Category: BUSINESS

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! WITNESS Presents: True Crime

Constructors: Amie Walker and Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• IRAN (17D: “Holy Spider” setting) Holy Spider is a 2022 Persian-language movie. The crime thriller was co-written and directed by Ali Abbasi and is based on the true story of a serial killer who killed at least 16 women in IRAN from 2000-2001. The movie tells the story of a fictional journalist investigating the serial killer.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• BAA (8A: “I’m a sheep”) I’m such a kid at heart that I will never get tired of this type of clue.
• ELI (13A: Retired QB Manning) ELI Manning is a former quarterback. He played 16 seasons with the NFL’s New York Giants. During his career, he led the Giants to two Super Bowl victories, and was named MVP in both of those years (2008 and 2012).
• AARP (14A: Org. with “The Perfect Scam” podcast) AARP is an organization focusing on issues that affect those 50 years of age or older (although one can join AARP at any age). The Perfect Scam is AARP’s weekly podcast that highlights the biggest scams and tells the stories of victims of fraud.
• ESTADO (15A: Chihuahua, por ejemplo) Chihuahua is one of Mexico’s 31 states. It is located in northern Mexico and borders the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. The clue is in Spanish (“por ejemplo” means “for example”), which alerts solvers the answer will be a Spanish word – “ESTADO” is Spanish for “state.”
• MASALA (22A: Garam ___ (Indian spice blend)) The composition of the South Asian spice blend garam MASALA varies by region, but may contain bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, mace, cardamom, cumin, coriander, and/or chili powder.
• ARETHA (48A: “Think” singer Franklin) “Think” is a 1968 song by ARETHA Franklin (1942-2018). She rerecorded the song for the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. She played Mrs. Murphy in the movie, and sang the song to persuade her husband not to join the band.
• HERE’S MY TWO CENTS (5D: “If you ask me…”) This is a great vertical grid spanner that crosses through all three of the horizontal theme answers. It occurs to me that “HERE’S MY TWO CENTS” could be a tagline for “Off the Grid.”
• ALEC (6D: Oscar winner Guinness) ALEC Guinness (1914-2000) won an Academy Award (aka Oscar) for Best Actor in 1958 for The Bridge on the River Kwai. In 1980, he received an Academy Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement.
• BAD SANTA (8D: 2003 holiday crime film) BAD SANTA is a 2003 movie starring Bille Bob Thornton (as the title character) and Tony Cox. They portray professional thieves who get seasonal jobs each year as SANTA and an elf and then rob the shopping mall on Christmas Eve.
• UV TATTOO (31D: Body art that might be visible only when exposed to blacklight) UV TATTOOs are created using special dyes that fluoresce under a blacklight. These TATTOOS are nearly invisible under normal light.
• ISSA (33D: “Barbie” star Rae) In the 2023 movie Barbie, ISSA Rae portrays President Barbie.
• ADELE (49D: “Skyfall” singer) ADELE’s song “Skyfall” is the theme song for the 2012 James Bond movie of the same name.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• PUBLIC RECORDS (18A: Documents that might start off some journalistic investigations)
• INTERACTIVE MAPS (33A: Tools that allow users to explore crime statistics in detail)
• HIDDEN TRUTHS (52A: Underlying motives that might be exposed by investigative journalism)

WITNESS PRESENTS: TRUE CRIME: Each of the three theme answers pertains to TRUE CRIME investigations and investigative journalism.

In addition to the three main theme answers, there are a lot of other answers that relate either directly or tangentially to crime and criminal investigations.

• SOIL (38A: Some trace evidence examined by forensic geologists)
• ERS (64A: Hosp. sections seen in some documentary reenactments)
• ORAL (3D: Like some testimony at trial)
• BAD SANTA (8D: 2003 holiday crime film)
• ARM (9D: Long ___ of the law)
• SEPIA (11D: Retro tint in a documentary)
• IRAN (17D: “Holy Spider” setting)
• ROB (19D: Pull off a heist)
• NOIR (34D: ___ fiction (crime subgenre))
• ERR (37D: Mislabel some evidence, say)
• CASES (47D: Cold ___ (unsolved crimes))
• ROPE (54D: Clue weapon)

It’s really impressive how much theme content Amie and Amanda were able to fit into this puzzle. If you are interested in investigative journalism, particularly criminal investigations, you might be interested in a new USA TODAY service. WITNESS is a new true-crime collection backed by investigative journalism. Explore everything from in-depth investigative stories, videos and edge-of-your seat podcasts, from 200+ newsrooms across the country all in one place. Thank you, Amie and Amanda, for this interesting puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

Khloe Kardashian will take your closure, and raise you disgust.

