Seagal is at it again [Archive] - Kung Fu Magazine Forums

GeneChing

08-21-2007, 04:46 PM

Hollywood action star: FBI accusations destroyed my career (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2876556.ece)
By David Randall
Published: 19 August 2007

Steven Seagal, whose action movies were once major box-office attractions, has claimed that false accusations by FBI agents ruined his career.

Speaking about an FBI investigation into accusations that he intimidated a reporter and had ties to organised crime, Seagal told the Los Angeles Times: "False FBI accusations fuelled thousands of articles saying that I terrorise journalists and associate with the Mafia. These kinds of inflammatory allegations scare studio heads and independent producers and kill careers." He is now demanding an apology from the bureau.

Seagal was once a major star of action movies such as Under Siege (1992), which earned $156m at box offices worldwide, but his film career now consists of straight-to-DVD releases such as Flight of Fury and Attack Force.

The FBI investigation stemmed from Seagal's ties to a former private detective, Anthony Pellicano, who was once employed by many Hollywood stars, directors and producers, but is now in a federal prison awaiting trial on wire-tapping and other charges.

The Pellicano investigation dates to 2002, when a freelance reporter working on a story found a dead fish, a red rose and a note saying "Stop!" on her car. At the time, the reporter was researching Seagal and a former business partner.

Seagal said that he and Pellicano had not been on speaking terms since the 1990s. The actor said that in October 2004, an FBI official told him they knew he had nothing to do with the Pellicano investigation.

Still, Seagal claims they have not publicly exonerated him. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment "because of the ongoing nature of the investigation".

Seagal is unlikely to get a grovelling "sorry" from the feds. Their investigation began five years ago, 10 years after he made the hit Under Siege and well after he ceased to be a major Hollywood actor. But although the pony-tailed one-time star has long been the butt of internet humourists for his one-dimensional, preposterously invincible action-heroes, Seagal himself is a more complex and interesting character than any he plays on screen.

The son of a teacher and a health worker, he learnt martial arts at an early age and is a high-ranking aikido master, having taught the art in Japan. He is probably one of the few action-movie heroes who could actually give villains a pasting in real life. His first contact with the film world was acting as martial arts co-ordinator for movies such as Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery. After a spell as a bodyguard, to, among others, big-time agent Michael Ovitz, he did a screen test for Warner Brothers and his acting career began.

The 56-year-old Seagal is one of Hollywood's Buddhists. He is also a keen animal rights activist, campaigning for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and has adopted many cats and dogs from shelters.

Fortunately, he's got a new career as a blues man (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=681101&postcount=94).

doug maverick

08-21-2007, 05:56 PM

hate to say it but... he's a pretty good blues man.

GeneChing

08-22-2007, 10:23 AM

...your music opinions just took a huge nose dive. Check out our 6-6-6 discussion about Seagal's show (that's the thread of the post I hyperlinked above) as well as Sevenstar's thread on the same concert in his town. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41897)

doug maverick

08-22-2007, 01:33 PM

i'm just talking about the first track on the album my partner had him at his comic book convention when he was promoting the thing.(total *******, guy shows up two hours late and leaves two hours early with a line of fans waiting to get autographs makes almost 100k cash and says its not enough money) my partner still has like ten cases of the album in his warehouse we use them as frizbee's or through them like ninja stars. but i l;istened to the first track and it wasn't bad pretty good in fact. the rest was well....i'm not one to judge at least he tried.

GeneChing

04-13-2010, 10:34 AM

SnowDog already posted this on the BMA thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1005139&postcount=627), but I thought the TMZ report was more interesting, just because TMZ is so good at trashy stuff. Besides, you all know how I feel about SS (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41575).

Steven Seagal Sued for Sexual Assault,Trafficking (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/12/steven-seagal-sexual-assault-lawsuit-executive-assistant-kayden-nguyen/)

Originally posted Apr 12th 2010 3:23 PM PDT by TMZ Staff

UPDATE: Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, responded to the lawsuit this way: "The lawsuit filed by Kayden Nguyen against Steven Seagal is a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics." Singer says the suit is a "complete fabrication without a scintilla of truth" and he's confident it will be dismissed.

Steven Seagal is accused of trafficking women for sex, according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ.

A 23-year-old former model claims she interviewed with Seagal last February for the position of executive assistant. Kayden Nguyen says she got the job, but when she showed up for work, she learned, "Mr. Seagal had been keeping two young female Russian 'Attendants' on staff who were available for his sexual needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

Nguyen alleges in her suit, one of the 'Attendants' had recently quit and it was this job -- not executive assistant -- Seagal intended her to fill.

