During Sunday night’s telecast of the Golden Globes, the awards show took a moment to pay tribute to movie legend Kirk Douglas.

After a montage highlighting a long and successful career, the 101-year-old actor appeared on stage with his actress daughter-in-law, Catherine Zeta-Jones. They presented the award for Best Screenplay.

However, Twitter took issue with the moment. Not necessarily because it was difficult to understand the actor’s speech, but because Douglas is rumored to have raped actress Natalie Wood.

A 2012 Gawker article has been circulating of Robert Downey Jr. reviving the accusation that Douglas repeatedly raped Wood in a hotel room when she was an up and coming actress.

Here’s a sampling of the criticism on social media:

Kind of strange to see #kirkdouglas on that stage tonight. Just did some googling… He doesn’t necessary fit this year’s theme. #GoldenGlobes — Paul Wontorek (@PaulWontorek) January 8, 2018

Isn’t there some questionable alleged assault history with Kirk Douglas and Natalie Wood that makes this tribute somewhat… complicated… on this night? #GoldenGlobes — Heather & Jessica (@fuggirls) January 8, 2018

This is…not a good look to be honoring Kirk Douglas tonight at the #GoldenGlobes considering it’s built on the #WhyWeWearBlack #TIMESUP movements. — Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) January 8, 2018

Maybe not the night to honor Kirk Douglas https://t.co/5opXtw1zi8 — Kyle Bunch (@bunch) January 8, 2018

Yeah, the Kirk Douglas tribute makes me cringe. Look at Hollywood history to find out why. — Kristen Lopez (@Journeys_Film) January 8, 2018

A particularly bad year for a Kirk Douglas tribute #goldenglobes — Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) January 8, 2018

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com </s> Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas is celebrating his 100th birthday on Friday.

The screen veteran’s career spanned seven decades that included three Oscar nominations, as well as an honorary Academy Award in 1996 for being “a creative and moral force in the motion picture community”.

Best known for his roles in Spartacus (1960) and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954), Douglas earned his Oscar nominations for Best Actor in Champion (1949), The Bad And The Beautiful (1952), and Lust For Life (1956), but lost out on the trophy each time.

He was born Issur Danielovitch in 1916 in Amsterdam, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents Herschel and Bryna, who had left Chavusy in the Mogilev region of the Russian Empire, which is modern-day Belarus.

The Danielovitch family also had six daughters and lived in poverty with Herschel working as a ragman.

After enlisting in the US Navy in 1941, Issur changed his name to Kirk Douglas and was a communications officer in anti-submarine warfare during the second World War until he was medically discharged because of injuries in 1944.

Douglas had attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City on a special scholarship, where two of his classmates were Diana Dill, who became his first wife in 1943, and Lauren Bacall, who helped to launch his film career.

He and Dill had two sons together - actor Michael Douglas and producer Joel Douglas - before they divorced in 1951.

Douglas later married Anne Buydens in 1954 and they also had two sons together, producer Peter Douglas and actor Eric Douglas, who died in 2004.

He is known for his relationships with a series of famous women, including Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich.

Although he started his acting career in radio, theatre and television, his friendship with Bacall led to him landing his first film role when she recommended him to director Hal Wallis for 1946 film The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers.

He starred in a number of Westerns, including Along The Great Divide (1951) and Lonely Are The Brave (1962), as well as early Stanley Kubrick film Paths Of Glory in 1957.

Douglas has been credited with helping to put an end to the Hollywood Blacklist, where employment was denied to those working in the entertainment industry who had been accused of having communist ties, by publicly acknowledging former Communist Party member Dalton Trumbo as the screenwriter for Spartacus.

In 1957 he won a Best Actor Golden Globe for Lust For Life, and in 1968 won the Cecil B DeMille Award at the Golden Globes for his outstanding contribution to the world of entertainment.

He made a Broadway adaptation of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 1963, which he also starred in before passing on the film rights to son Michael, and directed two Westerns — 1975’s Posse, in which he starred with Bruce Dern, and the 1973 film Scalawag, where he also took a lead role.

Despite suffering a severe stroke in 1996 which affected his speech, Douglas went through years of voice therapy to get back into acting and starred in Diamonds in 1999 alongside Bacall, playing an old fighter recovering from a stroke.

The most recent film he appeared in was 2004’s Illusion, about an ailing movie director, and in 2008 he featured in TV movie Empire State Building Murders.

