likelihood the "Pulp Fiction" producer will spend the rest of his life in prison, even as he appeals both cases. — AFP

Brooke Shields reveals she was raped as a young Hollywood actress in new documentary "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields," which premiered at the Sundance film festival on Friday.

The former supermodel did not reveal the identity of her attacker, but said she met with the man -- someone she already knew -- soon after she graduated college, believing it was a work meeting to discuss casting her in a new movie.

He took her back to his hotel, claiming he would call her a taxi from his room. He instead disappeared to the bathroom before returning naked and assaulting her, she says. — AFP

Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey denies seven new sexual offences he is accused of committing against a man in Britain in the early 2000s.

The 63-year-old star appeared at Southwark Crown Court in south London via videolink and spoke to confirm his identity and plead not guilty to the charges. — AFP

A sentencing hearing for former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein over the rape of a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room a decade ago was postponed on Monday.

The Oscar-winning former producer, 70, is already serving a 23-year sentence for his 2020 conviction in New York for sex crimes.

He faces a possible further 18-year-term in California, increasing the likelihood the "Pulp Fiction" producer will spend the rest of his life in prison, even as he appeals both cases.

In the Los Angeles case, he was convicted on December 19 of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object of a woman identified in court as "Jane Doe #1." — AFP

Fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein said Tuesday he would appeal a new rape conviction that could see him jailed for up to 18 years.

The 70-year-old former producer, who is already serving prison time for other assaults, was found guilty in Los Angeles this week of attacking a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room a decade ago, in a trial that heard how he used his power in Hollywood to sexually assault actresses, believing he would never be brought to book.

He was cleared of another charge, and a mistrial was declared on three more.

But the Oscar winner said Tuesday he would challenge the guilty verdicts.

"Harvey is obviously disappointed in the verdict. He knows what happened and what never did," Weinstein spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, said in a statement to AFP. — AFP

Disgraced movie titan Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday on three counts of sexual assault that took place in and around Hollywood at the height of his powers.

A jury in Los Angeles deliberated for two weeks before finding the "Shakespeare in Love" producer guilty of three instances of sexual assault against one woman. The jury did not reach a verdict on other charges. — AFP

Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey was due in court in London on Friday to face seven new sexual offence charges.

Prosecutors announced last month they had authorised additional charges against "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty" star.

In July, Spacey, 63, pleaded not guilty to five similar charges against three men between 2005 and 2013 in London and Gloucestershire, western England.

The latest allegations will be formally put to him at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London from 1400 GMT, a court official told AFP. — AFP

A woman with cerebral palsy who claims she was raped as a teenager by Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter lodges a civil lawsuit against the singer in the United States on Thursday.

Shannon Ruth, now 39, says the singer forced her to perform oral sex on him on a tour bus after a show in 2001, and then raped her.

Attorney Mark Boskovich tells a virtual press conference that Ruth, who was then 17, had been queuing for an autograph after a Backstreet Boys show in Tacoma, Washington, when Carter invited her onto the bus. — AFP

Jurors in Los Angeles begins deciding the fate of Harvey Weinstein, weighing rape and sex abuse charges that could see the former Hollywood titan jailed for the rest of his life.

A weeks-long trial has heard graphic descriptions of encounters in California hotel rooms between the once-powerful producer and women who were trying to make their way in the world of movies.

Prosecutors have painted a picture of a predatory ogre, who used his physical and professional prowess to rape and abuse women for years with impunity. — AFP

Harvey Weinstein used his power and influence in Hollywood to rape women, leaving them terrified for their careers if they stood up to him, a court in Los Angeles heard Monday.

The movie mogul exploited both his physical size and his position as "king" of the film industry to attack his victims in hotel rooms, the prosecution says, as a two-month trial began to hear evidence.

"They feared that he could crush their careers if they reported what he had done," Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson tells the packed courtroom.

Thompson said jurors would hear from eight women who were sexually assaulted by the "Pulp Fiction" producer, who is credited with making the careers of some of the movie industry's biggest names, including Quentin Tarantino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow.

