Russian Actor Begins Rape Trial in Singapore

A New York judge ruled three women who accused Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexual abuse can testify at a federal civil trial next week.  The three women are supporting a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe who alleges the actor raped her in his Manhattan hotel room after they met in a bar in 2013.  Judge Paul A. Crotty noted in a separate order that the woman will have to reveal her true name at the trial.

Brad Pitt is once again calling out Angelina Jolie for her shady business deal!

Camille Vasquez, the legal ally who stood by Johnny Depp’s side throughout his high-profile trial against Amber Heard, has cemented a bond with the actor beyond the courtroom.

found guilty of raping two women. The “That ’70s Show” actor, a longtime Scientologist, could be looking at 30 years to life in prison when his sentencing takes place in August.“I was incredibly relieved,” Headley, who testified for the prosecution, told The Post. “I am incredibly grateful that justice was served for these women who persisted through an awful lot.”A Los Angeles jury found Masterson, 47, guilty on two of three felony rape charges.

The inclusion of the Church of Scientology in the rape retrial of Danny Masterson was slammed by the organization after the actor was found guilty Wednesday. Masterson, 47, was found guilty on two counts of forcible rape.The jury was hung on a third charge.

The jury in the rape trial of Danny Masterson has rendered a verdict, finding the “That ’70s Show” alum to be guilty on two counts of forcible rape.

Danny Masterson was found guilty Wednesday in his rape retrial. He was found guilty on two counts.The jury was hung on a third charge. A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for eight days before reaching the verdicts.  No sentencing date has yet been set, but the judge told Masterson and his lawyers to return to court Aug.

The jury in Danny Masterson’s rape retrial today has found the actor guilty on the majority of the three counts against him.

By Sam TobinLONDON (Reuters) - British actor Hugh Grant's claims that journalists at the Sun used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house can proceed to trial, but his allegations about voicemail interception were made too late, London’s High Court ruled on Friday. Grant, alongside King Charles' son Prince Harry, is suing Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) for widespread alleged unlawful information gathering that he says was committed on behalf of its tabloid, the Sun.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Recently-established Philippines-based production and financing company, Fire and Ice, has deals to provide completion funding to two films being produced by prolific Singapore-based independent producer Potocol. Under a related agreement, Fire and Ice has also struck a multi-faceted first-look deal with Potocol. The completion funding, which gives Fire and Ice a share of the film’s equity, will permit the completion of post-production of upcoming Potocol titles: “Pierce,” a sports drama by Nelicia Low, and “Last Shadow at First Light,” by Nicole Midori Woodford. Both films were recently showcased at Focus Asia’s Far East In Progress, part of the Far East Film Festival in Udine, and are expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief French independent producer Haut Les Mains has come on board “A Useful Ghost,” a film project that is both topical and supernatural. The deal was announced on the margins of the Cannes Film Festival and its accompanying rights market. “A Useful Ghost” follows March and Nat, a happily married couple, and their seven-year-old son Dot. Nat dies of respiratory disease caused by air pollution. A saddened March is worried that the same fate will befall his son, who gradually develops similar symptoms. Nat then returns as a ghost haunting the house vacuum cleaner to try and suck up the dust hurting her son. She also longs to be accepted as part of society and intends to prove that by getting rid of the less useful ghosts.

Why was Bill Gates so friendly with Jeffrey Epstein when the convicted pedo made his wife’s skin crawl? We may finally have an answer… According to a bombshell new report, Epstein blackmailed the Microsoft founder — using an alleged affair with a much younger Russian woman as ammunition!

Top tennis player Daniil Medvedev on Sunday claimed his first clay-court title by winning the Italian Open. As the Russian hoisted the trophy at the award presentation, the speakers at the stadium blasted Pet Shop Boys’ 1992 dance hit Go West, a rendition of Village People’s song of the same name.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Wilfredo Manalang, who was one of the producers of last year’s Cannes’ Japanese hit “Plan 75,” has come on board Vietnamese film project “Don’t Cry, Butterfly.” Manalang (aka Will Fredo) and partners in his Philippines-based Fusee consortium will join as an executive producer. Written and to be directed by Duong Dieu Linh, “Don’t Cry, Butterfly” follows a Vietnamese housewife who finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Instead of confronting him, she uses voodoo on him so he falls back in love with her. Production of “Don’t Cry Butterfly” is by Tan Si En at Singapore-based Momo Film Co. The company was founded in 2018 by Tan and writer-director Kris Ong. In 2021, Beach House Pictures, part of Canada’s Blue Ant Media, acquired a majority stake in Momo.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amanda Nell Eu’s “Tiger Stripes,” which had its premiere this week in Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, is being celebrated as a punchy female-driven debut feature and as the first film by a Malaysian woman director in any section Cannes. The story focuses on a small group of 11 or 12-year-old girls. When one of the friends enters puberty she finds her body changing in unexpected ways. Relations with her friends and family start morphing too. Eu’s finished film straddles the metaphorical drama and body horror genres. “Tiger Stripes” is also a triumph for the now highly-developed global network of project markets, talent development programs, script and production workshops (often labelled as ‘labs’) and grant schemes. These are intended to encourage diversity and nurture film-making talent in countries where that is a rarity or where commercial films crowd out more experimental art-house titles.

entire closing argument Wednesday, focusing on inconsistencies in the stories of each of the three victims, all former Scientologists, and suggesting they were in cahoots to lash out at the church and win a separate civil lawsuit.Los Angeles prosecutors chose to re-try Masterson after a hung jury and mistrial last November. This time around, prosecutors focused more on the allegation that Masterson had drugged his victims, calling a date-rape-drug expert witnesses and saying outright – as opposed to merely inferring, as they did in the first trial – that the “That ’70s Show” star slipped his victims an intoxicant.“This defendant drugged and raped each of these victims,” Mueller said Wednesday.

The jury in Danny Masterson’s rape retrial has begun deliberations.

Jurors in Danny Masterson’s rape retrial are expected to begin deliberations Wednesday morning after lawyers wrap up closing arguments in the case against the former “That ’70s Show” star.

That ‘70s Show — is on trial for the second time following allegations of rape. The first ended in a mistrial back in December 2022.Masterson is accused of three charges of rape, all taking place at his home between the period of 2001 and 2003.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The premium end of the streaming video sector in India is poised for shake-up, with Reliance Industries’ JioCinema challenging the SVOD dominance of Disney+ Hotstar, new research suggests. “The India Online Video Report: Analysis of Consumption, Content & Investment Trends,” from Singapore-based Media Partners Asia, shows total consumption across the online video sector reached 6.1 trillion minutes for the 15-month period from Jan 2022 to Mar 2023. Within that period, the SVOD, AVOD and freemium platforms accounted for some 12% of viewing time, up from 10% in 2021. Social services such as YouTube and TikTok accounted for 88% of viewing time.