As an author, he has published 10 novels and memoirs, and his blog is hosted on the Huffington Post. </s> Actor Kirk Douglas, one of Hollywood’s few bona fide living legends, turns 100 years old today.

That is impressive enough — along with his remarkable contributions to American film history— but Douglas also joins a fairly long list of Hollywood actors who became centenarians and sometimes worked into their 90s.

Also on that list is Olivia de Havilland, who is still with us at 100 and living in Paris. Surviving at 102 is Norman Lloyd, who appeared in Trainwreck in 2015. Those who have passed away after hitting 100 include Luise Rainer, Gloria Stuart, Bob Hope, George Burns, Anne Sheridan and many others. Flamboyant actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor is currently 99 and will turn 100 in February.

Douglas, father of actor-producer Michael Douglas, reached his Hollywood superstardom in the 1950s and ‘60s. His personal power and resiliency allowed him to break studio contracts, set up an independent film production company and help end the odious Hollywood blacklist that had ruined so many careers.

Significantly, Douglas risked his own career — but persevered and triumphed — when he hired blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to adapt the novel Spartacus to the screen. With emerging master Stanley Kubrick as director, Spartacus (1960) showcased Douglas in the title role and became a siren song for human rights activism in the 1960s. Trumbo got an official on-screen credit and the walls of blacklist dungeon started to crumble.

Douglas was born as Issur Danielovitch in extreme poverty in Amsterdam, New York, on Dec. 9, 1916. As the son of Jewish immigrants who fled the old Russian empire, Douglas described his hardscrabble childhood in his 1988 autobiography, The Ragman’s Son.

His life changed, obviously for the better, when he managed to get a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. One classmate and close friend was Lauren Bacall, who has confessed to having a wild teen crush on Douglas but could not persuade him to reciprocate. Douglas and Bacall did co-star memorably in the smokin’ musical biopic, Young Man with a Horn (1950).

Meanwhile, Douglas married another classmate, Diana Dill, who became his first wife and mother of Michael Douglas. They divorced in 1951. Douglas remains with his second wife, Anne Buydens, whom he married in 1954.

Douglas succeeded first on the American stage, then in Hollywood films after serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Bacall helped him land his debut role in film, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). But it was Douglas’ obvious talent, his intense energy and a lifelong stubborn streak that pushed him to stardom.

Between 1949 and 1956, Douglas was Oscar-nominated as best actor three times for Champion (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Lust for Life (1956). Forty years later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences awarded him with an honorary Oscar for his then 50 years of contributions as “a creative and moral force” in Hollywood.

When I first met Douglas in 1999, he had already suffered his stroke, a devastating blow that initially cost him his speaking voice. Douglas’ stubborn nature — something that had occasionally grated on working colleagues — proved to be a godsend. Through hard work with a therapist, Douglas learned to speak again, albeit with some impediments. His own “lust for life” was just as intense in this era as it was for the character he played to such acclaim in the 1956 film: Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh.

Re-finding his voice even allowed him to continue to work, including in the 1999 film Diamonds and a Douglas clan effort called It Runs in the Family. Among his co-stars was son Michael and Diana Dill. Douglas last acting role was in 2008, for the TV movie Empire State Building Murders.

The later work barely hinted at his peak performance years when his brash nature, manly sexuality and quick wit made him the leading man of westerns, crime stories, dramas and selected comedies. Douglas also had a good sense with material in his prime years, buying the film rights to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. When he could not get the film made, he passed the rights on to his son Michael, who served as producer and turned it into an Oscar triumph.

Even at arm’s length, Kirk Douglas fashioned his unique legacy. Happy birthday, Mr. Douglas!

Every great actor generates an essential-viewing list. Here is Kirk Douglas’ list, in chronological order of release:

Champion (1949): Douglas learned real toughness playing a boxer willing to step on friends and foes alike to get ahead.

Young Man with a Horn (1950): Inspired by the life of Bix Beiderbecke, Douglas plays a musician battling demons.

Ace in the Hole (1951): With journalism in crisis now, it is intriguing to look back at this excoriating chronicle of a ruthless reporter.

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952): Douglas co-starred with Lana Turner in that rarity — a Hollywood film about filmmaking that still stands up.

Lust for Life (1956): With a wild look in his eye and a perfect physical transformation, Douglas plays Dutch master Vincent van Gogh.

Paths of Glory (1957): Douglas engineers this production set in WWI, hiring Stanley Kubrick to direct. They create an anti-war masterpiece.

