Gene Maddaus-Senior: Last News

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced her retirement on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most competitive Senate race in California in three decades. Feinstein, who will turn 90 in June, said she will not seek reelection when her term expires in 2024. Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter have already announced their campaigns to succeed her, and Rep. Barbara Lee is also expected to join the race. Feinstein has served California since being elected in 1992, and is the oldest current member of Congress. In recent years, her declining acuity has been a source of widespread concern, especially when she was the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee during the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. She relinquished that post in 2020.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer “Rust” will resume production in January, more than a year after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on set. But the production will not return to New Mexico, where a criminal investigation and state workplace safety proceedings remain unresolved. The production is still looking for a new location, but California is a possibility, said Melina Spadone, the attorney for Rust Movie Productions LLC. The production company announced a settlement on Oct. 5 with Matthew Hutchins, the widower of the cinematographer. Under the agreement, the production will be able to resume after a 15-month hiatus. Matthew Hutchins said in a statement that completing the film would be a way “to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The first witness in the Danny Masterson trial broke down in tears on Wednesday as she told jurors that the actor had raped her in April 2003. The woman, who prefers to be identified as Jane Doe #1, testified that she remembered waking up in Masterson’s bed, with him on top of her and penetrating her. She said she tried to shove him away with a pillow, but he grabbed her wrists with one hand and grabbed her throat with the other. “I just couldn’t breathe,” she said, crying and daubing her face with a tissue. “He squeezed really, really hard.” She added that she felt “that I was going to die.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer As his term in office winds down, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has kept a low profile. But he spoke at a recent downtown luncheon and offered some advice to the next mayor — whether it’s Karen Bass or Rick Caruso. “The top three issues for my successor — it’s housing, it’s housing and it’s housing,” Garcetti said. “There is no issue more important than housing.” Bass is leading Caruso by a significant margin in the polls, and so she in particular has been getting a lot of advice lately. Among her most influential supporters is Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Hollywood mogul who has spent $1.85 million to boost her campaign — making him her largest single financier.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Scientology was front and center on Tuesday as the rape trial against “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson began with opening statements. Masterson is a Scientologist and each of his alleged victims was a Scientologist at the time of the alleged rapes, which span from 2001 to 2003. Reinhold Mueller, the lead prosecutor, made several references in his opening statement to church terminology and practices in explaining why two of the accusers delayed reporting to the police. “They can declare you a suppressive person,” Mueller said. “You are essentially an enemy of the church. Your friends, your parents — if you have children who are part of the church — they all have to detach from you. Essentially you lose everything.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Attorneys are set to give opening statements in the Danny Masterson rape trial on Tuesday, as a jury is expected to be chosen by mid-morning. Over the last week, the initial pool of 225 potential jurors has been narrowed to about 85. On Monday, the defense and the prosecution began to question the potential jurors in open court — in what is called voir dire — after an initial round of screening from Judge Charlaine Olmedo. One of the key questions has been how much the potential jurors know about Scientology. Masterson is a Scientologist and each of his three accusers was a Scientologist at the time of the alleged rape. The accusers — now all ex-Scientologists — have said that they delayed going to the police out of concern that they could be excommunicated.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The settlement that will allow production to resume on “Rust” has stirred complicated feelings among the film’s crew, with some saying they would not return to the project while others support the decision. The producers announced on Oct. 5 that they plan to resume production in January, more than a year after Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while preparing for a scene at a location near Santa Fe, N.M. The producers — including Baldwin — settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Hutchins’ widower, Matthew, and said they intend to complete the film to honor Hutchins’ memory.