Starting today, virtually any employer will be able to deny birth control coverage to their employees based on religious or moral objections thanks to a new policy by the Trump administration.
Following months of unsuccessful attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration took a different route and enacted two federal rules rolling back the no-copay birth control mandate aspect of Obamacare, Politico reports. The first rule outlines how an employer can qualify for an exemption on religious beliefs, while the second focuses on exemptions on moral grounds.
These directives — which went into effect immediately — are very similar to the draft leaked in May, which was immediately and roundly rejected and criticized by Democrats as well as public health and women’s health advocacy groups.
Under the ACA, almost all employers are required to offer health insurance to their employees that includes coverage of various forms of contraception, including birth control pills and intrauterine devices. Employers have had the ability to request a moral or religious exemption under the ACA, but only religious houses of worship were eligible — later broadened by the Hobby Lobby case to include “closely held” private businesses if covering birth control violated their religious beliefs. Between the 2014 Hobby Lobby ruling and October 2016, Politico found that 52 companies of nonprofit organizations requested a religious or moral exemption from the Obama administration.
Currently, the ACA provides no-copay birth control coverage to 62 million Americans. It is too early to determine the number of people who will be impacted by these new rules. Prior to the ACA, 20 percent of American women of reproductive age paid out of pocket for oral contraceptives, which decreased to less than 4 percent a few years after it became the law.
In a call with CNN earlier today, senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services said that “99.9 percent of women” who currently receive no-copay birth control through the ACA would not be affected. However, as the CNN report noted, “at the time of the call, it was unclear how the administration arrived at this data point.”
Organizations like the National Women’s Law Center plan to take legal action.
“By taking away women’s access to no-cost birth control coverage, the rules give employers a license to discriminate against women,” Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the NWLC said in a statement. “This will leave countless women without the critical birth control coverage they need to protect their health and economic security. We will take immediate legal steps to block these unfair and discriminatory rules.”
Take action
If you think you may lose your birth control coverage under these new rules, you can call the NWLC’s CoverHer hotline either by phone at 1-866-745-5487 or email at CoverHer@nwlc.org.
To voice your concerns to the Trump administration’s new rules, you can visit a Planned Parenthood action page, which provides ways to send messages to your representatives along with basic information and stories of people affected by reproductive health policies.
Never one to mince her words, Mila Kunis just got candid about her kids. While promoting her new film, Bad Moms Christmas, she told Entertainment Tonight that she and husband Ashton Kutcher are making sure that daughter Wyatt, 2, and almost 1-year-old son Dimitri, grow up to be normal, civilized people — not assholes.
“Yeah, we're not gonna raise assholes. There's enough assholes in this world! We don't need to contribute,” Kunis told ET. “But, you know, there's some nice people.”
Are there, though? And anyway, how does she plan to preserve her kids' innate kindness? Kunis told ET that during the holidays, she and Kutcher insist that gifts aren’t a priority. She explained that not only are the kids too young to remember receiving them, but also, holiday gifts don’t really matter. Wise words, lady. She added that the only gifts little Wyatt got last year were from her grandparents.
“We've told our parents, ‘We're begging you — if you have to give her something, pick one gift. Otherwise, we'd like to take a charitable donation, to the Children's Hospital or a pet [or] whatever you want,’” Kunis explained. “That's our new tradition.”
She also said she prefers taking her tots to everyday things instead of high-glam celeb-filled functions. In fact, she says she and Kutcher have actually become experts on family-friendly activities around the globe. Hit her up, and she’ll be able to recommend the best zoos, her favorite libraries and even where to get a top-notch bouncy house. (Kunis added that this is a stark change from the clubs and restaurants she gave tips on in her former life.)
But it’s not all inflatable unicorns and rainbows. Kunis, like all parents, often deals with insecurity when it comes to her abilities as a mom. During an appearance on Today, she explained that she can relate to moms who feel the constant pressure to be perfect — and hopes to show that in Bad Moms and the film’s new sequel.
“I think Bad Moms one and two bring that to light,” she said. “What we truly go through for our kids and the pressure we as moms — we as women — put on ourselves.”
Rest easy, Mila. We think you're doing just great — gift-less Hanukkahs and all. Because you're right: There are enough assholes in this world, and the Kunis-Kutcher clan is thankfully not contributing to that surplus.
Mean Girls Day — Oct. 3, of course — may be in the rearview, but the film’s writer, Tina Fey, said that her 6-year-old daughter wants to celebrate the 2004 movie every single day. During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the comedian explained that while she loves that her littlest kid, Penelope, is into the film (her older daughter, Alice, can’t stomach 30 Rock), she may have let her obsession get a little carried away.
For one thing, Penelope actually goes to preschool and tells her pals that she wants to "play Mean Girls." Only instead of siding with Lindsay Lohan’s cultured, good girl-turned-baddie Cady Heron or the even more relatable Janis Ian (played by the flawless Lizzy Caplan), Penelope wants to be the queen bee, Regina George. Fans will undoubtedly remember George’s passive-aggressive compliments, the way she ruled her lackeys with a perfectly manicured iron fist and her obsession with her weight and appearance. It seems that some of those characteristics may even be drawing Penelope to the role.
“She was going back to her preschool being like, ‘Let’s play Mean Girls. I’m Regina. I yell at you. I’m a sassy teenager,’” Fey said on the show.
Fey added that she did take time to explain the real message of the film to Penelope, but it was for naught. Instead of seeing the light and swapping her allegiance, Penelope simply doubled down on her devotion to Regina.
“I think that the takeaway is, be very careful about the work you create over the years,” Meyers concluded helpfully. “Your children will one day take the wrong messages from it.”
Penelope may get even more to love now that the Mean Girls musical is officially headed to the Broadway stage. After all, if she couldn’t resist the charms and charisma of the awful Regina George on the small screen, she certainly won’t be able to get enough of her favorite mean girl singing and dancing onstage. Tina, you’ve created two monsters.
The ultimate humblebrag job just dropped on Instagram, and the position is open for 20 lucky people: Barack Obama is offering up a two-year fellowship at the Obama Foundation.
The former President of the United States has always used social media to his advantage, so he posted the job opening on Instagram on Thursday. From the caption alone, it sounds like an inspiring experience, and one that will give you bragging rights for the rest of your life — not to mention an impressive entry on your résumé.
Obama Fellowship Program-2
Obama Fellowship Program-2
“When I left office, I told you all that the single most important thing I could do would be to help prepare the next generation of leaders to take their own crack at changing the world,” Obama wrote in the caption. “The @ObamaFoundation Fellows program is looking to do just that — train and support civic innovators who are solving problems in their communities in creative and powerful ways.”
Applicants don’t have much time to apply, though. Everything needs to be submitted on The Obama Foundation website by 6 p.m. CT on Friday. Also, note that it does require a one-minute video submission, so get cracking on that application now.
Obama Fellowship Program
Obama Fellowship Program
The job sounds like it comes with a few perks, too. Fellows will “participate in four multi-day gatherings where they will collaborate with each other, connect with potential partners, and collectively push their work forward. Throughout the program, each Fellow will pursue a personalized plan to leverage Fellowship resources to take their work to the next level,” according to the Obama Foundation website.
Whether your aim is to work in politics or to develop leadership skills in other fields, this job has the potential to open a lot of doors. Let us know if you get the job, because you might make the #ThanksObama hashtag a real-life story for you.
There’s no feeling quite like the one you get when after season after season of watching a pair of fictional characters on a beloved TV series fall in love, you get to watch them get married. It’s the ultimate payoff... seeing two characters you’ve invested time, laughter and tears into take that next step. Sure, they’re not real people, but there’s still nothing quite so special as an iconic TV wedding.