Spartacus (1960): Another Douglas production with Kubrick. Douglas broke the blacklist and created a humanist sword-and-sandals epic.

Lonely are the Brave (1962): Douglas took the road less travelled when portraying “heroes” — even in a western.

The Arrangement (1969): With his stardom waning, Douglas still dared to experiment, working with Elia Kazan on an intensely interior drama about a suicidal man facing his life issues.

It Runs in the Family (2003): No one, not even a member of the Douglas clan, would claim greatness for this one. But it is fascinating to see the family literally get together for a drama about a dysfunctional family — with the elder Douglas acting through his stroke. </s> Action film star Steven Seagal is denying he sexually assaulted actress and Bond girl Rachel Grant on the set of one of his films in 2002.

Allegations of harassment and assault from multiple actresses including Jenny McCarthy and Eva LaRue have hit Seagal or have been resurfaced against him since October.

Grant, speaking to the BBC, said Seagal, 65, assaulted her during the filming of Out For A Kill, which debuted straight-to-video in 2003.

At the time Grant, 40, was 26 and Seagal would have been in his early 50s.

She says she was at a line reading with Seagal and the film's director at a hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria.

At some point, she says, the film director left and she was alone with the actor.

She claims he asked her to take off her strapless top multiple times, and she said 'no,' each time.

The actress says she later stood up, at which point Seagal forcibly pulled her top down and exposed her breasts.

'I was forced to cover myself,' she told the BBC. 'He pushed me on to the bed with force.'

She says Seagal then said, 'I suppose you want to see my [euphemism for penis],' and proceeded to unzip his pants.

She claims she then began to cry and that Seagal stopped what he was doing and apologized.

Later, she says she lost her job on the film.

Grant said: 'What actress should be brought to someone's bedroom on the first meeting and then be told to take their top off?'

Seagal, speaking through his legal team, told the BBC in a statement: 'Our client denies having such contact with Ms Grant and further vehemently denies any alleged assault at all, in particular, the alleged assault occurring in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2002.'

Grant, who appeared as Peaceful in the Pierce Brosnan-starring James Bond film Die Another Day in 2002, said she came forward after being encouraged by the #MeToo movement.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating at least one claim of sexual assault against Seagal, Variety reported last week.

The alleged incident occurred in 2005; further details have not been forthcoming.

The action star has been accused of misconduct by four of his own assistants and actresses including Katherine Heigl, Jenny McCarthy, Portia de Rossi and Julianna Margulies.

One actress, Regina Simons, told The Wrap that Seagal raped her at his California home in 1983.

Seagal has starred in dozens of action films since the 1980s, perhaps most notably 'Under Siege' which debuted in 1992 and made $80million in North America.

He is quite outspoken politically and befriended Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who gave him Russian citizenship in 2016. 



For this action and for remarks he has made about Russian militancy, the action star has been banned in Ukraine. </s> Pink-haired and puffing on a cigarette, this is the young man who has accused actress Asia Argento of sexually assaulting him when she was 37 and he just 17 – under the age of consent.

Seen in photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, 22-year-old Jimmy Bennett appeared tired and strained as he got a nicotine fix and spoke on the phone on the balcony of the Los Angeles apartment he shares with his Canadian girlfriend Allie Jadeski.

Bennett, who played 42-year-old Argento's son in 2003 movie The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, claims the actress assaulted him at a hotel in Marina Del Rey, California, in 2013.

On Tuesday, the LA County Sheriff's Office announced it would be opening an investigation into the sexual assault claims, having initially said it would not.

Statutory rape, depending on the seriousness of the incident, can be prosecuted as a felony under California law – with a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Argento released a statement this morning responding to the allegations and denied ever having a sexual relationship with the young actor.

'I strongly deny and oppose the contents of the New York Times article,' states Argento.

'I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett.'

She goes on to state that Bennett went after her because of her relationship with Anthony Bourdain, a 'man of great perceived wealth' who 'had his own reputation as a beloved public figure to protect.'

Argento also claims that it was Bourdain, who took his own life back in June, who urged her to settle in exchange for Bennett's silence.

'Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.

'This is, therefore, the umpteenth development of a sequence of events that brings me great sadness and that constitutes a long-standing persecution,' claims Argento .

'I have therefore no other choice but to oppose such false allegations and will assume in the short term all necessary initiatives for my protection before all competent venues.'