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Jury selection got underway on Tuesday in the case of Danny Masterson, the former “That ’70s Show” actor who is facing 45 years to life on three charges of rape. The selection process is expected to take about a week. The attorneys will ask the prospective jurors about their feelings on the #MeToo movement and the Church of Scientology, which will play a significant role in the trial. The defense is particularly concerned that jurors will come into court with a negative view of the church. “We have almost a perfect storm of prejudice in this case,” defense attorney Karen Goldstein said on Monday.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA on Monday called for the resignations of three Los Angeles council members and the president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, after the council president was caught on tape making racist and homophobic remarks. The actors’ union joined a chorus of outrage that followed the leak on Sunday of an hourlong conversation, in which Council President Nury Martinez disparaged indigenous Mexicans and made racist remarks about the three-year-old Black son of a fellow council member. “Racism and homophobia have no place in the labor movement, government or society,” the actors’ union said in a statement. “All leaders must be held to a higher standard that centers on anti-racism and immediately calls out discrimination and hateful comments in the moment.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer At a pre-trial hearing in the Danny Masterson rape case last week, Judge Charlaine Olmedo laid down a basic ground rule. “This is not going to become a trial on Scientology,” she said. But the role of the church will nevertheless be a key theme in the trial, which begins with jury selection on Tuesday. Masterson, the 46-year-old former star of “That ’70s Show,” is facing three charges of forcible rape and a possible sentence of 45 years to life. Masterson is a Scientologist, and all three of his accusers were members of the church at the time of the alleged assaults. Olmedo has indicated that she will allow some testimony about Scientology and its practices, especially to the extent that it helps explain why the accusers delayed going to the police — for two of them, by more than a decade.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The second trial of Harvey Weinstein will get underway this week in a Los Angeles courtroom, in a case that figures to be more sprawling and complex than his first trial in New York. The trial is expected to last up to two months, as Weinstein faces testimony from nine sexual assault accusers — up from six in New York. Jury selection begins on Monday and is expected to take at least two weeks, as both sides seek to screen out jurors who may be prejudiced by ubiquitous pre-trial publicity. Weinstein, 70, is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of rape and sexual assault two years ago. The New York Court of Appeals has agreed to hear his case, but a conviction in Los Angeles — where he faces up to 140 years behind bars — could effectively guarantee that he never goes free.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The settlement of the wrongful death lawsuit in the “Rust” shooting will have no effect on the district attorney’s consideration of criminal charges, the D.A.’s office said Wednesday. The producers of “Rust,” including Alec Baldwin, announced a settlement on Wednesday morning with Matthew Hutchins, the husband of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The producers intend to resume production of the film in January. “The proposed settlement announced today in Matthew Hutchins’ wrongful death case against ‘Rust’ movie producers, including Alec Baldwin, in the death of Halyna Hutchins will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies’ ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case,” said Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the D.A.’s office. “While civil suits are settled privately and often involve financial awards, criminal cases deal only in facts. If the facts and evidence warrant criminal charges under New Mexico law then charges will be brought. No one is above the law.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Kevin Spacey and Anthony Rapp are set to square off in a federal courtroom on Thursday, in the first of four #MeToo trials to get underway this month in New York and Los Angeles. The other three trials involve producer Harvey Weinstein, director Paul Haggis and actor Danny Masterson. The four cases — two civil, two criminal — each involve at least one sexual assault allegation against a once-powerful celebrity whose career was badly damaged, if not destroyed, in the court of public opinion. Coming five years after the #MeToo movement began, the trials will involve similar themes — power imbalances in the entertainment industry, the dynamics of sexual assault, the reliability of memories, and the nature of due process.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Danny Masterson’s lawyer warned on Monday that TV ads in the race for Los Angeles mayor could inflame hostility toward the Church of Scientology, making it harder for Masterson to receive a fair trial. Masterson, the former “That ’70s Show” star, is scheduled to go on trial next week on three charges of forcible rape. Masterson is a member of the Church of Scientology, and the church and its processes are likely to figure in the trial. The church has also become an issue in the mayor’s race. Last week, Rick Caruso began running an ad attacking Karen Bass for praising Scientology during a speech in 2010. The ad includes a quote referring to the church as a “ruthless global scam.” Bass responded by saying that she “absolutely condemn(s) their practices.