HOLLYWOOD BEHAVING BADLY! More than just sex (but we've got that, too)

[Comic-Reader Lad]

There already is a thread about sexual assault and harassment, but there's other types of Hollywood scandals, too, and it's really not fair that they don't get a place to be discussed. Also, not all sex scandals involve assault/harassment.

Between the sex stuff, the College application stuff, and the Jussie Smollett phony bias attack, there seems to be a neverending stream of headslapping Hollywood behavior. Undoubtedly, there is more to come.

I'm going to start off with Allison Mack even though she's been discussed in the other Sex thread because of the latest development. She's changed her plea from not guilty to GUILTY of some serious charges. I'm curious to see if she actually does any jail time or if that plea was part of a plea bargain that gives her a get out of jail free card. Anyone have any thoughts as to whether she'll actually be jailed?

Here's the article from Deadline.com. Note that there are some explicit details (shown in bold), so you may want to skip over those (or read more slowly):

https://deadline.com/2019/04/allison...ss-1202591266/

Smallville alumna Allison Mack has changed her plea to guilty in the wild sex-cult case. She originally had pleaded not guilty on racketeering charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy.

Mack, who played Chloe Sullivan for 10 seasons on the Superman TV series, was indicted a year ago along with Keith Raniere, the alleged leader of a self-help program and purported pyramid scheme that federal prosecutors say included operating a shadow society of female “slaves.”

According to prosecutors, Mack is credited in publicly available materials with co-creating a program called The Source, which recruited actors. Read the sometimes-graphic details from the Justice Department about the case below.

During a court hearing in December, Mack had argued that she isn’t guilty of inducing forced labor if the Church of Scientology isn’t guilty of the same charge. She entered the new plea Monday at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Brooklyln.

In 2015, per court records, Raniere created a secret society within his self-help company Nxivm called DOS, “an acronym for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to ‘Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions’,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Investigators believe Mack and other DOS masters recruited slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and “eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women.”

Here are details of the case from the Justice Department press release:

According to court filings, during the past 20 years, Raniere established a series of purported self-help programs within his umbrella organization “Nxivm” (pronounced NEX-i-um). Nxivm is based in Albany, New York and has operated centers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and South America. Nxivm maintains features of a pyramid scheme, as its courses cost thousands of dollars each and participants (“Nxians”) are encouraged to pay for additional classes and to recruit others to take classes in order to rise within the ranks of Nxivm. A number of Nxians were residents of the Eastern District of New York when they were recruited, and Nxivm has held promotional recruiting events in Brooklyn. Mack is credited in publicly available materials with co-creating a Nxivm program, called The Source, which recruited actors.

As detailed in court filings, in 2015, Raniere created a secret society within Nxivm called “DOS,” an acronym that stands for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to “Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions,” or “The Vow.” DOS operated with levels of women “slaves” headed by “masters.” Slaves were expected to recruit slaves of their own (thus becoming masters themselves), who in turn owed service not only to their own masters but also to masters above them in the DOS pyramid. Raniere stood alone at the top of the pyramid. Other than Raniere, all members of DOS were women. Mack is one of the women in the first level of the pyramid immediately below Raniere.

Mack and other DOS masters recruited DOS slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women. Mack and other DOS masters concealed Raniere’s status at the top of the pyramid from new recruits.

As a pre-condition to joining DOS, women were required to provide “collateral,” which included highly damaging information about friends and family members, nude photographs and/or rights to the recruit’s assets. DOS slaves were told that their collateral could be released for any number of reasons, including telling anyone about DOS’s existence or leaving DOS. Many DOS slaves were branded on their pelvic areas using a cauterizing pen with a symbol which, unbeknownst to them, incorporated Raniere’s initials. During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and a master would order one slave to film the branding while the others restrained the slave being branded.

According to court filings, Mack directly or implicitly required her slaves, including Jane Does 1 and 2, as identified in the Indictment, to engage in sexual activity with Raniere. In exchange for this, Mack received financial and other benefits from Raniere. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 believed that if they did not participate in those activities with Raniere, their collateral would be released.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Here's the latest from the College Admissions Scandal, OPERATION VARSITY BLUES, that has embroiled actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

Today, Felicity Huffman pleaded GUILTY. Lori Loughlin has not entered her plea as of yet.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture...candal-819352/

Actress Felicity Huffman was among 14 people to plead guilty Monday for their part in a college admissions scandal that saw wealthy parents pay to change test scores and fabricate athletic accomplishments in order to land their children in a desired university.

Huffman, and her husband William H. Macy, were accused of paying consultant Rick Singer – the principal target in the Operation Varsity Blues investigation – $15,000 in order to boost their daughter’s SAT score through Singer’s control of a testing center. The payment was disguised as a charitable contribution, resulting in wire fraud charges against Huffman; Macy was not charged in the scandal.

“I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions,” Huffman said in a statement after entering her plea of guilty to a charge of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”

The actress added, “My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty.”

Full House actress Lori Loughlin, who was also charged in the scandal along with her husband Mossimo Giannulli were not among the 14 people who pleaded guilty Monday. In total, 50 people, ranging from wealthy parents to collegiate coaches were apprehended as part of the Operation Varsity Blues sting. Singer received $25 million from the parents of college-bound kids between 2011 and 2018, investigators said.

According to CNN, prosecutors will still seek prison sentences for those who pleaded guilty Monday, with possible jail time ranging from six to 21 months behind bars.

So, as far as jail time, it does seem like it's inevitable for Huffman, and probably Loughlin and her hubby fashion designer Mossimo.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Allison Mack's acting career is over. Of course, it was basically over once Smallville ended, but now I think there's no hope of a revival.

I just hope some Hollywood dickbag producer doesn't pay her tons of money to make a TV miniseries about this crud. It's my understanding that there are laws in place to prevent criminals from profiting off their crimes, but even if there's no money exchanged, she could use a miniseries as an opportunity to paint herself as the victim.

As for Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, what do you guys think about them?

I think if this were years ago, they could sail right back into their careers. We've had actors do jail time for everything from drug trafficking (Tim Allen), drug use/possession (Robert Downey Jr.), manslaughter (Charles S. Dutton), felony assault (Mark Wahlberg), etc. and either go on to or resume a career in Hollywood.

However, in recent years, we're seeing Hollywood not be so forgiving--not only about sexual assault, but about bad behavior in general. Clayne Crawford was fired from Lethal Weapon & Thomas Gibson was fired from Criminal Minds for bad behavior on set.

Now that we're fully in the #metoo era, we're seeing Hollywood all of a sudden being very moral and even having a guilty-until-proven-innocent attitude.

Do you think that, assuming there is jail time and they serve their sentences, Huffman and Loughlin could resume their acting careers? Or do you think Hollywood would consider them too radioactive and they're basically done?

If you had all the power, would you give them a second chance?

[ed2962]

I'll be surprised if Huffman or Loughlin do any serious time.