Nguyen claims the very first night on the job, Seagal treated her "as his sex toy." Nguyen says in the lawsuit Seagal, pushed his hands under her skirt, tried fondling her breasts and forced his hand down her pants.

Nguyen says she complained the next morning -- unclear to whom -- but nothing was done.

Nguyen says the next day Seagal did it again, sexually assaulting her and forcing her to consume illegal pills. And she says there were other sexual assaults that followed.

According to the suit, Seagal said, "My wife wouldn't mind if you and I had a sexual relationship."

Nguyen is suing for more than a million bucks.

So far, no comment from Seagal.

Steven Seagal's Accuser Liked to Jacket (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/13/steve-seagal-sexual-assault-accuser-photo/)

Originally posted 45 minutes ago by TMZ Staff

Kayden Nguyen -- the girl who accused Steven Seagal of treating her like his sex toy -- looked extremely professional when she applied to work for the action star ... at least on paper.

Kayden's lawyer tells TMZ this photo of the 23-year-old former model was submitted with her application to fill Seagal's "executive assistant" position back in February.

According to the lawsuit Kayden filed yesterday, she got the job ... and on her first day, Seagal allegedly put his hands under her skirt, tried to fondle her breasts, and forced his hand down her pants.

Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ Kayden's lawsuit is an absurd pack of lies and she was fired for using illegal narcotics.

TenTigers

04-13-2010, 11:50 AM

Fortunately, he's got a new career as a blues man (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=681101&postcount=94).
he should do some time just for playing sh1tty....gives all us other white boy bluesmen a bad name.
I could forgive him for sexual slavery, trafficing, etc. But not his playing.
That is criminal.

TenTigers

04-13-2010, 11:52 AM

hate to say it but... he's a pretty good blues man.

yeah, and Ralp Machio's a pretty good Karate-ka....
ninja, pleez...:rolleyes:

GeneChing

04-14-2010, 09:53 AM

I must admit now that I do find Seagal entertaining, but not in the way that's befitting for a martial celebrity. It's more like watching a car crash in slow motion.

Jefferson Parish sheriff to address Steven Seagal sex allegations (http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/04/jefferson_parish_sheriff_to_ad.html)
By The Times-Picayune
April 14, 2010, 10:32AM

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand today is expected to address allegations by a former employee of Steven Seagal that the television and movie personality sexually assaulted her at a house in Jean Lafitte.

Normand has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. news conference.

The case is particularly sensitive for the Sheriff's Office not only because it involves a report of crimes in Jefferson Parish but because Seagal is a reserve deputy sheriff. His A&E cable network show, "Steven Seagal Lawman," features him riding with regular deputies on their rounds.

Seagal's attorney has dismissed the woman's assertions as baseless charges levelled by a disgruntled former employee.

April 14, 2010 9:46 AM
Kayden Nguyen (NEW PICTURES): I Manipulate Men, Says Steven Seagal "Sex Toy" Accuser (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20002440-504083.html)
Posted by Edecio Martinez
Kayden Nguyen on "Trya" (YouTube)

NEW YORK (CBS) Kayden Nguyen, the 23-year-old former model who claims Steven Seagal treated her like a "sex toy," also claimed to be a "lipstick lesbian" who could manipulate and "trick any guy" she wanted.

Nguyen appeared on a Jan. 2009 episode of "The Tyra Banks Show" entitled "The Gay Kingdom," according to TMZ.

Kayden Nguyen's lawyer says she sent this photo to get job with Steven Seagal.
In it, she brags about how she can use her "sex appeal to get any girl" she wanted and "trick any guy" into getting what she wanted.

The clip is available on YouTube.

Nguyen is seeking $1 million from Seagal claiming the action film star wanted to add her to his harem of sex servants, which she says already included two Russian beauties.

Seagal's lawyer has called the accusations in Nguyen's suit "absurd." An early morning call to Nguyen's attorney William Waldo to address the Tyra video tape was not returned.

According to court documents obtained by CBS News' Crimesider, Nguyen says she was hired by Seagal in Feb. 2010 as an executive assistant at his production company.

But rather than helping with the business, she was asked to give massages to Seagal alongside a naked Russian "attendant." Nguyen says she was told she would be replacing one of two women who were caring for Seagal's sexual needs around the clock.