During the Season 6 finale of “The Kardashians,” the youngest sister of the Kardashian clan voiced repulsion at the news that her ex-husband Lamar Odom had a sex doll made in her likeness.

In the episode, Kardashian, 40, said Odom, 45, sounded “so demonic and unwell” after reading an article saying he thinks the doll is “perfect because he can do whatever he wants with her sexually.”

Odom confirmed the sex doll purchase on the “We’re Out of Time” podcast in November, saying “they’re going to make it to look like” Kardashian while admitting this was “sick.”

Rather than feeling “flattered,” Kardashian said this only “validates just how different we are and how much we’ve grown apart,” adding, “It’s creepy and it’s weird, but I’m not hurt by it. That’s more his journey. It’s just more weird and gross.”

Kardashian also said she found out about the doll the “same way any of us found out: It was on the internet,” though she wasn’t “sure why that’s something we are publicly talking about.”

The comments came after Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner, raised the subject while the two were traveling in a car together. When Kardashian remarked that Odom “DMs me the strangest” videos, Jenner asked, “Is it him with your blow-up doll?” But in a confessional, Jenner said one of her New Year’s resolutions is to be “kinder and not so judgmental,” so she declared, “Lamar, if a blow-up doll makes you happy, honey, you go get it.”

The moment follows a highly-anticipated reunion of the ex-spouses, which aired earlier this season, and saw Kardashian and Odom rehash their 2016 divorce, Odom’s struggles with addiction and his life-threatening overdose in 2015.

Khloé Kardashian punched Lamar Odom in the face, more revelations from bombshell ‘Kardashians’

The on-camera catch-up, which Kardashian initially called “very awkward,” gave Odom the opportunity to voice regret.

“I will be blessed if I can ever find someone even close to the way you held me down,” he said. “How being around you made me want to be my best self. I just wish I would’ve shown that. Because you’re worth it.”

Kardashian was less complimentary, telling producers she saw the moment less as a chance to bury the hatchet and more to return his things and enter her 40s “fresh and free.”

“Addiction is a disease,” she said of Odom, who struggled with substance abuse throughout their marriage. “(But) the truth is no one can save someone from that other than that own individual.

“I tried countless times to save Lamar from that,” she added. “I almost lost myself, and I probably did at some points, trying to save him.”

Khloé Kardashian had ‘trust’ issues after therapist leaked ‘private’ details to tabloids

Kardashian first filed for divorce in 2013 before refiling in 2016, nearly half a year after Odom’s overdose. She recalled they’d “left on the worst … of terms.” “Last time I saw you, you couldn’t speak,” she told her ex-husband.

Odom also spoke with ex-mother-in-law Jenner in a FaceTime call that was as emotional if not more so than his reunion with Kardashian.

“I don’t even know if I can look Kris in the face,” he initially said before telling her “I’m so much better now. I’m here with the beauty here of my life, with the love of my life here, praying for her to forgive me.”

Jenner later voiced regret to producers over both Odom’s addiction struggles and the effect they had on her daughter.

“For her to have the strength to do that, I’m very proud of her. I’m proud of Lamar for coming because that had to be hard for him to walk in,” Jenner said.

“I feel a lot of forgiveness for him and obviously love him and felt bad that he had this addiction that he couldn’t control,” she continued. “And I was devastated for my child (for whom) that was the love of her life. And she thought that was her happily ever after, and it didn’t work out that way for them.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental and/or substance use disorders, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free and confidential treatment referral and information service at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It’s available 24/7 in English and Spanish (TTY: 1-800-487-4889).

Contributing: KiMi Robinson

Jillian Shriner, bestselling author and wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, was struck in an officer-involved shooting Tuesday afternoon and is facing an attempted murder charge.

Jillian Shriner, known by her author name Jillian Lauren, was absentee booked for attempted murder, according to a press release issued by the Los Angeles Police Department Wednesday afternoon. Suspects who are hospitalized are often booked in absentia.

