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The Misquote Heard 'Round the Web Back in 2022, during Variety’s 'Actors on Actors' series, Jennifer Lawrence added a bold- if inaccurate- claim to her résumé: that she was the first woman to lead an action movie. “Nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie,” she said, seated across from Viola Davis. She was swiftly dragged across the internet, from Fox News segments to YouTube takedowns, with seemingly every outlet eager to remind her just how wrong she was. In a follow-up with 'The Hollywood Reporter', Lawrence clarified she had simply misspoken- nervous in the presence of a “living legend,” Viola Davis. Honestly, fair. I wouldn’t be able to string two words together if I was sitting across from arguably the greatest actress of her generation. And in a way, something positive did come out of the backlash: a renewed spotlight on...

Farhoud Meybodi is launching Ritual Arts, a new production company, and has secured a first-look deal with Wayfarer Studios, the independent studio co-founded by Justin Baldoni and Steve Sarowitz. The company will focus on storytelling that inspires culture change through purpose-driven television and film.

An award-winning writer, director, and executive producer, Meybodi recently worked on “My Last Days,” a docuseries about people living with a terminal illness that is currently in Season 5 on the CW Network. Meybodi previously co-founded Wayfarer Entertainment with Ahmed Musiol and Justin Baldoni, and the trio has teamed up on a variety of commercials, films and television shows. Meybodi is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Television Academy, and is also a board member of the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood Bureau.

“During these divisive times, it’s critical that we, the creative community, break free from our echo chambers and...

Rosanna Arquette, Rose McGowan, Alyssa Milano and Idina Menzel are among dozens supporting those accusing Russell Simmons of rape and sexual misconduct in the documentary “On the Record.”

The music mogul has denied the accusations. The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 25. The statement of support was organized by Equality Now, UltraViolet and V-Day.

“It takes great courage for any survivors of sexual assault to come forward, especially publicly,” the statement said. “We admire the bravery of all of the Russell Simmons’ survivors and the #silencebreakers who stepped up to share their story in the @OnTheRecordDoc. We are unequivocally united in supporting the survivors in the film and all survivors of Russell Simmons. We want them to know: We believe you. We hear you. You deserve to be seen. #MeToo”

Other signers include Alysia Reiner, Evan Rachel Wood, Frances Fisher, Gina Belafonte, Gloria Steinem, Marisa Tomei and Thandie Newton.

More than 100 luminaries have signed a statement in support of the multiple women who have accused hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual assault. The allegations will be further explored this week with the world premiere of Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s “On the Record” at the Sundance Film Festival, a documentary that Oprah Winfrey recently exited as executive producer, thereby killing the film’s distribution setup with Apple TV+.

The list of individuals supporting the more-than-20 women who’ve accused Russell Simmons — such as former music executive Drew Dixon, whose accounts are detailed in the new film — include Rose McGowan, Alyssa Milano, Marisa Tomei, Gloria Steinem, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Liz Garbus, Idina Menzel, and Rosanna Arquette. See the full list below.

Organized by Equality Now, UltraViolet, and V-Day, the statement, which will be shared on social media, is as follows: “It takes great courage for any survivors...

Some of Hollywood’s leading gender equality activists will take part in the second annual Women’s Media Summit, including keynote speaker Dr. Stacy Smith, producer Fanshen Cox Digiovanni, and attorney Kalpana Kotaga — the co-creators of Hollywood’s “inclusion rider.” The summit will be held April 5-7 in Provincetown, Ma.

Smith, founder and director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the USC/Annenberg School of Journalism, first proposed the adoption of “inclusion riders” in Hollywood contracts back in 2014. But they remained largely unknown until Frances McDormand finished her best actress acceptance speech earlier this month by saying: “I have two words for you: inclusion rider.”

As conceived by Smith, who is widely regarded as one of the leading researchers and advocates for diversity in the entertainment industry, inclusion riders are addenda to employment contracts designed to create more equitable casting and hiring of behind-the-scenes workers.

Digiovanni, who is to head...

Caroline Heldman, an Occidental College associate professor and former Fox News contributor, penned an extensive account on Facebook about how Eric Bolling allegedly harassed her and other women who appeared on the network.

Update 8:18 Pm: Former Fox contributor Caroline Heldman wrote a lengthy and detailed post on Facebook about how Bolling allegedly sexually harassed her. She writes, "[Bolling] said he wanted to fly me out to New York for in-studio hits and to have 'fun.' He asked me to have meals with him on several occasions, but I found excuses not to go.” She adds “Once, he took me up to his office in New York, showed me his baseball jerseys, and in the brief time I was there, let me…...

Caroline Heldman, a former frequent on-air guest at Fox News, said a consultant who worked directly with the network’s late founder Roger Ailes sexually harassed her and bribed her with a job in exchange for sex. Ailes stepped down in disgrace last year amid various sexual harassment claims. Heldman is an associate professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles and made the claims against the former Ailes’ staffer in a written declaration that was published on Thursday by progressive website Mother Jones. She accuses veteran TV producer Woody Fraser of using “coded language (an ‘arrangement’) on three different.

After his abrupt exit from Fox News on Wednesday following sexual harassment allegations from multiple women, a Bill O’Reilly accuser is speaking out.

Caroline Heldman, an Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College, has known the former O’Reilly Factor host for nearly 10 years, often appearing on his show as a political commentator from 2008 to 2011.

“The first time I met him, one of the first things, if not the first thing, out of his mouth was to the effect of, ‘When I was in college, professors didn’t look like you,’ ” Heldman, 44, exclusively tells People. “That kind of set the tone of his,...

Title: Informant Music Box Films Director: Jamie Meltzer Screenwriter: Jamie Meltzer Cast: Brandon Darby, Scott Crow, Lisa Fithian, Caroline Heldman, Michael May, David Hanners Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 8/5/13 Opens: September 13, 2013 There’s a saying, “If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. And if you’re not conservative when you’re older, you have no brains.” People do tend to become gradually more conservative as the years roll by, but there are extremes. Think of Italy’s Benito Mussolini, a socialist in his youth, a fascist when that served him politically. On the other hand, think of the retired Israeli information- gathering, terrorist fighting Shin Bet (in [ Read More ]

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Sean Hannity got into a shout-fest Monday night with liberal Occidental College professor Caroline Heldman over the economy that was reminiscent of Bill O'Reilly's recent showdown with Alan Colmes. Hannity put forth the notion that Democrats, like MSNBC's Chris Matthews and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, were attempting to put a positive spin on the Obama economy and needed a "reality check."...