From the cheesy (but perfect) nostalgic TV weddings of the '80s and '90s to the progressive and beautifully written fictional ceremonies of today, we’ve put together a list of the best TV weddings of all time.
Zack & Kelly — Saved By the Bell
Zack & Kelly
Zack & Kelly
OK, so this one was technically a TV movie, but it was still totally iconic. The two-hour finale to this classic series was beautiful and wasn’t lacking any of the classic hijinks that made Saved By the Bell such a great show.
Jim & Pam — The Office
Jim & Pam
Jim & Pam
After four seasons of fans asking, “Will they?” (almost) everyone’s favorite TV couple, Jim Halpert and Pam Beezley finally got married in a touching and typically quirky ceremony in Niagara Falls. Fun fact: Tomorrow is the Halperts' anniversary!
While Jim and Pam’s wedding on The Office may be one of the most memorable in recent TV history, Leslie and Ben’s may have been even better. Between Leslie’s perfect dress (Ann Perkins really made it work) and the couple’s tear-inducing vows, this TV wedding is right up there with the best of them.
Izzie & Alex — Grey’s Anatomy
Izzie & Alex wedding
Izzie & Alex wedding
Someone pass the tissues, ASAP. There have been a lot of super-emotional moments on Grey’s, but Izzie and Alex’s wedding has to be in the top five at the very least. And honestly, Meredith and Derek’s decision to give their elaborate ceremony up for a cancer-stricken Izzie was a truly beautiful gesture.
Cory & Topanga — Boy Meets World
Cory & Topanga
Cory & Topanga
Raise your hand if you cried when one of the most well-known and loved couples of the '90s got married. Is everyone’s hand raised? Good. But really, Cory and Topanga’s wedding was incredibly touching, made even more so by Cory’s absolutely gorgeous vows.
Monica & Chandler — Friends
Monica & Chandler
Monica & Chandler
Let’s be honest. These two are probably one of the most notable and beloved TV couples of all time. After watching an elaborate and sweet proposal and a few classic sitcom mishaps, lovers of Friends were finally able to watch power couple Monica and Chandler tie the knot, and it was so worth it.
Honorable mention: Phoebe & Mike
Liz & Criss — 30 Rock
liz lemon wedding
liz lemon wedding
Liz Lemon really could have it all! After six seasons of looking for love in the big city, Tina Fey’s alter ego finally met her perfect match in Criss Chros, played by James Marsden. And of course, their wedding was just about as 30 Rock as viewers could hope, complete with a Princess Leia costume and Tony Bennett.
Turk & Carla — Scrubs
Carla & Turk
Carla & Turk
Basically everything that could go wrong at Turk and Carla’s wedding may have totally happened, but it all (thankfully) worked out in the end. Turk may have missed the big church ceremony, but let’s be real — their vow exchange at a priest’s bedside was way more on brand for them anyway.
Marshall & Lily — How I Met Your Mother
Marshall & Lily
Marshall & Lily
In typical sitcom fashion, these long-awaited nuptials almost didn’t happen (see: Marshall’s hair mishap and Lily’s ex), but thank goodness they did. The wedding of How I Met Your Mother's most stable couple was simple and sweet.
At the end of the day...
While all of these weddings may have been fictional, that doesn't change how impactful or how beautiful all of them were. These weddings definitely left an impression and surely there will be plenty more TV weddings to come that will stick with us in the coming years. Which one was your favorite?
In a statement released to TheNew York Times, Lisa Bloom, a lawyer advising Weinstein, said, "He denies many of the accusations as patently false." Weinstein also released a statement that read, in part, "I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, Weinstein's attorney, Charles Harder, said his client is planning on suing the Times. "The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein," Harder told THR via email. "It relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by nine different eyewitnesses. We sent the Times the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish. We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to women’s organizations."
Image: Todd Williamson/Getty Images For BAFTA Los Angeles
The exposé has understandably taken over the news cycle. Now more than ever, Weinstein is coming under scrutiny regarding the allegations. If you're aren't familiar with the powerhouse producer, here are a few things you should know about him, his life and how he became such a big shot in the entertainment industry.
1969-1973: His early days
According to the University of Buffalo, where Weinstein earned a B.A. in English, he got his start producing rock concerts with his fellow student Horace "Corky" Burger. "The first was a hugely successful 1972 Stephen Stills concert that led to the founding of Harvey and Corky Productions, which quickly became a fixture on the Buffalo music scene," the university reports.
1979: Miramax is formed
According to The Washington Post, in 1979 Weinstein and his brother, Bob, co-founded Miramax, the well-known entertainment company that produces and distributes films and television shows.
Weinstein was married to Eve Chilton until 2004. According to New York Magazine, Chilton was his assistant in 1986. They have three daughters: Lily, Emma and Ruth.
1993: Disney buys Miramax
As reported by The Los Angeles Times in May 1993, the Walt Disney Co. bought Miramax. After the acquisition, Miramax produced some top movies that are still hits today, including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Scream, Good Will Hunting, and Shakespeare in Love.
1994: He supports Woody Allen
In June 1994, The Los Angeles Times reported that Allen scored a deal with Miramax for his film Bullets Over Broadway, despite coming under scrutiny and being "shunned," per the outlet, over his custody battle with ex-wife Mia Farrow and the child abuse allegations brought against him by Farrow's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. In February 2014, Dylan wrote an open letter published in The New York Times regarding the allegations she's made against Allen. That same February, after her letter came out, Allen denied her claims in a response published in The New York Times.
After making a deal with Miramax, Weinstein released the following statement (via The Los Angeles Times): "Shunned by Hollywood means nothing to Miramax. We're talking about a comic genius. Chaplin was shunned by Hollywood; so were a great many other international filmmakers, including Fellini — and those are the people who belong with Miramax."
It wasn't until 2015, while chatting with Variety for its Power of Women issue, that Judd claimed a studio mogul (she didn't provide a name) had once sexually harassed her. She alleged that while shooting Kiss the Girls in 1997, the man basically lured her to his hotel room for a so-called "meeting," then tried to force her to give him a massage or watch him shower.
In The New York Times piece released Thursday, Weinstein is named as the man Judd described in the 2015 Variety interview. “How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” she said she wondered at the time. Judd also said, "I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask. It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining."
In an interview with Page Six on Friday, Weinstein said regarding Judd's allegations, "I know Ashley Judd is going through a tough time right now, I read her book [her memoir All That Is Bitter and Sweet], in which she talks about being the victim of sexual abuse and depression as a child. Her life story was brutal, and I have to respect her. In a year from now, I am going to reach out to her."
Image: Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic
1997: Rose McGowan's settlement
The same year that Judd was allegedly harassed, The New York Times reported on Thursday, Weinstein reached an undisclosed $100,000 settlement with actress Rose McGowan after an alleged hotel room incident that reportedly took place at the Sundance Film Festival. According to legal documents obtained by the Times, the settlement reached was "not to be construed as an admission" by Weinstein, but a way to "avoid litigation and buy peace." McGowan declined to comment to the paper, but after the exposé of Weinstein was published on Thursday, she tweeted, "Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies. #bebrave."
Over the course of the 2000s, Weinstein helped produced some more recognizable films, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Scream 3, Chocolat, Cold Mountain, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Chicago and Inglourious Basterds, to name a few.
2004: An honorary title
In 2004, he was appointed an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the British film industry.
In December 2007, Weinstein married British designer Georgina Chapman. They are still married today and have two children: daughter India Pearl and son Dashiell.