"Each of these women came forward independent of each other, and none of them knew one another," he says. — AFP

Reports say a New York court on Thursday dismissed a $40 million sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against Kevin Spacey by an actor who claimed the Hollywood star targeted him when he was 14.

A jury found that Anthony Rapp, who was seeking damages for "emotional anguish," failed to prove that the two-time Oscar winner had "touched a sexual or intimate body part," leading Judge Lewis Kaplan to dismiss the civil case.

After deliberating for about an hour "the jury found the defendant not liable," according to the US district court for the Southern District of New York.

The 63-year-old star of "The Usual Suspects" and "House of Cards" was seen leaving court soon after the verdict was announced, without addressing reporters. — AFP

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein goes on trial in Los Angeles on Monday, where he faces charges in the city whose main industry he dominated for decades.

The 70-year-old "Pulp Fiction" producer is already serving 23 years in jail in New York after being convicted there of a series of sex crimes.

He now faces 11 more charges including sexual battery by restraint, forcible rape and forcible oral copulation against women in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles hotels between 2004 and 2013, in a trial expected to last two months.

If convicted, Weinstein -- who has pleaded not guilty to all counts -- could be sentenced to 140 additional years behind bars.

Jury selection was set to begin Monday in a downtown Los Angeles court. — AFP

US actor Anthony Rapp tells a New York courtroom that he froze up when he was allegedly assaulted by Kevin Spacey as a minor in 1986, on the second day of the disgraced Oscar winner's trial over the accusation.

Spacey, 63, has disappeared from public view after becoming one of the first stars to be caught up in the global #MeToo reckoning over sexual abuse.

Rapp tells the court he was still an unknown actor when he met the "American Beauty" star, who was in his late 20s at the time. — AFP

Harvey Weinstein's next sexual assault trial is set to begin Monday in Los Angeles, almost exactly five years after allegations of sexual misconduct against the Hollywood mogul helped launch the #MeToo era.

The 70-year-old "Pulp Fiction" producer was already serving 23 years in jail in New York when he was brought across the country last summer to face further sex crime charges in a city where he once forged lucrative film deals with A-listers and hoarded Oscars.

Jury selection will begin Monday at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse, where Weinstein has attended several pre-trial hearings, seated in a wheelchair and clad in brown prison clothes and a face mask.

He faces 11 felony charges including sexual battery by restraint, forcible rape and forcible oral copulation against women in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles hotels between 2004 and 2013, in a trial expected to last two months.

If convicted, Weinstein -- who has pleaded not guilty to all charges -- could be sentenced to 140 additional years behind bars. — AFP

Reports say a former writer and producer on the popular US comedy show "Scrubs" was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of sexual assault, five years to the day since the MeToo movement forced Hollywood into a reckoning.

Eric Weinberg, who also produced "Californication," faces 18 counts relating to the alleged sexual assault of five women between 2014 and 2019.

"The defendant relied on his Hollywood credentials to lure young women for photo shoots where he allegedly sexually assaulted them," Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said. — AFP

Reports say Hollywood star Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty at London's Old Bailey court to four charges of sexual assault against three men.

The 62-year-old star was present at the UK's top criminal court, after being charged last month with sexual assault offences dating back 17 years. — AFP

A jury in California finds Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a teenager at the Playboy Mansion almost 50 years ago, in the first civil ruling against the veteran entertainer following dozens of allegations.

Judy Huth, now aged 64, was awarded $500,000 in damages after the jury in Santa Monica determined that Cosby had molested her in 1975 when she was just 16 years old after meeting her on a movie set and plying her with alcohol.

The case is the only successful legal action against Cosby, 84, who has been accused of using his fame to prey on women over several decades. — AFP

Bill Cosby faces sexual assault allegations at a new civil trial in California, where opening statements addressed an alleged attack on a teenage girl at the Playboy Mansion almost 50 years ago.

The case is one of the few remaining legal actions against Cosby, 84, who has been accused of assault by dozens of women. He was jailed in 2018, but was freed last year when his conviction in a separate criminal case was overturned.

