Celebrities Accused of Sexual Assault: Nigel Lythgoe, Vin Diesel
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Warning: This post contains descriptions of sexual violence, sexual assault and sexual battery.
The harrowing allegations leveled against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are the latest in a horrendously long list of similar claims against other famous men. In acknowledging Cassie’s bravery in coming forward with claims against the rapper, we also remember women who made similar claims against powerful men in the celebrity world.
In Hollywood and the music industry, there seems to be a marker between life before and after the #MeToo movement. On Oct. 5, 2017, The New York Times published an in-depth exposé on the allegations of sexual harassment by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. That led to many actresses bravely coming forward and sharing their stories of rape and assault, not only by Weinstein, but also by other high-profile stars in the entertainment industry.
By the time the dust had settled, 87 actresses had come forward with Weinstein allegations. Angelina Jolie described her scary incident with the studio executive when she was 23 years old to USA Today,
“I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,” she shared.
While Weinstein is in jail right now, some cases will never see a criminal court due to the statute of limitations. Other situations are still playing out decades later, including the Prince Andrew civil case due to his alleged involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring.
If there is one thing that holds true in every survivors’ story, it’s this: they deserve to be heard and supported. Hollywood has taken steps to better protect performers on and off-set, but power and money still silence victims in many situations — and the legal system has yet to catch up with convicting predators. Learn more about the famous faces who have been accused of sexual assault and see where the cases stand today.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, harassment or violence, you can get help. To speak with someone who is trained to help with these situations, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at online.rainn.org.
A version of this article was originally published in January 2022.
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Diplo
Diplo is facing a lawsuit filed in California by someone going only by Jane Doe, who’s accusing Diplo of sharing intimate images and videos of her without consent. This event allegedly happened back in 2016, when Doe was 21 and Diplo was 37 at the time.
Along with Doe, Shelly Auguste alleged back in 2020 that Diplo also shared revenge porn — which is a crime and form of sexual, digital, and psychological abuse.
Nigel Lythgoe
So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe has been accused of sexually assault by Paula Abdul. In the court documents, per ETOnline, Abdul claimed he assaulted her on two occasions: the first being in the early seasons of American Idol and then again where he allegedly assaulted her in an elevator. She claimed she “attempted to push Lythgoe away from her and let him know that his behavior was not acceptable.”
Vin Diesel
On Dec. 21, a former assistant of Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel filed a lawsuit accusing the star of sexual battery, per Associated Press. According to the lawsuit, his former employee Asta Jonasson alleges that Diesel forced himself into her hotel suite in 2010 before taking her to the bed, groping her breasts and kissing her chest. Diesel then allegedly forced her to touch his private parts and began masturbating in front of her.
Hours later, Jonasson claims she was fired by Diesel’s sister. “It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful — Vin Diesel had used her to fulfill his sexual desires and she had resisted his sexual assaults,” the suit alleges. The case is still ongoing.
Tommy Lee
Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the cockpit of a helicopter 20 years ago, Page Six reports.
According to the lawsuit obtained by the outlet, the accuser, who chose to remain anonymous, accuses Lee of “forcibly groping, kissing and penetrating her with his fingers, and attempting to force her to perform oral copulation” during a 40-minute flight from San Diego County to Van Nuys, Calif., in February 2003.
The accuser, who was invited to the flight by pilot David Martz, is now seeking past, present, and future damages, including medical expenses, loss of earnings and earnings capacity.
Andrew Cuomo
On November 23, 2023, Cuomo’s former executive assistant, Brittany Commisso, sued Cuomo for sexual assault.
Commisso’s allegations involve claims that Cuomo subjected her to “humiliating and demeaning tasks, hugs, kisses, sexual touching of the buttocks and forcible touching of the breast,” per documents obtained by New York Post during her tenure as an executive assistant from 2019 to August 2021.
She further alleges that Cuomo began retaliating against her after she rejected his sexual advances. Commisso, who previously reported Cuomo’s alleged conduct back in 2021, claims that after filing that report, then-Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul “demoted her,” reassigning her to “the demaning task of answering telephones in the Lieutenant Governor’s office until moved to other offices.” According to the court documents, this resulted in lost overtime pay, limited work, ostracism from co-workers, and damage to her career opportunities.