As for the allegations made against her husband, Chapman hasn't spoken out directly yet, but Weinstein told Page Six on Friday, "She stands 100 percent behind me. Georgina and I have talked about this at length. We went out with Lisa Bloom last night when we knew the article was coming out. Georgina will be with Lisa and others kicking my ass to be a better human being and to apologize to people for my bad behavior, to say I’m sorry, and to absolutely mean it."
Image: Dan MacMedan/Getty Images
2009: He defends Roman Polanski
In September 2009, Weinstein wrote a letter published in The Independent in defense of Roman Polanski (director of Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown), who has been accused repeatedly of sexual misconduct with underage girls, as reported by Rolling Stone. Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978 after "fearing he could face a prison sentence for having an unlawful sexual relationship with" a 13-year-old girl (he was arrested and charged with rape), according to The Telegraph. On Wednesday, CBS News reported, a German woman came forward to claim that Polanski raped her 45 years ago in Gstaad, Switzerland, while she was just a teenager. Polanski doesn't seem to have commented on these allegations yet.
As for Weinstein, his 2009 op-ed stated, "I hope the U.S. government acts swiftly because filmmakers are looking for justice to be properly served. I will be organizing the effort myself by emailing everybody I know to sign the petition." He also wrote, "Roman Polanski is a man who cares deeply about his art and its place in this world. What happened to him on his incredible path is filled with tragedy, and most men would have collapsed. Instead, he became a great artist and continues to make great films."
The Weinstein Co. released some more blockbusters, including The Fighter, The King's Speech, My Week With Marilyn, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, Lee Daniels' The Butler, August: Osage County and Lion.
In February 2011, Michael Moore took legal action in a multimillion-dollar battle against the Weinstein Co., claiming he was owed millions in profits for his 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. In February 2012, the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.
The Weinstein Co. released the following statement after the settlement (via THR): "Bob and Harvey Weinstein’s Fellowship Adventure Group and Michael Moore have amicably settled the lawsuit involving an accounting dispute on Fahrenheit 9/11, and they look forward to the prospect of working together on future projects."
2012: TIME 100 List
In 2012, Weinstein made TIME's 100 List as "one of the most influential people" in the world. Johnny Depp honored Weinstein with a short piece that read, in part, "Now, no one gets to the top without the occasional scrap. While he's certainly the charming servant to film he purports to be, Harvey isn't afraid of a duke-'em-out. (I've had the pleasure of being both his ally and his enemy at various times.) He stops at nothing for what he believes in."
2013: The Weinsteins reunite with Miramax
In December 2013, Bob and Harvey once again joined forces with Miramax in a multi-year co-production and co-distribution deal for movies, TV and stage titles in the Miramax library. "This is an amazing opportunity to work with the company named after our parents, Miriam and Max,” they said in a statement (via Variety).
2015: Sexual abuse claims
In March 2015, Weinstein faced sexual abuse claims, as first reported by People. At the time, a woman claimed that he groped her, and she filed a report stating he sexually assaulted her in New York City that month, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed to the outlet. On March 31, Weinstein's rep released the following statement to Bustle: "We are cooperating fully with the authorities and are confident that we will be fully vindicated."
And that brings us to the latest news involving Weinstein. As of Friday, the Weinstein Co. announced that Weinstein has taken an indefinite leave and that an outside law firm would investigate the allegations made against him. We will keep you updated as the story continues to unfold.
It’s common knowledge that having a baby takes a major toll on your body. Backaches, insomnia, nausea, swollen feet and stretch marks are just a few of the side effects some women experience with pregnancy. Dealing with this stuff is, of course, considered well worth it in order to give birth to a healthy baby — but still, it’s understandable that not everyone thrills to such changes, so tips and tricks to ease those side effects can be helpful for some.
Enter Miranda Kerr, mom and supermodel, who revealed toWmagazine that using body oil during her pregnancy helped mitigate the effects of stretch marks. Stretch marks aren’t just visible marks on the body — they can also be painful, as they’re essentially small tears in the skin that occur as your belly rapidly expands to accommodate a fetus. So using oil to treat them isn’t just about aesthetics, but wellness and comfort.
In fact, Kerr didn’t put too much emphasis on how she looked while pregnant with her son, Flynn. “I remember being very calm about my body,” she told W. “I was just so excited to be having Flynn.” And although Kerr didn’t obsess about her skin, she found that oil was a helpful balm as her stomach grew.
“I also used Noni Glow Body Oil throughout my pregnancy, and I didn’t get one stretch mark, even though I had a 10-pound baby.” Now, full and important disclosure: The particular body oil Kerr used is part of her Kora Organics beauty line, so, hey, she’s plugging her own product. But on the other hand, it also makes sense that using oil to moisturize and heal stressed-out skin would be an effective — or at least helpful — treatment for stretch marks.
Kerr described how she used the body oil, saying, “If you use it religiously morning and night, it really helps prevent stretch marks. It also helps minimize the appearance of stretch marks you may already have.”
The best part is that applying oil to your skin at night doesn’t even sound like a chore, but kind of a decadent ritual you can add to your skin care routine. Whether you’re pregnant or just looking to ease the dryness or pain of stretch marks elsewhere on your body, Kerr’s trick sounds like one worth trying.
When you’re at odds with your body, it can be difficult to feel sexy, and trans individuals tend to have a hard time masturbating when their genitals feel wrong to them.
The general consensus on forums discussing this topic with regard to trans men has been to try anal or masturbate while wearing a strap-on. The lack of options is as daunting as the fact that there’s nowhere for trans guys to go to discuss these things openly.
Trans men have been manufacturing their own sex toys for… well, as long as there have been trans men, I imagine. A popular DIY-sex toy seems to be made from a water bottle, but others have recommended hand towels coated in lube or manipulated nipple play suction cups.
Fortunately, trans activist and entrepreneur Buck Angel created a masturbatory aid for trans men so they can jerk off without the usual dysphoria.
The specially designed sex toy is described as “the first product designed specifically for trans men to engage in stroking fun.” Designed for trans men who have already started their transition (i.e. are taking testosterone, which enlarges the clitoris), the toy plays into those biological changes.
The Buck-Off took five years to develop, and while it is mostly similar to other masturbation sleeves, it is shorter and wider than other sleeves and can create suction. This makes it the perfect masturbation accessory for trans men who feel dysphoria when using other means to self-satisfy.
In an interview with Vice in 2016, Buck Angel explained that trans men “are very disassociated from their vaginas because it doesn’t feel masculine to them. When you transition, you want to have a penis, you want to feel like a man, and so you don’t necessarily want to touch your vagina.” So, he created the Buck-Off, which “allows you to masturbate without touching your vagina.”
Despite having entered the sex toy market in 2016 and outlets describing the Buck-Off as “one that could set a precedent for investors and manufacturers to broaden their horizons beyond strap-ons and slings,” the toy lacks competition in the market. Other similar trans-specific sex toys are nonexistent; it’s only fair to speculate that they are either still being produced or that there is a belief that one toy for the trans community is enough — a common (and misplaced) assumption.
October is synonymous with all things supernatural and spooky, and TV can prove it. As if Fox's newest show, Ghosted, a supernatural-themed show aimed at tickling your funny bone, wasn't enough, there's a ton of other TV shows primed to spook you the heck out. Think The Exorcist, American Horror Story: Cult and even the long-running CW hit Supernatural.
When it comes to shows with spooky or supernatural themes, it's highly likely that someone has based the show on an experience they had IRL. In fact, a 2013 Harris poll found that 45 percent of Americans believe in ghosts, which means that if someone involved in writing a spooky TV show didn't have the scary experience, maybe one of the celebrities involved might have had that supernatural encounter. Makes total sense, right?
Of course, it's fun to tell ghost stories this time of year. It's less fun when the tales are terrifying and true. These celebs may not make you rethink ghost stories, but if you were a skeptic before, you might just read through this article and find yourself reconsidering. You don't need scary movies or TV shows to get into the Halloween spirit this year!