Judy Huth, plaintiff in the new California case, alleges the veteran comic once known as "America's Dad" met her in 1975 when she was 16, plied her with alcohol, took her to the Los Angeles mansion owned by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and sexually assaulted her in a bedroom. — AFP

A trial against Bill Cosby begins in California, with a civil suit alleging the disgraced comedian sexually assaulted a teenage girl almost five decades ago.

Judy Huth says the man once known as "America's Dad" attacked her at the Playboy Mansion in the mid-1970s when she was around 15 years old.

Huth says she suffered "psychological damage and mental anguish" as a result of the alleged assault.

The case is the latest in a raft of legal actions against 84-year-old Cosby, who was once one of the most popular performers on US television. — AFP

Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr admitted forcibly kissing a waitress, his lawyer says, in a New York court plea that will see other criminal complaints against him dropped.

The "Jerry Maguire" star had been accused by more than 20 women of groping and unwanted touching over decades, and had faced criminal charges stemming from complaints by three of them.

Gooding's lawyer, Frank Rothman, tells AFP his client had entered a guilty plea on one misdemeanor count.

Court documents show that a sexual assault lawsuit brought in New York against Prince Andrew by his longtime accuser Virginia Giuffre has been formally dismissed after the disgraced British royal paid a financial settlement.

In February, the parties had settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, sparing the second son of Queen Elizabeth II the public humiliation of a trial.

Both parties filed a "stipulation of dismissal" of the case in federal court in New York, which was signed by Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday. — AFP

Rapper Snoop Dogg is being sued in California by one of his former dancers who claims he and a colleague sexually assaulted her several years ago.

The self-styled gangsta rapper, who is due to play Sunday's Super Bowl half time show, is alleged to have forced the unnamed woman to perform oral sex on him in 2013 while he was filming the "Snoop Dogg's Double G News Network" television show.

In court documents filed in California, "Jane Doe" says Snoop burst into a restroom when she was unwell and forced himself on her. — AFP

Grammy-winning pop star Gloria Estefan reveals that she was sexually abused by a relative when she was nine years old.

The Cuban-American singer shares the childhood trauma during an episode of her Facebook Watch series "Red Table Talk: The Estefans," alongside her adult daughter and niece.

"Ninety-three percent of abused children know and trust their abusers. And I know this, because I was one of them," says Estefan, now 64. — AFP

Britain's Prince Andrew has accepted that he has been served legal papers in a sexual assault lawsuit brought against him in the United States, a court filing shows.

Attorneys for the Duke of York and his accuser Virginia Guiffre have agreed that the notification was effective from September 21, according to the filing with the Southern District of New York.

Queen Elizabeth II's second son has until October 29 to respond to the lawsuit, and a hearing earlier scheduled for October 13 has been canceled, the joint stipulation adds. — AFP

Following 21 days of evidence including 50 witnesses and hours of searing testimony, jurors begin considering whether internationally famous singer R. Kelly orchestrated a sex crimes ring for nearly three decades.

The case, delayed over a year by the pandemic, is seen as landmark for the #MeToo movement as it is the first major sex abuse trial where the majority of accusers are Black women. 

The prosecution painstakingly wove the threads of alleged wrongdoing into an intricate pattern of crimes they say the artist born Robert Sylvester Kelly perpetrated with impunity, capitalizing on his fame to prey on young women and teenagers for his own sexual gratification. — AFP

Bob Dylan has been sued in a New York court by a woman who says the US rock and folk legend sexually abused her almost 60 years ago when she was 12.

The lawsuit filed Friday alleges that Dylan abused the plaintiff, referred to in court documents as J.C., over a six-week period between April and May 1965.

It says Dylan "exploited his status as a musician to provide J.C. with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times." — AFP

A nearly seven-year-old civil lawsuit alleging Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a teen girl will move forward, a judge rules.

The lawsuit, filed in December 2014, says the disgraced comedian -- who was freed from prison in Pennsylvania in June -- sexually assaulted Judy Huth in 1974 when she was 15 years old.

Huth alleges Cosby assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion and that she suffered "psychological damage and mental anguish" as a result. — AFP

New York's attorney general announces that women who suffered sexual misconduct and workplace harassment by convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein are set to receive almost $19 million as part of a class action lawsuit.