According to her Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department inmate record, Shriner’s bail is set at $1 million.

The shooting was connected to a hit-and-run incident on the 134 Freeway, which led to a hunt for three suspects in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, located in northeast Los Angeles County, according to the LAPD’s press release. Officers allegedly tracked one suspect to the backyard of a house and “observed a female, later identified as 51-year-old Jillian Shriner, in the yard of a neighboring residence armed with a handgun.” Police confirmed she was standing in her own backyard and also was not involved in the hit-and-run.

Officers claim that, despite multiple orders to drop the nine-millimeter handgun, Shriner “refused,” then “pointed the handgun at the officers.” In an ensuing officer-involved shooting, “Shriner was struck by gunfire and fled into her residence,” per the LAPD.

She allegedly later left her home, was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for a “non-life-threatening gunshot wound.”

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office does not have information on Shriner’s case as of Wednesday evening, a spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Shriners’ representatives for comment.

The investigation into the case is “ongoing” and in preliminary stages, the LAPD said. One hit-and-run suspect was detained, cited and released by California Highway Patrol, while two other suspects remain at large.

Jillian and Scott Shriner, who were married in 2005, have two sons. Jillian Shriner, who describes herself on her website as a “writer, storyteller, adoption advocate, rock-wife” and “true-crime expert,” wrote the New York Times bestselling memoir “Some Girls: My Life in a Harem” and “Behold the Monster: Confronting America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer.”

Weezer is scheduled to perform Saturday at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Southern California’s Coachella Valley.

(This story was updated to include video.)

Every episode of “Survivor” ends with a player getting voted out, but in a twist tonight, there were two.

The seventh episode of Season 48, titled “Survivor Smack Talk,” had remaining players deal with the ramifications of finally merging and living together on one beach as the game shifted from a team-focused endeavor to a more individual one.

At the challenge, Jeff Probst, the longtime host of the reality competition show on air since 2000, revealed a twist: There would be two players winning individual immunity, and two tribal councils. Thus, two players would have their torches snuffed, ending their $1 million dream.

Here’s who was voted off the island this week.

Who went home on ‘Survivor’ Season 48, Episode 7?

The challenge’s premise was simple: Players had to use their grip strength to hold up a bucket attached to a rope containing 25% of their pre-game weight. If they dropped the bucket and shattered a tile below, they were out.

Players were divided into two teams, and Probst revealed another twist. The last person standing from each team would win individual immunity, and the last person standing overall would win peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the tribe, and more importantly, the second slot at tribal council. That meant the player voted out would be the first to join the jury.

One by one, players dropped out of the challenge until only Joe Hunter and David Kinne remained in an epic showdown lasting nearly an hour, which broke the challenge’s previous record held by Season 43 winner Mike Gabler. David outlasted Joe, winning the food reward and the coveted second tribal council.

Back at the beach, players in Joe’s group were debating whether to send either Mitch Guerra or Sai Hughley home, seeing Mitch’s inspiring story as a threat and Sai’s strong personality as a hinderance. Knowing he was potentially on the chopping block, Mitch used his “block-a-vote” advantage, blocking Sai’s vote and ensuring she would not write his name down.

His plan worked, and Sai, a 30-year-old marketing professional living in Simi Valley, California, became the first of two players voted out this episode.

Before the second tribal council, players in David’s group debated between either voting out Cedrek McFadden or Shauhin Davari. In an attempt to break up a solid alliance, Kyle Fraser and Kamilla Karthigesu attempted to plant a story to David that Shauhin had found a hidden immunity idol, which he had not.

Though David began to distrust Shauhin, it was Cedrek who received the majority of votes at tribal council, and the 46-year-old surgeon living in Greenville, South Carolina, became the second person voted out this episode and the first member of the jury who will vote on the eventual winner.

‘Survivor’ Season 48 cast: Meet the 18 castaways hoping to win $1 million in Fiji

Who went home last week on ‘Survivor’ Season 48?

Seven players competed in the immunity portion of the challenge, including Sai, who had won the advantage. Contestants had to balance a ball on a circular platform connected to a pole they were holding, and had to gradually add more length to the pole as time went on. One by one players dropped until Kyle Fraser was the last man standing, winning himself the first individual immunity of the season.