Bennett, who is now pursuing a musical career and has been signed to Bella Thorne's record label Filthy Fangs, initially asked the actress for $3.5m in damages – citing emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery.

She later agreed to pay him $380,000 to settle copyright over three images he had from the day – including one showing both naked – to be paid in two installments.

He received the first batch – a $200,000 payment – in April.

Bennett's assault claims came to light after a notice to sue sent to Argento's attorneys in November 2017 and a subsequent tie-up deal including a payment schedule was passed to the New York Times last week.

In them, he claimed he had been plied with alcohol in Argento's room at the $429-a-night Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina Del Rey before she pushed him onto the bed, pulled down his pants and performed oral sex on him.

The legal notice continued: 'She climbed on top of him and the two had intercourse,' according to the notice. She then asked him to take a number of photos.'

Some of the photos, including a picture of herself and Bennett laying naked in bed, she later posted to Instagram, along with a number of notes.

The first read: 'Waiting for my long lost son my love @jimmymbennett in trepidation #marinadelrey smoking cigarettes like there was no next week.'

In her second post, she shared a selfie of herself with Bennett and wrote: 'Happiest day of my life reunion with @jimmymbennett xox.'

According to Bennett's lawyer, Gordon K. Sattro, his client decided to sue after seeing Argento make her own sexual assault claims about Harvey Weinstein.

The actress has publicly claimed that the disgraced movie mogul sexually assaulted her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, although he is not facing charges pertaining to any of her claims.

In the notice, Sattro said: 'His feelings about that day were brought to the forefront recently when Ms. Argento took the spotlight as one of the many victims of Harvey Weinstein.'

Since working with Argento in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, the jobbing actor has gone on to rack up more than 50 credits – most recently as Dustin in 2017 low-budget romantic thriller Heartthrob.

But according to Sattro, the 22-year-old is now focusing on his musical career – some of which, including a recording session with LA-based producer David Davis, is documented on his now-scrubbed Instagram account.

He has also struck up a close friendship with Thorne, 20, who has also claimed to have been sexually assaulted – alleging via social media that a 'close family member' attacked her as a child in January.

Videos posted to his Instagram show Bennett partying with the former Disney star and her 31-year-old rapper boyfriend Mod Sun.

Thorne has returned the compliment, posting a photo of Bennett smoking a cigarette and wearing a black sweatshirt from her Filthy Fangs label on June 20.

The accompanying caption reads: 'When your artist looks dope af wearing the sweatshirt you made by hand yeee [sic]'.

Bennett has also found love with pretty Canadian Jadeski, with whom he lives in a balconied apartment complex in Los Angeles.

Jadeski, a vegan who has since made her account private, regularly posts pictures of Bennett at home in their loft and documents their life together, including his passion for ramen noodles.

Bennett also appears to have a good relationship with his mother Martha, 41, whose Facebook page is dotted with pictures of her son and daughter and their younger brother Ozzy.

The family currently live in a modest gray-painted trailer home in Huntington Beach, directly across from the city's famous golden sandy beach.

According to Jadeski's Instagram page, she and Bennett recently visited – making the 30-mile drive south to spend time with his family.

But Bennett hasn't always been so close to his mother and step-father Frank Cono Pestarino, 46.

In 2014, he sued them over money he claimed to have earned during his time as a child star – accusing them of cheating him out of $1.5m.

Bennett also claimed that the former family home, sold earlier this year, had been paid with his money and said in his complaint that his mother had kicked him out.

The lawsuit was dropped a few months later but the terms of the deal were not disclosed in documents lodged with Orange County Superior Court.

Bennett has so far refused to comment on the allegations against Argento, who lives in Rome, but in a statement passed to DailyMail.com, lawyer Sattro said he was composing a response – expected within 24 hours.

He said: 'At this time, our client, Jimmy Bennett, does not wish to comment on the documents or the events discussed in the New York Times article yesterday evening.

'While we realize that the news cycle demands an immediate response, many times, people need more than a few minutes or hours to respond.

'We are asking that you give our client some time and space. Jimmy is going to take the next 24 hours, or longer, to prepare his response.

'We ask that you respect our client's privacy during this time.' </s> Kirk Douglas, one of the last survivors of Hollywood's golden age, celebrates his 100th birthday on Friday, December 9. He embarked on a screen career in 1946 after theater work and a stint in the Navy during World War II. The three-time Oscar nominee, pictured here circa 1955, appeared in such classics as "Champion" (1949), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), "Lust for Life" (1956), "Paths of Glory" (1957) and "Spartacus" (1960).