The payments, which need to be approved by two courts, are the result of a lawsuit brought against the ex-movie mogul -- currently serving 23 years in prison -- and his former film studio The Weinstein Company. 

"Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company failed their female employees. After all the harassment, threats, discrimination, and gender-based discrimination these survivors are finally receiving some justice," Letitia James says in a statement. — AFP

Prosecutors say Harvey Weinstein was a "predator" who used his status as a powerful Hollywood producer to take advantage of the women he attacked, as his sex crimes trial drew to a close.

The disgraced movie mogul, 67, faces life in prison if convicted of predatory sexual assault charges in the high-profile trial that marks a watershed moment in the #MeToo global reckoning against men abusing positions of power. — AFP 

US authorities release revamped federal charges in Chicago against the R&B superstar R. Kelly, to include sex crime allegations that involve a new accuser.

The latest allegations against the disgraced 53-year-old artist -- who is accused in multiple states of sex crimes against minors -- goes into scant detail of the new accuser dubbed "Minor 6" but, like the original indictment, involves multiple child pornography counts. — AFP 

Harvey Weinstein's high-profile sex crimes trial opens, more than two years after the scandal triggered the #MeToo movement that led to the downfall of dozens of powerful men.

The disgraced movie mogul faces life in prison if convicted of predatory sexual assault charges by a New York state court, in what is expected to be a six-week trial.

Almost 90 women, including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have accused the 67-year-old of sexual misconduct since The New York Times detailed allegations against him in October 2017. — AFP

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has reached a $25 million settlement with dozens of his alleged sexual misconduct victims, one of the women's lawyers tells AFP.

The cash will be shared among more than 30 actresses and former employees who have sued the 67-year-old producer for offenses ranging from sexual harassment to rape.

Aaron Filler, an attorney for "Boardwalk Empire" actress Paz de la Huerta, tells AFP he expected his client, who accused Weinstein of raping her in 2010, to be part of the settlement. — AFP

A young man who accused Kevin Spacey of a sexual assault in a Massachusetts bar has dropped his lawsuit against the award-winning actor.

A motion for "voluntary dismissal" of the civil complaint against the former "House of Cards" star was filed in Superior Court in Nantucket, Massachusetts, with no reason given.

Possible motives for the dismissal this week include a private settlement or the accuser's desire not to risk damaging his odds in a separate criminal case with the civil suit, which was filed just six days ago. — AFP

Harvey Weinstein and his former studio partners have reportedly reached a tentative settlement with women who filed civil suits against the disgraced film mogul for sexual harassment, but the multi-million-dollar deal will not forestall his criminal trial, set for September.

Under the proposed deal, millions of dollars would go to Weinstein's accusers -- the first compensation for the women who galvanized the #MeToo movement -- and creditors of his former studio.

The agreement, reported by several US news outlets, is expected to go before a bankruptcy judge handling the Weinstein Company case on June 4 for final approval. — AFP

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has reached a provisional $44 million settlement with alleged victims and creditors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The deal, which has not yet been signed, aims to cover all civil proceedings filed against the fallen Hollywood mogul, including those in Canada and the United Kingdom. — AFP

Harvey Weinstein is recasting his legal team a month after losing a hard-fought bid to get his sexual assault case thrown out.

The disgraced movie mogul's trial is tentatively scheduled for May 6.

He is charged with raping an unidentified female acquaintance in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006. A conviction could put him in prison for the rest of his life. — AP

The #MeToo movement helped sweep Democrats to victory in November's midterms, but some of the party's leading lights, including potential 2020 candidates, face scrutiny from the women's anti-harassment drive that brought men to account for sexist behavior.

A diverse field of Democrats, potentially including senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker, and the notoriously tactile former vice president Joe Biden, will likely enter the race to determine who squares off next year against President Donald Trump. — AFP

Michael Jackson's estate has denounced a new documentary that accuses the late pop star of sexually abusing two boys, saying it was an "outrageous and pathetic" attempt to exploit his name.

