Lifestyle
Protests Persist In Iran Following The Death Of Mahsa Amini, And Angelina Jolie Says Women There Need The Freedom To Live Their Lives
Following the loss of life of a younger lady named Mahsa Amini, 22, there have been protests in Iran, and Angelina Jolie is bringing consideration to them.
After being jailed by Iran’s Morality Police for reportedly sporting a hijab too loosely, Amini handed away on September sixteenth. Protests erupted after Amini’s loss of life, and a few ladies have been eradicating their hijabs or chopping their hair in response to the present upheaval.
On Wednesday, the Oscar-winning actor posted a number of images to Instagram from the streets of Iran to convey consideration to the disaster within the Center East.
Jolie devoted her submit’s description to the brave Iranian ladies standing up for his or her rights. Mahsa Amini and the opposite younger Iranians like her who’ve endured and fought for many years, in addition to the present protesters.
A lady doesn’t require having her morals regulated, her considering overhauled, or her physique ruled. Jolie, 47, elaborated on how important it’s for them to be free to stay and go about with out concern of bodily hurt. #WomanLifeFreedom #MahsaAmini, Iranian ladies.
Jolie additionally commented within the submit that provided a concise abstract of the state of affairs there. The slide acknowledged that the protests in Iran have now continued for 12 nights straight. Their inception was prompted by the demise of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini within the custody of morality police.
Greater than 70 folks have been allegedly slain because the rebellion began, it stated. Since Amini’s loss of life, at the very least 76 demonstrators and at the very least six ladies and 4 kids have been confirmed lifeless by safety forces, Iran Human Rights stated on Monday.
Reuters reported that social media providers, together with Instagram and WhatsApp, have been blocked throughout the ongoing protests in Iran.
So says the American authorities. Two days after being taken into custody by the Treasury Division for reportedly sporting her headband too loosely, Amini was dropped at a hospital in a coma and later died from her wounds.
Lifestyle
Blake Lively accuses 'It Ends With Us' studio of harassment and smear campaign
This past summer, the press tour for the release of It Ends With Us, a movie that deals with domestic violence, saw public opinion turn against one of its stars, Blake Lively.
But behind the scenes, Lively alleges in a legal complaint published by The New York Times, she faced sexual harassment, repeated violations of her physical boundaries, and a “multi-tiered plan” designed to “destroy” her reputation.
In the undated legal filing, which the Times said was filed Friday to the California Civil Rights Department, she accuses co-star and director Justin Baldoni and his team of attacking her public image after a meeting was held to address “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and a lead producer on the movie.
If the California Civil Rights Department accepts the case, it could investigate, potentially resulting in legal action.
An attorney for the studio, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement emailed to NPR that Lively’s allegations are “categorically false” and “another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation.”
At the Jan. 4 meeting, attended by Lively, Baldoni, studio CEO and producer Jamey Heath and others, the complaint alleged they discussed “inappropriate conduct” experienced by Lively and other cast and crew. All parties agreed to a list of conduct that would cease which allowed for the movie’s production to resume, lawyers for Lively said in the filing.
The list of agreed-upon demands included, the complaint says: No more showing nude videos of women, including the producer’s wife, to Lively and/or her employees; no more mention of Baldoni’s or Heath’s previous “pornography addiction” to Lively or to other crew members; no more descriptions of their own genitalia to Lively; and “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex, or on camera climaxing by [Lively] outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project.”
Baldoni’s and Heath’s studio, Wayfarer, also agreed to provide an intimacy coordinator on set at all times, and other safeguards on set, according to the filing. The studio also agreed not to retaliate against Lively, it said.
The complaint includes excerpts from text messages and emails between Baldoni and his representatives that Lively’s lawyers said they obtained through a subpoena.
The movie, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, is based on the relationship of the author’s parents. In it, Lively plays Lily Bloom, a florist who falls in love with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni). During their relationship Kincaid turns physically and emotionally abusive.
The complaint says Lively, a producer on the film, was under contract to follow a marketing plan that directed the cast to focus “more on Lily’s strength and resilience as opposed to describing the film as a story about domestic violence,” and to avoid depictions of the film as “sad or heavy … it’s a story of hope,” the complaint says.
During the film’s promotion, Lively drew backlash from fans for her attempts to speak about a story of domestic abuse with a lighthearted tone. Many social media comments, meanwhile, commended Baldoni’s promotional message for viewers to always have hope.
Around that time, the complaint alleges, Baldoni and his team were staging a well-financed plan “in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally-protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred.”
The filing says Baldoni hired a crisis communications specialist who allegedly developed a plan to change the narrative on social media in the director’s favor in a way that could not be traced back to the studio’s team. Text exchanges between Baldoni and the Wayfarer PR team allegedly discuss the creation and amplification of misleading stories designed to discredit Lively, according to the actress’ legal team.
“He wants to feel like she can be buried,” wrote Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel in an Aug. 2 message to the crisis management specialist, Melissa Nathan, excerpted in the complaint.
Freedman, the studio’s lawyer, said in the statement to NPR that Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the movie’s marketing campaign, “due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.
“What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals,” Freedman added.
Chloe Veltman contributed reporting.
Lifestyle
Blake Lively's 'Sisterhood Of the Traveling Pants' Costars Blast Alleged Smear Campaign
Blake Lively is receiving support from some of her oldest costars and friends … America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel have issued a statement amid her “It Ends With Us” lawsuit.
The 3 actresses — all of whom starred in the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” film franchise with Blake in the ’00s and have remained her good friends — issued a joint statement on Instagram … where they made it clear they were standing behind BL amid her legal battle.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
They wrote … “Throughout the filming of ‘It Ends with Us,’ we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice.”
As the women continued, they noted that they were upset to see “the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety” … and noted that the “hypocrisy was astounding.”
Before they signed off their statement, they praised Blake for speaking out, adding … “We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment.”
TMZ broke the story … Blake sued “It Ends With Us” director and costar Justin Baldoni, in which she alleged a smear campaign was conducted against her after she accused him of sexual harassment while filming the drama.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, later slammed the lawsuit … calling it an attempt to “fix her negative reputation.”
He also vehemently denied the claims made against Baldoni, noting they were “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
Lifestyle
Sunday Puzzle: Can you conquer this Christmas carol puzzle?
On-air challenge: Every answer today involves a Christmas carol or a popular Christmas song.
- Rearrange the letters of TINSEL to spell a word. Then rearrange the letters of THING to spell a word. The two words together are the title of a Christmas carol. What is it?
- Take the phrase “He Threw Rings.” Change one letter in each word to get the first three words of a popular Christmas carol.
- The leading newspaper in Nebraska is the Omaha World-Herald. What Christmas carol has “World” in its title? What Christmas carol has “Herald” in its title?
- The refrain of what popular Christmas song consists of only two-letter words?
- Name two colors that come before “Christmas” in Billboard top 40 song titles.
Last week’s challenge: Last week’s challenge came from listener Joseph Young. Change one letter of a place on earth to get a familiar phrase much heard around this time of year. What is it? The answer consists of three words (5,2,5).
Challenge answer: Change one letter of “place on earth” to get “peace on earth!”
Winner: Heather Reed of Eureka Springs, Ark.
This week’s challenge: This week’s challenge comes from Dan Ezekiel, of Ann Arbor, Mich. Think of a two-word brand name for a food item that is marketed as upscale. Remove the last two letters of the first word and the first letter of the second word. Read the result from left to right and you’ll get a one-word brand name associated with the budget-conscious. What is it?
Submit Your Answer
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, December 26th, 2024 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.
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