Turn on a light, grab a cozy blanket and settle in for some terrifying tales. Sure, some of these celebs are actors, but it's up to you to decide if they're acting while recounting their personal experiences with the supernatural. After all, they already have the fame, so why would they need to lie?
1. Demi Lovato
Image: Greg Doherty/Getty Images
In 2013, Lovato told Buzzfeed the story of her home in Texas, which is haunted by a ghost named Emily.
"I go ghost hunting. My house in Texas is so ridiculously haunted. Not by a bad spirit, but a little girl. I think her name is Emily," Lovato explained. "I’ve had a medium come over and ghost hunters, and they both told me the same name, Emily. There were so many times that I saw her when I was growing up. I saw her in my closet one time. When I was 3 years old, my mom caught me talking to something by myself. She asked, ‘Who are you talking to?’ and I said, ‘My best friend Emily.’ She’s playful. She’d probably be around 11 or 12 years old, maybe younger."
demi lovato ghost story 1
demi lovato ghost story 1
2. Carrie Fisher
Image: Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Fisher's story started when her good friend R. Gregory Stevens died from an overdose while in bed with Fisher at her home.
After that, Fisher said weird things started happening in her home, and she could still feel Stevens' presence.
"Lights would go on and off, and this [talking] toy machine [I had] would go off in the night, by itself, in my closet," Fisher said in a 2006 interview with Vanity Fair.
3. Miley Cyrus
Image: Jim Spellman/WireImage
Cyrus had such a terrifying encounter with a ghost in a rented London flat during her 2009 tour that she had to leave. She described the incident to Elle UK.
"One night, my little sister [Noah] — it sounds crazy to tell you — but she was standing in the shower, and all of a sudden I hear her scream. I run in there, and the water had somehow flipped to hot... The knob had turned, but she hadn’t turned it, and it was burning her. She was really red."
Cyrus had her own encounter too, "I thought I had seen a little boy sitting on the sink watching me take a shower. I was sitting there the next night, and maybe I’m crazy, but I could have sworn I could see this little boy sitting there on the sink, kicking his feet."
The incidents caused Cyrus to do some digging into the history of the house. She discovered that it used to be owned by a family of three, but the parents died, leaving their son an orphan. Cyrus insists that the little boy she saw was the orphan son.
"I had to move," she revealed. "That’s not a lie. I will never stay there ever again."
4. Patrick Stewart
Image: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Stewart saw a ghost while he was onstage performing Waiting for Godot at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
"I just saw a ghost. Onstage, during Act One," Stewart told his BFF Ian McKellan in a 2009 story in the Telegraph.
Stewart added that the man he saw was wearing a beige coat and twill pants, which matches the description of John Baldwin Buckstone, an actor and manager of the theater in the mid-19th century.
The story was so chilling that it was even included in a documentary about the theatre.
"Patrick told us all about it. He was stunned. I would not say frightened, but I would say impressed," said Nigel Everette, director of Theatre Royal Haymarket.
"I’ve got a song called 'Supernatural'... about having sex with a ghost," she explained. "I lived in this flophouse at Rural Canyon, and there was this weird energy that lived there, and it used to keep me up at night and wake me up. And it progressed into this dark, sexual spirit."
"I’m very open to it," she added. "It did scare me, but that’s part of the fun of it."
"You felt awful and scary, and things were locked that shouldn't be locked," Rivers said. "I used to say, 'This is stupid. This is nonsense. There's a reason for this.' And then at one point you'd say, 'You cannot say that anymore. Something is going on here.'"
The something? Rivers uncovered it: "This lady had died in the apartment. And she just was angry."
7. Ariana Grande
Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Grande has maybe the scariest story on the list.
In 2013, she recounted the tale to Complex magazine. She was in Kansas City and visited a haunted castle and "Stull Cemetery, which is known as one of the seven gates to hell on Earth," she explained.
"I felt this sick, overwhelming feeling of negativity over the whole car, and we smelled sulfur, which is the sign of a demon, and there was a fly in the car randomly, which is another sign of a demon," Grande said, "I was like, 'This is scary, let’s leave.' I rolled down the window before we left and said, 'We apologize. We didn’t mean to disrupt your peace.' Then I took a picture, and there are three super-distinct faces in the picture — they’re faces of textbook demons."
Grande continued, "The next day I tried to send [the picture] to my manager, and it said, 'This file can’t be sent, it’s 666 megabytes.' I’m not kidding. I used to have a folder called 'demons' that had pictures with all the screencaps in it, but then weird things started happening to me, so I deleted it."
She said one of the weird things included an instance just a few weeks prior to the interview, when she was going to sleep. "I had just gotten off the phone, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I heard this really loud rumble right by my head. When I opened my eyes, it stopped immediately, but when I closed my eyes it started again with whispers. Every time I closed my eyes, I started seeing these really disturbing images with, like, red shapes. Then I opened my eyes and got back on the phone and was like, 'I’m really scared, and I don’t want to go to bed tonight.'"
She continued, "Then I scooched over to the left side of my bed, because that’s where the best service is in my room, and there was this massive black matter. I don’t know what it was... I started crying. I was on the phone like, 'What do I do, what do I do?' and they said, 'Tell it to eff off.' I thought, I’m not going to do that. It’s going to upset it, so I’m just going to chill and not feed into it, because all it wants is fear. It feeds on fear. I watched it move to the front of my bed, and then I fell asleep on the phone. I woke up, and it was gone."
8. Marilyn Manson
Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
No one should be surprised to find Manson's name on this list. He has been open about his paranormal encounters and even told his story in a 2009 episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories.
He said he encountered a ghost at his grandparents' house as a child, and the meeting left him unable to sleep.
Manson's experiences with ghosts have left him skeptical of ghost movies. "A movie like Paranormal Activity — I watched that and felt condescended to or insulted because I’ve had more scary, more frightening, and more interesting and believable experiences happen that I can’t explain. I think they’re encouraged by my interest in things that maybe you shouldn’t look into."
marilyn manson ghost story 1
marilyn manson ghost story 1
9. Kate Hudson & Goldie Hawn
Image: Barry King/Getty Images
In the DVD extras for her 2005 movie Skeleton Key, Hudson said she and her mother, Hawn, see dead people.
"I’ve seen ghosts plenty of times," Hudson said. And she said in a 2014 interview on the talk show Chatty Man that her mother sees them, too.
"It is not really seeing, it is feeling a spirit," she explained. "A fifth energy. I believe in energy. I believe our brains can manifest into visual things."
To Hudson, it’s not scary when it happens. “When you see something, you are supposed to tell the energy what year it is and that they don’t belong there. When your brain is freaking out on you, you may have to remind it. Why is being dead funny?”
10. Keanu Reeves
Image: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Reeves recounted his ghost story during an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. "It was in New York. It was cool. So I’m, like, a little kid. I’m probably 6, 7 years old [in] a new apartment... We’d come from Australia. Renata, my nanny, was in the bedroom," Reeves said. "There was a doorway, and all of a sudden, we’re looking over there and this jacket comes waving through the doorway, just empty — there’s no head, there’s no body, there’s no legs. It’s just there, and then it disappears."
He continued, "I was a little a kid, so I thought, 'That’s interesting.' And then I looked over at the nanny." It was her shocked face that made him realize what they had just seen was real.
keanu reeves ghost story 1
keanu reeves ghost story 1
11. Dan Aykroyd
Image: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
It would make sense that Aykroyd, a Ghostbuster himself, would have a ghost story or two.