At the merge feast with the seven winning players, Sai threw out Eva Erickson’s name as a contender for going home, because of the well-known fact that Eva had an idol.

Others, turned off by Sai’s aggressive gameplay and blunt personality, started making plans to vote her out, while others began gunning for Charity, also because of her strong style of gameplay.

There was some hope that Eva would play her individual immunity idol, flushing it from the game, but she didn’t take the bait and no votes were cast against her.

In the end, Charity, a 34-year-old flight attendant living in St. Petersburg, Florida, received the majority of votes and became the sixth person voted out of the game.

How to watch ‘Survivor’ Season 48

Season 48 of “Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET / PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+ for subscribers of the Paramount+ with Showtime plan.

Episodes can be streamed the next day for subscribers of any Paramount+ plan.

The previous 47 seasons of the show are all available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription.

Watch every season of Survivor on Paramount+

Who is the host of ‘Survivor’?

Jeff Probst has hosted all 48 seasons of the show, which has been on the air since 2000. He also serves as an executive producer.

‘Survivor’ 50: Jeff Probst talks casting all-stars season, whether he’d play ‘Traitors’

Who won ‘Survivor’ Season 47?

Rachel Lamont won Season 47 of “Survivor,” in a 7-1-0 vote against Sam Phalen, who got one vote, and Sue Smey.

Lamont, a 34-year-old graphic designer from Southfield, Michigan, was originally on the Gata tribe and became the fifth woman ever to win four individual Immunity Challenges in a season.

Where is ‘Survivor’ filmed?

While “Survivor” previously took contestants to remote locations around the world, from the Pearl Islands to the Philippines and Guatemala, the show has been filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji for the past 15 seasons.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Jennifer Lopez is returning to her musical roots after a canceled tour and subsequent divorce from actor Ben Affleck last year.

The “Hustlers” actress will host and perform during the American Music Awards on May 26, or Memorial Day, which will air on CBS. “Good things come in threes
JLO. AMA. CBS. On 5.26.25,” the singer wrote on Instagram, with a teaser promo video.

The news comes a decade after her hosting debut in 2015.

Now, the multi-hyphenate star will take the reins of the awards show again after first teasing the possibility during last fall’s “American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special.”

The gig arrives after a tumultuous year for the A-lister.

Last May, Lopez revealed in a note to fans that she was canceling her North American tour, writing she was “completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down.”

She added: Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary. I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again. I love you all so much. Until next time…”

Then, on Aug. 20, the star surprised fans again when she filed to divorce the “Good Will Hunting” alum Affleck in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court filings obtained by USA TODAY at the time.

The pair, who were previously engaged to each other in 2002 and later in 2021, delighted fans when they reunited after respective splits. It marks the second marriage for Affleck and the fourth for Lopez.

‘Oh, it was a summer’: Jennifer Lopez addresses divorce with cryptic IG post

Later this year, Lopez is slated to star in her first movie musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a buzzy reimagined version of 1985 movie of the same name and Tony Award-winning musical from 1993. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” is originally a 1976 novel written by Argentine author Manuel Puig, which depicts daily conversations between two cellmates in prison.

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY

When the railways ploughed into the centres of cities in the 19th century they left in their wake dark, sooty labyrinths of brick-encased tunnels, arches and vaults. Now these old, time-stained arches look almost like something from another civilisation.

Dirty, noisy, and often accessed via narrow alleyways, railway arches have been, for most of the modern era, cheap real estate, often occupied by businesses that we would also rather not see or hear: garages, workshops, wholesale markets, clubs, miscellaneous dodgy enterprises. But, akin to the Roman aqueducts, they have their own kind of grandeur.  

In Milan, Dropcity is a visionary reimagining of 40,000 sq m of railway infrastructure down the side of the city’s Centrale Station, along the Via Sammartini. It is created as a hub for making for those who struggle to afford studio rents in the world’s capital of design, together with a public exhibition, events and workshop space — and a drop-in design and technology lab for amateur enthusiasts. This month, 18 vaults, with a minimal white finish, new concrete floors and slick lighting, are welcoming visitors with an inaugural exhibition and events programme — an opening that dovetails with Milan Design Week. Twelve more vaults will be completed next year.

