34 women sue Pornhub in sex abuse video, trafficking case

Nearly three dozen women have filed a lawsuit in California against adult video website Pornhub, accusing it and its parent company of knowingly profiting from footage depicting rape and sexual exploitation, including of minors.

Lawyers representing the 34 plaintiffs accuse the online giant -- one of the world's largest adult video websites -- of creating a teeming marketplace for child pornography and "every other form" of nonconsensual sexual content, and want the company to pay damages.

They accuse MindGeek, the controversial adult entertainment empire that runs Pornhub, of being a "classic criminal enterprise" with a business model based on exploiting non-consensual sexual content.

"This is a case about rape, not pornography," the complaint said, describing the website as "likely the largest non-regulatory repository of child pornography in North America and well beyond."

All but one of the plaintiffs, who reside both in the United States and abroad, wished to remain anonymous.

Fourteen said they were minors when they were filmed and should be considered "a victim of child sex trafficking".

Michael Bowe, a lawyer representing the women, told CBS News the court could order MindGeek to pay hundreds of millions to his clients.

Serena Fleites, the only plaintiff to be named, said that in 2014 she learned that "a nude, sexually explicit video" that her boyfriend had coerced her to make when she was only 13 years old had been uploaded to Pornhub without her consent.

The video remained online until the teen, posing as her mother, asked Pornhub to remove it.

Yet the video was not taken down for several weeks, the lawsuit said, and during that time it was downloaded and reuploaded by several different users, with each video requiring a fresh request to remove it.

The plaintiffs' lawyers accuse MindGeek of operating a "gaslighting campaign" online in a bid to discredit the victims, as well as making "threats of physical violence and death" against them.

They are also suing Visa Inc -- one of the world's largest payments processing companies -- for "knowingly" profiting from trafficking in providing merchant services to MindGeek.

Both Visa and Mastercard suspended processing payments for Pornhub in December, after a New York Times article accused the site of hosting illegal content, including child pornography and rape videos.

According to the suit, MindGeek owns more than 100 pornographic sites, including Pornhub, RedTube, Tube8 and YouPorn, and sees some 3.5 billion visits each month.

Montreal-based MindGeek described the suit's accusation that it is running a "criminal enterprise" as "utterly absurd, completely reckless and categorically false," according to US media.

Pornhub, which claims 130 million visitors a day, has denied allegations of trafficking and announced a series of measures to combat illegal content.

Agence France-Presse

Director James Gunn fired from 'Guardians 3' over old tweets

LOS ANGELES — James Gunn was fired Friday as director of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" because of old tweets that recently emerged where he joked about subjects like pedophilia and rape.

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn announced the removal.

"The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him," Horn said in a statement.

Gunn has been writer and director of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise from the start, taking an obscure Marvel Comics title about a group of multicolored misfits and turning it into a space opera decked with comedy and retro music that made Chris Pratt a major movie star. Through two installments the franchise has brought in more than $1.5 billion in global box office.

Gunn apologized for the old tweets Friday after his firing, echoing similar sentiments he expressed on Twitter a day earlier.

"My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don't reflect the person I am today or have been for some time," Gunn said in a statement. "Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then."

Gunn's current Twitter account is heavy on left-leaning politics, and some on the right with whom he'd sparred found and promoted the tweets from 2008 to 2011 that led to his firing.
Disney did not announce a replacement director for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Gunn had been writing the script and it's not clear how far along he was or whether new writers will be brought in. Marvel Studios has not announced a release date, though Gunn had said 2020 was the target.

Marvel has staked a lot on the third "Guardians" movie. Gunn has said the film would end the current iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy and launch another decade, or more, of Marvel films.

In addition to Pratt, the "Guardians" franchise stars Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista, and features the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.

The characters also were an essential part of this year's Disney and Marvel megahit "Avengers: Infinity War."

Fans at Comic-Con in San Diego said they disapproved of Gunn's tweets, but were mixed on how they felt about his firing.

"It's unfortunate to hear and makes me question whether I would see a movie like that even without his creative involvement," Mario Panighetti of Mountain View, California said.

Joanne Renda of Toronto said, "It's never really funny to joke about that stuff, but copping to it is the first step. Everyone deserves a second chance. It's kind of crazy our culture today, firing people right away."

source: philstar.com

Kesha accuses music producer of rape, abuse in dueling lawsuits

LOS ANGELES | Pop singer Kesha and music producer Dr. Luke unleashed dueling lawsuits on Tuesday trading accusations of abuse and extortion as the “Die Young” singer says she wants out of her record contract with the hit-making producer.

Kesha, 27, whose legal name is Kesha Sebert, has accused Dr. Luke in a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court of sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

The lawsuit accuses Dr. Luke, whose legal name is Lukasz Gottwald, of forcing Kesha to “take drugs and alcohol in order to take advantage of her sexually while she was intoxicated.”

The 41-year-old producer behind hits for singers such as Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus responded with his own lawsuit in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan accusing Kesha and her mother, Pebe Sebert, of defamation, breach of contract and contractual interference.

The lawsuit accuses Kesha and her mother of orchestrating a campaign to publish “false and shocking accusations” against Dr. Luke to extort him into letting the singer out of her contract.

“Kesha’s lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of her bad and offensive acts,” Dr. Luke’s attorney, Christine Lepera said in a statement.

Kesha, who has scored No. 1 U.S. hits “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R” that Dr. Luke helped write and produce, has been under contract to record for Dr. Luke’s music production company and record label since 2005.

Kesha’s lawsuit accuses Dr. Luke of drugging and raping the singer and threatening her career if she told anyone about it, among other lurid accusations about the producer’s personal life.

“This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for 10 years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke,” the singer’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said in a statement.

Geragos said Dr. Luke’s suit “has no basis in fact, the law or reality.”

Kesha’s lawsuit also names Dr. Luke’s companies as defendants. It demands unspecified damages and to void Kesha’s current contracts with Dr. Luke.

It alleges the producer’s insults to Kesha’s appearance caused her to develop bulimia nervosa. She finished a more than two-month treatment for the condition in March.

The lawsuit says physicians at the rehab clinic determined that Kesha continuing to work with Dr. Luke would be “life threatening.”

In addition to Kesha and her mother, Dr. Luke’s lawsuit names the singer’s manager and management company. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and unspecified damages.

source: interaksyon.com