"I had several experiences. I saw things moving around on our counter, and doors opening and closing... Somebody crawled in bed with me once," Aykroyd said during a 2013 interview with Esquire.
"I was alone in the house and decided to take a nap," he recalled. "I closed the door to the bedroom but didn’t lock it. I woke up... I saw the door open, and I rolled over and looked at the bed, and I saw the depression in the mattress, like somebody was getting in there. And I thought, 'I’m just going to roll over and snuggle up next to it.' I’d be surprised if I was his type, but when you’re dead, you’ll take what you can get."
12. Matthew McConaughey
Image: Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic
McConaughey was settling in at his new home late at night when he heard what sounded like a dime drop on a glass table. The noise freaked him out so much that he didn't even bother putting on clothes as he wandered out naked and armed with a bat.
"I go downstairs, and there’s nothing there," McConaughey explained. "I now know it was her, because I’ve seen Madame Blue since." But fear not: Madame Blue is apparently a "cool ghost." McConaughey added, "Maybe me being nude all the time is why we get along." Well, yes, that makes sense.
matthew mcconaughey ghost story 1
matthew mcconaughey ghost story 1
13. Peter Jackson
Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Jackson told his ghost story back in 2009 during an interview with Britain's Channel 4.
He and his wife were staying in an apartment across from the St. James Theatre in London.
"I woke up one morning and there was a figure in the room, she was very scary, she had a screaming face, very accusatory, she was a lady about 50 years old," Jackson said. "It was terrifying actually... she was at the end of the bed... she glided across the room and disappeared into the wall. I sat in bed and thought, have I really seen that?”
When Jackson told his wife what he'd seen, her response was eerie: "Was it the woman with the screaming face?"
Turns out, the woman with the screaming face was well-known around St. James Theatre. Many saw the woman, who was reportedly an actress who committed suicide after a bad vaudeville review.
"They say she manifests herself in the theater with a screaming face. Sometimes she’s seen — the same ghost," Jackson explained. "She needs to learn to smile a little."
14. Emma Stone
Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Stone believes the ghost of her late grandfather haunts her by leaving quarters for her to find.
She explained to David Letterman, "There's a long family history with quarters... my grandfather leaves quarters. It's just amazing."
emma stone ghost story
emma stone ghost story
When Letterman seemed skeptical, Stone added, "It's him! It's absolutely him."
"Let me say that I am beyond shocked that I have been targeted with this false allegation. I am completely innocent. I am confident that once the facts are looked at, it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation," Nelly wrote on Twitter.
He added, "I also want to thank my fans for their unwavering support. They know me. I assure you I will be vindicated. And I assure you, I will pursue every legal option to address this defaming claim. Thank you."
nelly twitter response 1
nelly twitter response 1
nelly twitter response 2
nelly twitter response 2
nelly twitter response 3
nelly twitter response 3
nelly twitter response 4
nelly twitter response 4
According to Us Weekly, a woman called police at 3:48 a.m. Saturday morning to report that she was raped by Nelly on his tour bus in Auburn, Washington.
Nelly was reportedly released shortly after his arrest without being charged, but he has cancelled his Saturday night performance with Florida Georgia Line.
"Nelly is the victim of a completely fabricated allegation. Our initial investigation clearly establishes this allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness," Nelly's lawyer said in a statement. "I am confident, once this scurrilous accusation is thoroughly investigated, there will be no charges. Nelly is prepared to address and pursue all legal avenues to redress any damage caused by this clearly false allegation."
Bloom received a ton of criticism for representing Weinstein amidst sexual assault allegations because she has previously been a huge proponent for women's rights. Even Bloom's mother Gloria Allred took issue with Bloom's decision to represent Weinstein.
"Had I been asked by Mr. Weinstein to represent him, I would have declined, because I do not represent individuals accused of sex harassment," Allred said in a statement, according to Vanity Fair. "I only represent those who allege that they are victims of sexual harassment."
Even Weinstein's brother, Bob Weinstein, reportedly criticized Bloom's decision to represent his brother, according to the New York Times.
"You have a commercial relationship with TWC via a TV deal so how can you possibly provide impartial advice to Harvey or address this group with any credibility?" board member Lance Maerov said to Bloom in an e-mail, shared by the The Times article. Weinstein had previously agreed to adapt Bloom's book, Suspicion Nation.
Meanwhile, the remaining board members of The Weinstein Company board have reportedly hired an outside law firm to represent their interests in the ongoing investigation.
The Times further reports company president, David Glasser, said in an e-mail to employees on Friday that the company was "taking the allegations seriously" and using the investigation to determine the "best decision for how to address the situation."
Original article:
High-profile film executive Harvey Weinstein is facing shocking allegations of sexual harassment lodged by Ashley Judd and multiple other women. The New York Times detailed the troubling claims in an exposé piece Thursday, citing that its research found undisclosed allegations against Weinstein stretching over nearly three decades.
According to The Times, these claims can all be corroborated through interviews, legal records, emails and internal documents from the two companies Weinstein has headed: Miramax and the Weinstein Company.
Two company officials — who reportedly spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity — allege that Weinstein previously reached at least eight settlements with women who complained of unwanted physical conduct and other sexual harassment during which Weinstein was naked, either fully or partially.
Ashley Judd, one of the women alleging abuse, says that Weinstein invited her up to his room two decades ago, presumably for a business breakfast. However, upon entering the room, a bathrobe-clad Weinstein instead asked Judd if she would watch him shower.
"Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time," she said in a recent interview, "and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly."
The Times also reported that Scream actress Rose McGowan reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein following an incident in a hotel room in the late '90s. Shortly after The Times article broke, McGowan posted on Twitter, "Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies. #bebrave."
Rose McGowan Tweet
Rose McGowan Tweet
When The Times reached out to Weinstein for comment, he said, "I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I'm trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go."
In the lengthy statement (read the entire text here), Weinstein said he was a product of his time. "I came of age in the '60s and '70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it's not an excuse, in the office — or out of it. To anyone."
He pointed out that Marchesa fashion designer Georgina Chapman, his wife and the mother of two of his five children (he has three with ex-wife Eve Chilton), is remaining by his side.
"She stands 100 percent behind me. Georgina and I have talked about this at length. We went out with [attorney] Lisa Bloom last night when we knew the article was coming out. Georgina will be with Lisa and others kicking my ass to be a better human being and to apologize to people for my bad behavior, to say I'm sorry, and to absolutely mean it."
He also noted to The Times that he was taking a leave of absence to "deal with this issue head on."
Despite the frequency of allegations against him, Weinstein managed to maintain his status as a sought-after producer, collecting six Best Picture Oscars. He has also been the recipient of awards for humanitarian work.
"From the outside, it seemed golden — the Oscars, the success, the remarkable cultural impact," Mark Gill, former president of Miramax Los Angeles, told The Times. "But behind the scenes, it was a mess, and this was the biggest mess of all."
Since The Times piece went live, Weinstein has hired hard-hitting LA attorney Charles J. Harder, who is known for landing a $140 million verdict against Gawker after the site published a Hulk Hogan sex tape. Weinstein, via Harder, then announced his intentions to sue The Times. Although a specific figure wasn't given, Page Six estimates the amount in the ballpark of $50 million.
In a statement on Weinstein's behalf, Harder told Page Six, "The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein. It relies mostly on hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by 9 different eyewitnesses. We sent The Times the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish. We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to women's organizations."
Bloom, another lawyer advising Weinstein, issued a statement as well, saying that Weinstein refutes "many of the accusations as patently false" and referring to the movie mogul as "an old dinosaur learning new ways."
When I was 19, my mother died. Don’t say you’re sorry — it wasn’t your fault. I know you need to say something. We’re taught to respond somehow, and sorry is what we say. When you tell me you’re sorry, though, I feel like I’ve made you feel bad, and for that, I’m sorry. So there we are.
