Reader Ron Blake sent an email alerting that as April approaches, the month is also recognized as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month.” “I’m sharing my journey for this time that is timely and impactful for April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” Blake explained. “I now live in Phoenix, Arizona, but grew up most of my life in Northwest Indiana. I was a Hobart city councilman and a longtime head coach at two high schools back in the region. Much of my family and many of my friends and former colleagues still live...

A federal judge in New York has dismissed racketeering allegations against Sean Combs in a $30 million sexual assault and harassment lawsuit brought by a producer who worked on his most recent album. In the lawsuit, filed last year in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones accused Combs of making unwanted sexual contact and forcing him to hire sex workers and participate in sex acts with them. In an amended complaint, Jones accused Combs of being part of a racketeering and conspiracy enterprise involving sex trafficking. Jones...

French actor Gérard Depardieu copped to using crude language and exhibiting some improper behavior, but denied allegations of sexual assault while testifying in a Paris court Tuesday, March 25. Per The Associated Press, the French actor took the stand for the first time in his trial, where he is facing accusations that he groped two women on the set of the 2021 film The Green Shutters. Depardieu admitted to using some vulgar and sexualized language with one of the plaintiffs, a set dresser, and also acknowledged that he grabbed her...

Jeremy London is revisiting a painful period in his life when he was battling drug addiction while starring on 7th Heaven , one of the most popular TV series among younger viewers at the time. London, 52, discusses those dark days in the new six-part Investigation Discovery documentary series Hollywood Demons . The first episode, "Stephen Collins, America's Dad," focuses on the sexual misconduct allegations against 7th Heaven star Stephen Collins that surfaced in 2012. Two years later, Collins admitted to PEOPLE in a statement that he'd had inappropriate sexual...

Depardieu, 76, one of France’s biggest screen stars, is accused of assaulting a set dresser and an assistant director during the 2021 filming of ‘Les Volets Verts’ (’The Green Shutters’). While more than 20 women have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, this is the first time one of those cases has gone to trial. Prosecutors say Depardieu trapped one of the women with his legs before groping her waist and breasts in front of witnesses. In an interview with investigative outlet Mediapart, the 54-year-old set dresser said Depardieu shouted...

Former “Impractical Jokers” star Joe Gatto has issued a response after a woman posted a sexual assault allegation against the 48-year-old comedian over TikTok on Thursday. “I have used poor judgment and as a result have violated the trust of the people I love most,” Gatto said in a statement. “But anyone who knows me at all knows full well that I wouldn’t assault anyone. Working on myself is an ongoing process, and I am now going to take some time away from the public eye to focus my energies...

Two months after agreeing to a ceasefire deal that should have ended the war, Israel has resumed its bombardment of the Gaza Strip with an intensity that recalls the earliest days of the onslaught. Within the first few hours of the onslaught, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more, and the army has ordered thousands of residents of the towns and neighborhoods spanning the perimeter of the Strip to flee their homes. Israel has again fully sealed off Rafah Crossing to medical evacuees, while Egyptian and...

Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good have reportedly tied the knot. Ahead of the release of Majors’ latest film, Magazine Dreams, the couple were wed in an intimate ceremony in Los Angeles, Entertainment Tonight reported. Majors’ mother officiated and Good’s mother was the witness, according to the outlet. The Independent has reached out to representatives for Majors and Good for comment. The couple confirmed their engagement to People in November 2024 while attending the EBONY Power 100 Gala where they first met in 2022. "We’re feeling great,” Good told People at...

Itamar Ben Gvir is back in government. The far-right ultranationalist politician has been reinstated as Israel’s minister of national security, the prime minister’s office has confirmed. Ben Gvir, who leads the far-right Jewish Power party, quit in January in protest at a ceasefire deal in Gaza. His return comes just a day after Israel unleashed a wave of surprise air strikes on the besieged enclave, killing more than 400 Palestinians. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep bombing Gaza until Hamas releases captives. “The government unanimously approved Prime...