Cuomo resigned in August 2021 following a barrage of misconduct allegations, including inappropriate touching of a female state trooper. He has consistently denied the allegations. The criminal sexual assault case was dropped by the Albany County district attorney in 2022.
Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, has dismissed Commisso’s lawsuit as a “cash grab,” asserting that her claims are “provably false.” Glavin referenced the Albany District Attorney’s dismissal of the case two years ago after an investigation.
Commisso’s suit was lodged just in time for the deadline of the Adult Survivors Act.
Sebastian Chacon
Sebastian Chacon, known for his roles in Daisy Jones & The Six and Narcos, is facing serious allegations of sexual assault. Three women have lodged a lawsuit against the actor, accusing him of “tortious conduct” and “patterns of sexual, physical and emotional abuse” between 2017 and 2022.
The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe 1, 2, and 3, allege that they experienced abuse during their romantic relationships with Chacon in 2018 and 2023. The lawsuit was filed in New York this week. Jane Doe 1 alleges that ““starting around the summer of 2017, Chacon, who was 24 years old, groomed Jane Doe 1, aged 16, under the guise of a romantic relationship. Then, in December 2017, Chacon encouraged Jane Doe 1 to consume multiple alcoholic beverages and then sexually assaulted her in his home while she was still underage and legally incapable of consent.”
Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3, who said they were in romantic relationships with the Daisy Jones & The Six star, claim that Chacon strangled them during nonconsensual sex until they passed out and then continued to have sex with them during their respective romances between 2018 and 2022.
“The facts alleged in the complaint, speak for themselves,” Aurore DeCarlo, the attorney for the plaintiffs, told People. “I just think it’s a huge testament to the strength and courage of these women that they found each other. They realized that they had experienced that same pattern of abuse or a very similar pattern of abuse and they’ve banded together to hold this individual accountable.”
An attorney for the actor said that he “vehemently denies these allegations.”
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
On November 16, 2023, it was reported that singer Cassie filed a lawsuit accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs, 54, of physical and sexual abuse across their decade-long relationship.
In the lawsuit, Cassie alleged that shortly after beginning their relationship in 2005, when she was 19, Diddy began a pattern of plying her with drugs, physically assaulting her and forcing her to have sex with male prostitues while he recorded video footage.
The lawsuit claims that towards the end of their relationship, in 2018, the rapper forced his way into Cassie’s home and raped her.
“After years in silence and darkness,” Cassie, whose real name is Cassandra Ventura, said in a statement, via the New York Times. “I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”
In response, Diddy’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, said: “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”
Weeks after Cassie’s allegations, two more women accused Diddy of sexual assault and revenge porn. One alleged victim, Joi Dickerson-Neal, appeared in a couple of the rapper’s music videos in the early ’90s. She said that in 1991, Combs “intentionally drugged” her drink, “resulting in her being in a physical state where she could not independently stand or walk,” per CNN.
A third alleged victim, indentified as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit against Combs on November 23, 2023. The lawsuit alleges that Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping both the plaintiff and her friend after they met Combs in a club in 1990 or 1991, according to documents obtained by The New York Post.
The lawsuit claims Combs “coerced” the plaintiff into having sex with him, after which he continued to assault her. “After Combs finished doing his business, Jane Doe laid in bed, shocked and traumatized,” according to the court documents. “As she was in the process of getting dressed, Hall barged into the room, pinned her down and forced Jane Doe to have sex with him.”
A couple days after the alleged assault, Doe claims that Combs came to where she was staying and attacked her. “He was irate and began assaulting and choking Jane Doe to the point that she passed out,” the complaint read.
Steven Tyler
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has been accused of sexual assault by two separate women.
According to Page Six, the second woman, Jeanne Bellino, just recently filed a lawsuit against the singer saying it all happened when she was working as a model when she was 17 in the summer of 1975. The suit alleges that Tyler, who was 27 at the time, forced her into a phone booth and “stuck his tongue down her throat” and “put his hands upon her body, breasts, her buttocks and her genitals, moving and removing clothing and pinning her against the wall of the phone booth.”
