Entertainment
R. Kelly sentenced to 20 years for child sex crimes, but avoids lengthy jail add-on – National | Globalnews.ca
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber ordered that Kelly serve one year in prison following the racketeering sentence, imposed last year in New York.
The central question going into the sentencing in Kelly’s hometown of Chicago was whether Leinenweber would order the 56-year-old Grammy Award winner to serve the sentence simultaneously with or only after he completes the New York term. The latter would have been tantamount to a life sentence.
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Prosecutors had acknowledged that a lengthy term served only after the New York sentence could have erased any chance of Kelly ever getting out of prison alive. It’s what they asked for, arguing his crimes against children and lack of remorse justified it.
With Thursday’s sentence, though, Kelly will serve no more than 31 years. That means he will be eligible for release at around age 80, providing him some hope of one day leaving prison alive.
Leinenweber said at the outset of the hearing that he did not accept the government’s contention that Kelly used fear to woo underage girls for sex.
“The (government’s) whole theory of grooming, was sort of the opposite of fear of bodily harm,” the judge told the court. “It was the fear of lost love, lost affections (from Kelly)’. … It just doesn’t seem to me that it rises to the fear of bodily harm.”
Prosecutors say Kelly’s crimes against children and his lack of remorse justify the stiffer sentence.
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A calm Kelly spoke briefly at the start of the hearing, when the judge asked him if he had reviewed key pre-sentencing documents for any inaccuracies.
“Your honour, I have gone over it with my attorney,” Kelly said. “I’m just relying on my attorney for that.”
Two of Kelly’s accusers asked the judge to punish him harshly.
In a statement read aloud in court, a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” said she had lost her early aspirations to become a singer herself and her hopes for fulfilling relationships.
“I have lost my dreams to Robert Kelly,” the statement said. “I will never get back what I lost to Robert Kelly. … “I have been permanently scarred by Robert.”
The woman was a key witness for prosecutors during Kelly’s trial; four of his convictions are tied to her.
“When your virginity is taken by a pedophile at 14 … your life is never your own,” Jane’s statement read.
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Another accuser, who used the pseudonym “Nia,” attended the hearing and addressed Kelly directly in court. Speaking forcefully as her voice quivered, Nia said Kelly would repeatedly pick at her supposed faults while he abused her.
“Now you are here … because there is something wrong with you,” she said. “No longer will you be able to harm children.”
Jurors in Chicago convicted Kelly last year on six of 13 counts: three counts of producing child porn and three of enticement of minors for sex.
Kelly rose from poverty in Chicago to become one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. Known for his smash hit I Believe I Can Fly and for sex-infused songs such as Bump n’ Grind, he sold millions of albums even after allegations about his abuse of girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.
In pre-sentencing filings, prosecutors described Kelly as “a serial sexual predator” who used his fame and wealth to reel in, sexually abuse and then discard starstruck fans.
U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeannice Appenteng on Thursday urged the judge to set a longer sentence and keep Kelly in prison “for the rest of his life.”
Kelly’s abuse of children was all the worse, she said, because he “memorialized” his abuse by filming victims, including Jane. She told the court Kelly “used Jane as a sex prop, a thing” for producing pornographic videos.
In pre-hearing filings, Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, accused prosecutors of offering an “embellished narrative” in an attempt to get the judge to join what she called the government’s “bloodthirsty campaign to make Kelly a symbol of the #MeToo movement.”
Bonjean said Kelly has suffered enough, including financially. She said his worth once approached $1 billion, but that he “is now destitute.”
In court Thursday, Bonjean said Kelly will be lucky to survive his 30-year New York sentence alone. To give him a consecutive 25-year sentence on top of that “is overkill, it is symbolic,” she said. “Why? Because it is R. Kelly.”
She also argued that Kelly’s silence should not be viewed as a lack of remorse.
She said that while she advised Kelly not to speak because he continues to appeal his convictions and could face other legal action, “He would like to, he would like to very much.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
Entertainment
Queer photographer Evergon, witchy artists Fastwurms among Governor General winners | Globalnews.ca
Evergon, 77, said he was hopeful he’d receive one of the Artistic Achievement Awards eventually, but he’s “gobsmacked” that it’s actually happened.
Over the course of his career, which is now in its fifth decade, the artist born Albert Jay Lunt said he’s seen attitudes towards his work shift alongside the perception of the LGBTQ community.
“There’s pieces that were scandal 40 and 50 years ago, and there seems to be no scandal with those pieces at the moment,” he said in a phone interview ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
“Matter of fact, there has been no scandal.”
