Matt Lauer Denies Rape Allegation, Says Affair Was ‘Consensual’

This morning I linked to a piece that described Brooke Nevils's allegation that her then-NBC News colleague Matt Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. (His subsequent denial can be read HERE.)

Please don't put me in a position to defend this (by all accounts) repugnant person, but I have to say that if every time something happened to me in bed I wasn't expecting, necessarily wanting, fully prepared for and/or verbally consenting to constituted rape, then I would be a serial rape victim. She does say she "declined" when asked if she liked anal sex. But hasn't everyone at some point or another indicated they weren't in the mood only to then willingly go along with sex, if perhaps mainly to please their partner? Not only that, when asked if she'd liked it afterward she replied, "Yes." I mean, fine, that doesn't mean anything. She could have said that because it was easier than making a stink at that point. (Pun intended.) But I can also see why he would think something's horribly amiss since they continued to have a consensual sexual relationship after the alleged rape. (And was the "secret button" in his office not true? He's claiming it's not, for whatever that's worth.)

Above all, what I think this exposes is that it's not a "she said, he said" -- I believe her 100%. It's just that I don't think what she's describing matches what she's calling it. So where do we go from there?

Mug Shot Monday

Apparently this guy misunderstood the meaning of #MeToo. Read HERE.

Power and Privilege

There's an unbelievably high chance you won't be accused of raping someone ... if you don't try raping someone. From HERE.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: I don't want to be part of this society anymore.

Mug Shot Monday

Police have charged an airman stationed at Dover Air Force Base with raping a runaway 14-year-old girl. But something tells me it was statutory. Read HERE.

Meryl Streep Responds to Rose McGowan's Criticism: 'I Wasn't Deliberately Silent'

As I wrote over the weekend, I think Rose McGowan is barking up the wrong tree lashing out at other women in Hollywood for their "part" in Harvey Weinstein's crimes. (Apparently she's since deleted her vicious tweet calling out Meryl Streep by name.)

Streep didn't appreciate the attack either, reiterating today that she wasn't deliberately silent -- "I didn't know. I don't tacitly approve of rape. I didn't know."

The statement, first reported by HuffPost, reads:

It hurt to be attacked by Rose McGowan in banner headlines this weekend, but I want to let her know I did not know about Weinstein’s crimes, not in the 90s when he attacked her, or through subsequent decades when he proceeded to attack others. 

I wasn’t deliberately silent. I didn’t know. I don’t tacitly approve of rape. I didn’t know. I don’t like young women being assaulted. I didn’t know this was happening. I don’t know where Harvey lives, nor has he ever been to my home.

I have never in my life been invited to his hotel room.

I have been to his office once, for a meeting with Wes Craven for “Music of the Heart” in 1998.

HW distributed movies I made with other people.

HW was not a filmmaker; he was often a producer, primarily a marketer of films made by other people- some of them great, some not great. But not every actor, actress, and director who made films that HW distributed knew he abused women, or that he raped Rose in the 90s, other women before and others after, until they told us. We did not know that women’s silence was purchased by him and his enablers.

HW needed us not to know this, because our association with him bought him credibility, an ability to lure young, aspiring women into circumstances where they would be hurt.

He needed me much more than I needed him and he made sure I didn’t know. Apparently he hired ex Mossad operators to protect this information from becoming public. Rose and the scores of other victims of these powerful, moneyed, ruthless men face an adversary for whom Winning, at any and all costs, is the only acceptable outcome. That’s why a legal defense fund for victims is currently being assembled to which hundreds of good hearted people in our business will contribute, to bring down the bastards, and help victims fight this scourge within.

Rose assumed and broadcast something untrue about me, and I wanted to let her know the truth. Through friends who know her, I got my home phone number to her the minute I read the headlines. I sat by that phone all day yesterday and this morning, hoping to express both my deep respect for her and others’ bravery in exposing the monsters among us, and my sympathy for the untold, ongoing pain she suffers. No one can bring back what entitled bosses like Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes, and HW took from the women who endured attacks on their bodies and their ability to make a living.. And I hoped that she would give me a hearing. She did not, but I hope she reads this.