Previously, in Dec. 2022, the first alleged victim Julia Holcomb filed a sexual assault lawsuit against the musician, alleging that they began a sexual relationship when she was only 16 in 1973. She also claimed that Tyler allegedly forced her to get an abortion.
Bill Cosby
America’s favorite TV dad wound up facing some serious allegations that date back to December 1965. The rumors started heating up in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until 2004 that a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, took the matter publicly. While criminal charges were not pursued due to insufficient evidence, she did file a civil suit that resulted in a settlement of $3.38 million.
But that wasn’t the last time Cosby would be accused of sexual assault, it took a viral video of a stand-up set by comedian Hannibal Buress to lead the charge against decades of alleged assaults by Cosby. “He gets on TV, ‘Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the ‘80s! I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom!’ Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches,” he said in his routine.
That got the ball rolling and 60 women came forward alleging Cosby had drugged and raped them. The Constand case was reopened in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and he was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, was found guilty and sentenced to three to ten years in prison. In 2021, Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction because district attorney Bruce Castor had made a promise to Cosby to not prosecute him if he testified in the Constand case. He is now out of prison.
In 2023, a new accuser came forward, alleging that Cosby drugged and raped her on set of The Cosby Show in 1992, per Vulture.
Russell Brand
Russell Brand has recently been faced with allegations of rape, sexual assault and abusive behavior from four different women who’ve come forward, per HuffPost. He has denied the allegations, claiming only that he was “very, very promiscuous” in his past.
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill’s ex-girlfriend Sarah Brady has accused the actor of being an “emotionally abusive” and a “misogynist narcissist.” Following her posts, and the viral media attention surrounding them, Zoey 101 star Alexa Nikolas accused Hill of sexual assault. “After reading Sarah Brady’s admirable post about #JonahHill I just gotta say when I was 16 I got invited to a house party at #justinlongs house,” she tweeted. “[Hill] slammed me to the door and shoved his tongue down my throat. I was so appalled I pushed him off of me and ran inside,” Nikolas remembered. At the time, she revealed, he was 24 while she was 16. Hill’s lawyers have since denied the accusations, per Deadline.
Conor McGregor
UFC star Conor McGregor has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a game in the NBA finals earlier this month. According to documents obtained by Us Weekly, the alleged victim’s attorney, Ariel Mitchell, claims that the MMA fighter, “violently” sexually assaulted her in a men’s bathroom just after the end of the game.
Per the documents, the woman was separated from a friend by security personnel at the stadium and forced into a men’s bathroom. Inside the bathroom, McGregor emerged, kissed her and forced her to perform oral sex. At one point, the woman allegedly elbowed McGregor which allowed her to escape.
Jimmie Allen
On June 9, country star Jimmie Allen was accused of sexual assault for the second time in less than a month. An anonymous woman filed a lawsuit in Tennessee on June 9, claiming that Allen secretly filmed her and that he continued to engage in sexual contact despite the fact she had revoked her consent.
Previously, a woman that worked on Allen’s former management team accused the Grammy-nominated country singer of rape and repeated sexual abuse, Variety reports. The woman is suing for battery, assault, invasion of privacy, and emotional distress.
Percy Hynes White
Back in January 2023, Wednesday star Percy Hynes White was accused of sexual assault in a series of tweets. In the thread, a woman alleges that White assaulted her and her friends, who were between the ages of 17 and 20, during his time living in Vancouver, per the Mary Sue. She included screenshots of their conversations, alleging that he tried to manipulate her and her friends into sexual acts.
Two other women quickly came out with similar accusations, claiming that White and his friends would throw parties in order “to explicitly invite women they thought were hot, so they could get them drunk and high enough to have sex with them.”
Netflix did not comment on the accusations, and fans were upset that an alleged abuser would continue onto Wednesday Season 2 as his character Xavier Thorpe.
On June 7, White broke his social media silence and addressed the allegations in an Instagram story.
“Hey everyone. There’s something I need to clarify,” Percy wrote. “Earlier this year, somebody I’ve never met started a campaign of misinformation about me online. Because of this, my family has been doxxed, and my friends have received death threats.