"Leaving Neverland," which is to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month, recounts the story of two men who are now in their 30s and allege they were sexually abused by the King of Pop when they were seven and 10. — AFP

CBS has pledged to give $20 million to 18 organizations dedicated to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace as the network tries to recover from a scandal that led to the ouster of its top executive, Les Moonves.

The announcement comes as the network's crisis deepens, with details emerging from an ongoing investigation into Moonves' conduct and news surfacing of other instances of sexual misconduct at CBS. — AP

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected a request from Bill Cosby to be released on bail while he appeals his sexual assault conviction.

The order from the court issued does not elaborate on the decision.

Cosby filed an appeal earlier this month saying that Pennsylvania trial Judge Steven O'Neill had a feud with a key pretrial witness, the former county prosecutor who declined to arrest Cosby a decade earlier. And they say his decision to let five other accusers testify among other alleged issues are grounds for a new trial.

A jury convicted the 81-year-old Cosby in April of drugging and molesting a woman in 2004.

The legally blind comedian is housed in a new state prison about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from his Philadelphia-area estate. — AP

The New York Times says a report by CBS lawyers outlines more allegations of sexual misconduct by longtime chief Les Moonves. The report alleges that Moonves destroyed evidence and misled investigators as he attempted to protect his reputation and severance payments. — AP

Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be investigated by Fox and National Geographic Networks after allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against him.

Patheos.com published accounts Thursday from two women who say that Tyson behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner with them. Tyson was host of "Cosmos" on Fox in 2014 and a new edition of the series was to air on National Geographic next year.

Tyson has not commented publicly and an email request for comment to his representative was not immediately returned. — AP

Harvey Weinstein has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor in an updated class action filed in a New York court.

The accuser, identified as Jane Doe, alleges that Weinstein assaulted her at his New York City apartment in 2002, just days after they'd met at an event involving her modeling agency. — AFP and AP

Bill Cosby is switching up his legal team as he looks to appeal his conviction and three- to 10-year sentence in his Pennsylvania sex assault case.

A court filing Friday says the 81-year-old Cosby is replacing the suburban Philadelphia lawyer who handled his sentencing with a pair of criminal defense attorneys.

Joseph Green is exiting after about four months on Cosby's defense team. The new lawyers are Brian Perry and Kristen Weisenberger of Harrisburg. — AP

The next hearing of Harvey Weinstein in a New York court in his sex crimes case has been moved up from November 8 to October 11 -- a possible sign that prosecutors are having difficulties making their case, local media reported Friday.

The 66-year-old disgraced Hollywood producer is out on bail and has pleaded not guilty to six counts allegedly committed against three women in 2004, 2006 and 2013.

CBS says longtime CEO Les Moonves has resigned, just hours after more sexual misconduct allegations involving the network's longtime leader surfaced.

A statement posted on CBS's website says Moonves' resignation is effective immediately.

The network's chief operating officer, Joseph Ianniello, will serve as president and acting CEO until CBS's Board of Directors looks for a replacement. In the meantime the network says Moonves' chairman position will remain open. — AP

Six women are making new sexual misconduct allegations against CBS chief Leslie Moonves, whose reign as one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood appeared to be nearing an end.

The New Yorker magazine reported the women's new accusations, which included Moonves forcing them to perform oral sex and retaliating when advances were turned away. Moonves acknowledged relations with three of the women but said they were consensual, and that he had never used his position to hurt the careers of women. — AP

Lawyers for Harvey Weinstein want to appeal a court ruling that lets an aspiring actress' lawsuit equating Hollywood's casting couch to sex trafficking move forward. — AP

New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow says six women who accuse CBS Corp.'s chief executive officer Les Moonves of sexual misconduct had to overcome their fears of retaliation in order to tell their stories.

Farrow says he spent eight months investigating the story published in the New Yorker on Friday.

Six women who had professional dealings with Moonves say he sexually harassed them between the 1980s and late 2000s. Four of them described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings.