Long story short, there was a long physical illness accompanied by mental illness during which time I learned how not to handle my own anxiety and depression. I learned to be afraid of unexpected phone calls, numbers I didn’t recognize, anyone who began a conversation with, “I have something to tell you.”
I read a lot of books by women with dead mothers because I didn’t know anyone else whose mother was dead. My friends had mothers who drove up to campus on weekends to take them to lunch and to the mall. My roommate told her mother she thought she might be pregnant (she wasn’t). Her mother was her best friend, she said. She told her everything. I got car insurance and signed for my own student loans. I skipped class and slept all day. I worried my friends. I graduated. I moved to a city. I bought a car. I left the country. I had a boyfriend. I went to therapy. I went to graduate school. I turned 30 and then 35 and 38. Unless people asked, I stopped talking about how my mother was dead.
The girls with dead mothers find each other somehow. We tell someone who knows someone whose mother is dead and then we meet each other. In 2014, I saw a documentary called The (Dead Mothers) Club made by two women with dead mothers about girls and women with dead mothers. It is not a film I ever need to watch again, but for a while, it was a relief to see so much terrible familiarity.
Now I know people whose mothers are dead. We talk about it when it comes up, which is to say when someone says something that is supposed to mean well, but proves incendiary to us, who even 10, 20, 30 years after the fact, chafe at people’s good intentions. “I hate the term ‘motherless daughter,'” M told me. “Even though that’s what we are.” Her mother died while she was pregnant with her first child.
M continues: “I rely a lot on my friends for the questions I’d otherwise ask my mom about pregnancy, breastfeeding, child rearing, being a competent human.”
This is a thing with us, the girls without mothers. We are always running behind in some way even though in others, we are ahead of the game. We have to find someone else to tell us what other girls already know or figured out.
The details of loss are different, though, even when the circumstances (cancer, a car accident, alcoholism) may be similar. The experience of having your mother die is different for everyone whose mother dies because everyone’s relationship to their mother is different. My mother and I had a dramatic, sometimes violent, seriously enmeshed relationship that stalled out around the time my friends were learning how to see their parents as people instead of as just their parents. My mother left before giving me information I would have liked to have (about sex, interest rates, how to find an apartment), but the person that she was for most of my life was not capable of being a parent in the way I needed her to be. I disentangled myself from her long before she died. My therapist calls this “anticipatory grieving.”
The ones with dead mothers are all mad about something. Mad because she’s dead. Mad because of how she died, when she died, what she didn’t tell us. You are not really allowed to be mad at dead people, especially if they were your mother. But all of us are in some way.
“There was no protectiveness within our relationship regarding sexual encounters,” T told me. “Just instructions for how to attract the ‘right’ man in my case — be polite instead of discerning and self-respecting... pliable rather than healthy boundaries.”
We have had to learn to hold a lot of things at once.
“I had a complicated relationship with my mother,” said H. “Her death wasn’t entirely unexpected all around, and kind of even a blessing a little bit. She was a generally really smart, powerful, capable, loving person except when she wasn’t, so there’s a lot of complex feelings or having to hold multiple ideas about someone in my head at once, which I’ve gotten better at as I get older.”
Sharon Osbourne has been married to rocker Ozzy since 1982, and the two have faced a lot together: alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, cancer, the continuous pressure of the public eye... and, on one horrible occasion, attempted murder. We wouldn't say their relationship is one to aspire to, by any stretch, but Sharon's honesty about her marriage is pretty incredible. She's always been candid about her opinions, and her marriage is a topic of conversation she doesn't generally avoid.
From allowing cameras into the family home for the MTV reality show The Osbournes to openly discussing Ozzy's recent sex addiction scandal and the preceding infidelity on The Talk, Sharon certainly isn't shy about the difficulties she and her husband have faced. The press was all over their recent separation, and the two have apparently seen a marriage counselor since the split. They renewed their vows last spring.
Sharon has also talked about some of the downright awful things she's done to "prove" her love, as well as other times the couple have nearly ended their relationship. We respect her for her honesty... and her willingness to tell others not to follow in her footsteps.
In honor of Sharon's upcoming birthday on Monday, we've rounded up some of her realest sound bites and quotes about love, marriage and all the associated baggage of being with someone for over 30 years.
"There is a hideous epidemic of it [marriage] being bound up with people's careers. Everybody needs to stop looking for perfect, cardboard cut-out partners because that won't work and it won't last. If you have children and there is still love there, then you have to keep trying and absolutely exhaust that love before you opt out. But if you don't have children, then just head for the hills."
In 2010, Osbourne did an interview with The Telegraph about her marriage, her family, her book, her tenure as a reality talent show judge and that comment about Susan Boyle... and she had a lot to say about celebrity marriage ideation.
"Do you know, he says we're like bread and butter. And that's what we are. We fit together so perfectly, we're as one. We're a team. Forty years, it's like — the hardest thing I ever had to do was to walk away, but I knew if I stayed, it would have carried on."
Sharon Osbourne - Graham Norton
Sharon Osbourne - Graham Norton
After the release of her autobiography Unbreakable in 2013, Sharon made an appearance on the Graham Norton Show where she expounded on the separation detailed in the book. When Ozzy relapsed around their 30th anniversary, she moved out in order to force him into getting and staying clean. She also told Norton (and her fellow guests) that after she found out Ozzy had been driving drunk, she sold all of his cars to prevent him from doing it again.
"We will deal with it and this, too, shall pass. Otherwise, my husband will be taken to hospital to get my foot removed from his ass."
Sharon Osbourne - ABC News 2013
Sharon Osbourne - ABC News 2013
Spoken like a true matriarch. Sharon has put up with a lot from her husband over the years, including last year's infidelity scandal, which nearly ended their marriage for good.
"I forgive. It’s going take a long time to trust, but we’ve been together 36 years, 34 of marriage... I just can’t think of my life without him."
Yeah, we get that. Sharon has talked about her marriage and its scandals quite a bit on The Talk, and in July 2016, she said she forgave Ozzy for his infidelity... but she also called him a "dirty dog."
"I'm not going to cry about anything because there's nothing to cry about."
Sharon Osbourne On Split
Sharon Osbourne On Split
Last year, when Sharon returned to The Talk after Ozzy's infidelity was discovered, she said she had "nothing to cry about" and admitted to her co-hosts that whatever happened, she would do what was right for her. The couple have since reconciled and Ozzy has sought treatment for sex addiction, but Sharon's unapologetic response to everything and her desire to move forward in her own way, in her own time, was and is super inspiring.
"These scars are a big embarrassment. The scars don't go away. They stay with you... It's a reminder to us all."
In 2014 on The Talk, Sharon revealed that she once slit her wrists to "prove" to Ozzy how much she loved him. After a night of drinking in her late 20s, when the two were just dating, Sharon said, "I'd do anything for you," and Ozzy's response was, "Prove it." Sharon said she took a steak knife and slashed her wrists — then showed off the scars on camera.
"I kind of went too deep and it wouldn’t stop bleeding," she said, "so I’m saying, 'Dear, I think we'd better call an ambulance.'" According to Billboard, Sharon was admitted to a psych ward after the incident. The Osbournes have always been known for their shock value (anyone remember Ozzy and the bat?), but self-harm certainly isn't something to play around with.
Now, Sharon is embarrassed by the incident. "I permanently scarred my wrists, and I was on lockdown for being overly dramatic and drunk," she said. "Now, I tell everyone I was attacked by a dog."