He addressed the photos and videos that were spread across social media with the accusations, adding: “Underage photos of me were used, and examples of me acting in character were presented as hateful. My friend Jane was falsely portrayed as a victim, and her attempts to set the record straight have been ignored. She gave me permission to include her in this message.”
“The rumours are false. I can’t accept the portrayal of me as someone bigoted, or criminally negligent of people’s safety. These are the kind of baseless, harmful claims that can create mistrust toward victims,” Percy added.
“It’s very distressing to know that this misinformation has upset people. I’m really thankful for everyone who’s stood by me and helped share the facts. Harassment of my family, friends and coworkers needs to stop please. Thank you for taking the time to read this.”
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled a 2020 lawsuit accusing him of rape that allegedly occurred seven years ago. Just before his trial was set to begin, the actor reached a settlement with the anonymous woman, as stated in the court record. The woman would have had to reveal her identity during the trial, as ruled by the judge.
In the original lawsuit, the woman claimed that Gooding Jr. had invited her to his hotel room, where he undressed in front of her and then raped her twice. She sought compensatory and punitive damages, alleging a “crime of violence” based on gender, per People.
Gooding Jr.’s attorney denied the allegations, stating that there was no criminal conduct and that the case should be dismissed. The actor has faced previous accusations of sexual assault, including one in 2019 for groping a woman at a rooftop bar. He later pled guilty to one of the accusations.
As part of the recent settlement, Gooding Jr. avoids trial and potential imprisonment. The details of the settlement were not disclosed.
Danny Masterson
Danny Masterson was accused of raping four women in the early 2000s, and what makes this case even trickier is that it involves the Church of Scientology — all of the women are former members. They all claim that not only were they assaulted by the former That ’70s Show star, but the church was protecting the celebrity and harassing them over the allegations.
He has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer Sharon Appelbaum has tried to discredit the victims’ stories by saying that “memories fade and memories change,” and that they are not credible witnesses.
In May 2021, Masterson was ordered to stand trial in the rape case and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was fired from Netflix’s The Ranch and was out on $3.3 million bail while residing with wife and fellow Scientologist Bijou Philips.
On May 31, 2023, a jury convicted Masterson on two counts of forcible rape, per Variety. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Snoop Dogg
In early 2022, Snoop Dogg was accused of sexual assault by a woman who was a former backup dancer for the rapper. The woman filed a lawsuit against the rapper, alleging he assaulted her in 2013. Snoop Dogg’s being sued for sexual assault and battery, and the woman bringing forward the lawsuit and allegations is also suing Bishop Don Juan, per People.
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein was known by many in the entertainment industry to have an imposing presence, but some women knew he had an even darker side. With actresses like Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan sharing their stories, The Weinsten Company co-founder was accused of sexual coercion and harassment.
He didn’t deny the sexual harassment claims initially, telling the BBC, “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. I so respect all women and regret what happened. I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them.”
But once the allegations of rape came into play via a New Yorker article, Weinstein took a different stance. “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein,” his rep told the publication.
He is currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York for rape and sexual abuse, but is in a Los Angeles county jail awaiting his West Coast trial which is expected to happen this summer.
Chris Noth
Just after the Sex and the City reboot premiered, Chris Noth was accused of sexual assault by two women in two different cities over a decade apart. One of the victims talked about the PTSD she suffered after her alleged 2005 rape. “I had buried it as long as I could, and then I really wasn’t doing well and finally went to the treatment the ER had recommended,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Noth released a statement discrediting the claims. “These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago—no always means no—that is a line I did not cross,” he wrote. “The encounters were consensual. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.”
He has been fired from The Equalizer and his And Just Like That… flashback scenes as Mr. Big were removed from the final episode.
Armie Hammer
In 2021, Armie Hammer was accused of sexual assault, manipulation, and coercion by exes including Paige Lorenze, Courtney Vucekovich, and a model named Effie, all of whom claim Hammer would show an initial interest in BDSM and escalate into increasingly violent and humiliating behavior, allegedly detailing cannibalistic fantasies and an interest in having these women be his “sex slaves.”
Effie began sharing screenshots allegedly of her conversations with the actor in January, and took on lawyer Gloria Allred as legal representation later that year, giving a press conference in which she formally accused Hammer of rape over Zoom in March with Allred at her side.