Nguyen claims she was attacked by Seagal over the course of six days at his Jefferson Parish home he was staying in with his family. "I'm a family man, and I live with my wife, but she wouldn't care if you were my lover," he allegedly told her while aboard a private jet headed to New Orleans.

Seagal is currently being sued for sexual harassment, illegal trafficking of females for sex, failure to prevent sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and false representation about employment.

"The lawsuit filed by Kayden Nguyen against Steven Seagal is a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics," Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, told Crimesider in a written statement.

MightyB

04-14-2010, 12:41 PM

But- I believe Seagal in this one. Chicks obviously a major psycho.

GeneChing

04-14-2010, 12:48 PM

Alleged Sex Victim to Steven Seagal: Save Your Ink, See You in Court (http://au.eonline.com/uberblog/b176402_alleged_sex_victim_steven_seagal_save.html )
Today 12:15 PM PDT by Gina Serpe and Lindsay MIller

Never mind whether Steven Seagal did what alleged would-be sex slave Kayden Nguyen said he did. Seagal's lawyers insist Nguyen had no right to allege it in the first place.

According to a letter from attorney to the stars and the Out for Justice star's point man, Marty Singer, Nguyen's lawsuit "is in direct violation of the terms of the confidentiality agreement" she signed back in February, when she entered Seagal's employ.

Read the letter. (http://images.eonline.com/static/news/pdf/SeagalLetter.pdf)

That means, if she chooses to go forth with her unauthorized disclosure of private information (that is, pursue the lawsuit), Seagal's team vows to take her to the cleaners, seeking attorneys fees, costs and sanctions.

She has 48 hours to comply, but Seagal & Co. shouldn't hold their breath.

In a letter back to Singer, Nguyen's attorney, William Waldo, wrote the following:

"I read the letter you e-mailed last night. Please tell Steven Seagal two things. First, the cheap shot threats that might have intimidated other victims and their lawyers don't phase me. Save your ink.

"Second, Ms. Nguyen's claims are not going away. Five other victims called me yesterday."

In other words, hold on. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
I couldn't get the PDF of the letter to download. I gave up on that, but hyperlinked it for y'all anyway.

GeneChing

04-14-2010, 06:01 PM

So much for Lawman (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52600).

Sex lawsuit halts Steven Seagal reality show (http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/14/steven.seagal.sued/?hpt=T2)
By Alan Duke, CNN
April 14, 2010 8:19 p.m. EDT

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- A Louisiana sheriff halted production of Steven Seagal's reality TV show because of allegations made against the action movie actor in a sex abuse lawsuit.

A former model accused Seagal of using her as his "sex toy" after she was hired to be his assistant, a lawsuit filed this week said.

Seagal's lawyer called the sexual harassment suit "a complete fabrication" and said the woman was fired for using illegal drugs.

The civil suit put Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand in an awkward position since the A&E reality series "Steven Seagal: Lawman" is based on his department, where the actor is also a reserve sheriff's deputy.

"I informed them today that I did not think it would be in our best interest to continue filming at the present time," Normand said Wednesday.

The sheriff said he has reviewed the lawsuit and he will "take the allegations very seriously."

"I will treat Mr. Seagal no different than any other employee of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office," he said. "I am not moved one iota by virtue of his being a movie star of the fact that the national media has an interest in this case."

Normand, who previously described his relationship with Seagal as "very close," suggested there were questions about the alleged victim.

"I don't know if these allegations are true," he said. "I mean, as of yesterday, I think there's been revelations about the alleged victim." He did not elaborate on what those questions were.

Seagal will remain a reserve deputy chief and no criminal probe will be conducted unless the woman makes a statement with sheriff's investigators or the FBI, he said.

Her lawyer told CNN she did not contact local law enforcement agencies "in light of the fact that he'd been down there all that week shooting the TV show riding in a cop car with them."

"He is the sheriff's department," attorney William Waldo said.

Kayden Nguyen, 23, answered an online Craigslist ad for an executive assistant job at Seagal's production company in February and was soon on his private jet taking off from Los Angeles bound for New Orleans, the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court said.

"As the jet taxied down the runway, Mr. Seagal turned to Ms. Nguyen and said 'I'm a family man, and I live with my wife, but she wouldn't care if you were my lover,' " the suit. "Ms. Nguyen decided to take a wait and see attitude."

After Nguyen arrived in New Orleans "she learned that the job she was expected to perform had nothing to do with being an 'executive assistant,' " it said.