The actor, here in the 1950s, was born Issur Danielovitch to Russian immigrant parents in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916. He would eventually change his name to Kirk Douglas.

Douglas escorts Irene Wrightsman McEvoy to the Academy Awards in March 1950. He was nominated that year for best actor for his breakout role in "Champion." He would also be nominated for "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "Lust for Life." The star received an honorary Academy Award in 1996.

Douglas goes on location in 1951 for director Billy Wilder's film "Ace in the Hole." The star played a cynical reporter out for a scoop in this dark look at journalism.

Douglas kneels beside his sons Joel, left, and Michael in the mid-'50s. Both followed their father's career into films, with Joel a producer and MIchael an actor and producer.

Douglas stars as Vincent van Gogh in director Vincente Minnelli's film about the Dutch painter, "Lust for Life" (1956). Co-star Anthony Quinn, right, won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as rival Paul Gauguin.

Kirk Douglas enjoys a book with his second wife, Anne Buydens, circa 1956. The two have been married since 1954.

Douglas, right, rehearses with Burt Lancaster in preparation for the "Night of 100 Stars" event in London in 1958. The two stars appeared in five films together, from "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957) to "Tough Guys" (1986).

Douglas stops at the Rome airport on his way to a safari in Kenya in 1962.

Kirk Douglas appears with his son Michael on the set of the film "Cast a Giant Shadow" in Rome in the mid-'60s. Michael Douglas had a small uncredited role in his dad's move. He would go on to become a major film star himself in the 1980s and '90s.

Douglas address a press conference in 1980 at the Cannes Film Festival, where he was president of the jury.

Actor Jack Nicholson greets Kirk Douglas after a ceremony honoring son Michael Douglas at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1997. Michael placed his hands and footprints in cement at the Hollywood landmark.

From left, Corbin Allred, Dan Aykroyd and Douglas star in "Diamonds" (1999), one of the star's more recent screen appearances.

Father and son attend a Simon Wiesenthal Center dinner honoring the latter with its Humanitarian Award in 2001.

Douglas displays a copy of his memoir, "My Stroke of Luck," at a New York bookstore in 2002. The star had recovered from a stroke he suffered in the mid-'90s.

Douglas, second from left, appears with his first wife, the late Diana Douglas, son Michael and grandson Cameron Douglas at a special screening of "It Runs in the Family" in Los Angeles. All four actors starred in the 2003 film.

Douglas greets his daughter-in-law Catherine Zeta-Jones backstage at "A Little Night Music" on Broadway in 2009. She was starring in a revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical. </s> Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, the star of such films as "Spartacus" and "The Vikings," turns 100 today after a long movie career that has stretched across seven decades.

Douglas was one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1950s and '60s and has made more than 90 movies. He also played a major role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist - actors, directors and writers who were shunned professionally because of links to the communist movement in the 1950s - an act he was more proud of than any film he made.

In his youth, Douglas had a distinctive chin, razor-sharp cheekbones and a jutting jaw - looks that he has passed along to son Michael, who also became a star - and that made him a natural for playing all manner of rugged characters.

Douglas also had a demanding nature that earned him a reputation in his prime as the actor who directed directors. Long-time friend and sometime co-star Burt Lancaster loved to introduce him by saying, "Kirk would be the first to admit he is a difficult person. (Pause) I would be the second."

Douglas, in a 90th birthday interview with Reuters in May 2007, said the line still amused him.

Douglas said playing Vincent van Gogh in "Lust for Life" (1956) was his favorite role but "Spartacus" (1960) was his favorite film because, as producer, he took a big step toward breaking the Hollywood blacklist.

A stroke in March of 1996 left Douglas with slurred speech and damaged facial nerves. But two weeks later he showed his spirit by attending the Academy Awards ceremony to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. He also continued to take small acting roles through 2008 but said the stroke left him suicidal.

The lifetime Oscar was Douglas' only Academy Award even though he was nominated for playing ruthless boxer Midge Kelly in "Champion" (1949), a movie executive in "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and van Gogh in "Lust for Life."

Douglas' first movie was "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers," in 1946 after being suggested for the part by acting school classmate Betty Joan Perske, who would find fame after changing her name to Lauren Bacall.

Douglas was known for powerful performances as characters who had to endure intense on-screen pain. He was stabbed in "Ace in the Hole," crucified in "Spartacus," lost an eye in "The Vikings," an ear in "Lust for Life," and a finger in "The Big Sky."