In the video press conference, the model alleged that Hammer “would often test my devotion to him, slyly removing and crossing my boundaries, as he became increasingly more violent. He abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually.”
Hammer denied all of the claims against, calling them “bulls**t” to E! News, adding “in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot, in good conscience now, leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic.” Hammer was fired from all of his film projects and, despite an LAPD investigation, he was never charged criminally. He entered rehab in May 2021 and is now back in the Cayman Islands, living near his ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers and their two kids.
Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew is currently facing a civil trial in which he is accused of raping Virginia Roberts Giuffre after she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. He has denied all of the allegations, even saying that a sweaty photo of him with a 16-year-old Giuffre must have been altered because “overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands war, when I was shot at… it was almost impossible for me to sweat.”
He’s been removed from his senior royal duties and has largely remained out of the public eye since then. The civil case is forcing him to face mounting debt and legal bills and sell off some of his assets. He’s been largely protected by the palace, but he might have to finally face the legal consequences if the court finds him culpable in the Epstein case.
Woody Allen
Woody Allen’s sexual abuse case with his daughter Dylan goes back to 1992 when a babysitter told Mia Farrow, “Dylan was sitting on the sofa, and Woody was kneeling on the floor, facing her, with his head in her lap,” per The New York Times. Even though the filmmaker called the allegations “an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives,” the claims set off a headline-generating case that would be discussed for decades.
Dylan has never wavered on her story, having come forward as an adult to double-down on her claims in The New York Times in 2014. She also has the support of her mom and brother Ronan Farrow, who continue to advocate for her. But that has only made Allen fight back harder, writing in his rebuttal letter, “Of course, I did not molest Dylan…No one wants to discourage abuse victims from speaking out, but one must bear in mind that sometimes there are people who are falsely accused and that is also a terribly destructive thing.”
Allen has never been convicted of a crime in this case, although the judge in the 1993 custody case found his behavior “grossly inappropriate.” Many actors have stepped up to support Dylan and have refused to work with him again, but Allen still has his supporters.
Kevin Spacey
It was actor Anthony Rapp who first raised the red flag about Kevin Spacey in a BuzzFeed article, sharing that the then twenty-something Broadway star allegedly made a sexual advance at the 14-year-old. Spacey took the time to write a Twitter statement, writing he “did not remember the encounter,” but also came out as a gay man.
Rapp’s story opened the floodgates for other young men to talk about allegations of sexual harassment and, in one House of Cards production assistant’s case, sexual assault at the hands of Spacey.
Spacey lost his job on the Netflix series and was replaced by Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World. His Massachusetts criminal case of indecent assault and battery was dropped in 2019 after the victim pleaded the fifth on the stand.
Ansel Elgort
Ansel Elgort’s rape allegations came from a 2020 Twitter thread from a young woman named Gabby, who claimed the West Side Story actor assaulted her at the age of 17 in 2014. “It was my first time and I was sobbing in pain and I didn’t want to do it the only words that came out of his mouth were ‘we need to break you in,'” she wrote in a now-deleted tweet, via Deadline. The duo met after she DM’ed the star where he shared his Snapchat account and eventually asked her for nude images.
Elgort continues to deny Gabby’s version of events, writing in a now-deleted Instagram post that it was an “entirely consensual relationship” and that he has “never and would never assault anyone.” The allegations are still following Elgort as he was booed at a mid-December screening.
R. Kelly
The allegations against R.Kelly goes back to the 1990s, when he was accused of raping Tiffany Hawkins when she was 15 years old. In 1998, he settled a civil lawsuit with her for $250,000. That didn’t stop his illegal and dangerous behavior as the R&B singer went on to marry singer Aaliyah when she was only 15.
In 2002, the Chicago Sun-Times revealed that they had seen a sex tape allegedly involving Kelly and a minor. This led to charges of 21 counts of child sexual abuse material in Illinois, which led to acquittal and 12 counts in Florida, where the charges were dropped. It took until 2017 for his abusive practices to finally catch up with him after several parents accused the singer of running a sex cult.