Farrow told The Associated Press that the story is "an opportunity to look at how our most important corporate institutions treat vulnerable people coming forward with these kinds of charges." — AP

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers ask a judge to dismiss Ashley Judd's lawsuit against him, saying allegations that he tried to hurt her career after she rejected him sexually are baseless and were filed far too late.

In the federal court filing in Los Angeles, the attorneys discuss Judd's comment that she would only let Weinstein touch her after she won an Academy Award in one of his films. — AP

Harvey Weinstein is indicted on rape and criminal sex act charges, furthering the first criminal case to arise from a slate of sexual misconduct allegations against the former movie mogul. — AP

People react to rape and other criminal charges filed in New York on Friday against Harvey Weinstein.

We got you, Harvey Weinstein, we got you

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) May 25, 2018

What’s on the menu for #Weinstein @AsiaArgento pic.twitter.com/JghdzkqDgv

— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) May 25, 2018

Sending love to all my sisters today who stood up against a monster... so many emotions... I am proud of and grateful to you all.

— Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) May 25, 2018

Harvey Weinstein is in and out of custody so quickly in his rape case, he probably didn't have time to read the books he brought with him.

The film mogul carried three books under his arm as he surrendered at a New York City police station Friday.

One was "Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution," by Todd Purdum.

A second was Richard Schickel's biography of filmmaker Elia Kazan. The identity of the third book wasn't immediately apparent.

Weinstein handed off the books at the police station, where he was booked quickly. An associate was carrying them when he left court a few hours later.

The film producer denies charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex. — AP

Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in to police Friday morning to face charges involving an aspiring actress who said he forced her to perform oral sex on him/

It would be the first criminal case against Weinstein to come out of the barrage of sexual abuse allegations from scores of women that destroyed his career and set off a national reckoning that brought down other powerful men in what has become known as the #MeToo movement. — AP

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expels actor Bill Cosby and film director Roman Polanski from its membership in light of the sexual assault cases against the two men.

The TV academy said it is reviewing Bill Cosby's inclusion in the academy's Hall of Fame following his sexual assault conviction.

Cosby's spokesman didn't immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Although the academy hasn't decided whether he'll remain in the Hall of Fame, Cosby's name had previously been removed a list of Hall of Fame honorees on the academy's website.

A bust of Cosby no longer will be part of a rotating Walk of Fame exhibit honoring TV heavyweights at the academy's Los Angeles headquarters, an academy spokesman said.

Last week, jurors in Pennsylvania convicted Cosby of drugging and molesting a Temple University employee in 2004. He awaits sentencing. — AP

Two days after his conviction, Bill Cosby has already started life as an inmate — though his surroundings are far nicer than they likely will be in a few months.

A judge says Cosby will be confined to the same suburban Philadelphia mansion where jurors concluded he drugged and molested a Temple University women's basketball administrator, ordering him to be outfitted with a GPS ankle bracelet to monitor compliance. Until sentencing, Judge Steven O'Neill ruled Friday, the 80-year-old comedian may leave his house only to meet with his lawyers or go to the doctor, and he must get permission first. — AP

A judge is confining Bill Cosby to his suburban Philadelphia home until the comedian is sentenced on sexual assault charges.

Cosby must also wear a GPS monitoring device under the order issued Friday by Judge Steven O'Neill.

The judge had suggested Thursday after Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault that he would be allowed to move around Montgomery County, where his home is located.

The modified order says can leave his house only to meet with his lawyers or to get medical treatment but must get permission before doing so.

O'Neill said he issued Friday's order to "clarify" the restrictions.

Cosby remains free on $1 million bail after his conviction on charges that he drugged and molest a woman in 2004. He maintains his innocence. — AP

The district attorney who presided over Bill Cosby's conviction for sexual assault hails the guilty verdict on Thursday (Friday, Manila time) as an act of justice and accused the disgraced icon of preying on women for decades.

"Today we're finally in a place to say that justice has been done," Kevin Steele told a news conference after the verdict was delivered in Norristown, Pennsylvania. 

"Money and power or who you are will not stop us from a criminal investigation and prosecuting a case," Steele said, calling Cosby a powerful, wealthy man who "spent decades preying on women, who had evaded this moment for far too long."