For its first show in the wake of last Sunday's tragic shooting in Las Vegas, Saturday Night Live opened in uncharacteristically poignant fashion: with country star Jason Aldean singing "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty, who died on Monday.
Instead of filling the cold open with its usual punchy political jokes, SNL gave the stage to Aldean, who was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1 when the shooting began. At last count, 58 people had died and more than 500 others were injured.
"This week, we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history. Like everyone, I'm struggling to understand what happened that night and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal," Aldean said prior to his powerful performance.
"So many people are hurting. There are children, brothers, sisters, parents, friends — they're all part of our family. So I want to say to them, we hurt for you, and we hurt with you," he continued. "But you can be sure we're going to walk through these tough times together, every step of the way. Because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit, it's unbreakable."
Jason Aldean SNL
Jason Aldean SNL
"Won't Back Down" proved to be a particularly stirring song choice, both lyrically and in light of the very recent loss of Petty.
Aldean made the announcement earlier this week that he had decided to cancel his shows through the weekend out of respect for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, their families and fans.
It seems as though anytime a picture surfaces of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter Blue Ivy, the internet can't help but point out how much the 5-year-old looks like her famous father. But little Blue Ivy might just be her mama's mini-me, and Grandma Tina Knowles Lawson can prove it.
Lawson posted a throwback photo of Beyoncé to Instagram on Saturday, showing a young Bey getting her hair done. And, if we're really being honest, we could easily have assumed the little girl in the picture actually was Blue Ivy, had we not read the caption.
"If Beyoncé don't look like Blue in this photo!!! Getting her braids done by Toni," Lawson wrote of the nostalgic snapshot.
Seriously, we're seeing double. Who knew Blue looked just as much, if not more, like her mama than Jay-Z? Looks like Dad's going to have to share his tiny doppelgänger.
The cute trio stepped out over the weekend to attend the wedding of a friend in New Orleans, Louisiana. Blue Ivy's baby siblings, Rumi and Sir Carter, were noticeably absent from the nuptials. Born in June, the twins might have been with a nanny or family member so Bey, Jay and their oldest could be fully present in the festivities.
Beyonce family wedding 1
Beyonce family wedding 1
The night seemed to be a success for the tight-knit fam as they posed for photos with the bride and groom and tore it up on the dance floor.
After much speculation and plenty of rumors over the years, one thing we've all wondered about is finally happening: The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead will soon feature a crossover during which a character makes the jump from one series to the other. This is not a drill — we repeat, this is not a drill.
You probably want to know how such a crossover is possible, considering FTWD serves as a sort of prequel to TWD and neither show can bend the space-time continuum (that we know of). And while we wish we could explain it, the specifics haven't come into focus that much yet.
Here's what we can tell you: TWD creator Robert Kirkman announced this character crossover at New York's Comic-Con, saying, "We want these shows to have their own legs, tell their own stories and be their own thing. I think we've finally gotten to a place with Fear the Walking Dead where it has its own identity [and] we can play with some things."
TWD's Twitter account played up the announcement, posting a teaser image confirming that "the worlds collide."
TWD Crossover
TWD Crossover
Naturally, Kirkman played coy about the crossover, revealing just enough to pique fans' curiosity. "Now, what does that mean? Because these timelines, like [...] how does that work? Are we going to see an interesting backstory of a Walking Dead character in Fear the Walking Dead?" he hinted. "Or are we going to see a Fear the Walking Dead character show up in The Walking Dead and show a future version of the character?"
Before going silent on the subject, Kirkman promised "more news coming in the following months." In the meantime, you can tune in to the last few episodes of FTWD Season 3 (the finale is on Oct. 15). And mark your calendar, of course, for the return of TWD on Oct. 22.
While access to affordable, timely reproductive health care is an issue for many women across America, it is especially challenging for Native American women, who are twice as likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than any other group in the country.
Since its founding in 1988, the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center has been a leading voice in addressing indigenous women’s reproductive health needs while working to preserve their culture, serving reservation-based women both in the United States and internationally.
Charon Asetoyer, the executive director and CEO of the resource center, has spent decades working to improve Native American women’s reproductive health and justice and says that it’s not an issue of Native American women having a specific health need, but rather having the same access to services, care and systems of justice as other women in America.
One example of this was the fight to get access to Plan B emergency contraception. It took the resource center five years of grassroots organizing and campaigning before over-the-counter availability of Plan B without age restrictions was written into the Indian Health Service — the primary health care provider for Native Americans.
“Everyone else had over-the-counter access, but we did not,” Asetoyer explains. “We were being denied access even though it was legal.”
Access to emergency contraception is especially important for survivors of sexual assault, which Native American women disproportionately experience. According to a statement released by the resource center, Native Americans are raped at a rate of nearly double the rate reported by all races annually: 34.1 percent. That means that more than 1 in 3 Native American women are raped in their lifetime. Additionally, the resource center reports that three-fourths of Native American women have experienced some form of sexual assault.
Further complicating matters is the fact that rape kits are frequently mishandled. Asetoyer says that one of the main reasons this happens is because once the rape kits leave the hands of health care providers, they are turned over to law enforcement, where the ball is dropped. The kits are supposed to go to the lab for testing, but either end up sitting there untouched or are tampered with and/or destroyed — making it next to impossible to convict the assailant because of the lack of forensic evidence.
Another major roadblock to prosecuting sex crimes is that most rape and sexual assault cases never make it to court. This is thanks to the 1978 Supreme Court case Oliphant v. Suquamish, which took the right to arrest and prosecute non-Native American individuals who commit crimes on Native American land out of the hands of Native Americans. According to Asetoyer, those crimes then come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which decides whether or not to even investigate — let alone prosecute — each case.
Since a staggering 80 to 90 percent of perpetrators who sexually assault or rape Native Americans are non-Native American white males, in most cases, nothing is done.
“So very few cases ever get to court, and we are not afforded equal protection under the law,” Asetoyer explains. “It has created a situation where it’s open season for sexual assault and rape for non-Natives on reservations.”
What you can do to help
Right now, Asetoyer says, the resource center is working toward getting a formal apology from the U.S. government for the sterilization abuses against Native American women that happened in the 1960s and 1970s. She urges people to contact their legislators in Congress and request an apology for the mass forced sterilization that occurred during the Johnson administration.
You can also donate to the resource center’s GoFundMe campaign, which will help fund their many programs designed to increase access to reproductive and other health care for Native American women, as well as supporting their emergency women’s shelter for those affected by domestic violence.
Additionally, Asetoyer suggests volunteering for organizations that support Native Americans and getting informed and spreading the word on the atrocities and human rights violations perpetrated against the population.
“Read up on what has happened, and don’t always assume that you know,” she advises.
While the trailer for The Mountain Between Us makes the film look like a straight-up survival story, that’s not exactly correct. The frigid landscape of endless snowy mountains is certainly a terrible place to have to fight to stay alive — but what if that icy, near-death struggle was really about what happens to the human heart when it gets frozen out of love?
Stuck in Idaho as a giant storm moves in, Alex (Kate Winslet) is panicked about getting back to New York because her wedding is the very next day. If it sounds like she’s cutting it close, she is. Alex, a war photographer, is impulsive and rash, living by the skin of her teeth. She’s the ultimate adrenaline junkie and gets her thrills from taking risks.
Ben (Idris Elba) is a neurosurgeon who’s scheduled to perform brain surgery the next day on a 10-year-old child and isn't happy about the storm that's unexpectedly grounded all commercial flights. Ben likes to be in control in an extreme way, which is why he gets his thrills from cutting into children’s brains. His entire identity is built on his ability to save people.