The idea is down to architect-entrepreneur Andrea Caputo. In 2018, Caputo embarked on a series of complex negotiations with both the municipality of Milan and Grandi Stazioni Retail, which managed the space. He had noticed a gap between the upscale but temporary spaces created for Milan’s design and fashion weeks, and the day-to-day world of the designers themselves. In some ways, it was understandable: “Why would [somebody rent their] building to designers,” he says, “when in a few days over fashion week or design week [they] can get the big brands to come in, and make as much money as [they] would from a whole year of rent to a studio?” Railway arches, he decided, were the solution — and a new opportunity. 

Milan has “the highest density of architects and designers in Europe: there are 12,000 architects practising here.” Caputo says. “But what is missing is the culture of doing things for yourself, a sense of making things. There are very few workshops and rent is expensive. This is an opportunity for us to get our hands dirty.”

Ironically, these historic vaults now look remarkably clean. Last year, they test-opened to the public during Milan’s design week: they were dark, raw and dirty, their brickwork and concrete stained by decades of use and neglect — a theatrical backdrop for high-tech machines and crisp new designs. “The last time the vaults were used,” Caputo says, “was as a fish market. And that was abandoned 40 years ago.”  

Today, they have been transformed into what Caputo refers to as “labs”. With 400 desks complete with ergonomic seating and monitors, as well as workshops, meeting rooms and drafting rooms, they are ready to welcome their first occupants. Alongside workshops for both high and low-tech craft are studios for photography, video and audio recording. There is also a materials library with products categorised in terms of environmental impact, and a study centre for upcycling.

The parade of arches is interconnected, so that exhibition visitors can weave through from one to the other, occasionally snaking back out to the street. A show on French architects Bruther, and one on the architecture of detention centres, are both on until the end of May. 

But Dropcity is more than this — it is effectively a new neighbourhood, promising to bring life to a street that was once a traffic-choked thoroughfare. Caputo’s team has also redesigned the public spaces, with a new cycle lane, paving and planting. The new, more leisurely pace allows walkers to take in the solid stone fronts and delicate wrought ironwork of the arches. It being Milan, there is of course a café, and a restaurant will be completed by autumn. 

Caputo shows me a map of the distribution of designers working in Milan. Unlike in almost any city I can think of, they are not concentrated in a single neighbourhood, a hipster enclave or a post-industrial quarter, but rather spread evenly all over the city. 

“Milan has some wonderful institutions, like the Triennale [museum of art and design],” Caputo says, “but the network is very disconnected, there is no daily exchange to provoke interactions.” Dropcity hopes to change that.  At its centre is a new public library of books about architecture and design, integrated with the city’s public library system. “There has never been such a thing,” he says.

What is missing in Milan is the culture of doing things for yourself, a sense of making things. There are few workshops and rent is expensive. This is an opportunity for us to get our hands dirty

Having managed to acquire the archive of renowned graphic designer and writer Italo Lupi (1934-2023) creator of, among other things, logos for Miu Miu and Fiorucci, Caputo also hopes this will be the start of an expanding design archive of international interest.

But who, I ask, has funded this huge venture? “Well,” he laughs, “me.” He is very far from an oligarch, though, he says, and what he means is that he has scraped together funding from various institutions including universities ETH Zurich, SCI-Arch LA and London’s Central Saint Martins. He does, I note, look a little tired. It seems a remarkable achievement. The next question, though, in this city in which design is elevated to a religion, is who is it for?

“It’s for everyone,” Caputo says. “We have workspaces set up for designers with double screens and large desks. But if people just want to use the library, they can. And we have access to very modern machines like five-axis CNC arms [for carving forms out of solid material] which designers or students can hire very cheaply — machines they would not have access to [otherwise].”

It is not just for professional designers. “It’s an absolutely public project,” he says. “You might be doing up your kitchen and you can rent workshop space here, cutting out surfaces or making cabinets. Monday to Friday, nine to five, it’s for professionals. At the weekends it’s for families and kids, encouraging them into design. There are ceramic workshops, screen printing, textile and glass labs. It’s all here.”

The diversity of users promises to make this a place of unexpected interactions and inspirations. There is much here that other cities could learn from: they are always dotted with unused or underused space. Perhaps it just takes an architect to spot them. And then an epic amount of vision, energy and collaboration to bring them back to life.  

dropcity.org

Edwin Heathcote is the FT’s architecture and design critic

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Harvey Weinstein appeared in court Wednesday for a pretrial conference ahead of a New York state court case that will rehash some of the defining accusations of the #MeToo era.