Over the next five days, she was sexually assaulted three times by Seagal at a house "many miles from New Orleans in a remote rural area of Jefferson Parish," the suit said.

Seagal also kept "two young Russian 'attendants' on staff who were available for his sexual needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week," it said.

During Nguyen's first night on the job, Seagal demanded a "massage," it said.

"He then proceeded to treat Ms. Nguyen as his sex toy."

The suit gives graphic details of Seagal's alleged groping and fondling of Nguyen.

Seagal responded to "Nguyen's terror with the order to 'relax,' 'we won't do anything special tonight. I'll save that for another night,' " the suit said.

The suit alleged that Seagal and his co-workers with the production company ignored her repeated complaints and the assaults continued, including a "vicious sexual attack" on the second night.

She finally left the house in a taxi on Sunday, February 28, under the pretense of meeting family members, but against Seagal's wishes, it said.

"As Ms. Nguyen ran to the cab, Mr. Seagal followed a few steps behind, shining a flashlight with a gun attached to it," it said.

She was so "in fear for her personal safety that she left behind everything that she owned, including her car keys, her laptop, her clothes and hundreds of dollars worth of makeup," it said.

The lawsuit said employees of Seagal's production company refused to return her property because she would not sign a release promising not to sue for the sexual assaults.

As support for the claims, the lawsuit said that Seagal has a "unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal," which Nguyen "can and will describe in great detail.

Celebrity lawyer Marty Singer, who represents Seagal, said the suit was a "ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics."

Her claims "are a complete fabrication without a scintilla of truth," he said.

Nguyen was enrolled in school to be an air traffic controller when she answered the online ad, it said. Before that, she was "an aspiring professional model."

doug maverick

04-14-2010, 06:01 PM

man idk how i feel about this...they say sex slave, but i think that is the wrong term, a sex slave is just that. there is a reason why seagal isnt being prosecuted and she is just suing him, she was basically a prostitute in a way, she was being paid for her services. and since im not against prostitution im not really angry at this.....however, i think seagal is a total ******* and i believe he would do something like this. i met him once and i really wasnt impressed with this guy and it seems he's always been that way even before he was a celeb...

doug maverick

04-15-2010, 09:35 AM

ok im gonna totally stand by what i wrote above infact im gonna go so far as to say this chick is flat out lying and here is why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XWvNObmOmE&feature=player_embedded#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XWvNObmOmE&feature=player_embedded#!)

watch the vid.

GeneChing

04-15-2010, 09:40 AM

That was back in '98. Nice replay however.

April 15, 2010 10:06 AM
Jenny McCarthy: Steven Seagal Told Me to Strip During Casting Call for "Under Siege 2" (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20002397-504083.html)
Posted by Carlin DeGuerin Miller 1 comments

NEW YORK (CBS) Former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy is among a number of women who have claimed they had uncomfortably close encounters of a sexual kind, involving actor Steven Seagal.

McCarthy, an actress and autism activist, said in an interview with Movieline magazine in 1998, that Seagal asked her to strip during a casting call for "Under Siege 2," then threatened her not to tell anyone.

McCarthy's publicist told CBS News' Crimesider Wednesday that McCarthy "did make those statements at the time and does not wish to comment further."

At the time of the interview, Seagal's lawyer declined comment.

In the Movieline account, McCarthy went on to say, "I go inside his (Seagal's) office, which has shag carpet and this huge couch, and he's by himself and says, 'Sit on my couch.'" She continued, "[He says] 'So, you were Playmate of the Year?'"

Then he said: 'take off your dress,'" McCarthy continued. "I just started crying and said: 'Rent my Playboy video, you a*****e!' and ran out to the car."

Also in 1998, nine women came forward in a Penthouse magazine feature to tell their tales of harassment at the hands of the action film star.

That wasn't the last of Seagal's troubles.

According to the Reuters News Service, a 2001 lawsuit brought by Patricia Nichols, who apparently worked on a recording project with Seagal, alleged that the actor directed "inappropriate comments and actions toward her."

Seagal testified about the suit that he was "being shaken down," and that he was "embarrassed to be here today for this fabrication."

The jury agreed, at least in part, with the "Marked for Death" star, ruling that Seagal slandered Nichols but didn't owe her any damages.

These women's accounts have surfaced as Seagal is being sued by his former executive assistant, Kayden Nguyen, for sexual harassment and human trafficking. Nguyen claims she was kept against her will for six days in Feb. 2010, at a secluded Louisiana home where the actor and his family were staying. Her lawsuit says Seagal committed "sexual assault" against her three times, and says when she finally escaped, Seagal chased after her with a "flashlight with a gun attached to it."

Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, told Crimesider in a written statement that the allegations were a "ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics."

Five Things You Need to Know About Steven Seagal's Sex Scandal (http://au.eonline.com/uberblog/b176540_five_things_you_need_know_about_steven.htm l)
Today 7:55 AM PDT by Erik Pedersen

Here's one dispute that won't be solved by a swift blow to the solar plexus.

Steven Seagal is being sued by 23-year-old Kayden Nguyen, an ex-employee/wannabe model who alleges she was hired to be an assistant to the action star but later told she would be expected to be on call for sex. Seagal's lawyer has rejected these claims.

You can read all our stories about the case right here, but what else is out there about Seagal and Nguyen? From Lawman to Tyra, here's what you need to know...

• More surprising than the fact that the show called Steven Seagal: Lawman has been shut down? The fact that the series is real and does gangbuster ratings.

• Though an ass-kicker on film, Seagal is a Buddhist who has supported a variety of charitable causes, including Save a Million Lives to provide AIDS relief in Africa.

• Besides being an action star, musician and martial arts expert, Seagal created an energy drink called Lightning Bolt, which comes in flavors Cherry Charge and Asian Experience. Seagal even appeared in an advertisement with two bikini-clad young women who appear to be his employees and who share hugs and kisses with the star. (Also found on Seagal's website: Some allege that the drink will turn you into a stone-cold killer.)

• Accuser Nguyen appeared on a 2009 episode of Tyra Banks' show, as a self-described "lipstick lesbian" who can "use my sex appeal to get any girl that I want and trick any guy to getting what I want." She also says, "Guys will hit on me." She's also chosen "Queen" in a roundtable vote, but we're pretty sure it's not legally binding. (And yes, some of her nude modeling pics are in the wild.)

• Like Seagal's film characters, both legal teams know how to talk tough. Seagal's lawyer, Martin Singer, has called Nguyen's allegations "nothing more than a preemptive strike by a disgruntled ex-employee," claiming the case should be settled through arbitration because Nguyen signed a contract. But her attorney retorts, "Please tell Steven Seagal two things. First, the cheap-shot threats that might have intimidated other victims and their lawyers don't phase me. Save your ink. Second, Nguyen's claims are not going away. Five other victims called me yesterday."

Something tells us that this dispute will be hard to kill. (What, too much?)

Here's the Nguyen on Tyra vid: Gay Kingdom - Tyra (Part 1) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XWvNObmOmE&feature=player_embedded)

GeneChing

04-15-2010, 02:58 PM

In the Spotlight: Steven Seagal (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/in-the-spotlight-steven-seagal/404063.html)
16 April 2010
By Anna Malpas

This week saw two Hollywood scandals with a Russian connection. Action star Steven Seagal was sued for sexual harassment by a former executive assistant, who said that Seagal had two Russian assistants who were “available for his sexual needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson broke up with his Russian-born girlfriend, singer Oksana Grigoryeva, People.com reported, citing those old “irreconcilable differences.” The couple first appeared together in public in April last year. Grigoryeva, who originates from Saransk in Mordovia and previously had dated Bond star Timothy Dalton, had a baby with Gibson in October.

Seagal, 59, is a regular visitor to Russia and claims to have some Russian heritage. “I know Russian blood flows in my roots,” he told Ekho Moskvy in 2006 in a mixed metaphor that may explain his acting skills. His films now may all go straight to DVD, but Seagal is still a huge star in Russia, especially for the generation that remembers the first heady showings of his 1980s action movies in the perestroika era.

He first came to Moscow in the 1990s to promote a branch of Planet Hollywood, which never really thrived on a charmless concrete strip of Krasnaya Presnya.

In 2003, he was invited round to then-president Vladimir Putin’s country house at Novo-Ogaryovo for a party that also included Italian vintage sex bomb Gina Lollobrigida and French femme fatale Fanny Ardant. Sadly, no transcript is available on the Kremlin web site.

“I respect him very much and I liked all the thoughts he told me,” Seagal said of Putin in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio in 2006.

In October, he appeared on Channel One’s “ProjectorParisHilton” improvised comedy show — the coolest thing on state television — riffing blues guitar in a black leather shirt and showing off a frighteningly convincing Russian accent.

