Free Republic

Imagine it's late 2011. The world just found out about Jerry Sandusky, former assistant Penn State football coach who would be convicted of repeatedly raping children in 2012. Penn State higher-ups, in an attempt to turn the focus of the scandal away from the school, decide to turn an annual banquet into a celebration of those fighting child rape. They call up head coach Joe Paterno. They call up President Graham Spanier. They call up athletic director Tim Curley. All of them give long, brave speeches about the evils of sexual exploitation of children resulting in rousing applause from all...

Four years ago, the actor Alec Baldwin temporarily deleted his Twitter account after unleashing a homophobic rant against a Daily Mail writer, referring to him as a “toxic little queen.” ....Today, Baldwin has vowed once again to take a break from Twitter after a strange meltdown. It all began yesterday, when the 30 Rock actor sat down for an interview with PBS Newshour to discuss the mounting sexual assault allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and Baldwin’s good pal, James Toback. ...McGowan tweeted out a link to the video interview with the message, “Told you everyone knew. No one cared....

Finally, the men of Hollywood are speaking about the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Perhaps they should reconsider. George Clooney, who smugly comports himself as Hollywood’s moral authority, appeared on “Today” to voice his outrage. Keeping to his earlier, flimsy assertion that he knew next to nothing, Clooney then cast blame upon rumors of actress friends Weinstein bragged about bedding (“I didn’t really necessarily believe that, because to believe that would [be to] believe some bad things about actresses that I know and like, and I didn’t really buy into that”); the staffers who escorted actresses to meet with Weinstein; those who...

Last year NBC News was scooped on one of the biggest stories of the year -- Donald Trump talking about groping women on NBC's "Access Hollywood" tape. The Washington Post published it first. Now NBC is under scrutiny for another missed opportunity. Reporter and NBC contributor Ronan Farrow pursued leads about Harvey Weinstein's misconduct for months, but NBC passed on the chance to publish his story.

RUSH: Of course the Harvey Weinstein situation — folks, this is big. It’s not just about a Hollywood mogul and his misbehavior. As is always the case, it’s a teachable moment and it is filled with life lessons for people about liberalism. And I’m gonna tell you where all of this really began. It all began in 1969 at Chappaquiddick, when Ted Kennedy was allowed to get away with manslaughter at all costs. Now, in 1969 modern era feminism was just being unrolled, and at the time this happened it really wasn’t established yet. It had some high school girls...

...(But so is Trump) • Lorne Michaels was filmed leaving SNL's after-party in New York at about 4am • When he was asked why the show avoided the Weinstein controversy, he smiled and responded: 'It's a New York thing' • An audience member has since revealed the cast did try out a Weinstein joke during a dress rehearsal but it was cut before it went to air • The joke apparently got a big reaction from the audience • SNL regularly pokes fun of President Donald Trump who hails from New York

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels has seemingly admitted the show chose not to roast Harvey Weinstein because the embattled film heavyweight is from New York. When Michaels was asked as he was leaving SNL's after-party at 4am why the show avoided the Weinstein controversy, the producer smiled and responded: 'It's a New York thing.' The show had earlier been criticized for not mentioning the sexual harassment allegations leveled against Weinstein this week.

He prowled the streets of Manhattan looking for attractive young women, usually in their early 20s, sometimes college students, on occasion a high schooler. He approached them in Central Park, standing in line at a bank or drug store or at a copy center while they worked on their resumes. His opening line had a few variations. One went: “My name’s James Toback. I’m a movie director. Have you ever seen ‘Black and White’ or ‘Two Girls and a Guy’?” Probably not. So he’d start to drop names. He had an Oscar nomination for writing the Warren Beatty movie “Bugsy.”...