His rep responded to the allegations in a statement to Variety, “We fully support the rights of women to be empowered to make their own choices. Time’s Up has neglected to speak with any of the women who welcome R. Kelly’s support, and it has rushed to judgment without the facts. Soon it will become clear Mr. Kelly is the target of a greedy, conscious and malicious conspiracy to demean him, his family and the women with whom he spends his time.”
By the time Lifetime’s documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, aired in January 2019, Illinois prosecutors finally opened an investigation. He was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and was found guilty in September 2021 after three decades of sexual assault and trafficking. R.Kelly will be sentenced in May 2022.
Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer’s firing from The Today Show rang far and wide because so many people had spent years starting their day with the newsman. In 2017, when allegations of “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace” were revealed by NBC News chairman Andrew Lack in a staff email, the news was shocking. The details of sexual assault, including one incident allegedly occurring at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and another in Lauer’s office, were graphic, but he continued to deny the allegations.
“I have made no public comments on the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources that have been reported about me over these past several months,” he said in a statement, via The Washington Post. “I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC. However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false.”
He was fired from NBC News on November 29, 2017.
Dustin Hoffman
In 2017, Dustin Hoffman was accused of sexual assault and harassment by a total of seven women, including two young teens who were under the age of 18 at the time. The reports were detailed in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, with one woman explaining her assault by the Oscar winner, “I was frozen. I was outside of my body.”
After the initial report in The Hollywood Reporter, he issued a statement to the publication. “I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”
As the allegations built, Hoffman’s attorney Mark A. Neubauer of Carlton Fields Jordan Burt called the women’s stories “defamatory falsehoods” to Variety. The 84-year-old actor has kept a low profile over the past four years, but he does have two movies in the works — one starring Mayim Bialik and the other with Sissy Spacek.
Ed Westwick
In November 2017, four women came forward to accuse Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick of raping them. Some of the victims had similar stories and one of them, Kristina Cohen, filed a police report in Los Angeles for the alleged 2014 incident.
Westwick posted on Instagram in response to the allegations, “I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape.” A follow-up post also revealed that he was aware of the criminal investigation. “I am cooperating with the authorities so that they can clear my name as soon as possible,” he wrote.
Westwick was replaced on the BBC show, Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence, and in 2018, the LAPD chose not to file charges against him due to insufficient evidence.
Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons was accused by more than a dozen women of rape after former model Keri Claussen Khalighi first came forward to The Los Angeles Times in 2017. She met the record mogul at a casting call in 1991 and alleged that he forced himself on her after being invited to watch a music video he was working on with director Brett Ratner, who was reportedly in the other room when the attack happened.
Many of the women filed police reports with the New York Police Department and a Jane Doe filed a $10 million civil suit in Los Angeles in 2018 — that case was eventually dismissed because the statue of limitations had run out.
Simmons responded in a statement to Variety and claimed he passed a lie detector test, “I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me. They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women.”
He stepped down from his position with Def Jam Recordings and fled to Bali. He eventually returned to the U.S. in 2019, but has kept out of the public eye.
Nick Carter
Nick Carter was also accused of rape in November 2017 by a former member of the girl group Dream. Singer Melissa Schuman alleged that the incident occurred in 2003 in a very personal blog post. The Backstreet Boy responded several weeks later in a formal statement, “I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations. Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual.”
Schuman filed a police report in February 2018, which she confirmed in a Twitter post. “I’m finally doing what I thought I could no longer do. Im filing a police report #timesup #bebrave #bethechange #metoo thank you @RAINN ( Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)for empowering me to take this step.”
The case never moved forward, according to CNN, because the statute of limitations had expired.
Bryan Singer
Director Bryan Singer’s case goes all the way back to 1997, where he has been accused of sexually assaulting boys under the age of 18. Over the years, multiple victims have come forward with claims of abuse and rape, but Singer has always managed to avoid major consequences. He has never been criminally charged and most of the civil cases filed against him have either been dismissed or withdrawn.
The documentary An Open Secret features many of the longtime allegations against Singer, who has helmed major movies like Bohenmian Rhapsody, X-Men, and The Usual Suspects. He has denied all allegations and has retreated from public life.