I am truly sorry she sees me as an adversary, because we are both, together with all the women in our business, standing in defiance of the same implacable foe: a status quo that wants so badly to return to the bad old days, the old ways where women were used, abused and refused entry into the decision-making, top levels of the industry. That’s where the cover-ups convene. Those rooms must be disinfected, and integrated, before anything even begins to change.

Some of my Facebook (and real) friends called Meryl a liar (about not knowing) over the weekend. Curious if they're still prepared to do so now.

When the Shelley Hack of 'Charmed' Speaks, You Better Listen ...

Here's an idea: Instead of blaming other women for how they did or didn't react, how about men stop sexually abusing them? But if we are foolishly going to go down the “women pointing fingers at women" avenue, could we please put “women who voted for Trump” at the top of the list? 

Join the heated debate on my Facebook page by adding me HERE.

UPDATE: Who is prepared to call Meryl Streep a liar now? Read her response to Rose McGowan HERE.

Page 1 Roundup (06/07)

The New York Post: First Bill Cosby drugged and raped them, now he's going to try to drag them through the mud (I wonder why more victims don't come forward?)

The Daily News: Cosby's accuser denies they were romantically involved 

The New York Times: Comey told Sessions to not leave him alone with Trump

The Wall Street Journal: Jeans Aren’t Allowed at School—Unless You Pay 

TLC 'Willis Family' Star Charged With Child Rape

I've never even heard of these people -- apparently they were TLC's "replacement" for that other creepy home-schooled bunch -- but they have a bizarre history leading up to this turn of events. Six of the accused rapist's younger siblings were killed in a bus accident that resulted in a $100 million settlement to his parents decades ago. The allegations against Toby Willis date back 12 years. This guy has David Koresh (as played by Tim Daly) written all over him.

Stanford Rapist Returns Home

Gee. I sure hope the trauma of having raped someone doesn't spoil his holiday weekend.

Rape 101

Seen HERE.

Thank you. What the f**k is wrong with people? And we wonder why these college guys get a slap on the wrist for committing felonies. 

Ivy League Rapist?

It's hard to know what to make of these college rape stories. But this conspiracy "scapegoat" theory seems a bit far-fetched:

The Daily Mail reports:

The student who claimed she was forced into sex by Yale basketball captain Jack Montague, 22, texted him several times after the alleged assault asking to meet up again. And when a friend later asked her why she would not recant the entire claim, she replied: "I can't. They won't let me," a close confidante of the hoops star said in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online. The Montague supporter claims Yale only took action because university brass were looking for a high-profile, non-minority student whose parents were not major donors or alumni as a "perpetrator." They had previously been slammed for taking no action over previous alleged incidents -- and the captain's case perfectly fitted their agenda. The fresh claims give a stunning new insight into the case that has roiled the Ivy League university. Montague had led the basketball team to its first post-season in more than 50 years -- the longest gap between appearances of any Division One school -- before being expelled.

Montague's Boston-based lawyer Max Stern issued a detailed statement on Monday saying it included facts that are agreed by both sides. He said the two slept together four times in Montague's off-campus apartment room in fall 2014.

On the first occasion, the woman joined Jack in bed and stayed the night, said Stern in his statement. 

On the second occasion, she entered his bed voluntarily, removed all of her clothes and, during the night, woke him to perform oral sex. 

On the third occasion, she joined him in bed, voluntarily took off all her clothing, and they had sexual intercourse by consent. 

On the fourth occasion, she joined him in bed, voluntarily removed all of her clothes, and they had sexual intercourse. Then they got up, left the room and went separate ways. Later that same night, she reached out to him to meet up, then returned to his room voluntarily, and spent the rest of the night in his bed with him. 

The sole dispute is as to the sexual intercourse in the fourth episode. She stated that she did not consent to it. He said that she did. 

Montague is now understood to have landed a temporary job well away from both Connecticut campus and his parents' home in Spring Hill, Tenn.

If he is truly being made a scapegoat, how did the university know about an alleged rape in the first place if not from the woman making the claim?