Comedian Sergei Svetlakov asked him, “Steven, is it true that you love Russian women?” — getting a simple “yes.” He then presented Seagal with a student card. “Without this, you won’t get into any dormitories after 11 p.m.,” he advised him.

Not much information is available on Seagal’s allegedly Russian assistants — a term that in Los Angeles probably covers everywhere from Lithuania to Outer Mongolia.

Seagal certainly has a taste for Eastern European women. In 2007, his round of commitments included attending Miss Ukraine Intercontinental, KP reported, saying he needed to cast 13 “beautiful girls” for his latest film. It’s not clear what film this was, since Seagal’s movies tend to lack a woman’s touch.

In 2007, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that he was hiring a young Moldovan girl to work for him as a “personal assistant.” The photograph showed him posing with his arm around the shoulder of the girl — 22-year-old law student Felichiya Lupashka, who wore a leopard-print dress.

In March, a former Miss Tver, Viktoria Shchukina, was photographed in KP with Seagal embracing her and a scantily clad female friend at a party in Hollywood. “He spoke fluent Russian,” she said. “At first I didn’t know how to ask him for a photo with him, but then I didn’t know how to get away, especially as he started asking the organizers how old I was.”

*****y gossip site Spletnik.ru prompted a debate on Seagal. One blogger called him a “goat,” while another wrote: “Of course, the Russian girls have to be sex slaves while a virtuous American girl comes along and exposes their dark dealings. I can’t stand reading stuff like this.”

Seagal speaks fluent Russian? He must get that from being a reincarnated lama.

doug maverick

04-15-2010, 05:40 PM

lets not use the term sex slaves i mean these women are being paid for their services and arent being held against their will so they arent slaves.

goju

04-15-2010, 08:25 PM

russian women are fun:D

GeneChing

04-16-2010, 06:06 PM

...when you got reality like this?

Steven Seagal Has Strange Sexual Quirk, Ex-Assistant's Lawsuit Alleges (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/steven-seagal-strange-sexual-quirk-kayden-nguyen-lawsuit/story?id=10375262)
Seagal's Alleged Unique Reaction Used to I.D. Other Alleged Victims, Plaintiff's Lawyer Says
By COURTNEY HUTCHISON
ABC News Medical Unit
April 16, 2010

Steven Seagal has a "unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal," according to a sexual harassment complaint filed by his ex-assistant, Kayden Nguyen, but until the case against the star goes to court, everyone involved is keeping mum as to what might be.

Nguyen's formal sexual harassment complaint, filed Monday, spends two paragraphs discussing the existence of said "reaction" and the ability of others who have seen Seagal aroused to verify it. For now, however, Nguyen and her attorney, William Waldo, say they have no intention of sharing specifics.

"I understand why you're asking about it," Waldo said, "but I can't go into specifics. There is something he does -- he knows what it is and she does and everyone else who has had a similar experience with Mr. Seagal knows."
Related

Seagal's manager, David Unger, has also declined to comment on the issue. Seagal's attorney, Marty Singer, did not respond to inquiries about Seagal's "reaction" but in a written statement he said that the lawsuit "is a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics."

Why all the secrecy? Waldo says it goes beyond protecting the actor's privacy, which he admits is one factor. But he said that this alleged secret reaction has become a way to identify other alleged sexual harassment victims of Seagal's.

"There are a lot of real victims of Mr. Seagal who are now coming forward," Waldo said, "and as you can imagine, there are also people who aren't real victims" but who want to claim that they were "for the attention."

Because of the unique and exceptional nature of Seagal's sexual "reaction," Waldo said, intimate knowledge of this trait has helped him separate the wheat from the chaff among those claiming to have been assaulted, Waldo said.

If "someone comes forward and says 'I know what that physiological thing is', and they really do, that helps their credibility." If they don't mention it, he said, they most likely have not had sexual interactions, consensual or otherwise, with the star.

"These aren't casual allegations," Waldo adds in response to Singer's allegations that Nguyen's claims are fabricated, "they're serious and verified under penalty of perjury, because they're true."

In response to Singer's statement, Waldo also said that Nguyen "was not 'fired', she escaped" and that "the allegation about 'using illegal narcotics' is false."

Strange Sex
Kinky sex, fetishes, sex addictions and the like not unheard of in Hollywood, but Nguyen's statement seems to be referring to something a bit more biological -- a physiological quirk so distinctive that she claims it idiosyncratically identifies the actor.