Cosby was convicted Thursday of sexual assault by a US jury, which found him guilty of drugging and molesting a university employee 14 years ago in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.

The frail and 80-year-old disgraced television star could now end up spending the rest of his life behind bars when he is sentenced for assaulting Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia mansion in January 2004.

— AFP

The jury that will start deliberating Bill Cosby's fate on Tuesday has heard the comedian described over the past two weeks both as a "serial rapist" and a con artist's victim.

They have seen a parade of accusers testify that the man once revered as "America's Dad" had a secret life of drugging and violating women. And they have heard from a witness who says his chief accuser talked about framing a high-profile person to score a big payday.

Now, seven men and five women who have been kept in a suburban Philadelphia hotel, away from family, friends and daily routines, will get to have their say in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. — AP

Jurors could soon hear Bill Cosby's explosive testimony about giving quaaludes to women before sex — an old admission that's taken on new significance at the comedian's sexual assault retrial after a half-dozen women testified that he drugged and violated them.

Prosecutors are expected to read a transcript of the 2005 testimony as early as Wednesday, saving for the very end of their case Cosby's own words about using the 1970s party drug "the same as a person would say, 'Have a drink.'"

"Quaaludes happen to be the drug that kids, young people were using to party with, and there were times when I wanted to have them just in case," Cosby testified in the deposition, given as part of a lawsuit chief accuser Andrea Constand filed against him.

Cosby settled the lawsuit in 2006 for nearly $3.4 million. — AP

Prosecutors are building to the conclusion of their case against Bill Cosby with investigators and a pharmaceutical expert expected to take the stand beginning Tuesday in the comedian's sexual assault retrial.

The prosecution on Monday delivered a searing one-two punch as chief accuser Andrea Constand rejected defense allegations that she concocted her story to score a big payday, and her mother testified that Cosby apologized and called himself a "sick man." — AP

The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for public service for explosive reporting that brought down Harvey Weinstein and spawned a cultural watershed on the issue of sexual harassment.

Bill Cosby's chief accuser is set to take the witness stand on Friday at his sexual assault retrial, making for a climactic courtroom showdown after five other women told jurors that the man once revered as "America's Dad" is a serial rapist who harmed them too.

Andrea Constand's appearance is her second chance to confront Cosby in court, since his first trial ended without a verdict. This time, though, she's facing a defense team intent on portraying her as a "con artist" who framed him for money.  — AP

Women who say comedian Bill Cosby knocked them out with intoxicants and sexually assaulted them decades ago are finally getting a chance to confront him — and they aren't holding back. 

Janice Baker-Kinney will return to the witness stand on Thursday after punctuating her first two hours of testimony at Cosby's sexual assault retrial in suburban Philadelphia with a firm declaration: "I was raped." — AP

A man selected as a juror in Bill Cosby's sexual assault retrial thinks the comedian is guilty and wants the case to be over, according to a prospective juror who said the man offered his opinion as they chatted during jury selection.

Cosby's lawyers seized on the alleged comment and asked that the juror be removed immediately from the retrial, which begins Monday in suburban Philadelphia with opening statements. They attached an affidavit from the prospective juror who talked to the man as an exhibit. — AP

Bill Cosby's lawyers first pressured the judge in his sexual assault retrial to quit, and now they are counting on him to make rulings critical to their plan to portray the accuser as a greedy liar who framed the comedian to get rich.

Judge Steven O'Neill could rule as early as Friday on whether the defense can call a witness who claims Andrea Constand spoke about falsely accusing a celebrity before going to police with allegations Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

Prosecutors said the theory that Constand wanted to set Cosby up is undermined by his testimony in a 2005 deposition that she only visited his home when invited and that he gave her pills without her asking for them.

The judge also will decide how much jurors will hear about Cosby's financial settlement with Constand. — AP

PBS says more witnesses have detailed sexual misconduct allegations against talk-show host Tavis Smiley, who was suspended in December and later fired.

The filing Tuesday also said he subjected subordinates to unwanted sexual advances — including requests for specific sex acts — and made lewd jokes. — AP