Born Issur Danielovich on Dec. 9, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York, Douglas was the only son of seven children born to illiterate Russian immigrants.

After graduating from high school, he hitch-hiked to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he became a wrestling champion. He also staged and starred in theatrical productions, changing his name to Izzy Demsy.

After St. Lawrence, he graduated from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1941 and changed his name to Kirk Douglas. He joined the Navy following two small Broadway roles.

While in the Navy he married British actress Diana Dill and they had two sons, Michael and Joel, before the marriage ended after eight years.

Douglas had a reputation as a Hollywood ladies' man. Among the lovers listed in the 1988 book "The Ragman's Son," one of several books he wrote about his life, were Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Maxwell, Patricial Neal and Gene Tierney.

While making "Act of Love" in 1953, Douglas met and married Anne Buydens, the film's publicist. Their marriage became one of Hollywood's most enduring despite his affairs. They had two sons, Peter and Eric.

Douglas, who survived a 1991 helicopter crash that killed two people, tried to discourage his children from following him into acting. Still, Michael became a superstar and a successful producer, Joel and Peter also were producers and Eric was an actor until his 2004 death from a drug overdose.

Douglas, who grew a long white ponytail in his later years, published several books, including a book of poetry, prose and photographs at age 98 in 2014.

He established the Douglas Foundation for making charitable donations and in 2015 he and Anne announced plans to give away his $80 million fortune to a variety of causes. The beneficiaries included a shelter for homeless women named after Anne, the Los Angeles public school district, St. Lawrence University and hospitals.

To mark his 99th birthday in 2015 he donated $15 million to the Motion Picture and Television Fund to help build a facility for entertainment industry figures with Alzheimer's disease. </s> Simone Biles Says Larry Nassar Sexually Assaulted Her Too

Simone Biles says she was also sexually assaulted by Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar -- and is now ready to go public with her story.

The 20-year-old phenom -- who was a key member of the 2016 gold medal winning Olympics team -- issued a statement saying, "I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar."

"Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper."

"There are many reasons that I have been reluctant to share my story, but I know now it is not my fault."

"This behavior is completely unacceptable, disgusting, and abusive, especially coming from someone whom I was TOLD to trust."

"As I continue to work through the pain, I kindly ask everyone to respect my privacy. This is a process, and one that I need more time to work through."

Biles is the latest athlete to come forward with allegations against Nassar -- joining stars like McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas. There are reportedly more than 100 victims.

Back in November, Nassar pled guilty to 7 counts of criminal sexual conduct. The sentencing phase of the case begins on Tuesday. He has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child porn. </s> STUDIO CITY (CBSLA) — Asia Argento, one of the leading figures in the #MeToo movement, agreed to pay her own accuser $380,000 to keep him quiet about an alleged sexual assault that took place when the man was still a minor, the New York Times reported Sunday.

According to the paper, Argento paid the money to Jimmy Bennett, a young actor who accused the Italian actor of having sex with him in a California hotel room just two months after he turned 17, to settle a lawsuit. The legal age of consent in California is 18.

Argento, 42, was one of the first women to publicly accuse Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and rape last year. The settlement is reported to have happened just months after the Weinstein accusations were made public.

The Times reported it was sent encrypted information about the dealings between lawyers for Argento and Bennett, including a selfie of the two lying in bed from 2013. As part of the deal, Bennett, now 22, agreed to give Argento the photograph and its copyright, the paper reported.

In the documents, Bennett claims that on May 9, 2013, Argento served him an alcoholic drink at a room in the Marina Del Rey Ritz-Carlton and subsequently performed oral sex on him. The two then had intercourse before she asked him to take photos of them. According to the Times, the meeting was a reunion for the actors who were in the 2004 film “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things,” in which Argento played Bennett’s mother. Argento also referred to Bennett as her son in social media posts.

While the Times has not received a response from Argento and Bennett declined to comment on the matter, the paper said three people familiar with the case corroborated the documents’ authenticity.

According to the documents, Bennett’s initial notice of intent to sue asked for $3.5 million. He claimed he had become broke, earning far less in subsequent years because of the trauma he endured.

Leading #MeToo figure Rose McGowan reacted to the report early Monday on Twitter:
Twitter posts disseminate claims that actor Kirk Douglas (aged 101) had been accused in the past of having sexually assaulted actress Natalie Wood when she was 16 years old (c. 1954).