The disgraced Hollywood boss is headed to a retrial this month in legal proceedings that will largely mimic his original 2020 rape and assault state trial, with one additional charge based on an allegation from a woman who was not part of the first trial.

The retrial will cover two charges of assault and one of rape stemming from allegations by three different women: two who allege Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex in 2006 and one who alleges he raped her in 2013.

A New York appeals court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction last April, finding that the judge in his case erred by admitting “irrelevant” testimony from women whose allegations were not a part of the case. He was granted a retrial and pleaded not guilty in September.

In court Wednesday, prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office revealed Weinstein’s trial is expected to last four to six weeks, according to ABC News. Judge Curtis Farber said jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday, and the process may last up to five days.

Per ABC, Weinstein sat at the defense table in a wheelchair. The movie mogul, who has been hospitalized for various health issues amid his jail time, reportedly told a judge in January that he didn’t “know how much longer (he) can hold on.”

Weinstein will not be required to testify in his defense case, ABC News and The Associated Press report.

Judge Farber ruled that if he were to take the stand, Weinstein can be asked by prosecutors about his 2022 California rape conviction but not “the nature of the crimes or underlying facts.”

Harvey Weinstein asks for early retrial: Movie mogul is ‘holding on’ amid health issues

Harvey Weinstein attorneys, prosecutors argue over potential witness, trial start date

The legal redo’s kickoff, set for April 15, was challenged in court Wednesday due to a dispute over witness selection. In the months leading up to his retrial, Weinstein, who continues to serve a 16-year prison sentence stemming from his California rape conviction, urged a judge in New York to start his trial sooner amid health concerns.

According to the AP, Weinstein’s attorneys and prosecutors argued over the trial participation of an assistant district attorney. The unnamed lawyer allegedly took notes during a 2020 interview with the new Weinstein accuser, who was not part of the film producer’s first trial.

Weinstein’s legal team said they might call the assistant district attorney as a witness, per AP, as the defense said the accuser’s previous grand jury testimony about Weinstein using physical force on her differed from details shared in the 2020 interview.

Prosecutors said they would request to delay the trial by 60 days if an agreement on the notes dispute can’t be reached, AP reports.

Requesting a speedier retrial in late January, Weinstein said he was “holding on because I want justice for myself and because I want this to be over with,” according to The Associated Press and ABC News. Weinstein’s established medical problems include chronic myeloid leukemia (bone marrow cancer), diabetes, coronary artery disease, obstructive sleep apnea, thyroid issues, obesity, high blood pressure and chronic back pain.

Harvey Weinstein indicted in New York on additional charges

Judge allows rape accuser to use the word ‘force’ in testimony on Harvey Weinstein assault

Judge Farber, who previously ruled that an accuser of Weinstein’s was prohibited from using the word “force” in court testimony, said Wednesday that the woman can now use the language during Weinstein’s retrial, according to The Associated Press.

Per AP, Farber said a review of case law led him to the conclusion that it would be “unreasonable to put limits on how she describes what she says happened.”

In Weinstein’s 2020 sex crimes trial, former actress Jessica Mann testified he raped her in his New York hotel room in 2013. Her accusations led to the movie mogul being convicted of rape in the third degree, a verdict that was later overturned by a New York appeals court in April 2024.

Attorneys for Weinstein argued on Wednesday that letting the woman testify that he used physical force during their encounter at a Manhattan hotel could result in a disclosure to the jury about Weinstein’s acquittal of a first-degree rape charge in the 2020 trial, per AP.

In response, Farber said Weinstein’s legal team can challenge the woman’s account of Weinstein’s alleged rape on cross examination, adding that a jury instruction could also be introduced to clear up any confusion, AP reports.

Following his original conviction in the 2020 trial, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is being held in New York until the retrial is complete.

Weinstein’s cases in New York and California, which helped galvanize the #MeToo movement and spurred a reckoning in the entertainment industry, were part of a larger wave of allegations against the movie mogul.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Brendan Morrow, KiMi Robinson, Patrick Ryan and Maria Puente, USA TODAY