While the details will remain hush-hush for the moment, the allegation raises questions: most notably, have bizarre physiological reactions to sexual arousal been noted in others?

ABC News had sexual health experts weigh in on the strange things that sometimes happen when people get turned on.

When a man or a woman becomes sexually aroused, a series of events take place that ready the body for sex.

"The process starts with a reaction to some sexual stimulus ... experienced as a state of excitement and awareness of [the manifestations of] arousal, such as an increased heart rate," said Dr. John Bancroft, former director of the Kinsey Institute for Sex, Gender and Reproduction.

The eyes dilate, blood flow to the genitalia increases, breathing accelerates, and blood pressure kicks it up a notch.

Why would an unexpected bodily reaction take place alongside this normal physiological chain?

"The brain works as a whole, but is also compartmentalized; it's possible to have a wire crossed," said Dr. Gil Wilshire, a reproductive endocrinologist at Mid-Missouri Reproductive Medicine and Surgery.

"This is how we get things like synesthesia, where people smell colors or see sounds," he said, and this kind of glitch in the brain can lead to strange side effects during arousal and orgasm as the brain becomes flooded with activity.

Arousal can produce compulsive sneezing in some, spontaneous tears for others, he said, and more commonly, women will urinate a bit.

"Some girls call it spending a penny," Wilshire said, referring to the small loss of urine during arousal or orgasm.

Given that the same nerve serves the genital and urinary system, "it's easy to see how one affects the other," Wilshire said.

Michael Castleman, sex educator, counselor and founder of GreatSexAfter40.com, added that "sneezing and crying are the two that are most widely noted. They're just about emotional release and people release emotions differently."

"When it comes to human sexuality and the human sexual arousal response there is a tremendous degree of variation," said Dr. David Greenfield of the Healing Center in West Hartford, Conn. "Although there is a range of behavior that is 'normal' there are many idiosyncratic sexual arousal responses that people have."

As to Seagal's alleged idiosyncrasy, Greenfield "cannot guess what [it] might be," but says that "there are many unique responses that we have that seem unusual and in some cases they are less unusual then we might think."

Waldo said that Nguyen will present her detailed description of Seagal's alleged "unique reaction to arousal" at the trial. No court date has been set at this time.

GeneChing

04-19-2010, 10:05 AM

Steven Seagal -- Untie Me (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/15/steven-segal-ex-01/)
Originally posted Apr 19th 2010 12:45 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

0415_steven_segal_EXSteven Seagal claims he doesn't bang his executive assistants -- but sources tell us he definitely made some of them go below the belt ... waaaay below the belt.

A source in the know tells TMZ that several of Seagal's assistants have been required to remove the shoes from Steven's feet while on the job ... both feet.

We're told the shoe routine is a daily task -- but assistants aren't required to handle the socks.

As TMZ first reported, Seagal is being sued by a former assistant who claims Steven tried to turn her into his own personal "sex toy."

Seagal's people claim the lawsuit is totally bogus.now that's kinky :rolleyes:

EXCLUSIVE: The Full Steven Seagal Story Jenny McCarthy Told Movieline in 1998 (http://www.movieline.com/2010/04/exclusive-the-full-steven-seagal-story-jenny-mccarthy-told-movieline-in-1998.php)
Written by Kyle Buchanan | 16 Apr 2010, 1:50 PM | 33 comments

When Steven Seagal was sued earlier this week for sexual assault and trafficking women for sex, CBS News dug up an excerpt from a 1998 interview with Movieline where actress Jenny McCarthy appeared to confirm Seagal’s tendency for inappropriate behavior. We reached into our back issues to provide you with the entire anecdote.

Movieline’s Stephen Rebello conducted the interview with McCarthy to promote her new film BASEketball, and the actress was unusually candid, discussing all the film parts she’d lost, like Mallrats (“Kevin Smith didn’t even wait until I was out of the office to start laughing. So rude”), and the ones she’d turned down, like Drew Barrymore’s role in Batman Forever (“I didn’t want to play a fluff”) and Elizabeth Berkeley’s in The First Wives Club (“Even though that movie would have let me work with one of my absolute idols, Goldie Hawn, I wouldn’t play a girl who sleeps with someone to get fame”).