Woman Shares Details of Rape Via Social Media

Activist live blogged the harrowing details about her RAPE on social media minutes after the alleged violent sexual assault took place to set an example for other survivors 

-- Amber Amour, 27, from New York was in Cape Town, South Africa, for her 'Stop Rape. Educate' campaign when she was raped in a shower 

--The activist took to Instagram to write about the alleged rape and post a picture of herself crying in the shower after the sexual assault 

-- She also shared photos of her rape kit and screen grabs of the hateful messages she received that blamed her for her sexual assault

I feel awful for this young woman. No one deserves to be raped -- not even if your rapist is drunk and keeps coming on to you, then after you kiss then rebuff him you agree to take a shower with him. Ironically, it turns out the victim was in town to promote her rape-education program, which she started after having been raped before. The article doesn't say what happened in that case, but I'm guessing she got invited to play a game of naked Twister at a frat house -- sponsored by Crisco -- and something went awry. Stay strong, girl. And keep speaking your truth. 

'Preppy Rapist' Alex Kelly Wants to Take You for a Ride

With the St. Paul's rape case in the news, it seems fitting that we'd get an update on Alex Kelly,one of the best-looking rapists I have ever seen who terrorized tony Darien, Conn., back in the 1980s. Kelly spent 10 years in jail before being released in 2007 for good behavior. These days, he's starting his own skydiving business -- and while I'd like to say good for him, I read he had been fired for threatening to beat up a colleague at another parachuting firm he had been working at ... which has me wondering if he's still the same entitled brat with the hair-trigger temper he was when he raped two teens in in four days and then fled the country for a decade with the help of his parents. Full story HERE.

Page 1 Roundup (07/27)

Kudos to the victims of Bill Cosby who spoke up and showed their faces in New York magazine. Read HERE -- if the site's not still down from overactivity. 

Puddin' Pop

Amy Schumer v. Bill Cosby

Season 3 of "Inside Amy Schumer" has been particularly good, but she may have hit an all-time high with this sketch playing a defense lawyer for Bill Cosby. Truly brilliant on so many levels.

Truth and/or Consequences?

Columbia Student: I Didn't Rape Her

I'm loath to question sex-assault accusers, but this deeper look at a well-publicized case at Columbia University is shockingly head-scratching. Read and tell me your thoughts.  

Gay Rape Victim Responds to Haters

Justin Hand's original videos about being raped can be seen HERE. 

(Video has been removed)

'I Was Raped Last Sunday'

Justin Hand recounts being sexually assaulted on Jan. 19 in a motel room at Parliament House "resort" in Orlando, Florida.

(Video has been removed)

EDITOR'S NOTE: I spoke to Justin at length last night via instant message. Although I have my own questions, concerns, sympathies regarding what he went through, I decided to post this without inserting my thoughts and just let his words speak for himself, as I think male rape is a subject that does not get enough attention. One thing people have been asking that he did not address, however, is whether or not the police were called. He, like many victims of sex crimes, chose not to as he felt they would not believe him, and that he would be victimized all over again. He opted to make this video instead as it allows him to have control over what is said about the event.

Justice for Daisy

Missouri family becomes target in small town after teen says she was raped 

It sickens me that a rapist in Missouri is a free young man -- and to make matters worse, the victim's family has become the target of vicious attacks. (The accused attacker is a member of a prominent local family who seems to have confessed to everything, yet all charges were dropped.)

But I love the people who are leaving these "reviews" on the guy's employer's Yelp! page.

Atmosphere: 6/10
Rape: 9/10

5.0 star rating 10/14/2013 I had originally just stopped by for a cocktail and perhaps an appetizer, but I ended up getting raped and dumped on the front steps of my home, essentially left for dead. I wouldn't recommend eating here unless you support the sexual abuse of young women.

Via Slate:

October 14: Anonymous is on the scene. As members of the loose hacker collective did in Steubenville and in the Rehtaeh Parsons case, they're demanding an "immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities" of Daisy's case. This kind of vigilante justice can be for good or for ill. It depends how responsible the vigilantes are. One thing is sure: This will get interesting.