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Hollywood gathered Sunday to pay tribute to Bert Fields, the legendary lawyer who was in the middle of high profile battles spanning several decades. Fields died in August at the age of 93. Among those paying their respects were Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dustin Hoffman and Michael Ovitz, who each recalled him as a loyal friend. Elaine May and Tom Cruise also recorded video tributes that were played for the audience at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Cruise, a longtime client of Fields, remembered him as “a person who I knew I could always count on.” “I think we all know how valuable that is in this world — when someone says they’re going to do something and they actually do it,” Cruise said. “I’m just very grateful to him.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The entertainment industry’s COVID protocols will stay in place for now, as the unions announced an extension on Friday night. The protocols, which have been in place for two years, were set to expire on Friday night. The industry unions — including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and the Directors Guild of America — have been negotiating an update to the rules with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “The current Agreement, which was previously scheduled to expire today, Sept. 30, will remain in place until a new Agreement is reached,” the unions said in a joint statement.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Human Rights Campaign has agreed to accept a contribution from the Walt Disney Co., months after rejecting it at the height of the “Don’t Say Gay” controversy. The move comes as Disney continues to try to heal the damage done by its response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which restricts classroom instruction on LGBTQ identity. Disney initially declined to take a public position on the measure, leading to a major backlash among its employees. As the furor mounted, CEO Bob Chapek announced that the company would oppose the law and make a $5 million donation to HRC and other gay rights organizations. But HRC rejected the money, saying it first wanted to see the company “build on their public commitment” by working closely with LGBTQ organizations.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A judge has denied Bill Cosby’s motion for a new trial in the case of Judy Huth, who accused him of sexually assaulting her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16 years old. In a ruling issued Tuesday evening, Judge Craig D. Karlan rejected Cosby’s arguments that the trial had been unfair and that Huth had not proved her case. Cosby’s spokesman said that he will appeal. A jury found Cosby liable in June for assaulting Huth and ordered him to pay $500,000 to compensate for her psychological harm. Huth testified that Cosby brought her and a friend to the Playboy Mansion in 1975, a few days after meeting them at a public park. She told the jury that Cosby got her alone in a bedroom, tried to put his hand down her pants, and then pulled down his sweatpants and forced her to masturbate him.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer MoviePass was founded on a lie, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a complaint filed on Monday night. The company introduced its $9.95-a-month, all-you-can-watch subscription plan in August 2017. According to the complaint, executives Theodore Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe knew that the offer was just a “marketing gimmick” and that the price was unsustainably low. But in public, they claimed that they had done rigorous market testing and determined they could turn a profit. In fact, they had done no testing, the SEC said. Asked by Variety if the company would eventually have to raise its prices, Farnsworth said, “The answer is no.” Critics, he went on, “don’t understand our business model.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Netflix dismissed a copyright lawsuit on Friday that it had filed against the creators of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.” The court filing did not indicate whether the streaming service had reached a settlement with Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow, the creators of the musical. However, the pair had earlier canceled a performance of the musical at Royal Albert Hall in London, which was to take place this week. Netflix sued in July, alleging that Barlow and Bear had infringed on its copyrights by putting on a for-profit stage show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The service argued that their conduct “stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A judge ruled on Friday that director Paul Haggis will be allowed to argue at his upcoming civil trial that the Church of Scientology is behind a rape allegation against him. Haggis is accused of raping publicist Haleigh Breest after a premiere in New York in January 2013. She sued him in 2017, and the case is set to go to trial next month. Haggis has claimed that the encounter was consensual, and that rape charge came in retaliation for his decision to leave the church and to become a vocal critic of it. Breest’s attorneys sought to block Haggis from pursuing that defense at the trial, saying it is nothing more than “speculative fantasy,” and that Breest and her other witnesses have no connection to the church. But her ruling on Friday, Judge Sabrina Kraus allowed Haggis to raise the theory.