A retrospective of the Montreal artist’s work is on display at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City. The museum describes his art as audacious and carnal, exploring issues of sexuality and the body as they intersect with identity.
His portfolio features photos of men that can veer towards the pornographic, including nude self-portraits.
He also created a series of nude photographs of his octogenarian mother, which the Musée national des beaux-arts says “renews the representation of the aging body as few artists have done.”
“She was the one challenging me: ‘I want the photos made of me now. I’m 80, I want them now,’” he recalled. “It was so fun to have them commissioned by her, as opposed to me whining: ‘Can we do this?’”
His mother died several years ago, he said, and he regrets that she’s not here to witness this recognition of his work.
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This year’s list of eight winners also includes David Garneau, who won the Outstanding Contribution Award.
His paintings and drawings speak to the experience of Indigenous men in North America and explores his own Metis identity and family history.
Meanwhile, Grace Nickel has won the Saidye Bronfman Award, which recognizes the best in fine crafts.
Nickel is a sculptor who renders natural forms in ceramics and porcelain as a way of exploring whether we can return to a natural life.
Also among the six winners of the Artistic Achievement Award is Fastwurms, a poly-disciplinary collective composed of Kim Kozzi and Dai Skuse. The duo, who are based out of Mulmur, Ont., invoke images of witches in their performance art and immersive installations.
Germaine Koh, who was Vancouver’s first engineering artist in residence and who describes herself as an artist-organizer, was also recognized with an award.
Tim Whiten, whose work explores the experience of BIPOC people, was honoured with an award for a career that spans back to the 1960s.
Filmmakers Shannon Walsh and Nettie Wild also received awards.
Walsh’s portfolio includes five feature-length documentary films on topics that include labour rights and climate change.
Wild’s documentaries, meanwhile, take viewers behind the scenes of revolutions and social change.
Each winner will receive a $25,000 prize.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2023.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
Entertainment
Jonathan Majors, Marvel and ‘Creed III’ actor, arrested on assault charge in New York – National | Globalnews.ca
New York City police said that Majors, star of the recently released Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman. Police responded around 11 a.m. Saturday to a 911 call inside an apartment in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea.
“The victim informed police she was assaulted,” a spokesperson for the NYPD said in a statement. “Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.”
A representative for Majors denied any wrongdoing by the actor.
“He has done nothing wrong,” the representative said in an email to the AP on Saturday. “We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.”
On Sunday, a lawyer for Majors, Priya Chaudhry, came out more forcefully, saying Majors “is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows” and blamed the incident on the woman having “an emotional crisis.”
Chaudhry said there was evidence clearing Majors, including “video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.”
An email seeking additional comment from the NYPD based on Chaudhry’s assertions was not immediately returned Sunday.
Majors was arraigned Sunday on a complaint involving misdemeanour charges for assault and aggravated harassment, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said. A judge ordered Majors released on his own recognizance on Saturday night with a limited order of protection. He was scheduled to appear in court on May 8.
In the meantime, the U.S. Army suspended its TV ad campaign featuring Majors that was intended to target younger audiences. The Army Enterprise Marketing Office said in a statement Sunday that the U.S. Army is “deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest.”
“While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete,” the office said in a statement.
Majors is one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood. After breaking through in 2019′s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Majors has starred in Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall and last year’s Devotion. He also stars in the recent Sundance Film Festival entry Magazine Dreams, which Searchlight Pictures is to release in December.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
Entertainment
Jeremy Renner posts video update on treadmill after snowplow injury – National | Globalnews.ca
The update, shared to Renner’s social media accounts, comes nearly three months after the actor was severely injured in a snowplow accident on Jan. 1, 2023.
“I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will,” Renner, 52, wrote on Twitter. He added the hashtags “#mindful #intended #recovery.”
In the 15-second clip, Renner is seen walking on a high-tech treadmill. He explains to another man next to him that the machine allows him to walk on “only 40 per cent of my weight.” He said the treadmill is similar to walking with a cane.
On his Instagram story, Renner shared the same video with the same caption.
Renner’s snowplow accident left the actor with more than 30 broken bones after he was crushed by a seven-ton PistenBully snowcat. He sustained “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries” and underwent multiple surgeries.
At the time of the accident, Renner was trying to prevent a family member from being hit by the snowplow. Though the family member was saved from injury, Renner was pulled under the vehicle and crushed.
Last week, Renner shared a photo of the PistenBully snowcat, which had previously been in police custody, returning to his Reno, Nev., home.
“She’s finally making her way home!” Renner wrote next to a prayer hand emoji.
Renner, who plays the sharpshooting Marvel superhero Hawkeye, currently stars in the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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