Alex, who doesn’t know Ben but perhaps likes his cultured good looks, suggests the two charter a small plane to get them back to New York. Sounds like a great plan — until the pilot (Beau Bridges) has a stroke mid-flight. The plane goes down in the snow-covered mountains, stranding Alex, Ben and the pilot’s dog in the freezing cold. Suddenly, two complete strangers must work together if they want to live.
Image: 20th Century Fox
The Mountain Between Us isn’t exactly a straightforward adventure/survival film. Yes, they’re injured, and yes, they must figure out how to survive the harsh elements and find food, but the story is about more than finding ways to stay warm. The frozen, isolated mountain becomes a metaphor for Alex and Ben's own personal issues. When we learn how much psychological baggage each character brings to the mountain, it becomes clear that their emotional survival is just as important as their physical survival.
Unlike Titanic, the film isn’t a traditional romance. Alex and Ben's meet-cute is a plane crash, after all, and they mix like oil and water on the mountainside. They argue over arguing.
Eventually, we learn that Ben couldn’t save his own wife when she got sick two years ago, forcing him to question his entire existence. He's in a major funk and can't get out of it.
And we learn that Alex lives by the seat of her pants, and her impending marriage is probably doomed because she doesn’t know how to put anyone else’s needs before her own.
Image: 20th Century Fox
The exciting part of the movie is watching how each character learns to submit to the actual wilderness around them and realize they are powerless over it. They come to terms with the fact that they may die. It’s only from this place of vulnerability that either of their hearts can heal.
Each character must give up some belief in order for them to move on and allow their hearts to heal. At one point, Ben remarks that the human heart is simply a muscle and it’s the brain that’s really important. Alex, through her own emotional growth, is the catalyst to prove that he’s wrong. The heart is the key to survival.
Winslet is fantastic playing this unconventional woman who’s fearless in the war zone but unable to sit still for five minutes, even with a broken leg. As Ben, Elba wears just enough emotional pain on his sleeve to make him mysterious without being obvious or a jerk.
Overall, the movie is a fresh way of looking at the human condition and picking apart all the ways people put a freeze on their own emotional happiness.
The Mountain Between Usq
The Mountain Between Usq
The Mountain Between Us opened in theaters Friday.
In the days following the horrifying and tragic events in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, American Horror Story creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy has responded to the concerns that an upcoming episode of AHS: Cult would be too insensitive to viewers. While little is known about the plot of the episode, reports indicate that the episode included a scene involving a mass shooting. Murphy took time during a New Yorker Festival panel discussion to address concerns about the episode and clarify how he handled it and why he did what he did.
Murphy first noted that the episode would still include the shooting (one might imagine this would be for the sake of continuity), but he said, "I just made the decision that I'm going to have all of that violence be shown for the most part off camera." He also stated that the shooting in the context of the episode, which he acknowledged to originally have been a very graphic scene, had an instructive purpose as well as act as a warning to viewers. "It was meant to be an obvious anti-gun warning about society," he told those in attendance at the panel.
He did acknowledge that the timing factored into the episode's re-edit and coupled with the subject matter, he knew it was best to just refocus the episode. "[P]robably now is not the week to have something explosive or incendiary in the culture because someone who was affected might watch that and it could trigger something," he stated, adding, "Nobody ever talks about victims' rights. That's sort of a weird emotional discussion that's never bridged. But I felt great sympathy for people who were affected, certainly, and family members and loved ones and people who are upset about the way the world is."
It's certainly good to know that Murphy thought about the concerns of others and took special measures to make sure that even if AHS: Cult's upcoming episode is scary, it won't be triggering to viewers.
Many kids go through phases when they exhibit aggressive behaviors. Hitting, pushing and even biting can be developmentally normal, especially for toddlers. But it can be a challenge to deal with this type of situation, because of course you want it to stop. It’s especially difficult if another child has been hurt; you want to teach empathy, and of course, it’s horrible to see your kid inflict pain on someone else.
Having an aggressive child may leave you feeling anxious, embarrassed or stressed when your child is in social situations. We spoke to behaviorist and family therapist Megan Costello about how to handle those anxiety-provoking moments when you find your child acting out. She assured us that aggression is common and can be dealt with successfully. “Lots of kids go through a phase where they are trying out lots of different forms of aggression."
First, try to figure out the underlying purpose of the child's aggression. What are they accomplishing or hoping to accomplish by acting this way? “Analyze the behavior by looking at what happens before the behavior and what happens after the aggression,” says Costello. For example, “If your child hits or bites to avoid brushing their teeth," Costello suggests, "teach your child to say ‘No! I'm not ready yet’ instead.” Once the child knows they have another tool in their arsenal, they can learn that biting doesn't get them what they want — talking does. Of course, then you still have the problem of them not brushing, but there's no harm in delaying the chore a few minutes to show kiddo that you're taking their words into account.
What are some other reasons for aggression? “In my practice, I've seen kids use aggression for attention, access to preferred items and activities and to escape tasks or demands,” explains Costello. “I've even met kids who bite or who injure themselves to self-soothe.” She stresses that it’s important to look at each situation and intervene according to the function or purpose of the behavior — not just the behavior itself.
After you’ve figured out the function of your child’s aggressive behavior, it’s time to ensure the acting-out is futile. “If your child bites to get access to something, don't give it to him,” says Costello. Seems simple enough, but of course it's difficult to follow through on. Still, “if your child bites to avoid a task or demand, follow through despite the biting," Costello urges. "If your child bites to get your attention, immediately stop giving your child attention,” she adds. Simply remove any positive association with the aggressive behavior.
Take the child's age into account
For instance, when a 7-year-old bites, it's very different than when a nonverbal 2-year old — who may not feel she has other options to communicate what she wants — bites.
Costello says that generally, the younger the child is, the more your reaction should be focused on skill-building and proactive interventions. “With young children, aggression is often a strategy used due to their level of brain development and functional skill deficits (e.g., they are learning to talk),” explains Costello. Your young child doesn't know and isn't able to independently use alternative strategies yet. Be with your child when he/she is in a situation where aggression is likely to occur so you can intervene and provide support. Costello's suggestions: “Coach your child to use alternative strategies, praise them when they try to use those strategies and provide lots of opportunities for practice.”
As children enter ages 5 to 7, the developmental expectations have shifted, Costello explains. For this age group, focus on setting limits and boundaries and following through on consequences. Some ideas: Use incentives or token systems to help motivate your child to change his/her behavior. “It's important that the expectations and consequences for aggression are clear and consistent across the child's environment,” says Costello. And don’t forget to include all the adults in the child’s life when it comes to managing aggression at home and at school. If your child is still regularly aggressive by age 5, they should be evaluated by a pediatrician and/or child psychologist, Costello advises.
Notice who the child targets
Sometimes children act out with only their families, sometimes with peers at day care or school and sometimes both. What does it mean if a child is aggressive toward other children vs. their parents or siblings? Costello says social skill deficits are likely the culprit when the aggression is isolated to peers. “My suggestion is to set up an observation from a behaviorist or other trained mental health professional,” she says. “You will also need to gather information on the exact situations surrounding aggression with peers so you can determine the exact function and the corresponding skill deficits.”
Speaking of other kids, what about sibling-on-sibling aggression? Costello says this actually can be curbed, though it’s complicated. Start by being present to determine the function of the behavior. “Provide opportunities to practice, coach and teach skills both with and without the sibling," she advises.
A common misstep Costello sees in dealing with aggression is using too many “solutions.” “Parents get freaked out and try so many different strategies,” she says. “This muddies the waters, and often they end up reinforcing the behavior in their haste to intervene.” Be consistent in how you deal with the aggression.
Overall, aggression in young kids is pretty common, so try not to worry. “Hang in there,” Costello says. “Be strategic in your approach. Be consistent and give your intervention time to work.”