The audition that really wounded her, as Rebello would find out, was the one she had to do in front of Seagal:

When I press her on the subject, the hurt in her voice says she’s still freaked. “I went to the audition for Under Siege 2 with, like, 15 other Jenny McCarthys. These girls came in and out of his office and I was last. Steven comes out and goes, ‘Hmm, so you’re last.’ I’m thinking, ‘Shouldn’t a casting person be doing this?’ I go inside his carpet, which has shag carpet and this huge couch, and he’s by himself and says, ‘Sit on the couch.’ I have my [script pages] and I say, ‘OK, I’m ready,’ but he says, ‘No, I want to find out about you.’ I knew what was coming. He goes, ‘So, you were Playmate of the Year,’ and I was trying to go—” Here, McCarthy breaks off and adopts a Laverne & Shirley blue-collar foghorn delivery: “Yeah, but, like, I lived in Chicago, see, and…”

The accent was apparently no turnoff. “I was wearing this very baggy dress,” she continues, “which I always wear to auditions, with my hair pulled back. I’m listening to him go on and on about how he found his soul in Asia and is one with himself and whatever. When I said, ‘Well, I’m ready to read,’ he said, ‘Stand up, you have to be kind of sexy in the movie and in that dress, I can’t tell.’ I stand up and he goes, ‘Take off your dress.’ I said, ‘What?’ and he said, ‘There’s nudity.’ I said, ‘No, there’s not, or I wouldn’t be here right now.’ He said again, ‘There’s nudity,’ and I said, ‘The pages are right in front of me. There’s no nudity.’ He goes, ‘Take off your dress.’ I just started crying and said, ‘Rent my [Playboy] video, you a**hole!’ and ran out to the car.” That wasn’t quite the end of it. “I’m closing my car door and he grabs me and says, ‘Don’t you ever tell anybody.’ He won’t sue me or say anything because he knows it’s true. If I saw him today, I would still say, ‘You’re a f***ing a**hole and I really hope you change your ways.’”

Seagal’s lawyer, Marty Singer, said this week about the sex claims: “The lawsuit filed by Kayden Nguyen against Steven Seagal is a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics.” He also called the suit a “complete fabrication without a scintilla of truth.”
http://www-movieline-com.vimg.net/images/assets_c/2010/04/mccarthy-full-thumb-585xauto-12643.jpg

doug maverick

04-19-2010, 10:30 AM

well i can see the shoe thing. he is a fat **** he couldnt bend down and do it himself.

GeneChing

04-19-2010, 05:34 PM

radaronline is beating out TMZ here. Maybe TMZ has bigger fish to fry....

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Seagal Taking Legal Action Against Accuser (http://origin.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/04/exclusive-steven-seagal-taking-legal-action-against-accuser)
Posted on Apr 19, 2010 @ 03:43PM

Steven Seagal is taking legal action against the woman who sued him for sexual harassment and sexual trafficking, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

Kayden Nguyen, a 23-year-old former model, sued her former employer Seagal April 12 on six counts, with some shocking allegations.

Now, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively from sources that Seagal is fighting back and will file an arbitration claim for breach of confidentiality agreement against Nguyen.

Seagal filed a motion April 16 to stay Nguyen’s lawsuit and have it moved to arbitration.

The agreement that Nguyen signed with Seagal stipulates that disputes will be settled in arbitration, sources tell RadarOnline.com.

In addition, RadarOnline.com has also learned that Seagal will be seeking attorney’s fees against Nguyen and her lawyer Bill Waldo.

Nguyen’s lawsuit started a bitter war of words between the opposing camps, with Seagal’s attorney Marty Singer claiming the employee was let go for illegal activity.

Waldo denies that accusation and claims he has affidavits from other former employees supporting his client.

Now with Seagal fighting back with a counter action and request for attorney’s fees, the battle is getting more heated and the actor is making it clear he will not allow the disturbing allegations to go unchallenged.

Nguyen claims in court papers that Seagal treated her as his “sex toy” and described other sexual debauchery that allegedly took place at Seagal’s direction.

GeneChing

04-20-2010, 09:44 AM

TMZ is back in the game.

Seagal's Ex 'Not Surprised' By 'Sex' Allegations (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/19/steven-seagal-kelly-lebrock-ex-wife-sexual-harassment/)
Originally posted Apr 20th 2010 12:55 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

Steven Seagal's ex-wife, Kelly LeBrock, tells TMZ she's "not surprised" by the allegations that Seagal treated a former female employee as his own personal "sex toy."

LeBrock -- who had three children with the action star during their marriage from 1987 to 1994 -- added, "I will refrain from saying anything specific now because of our 3 children."

And why is Kelly so tight lipped? Well, here's a small clue ... LeBrock told us, "I have many shocking things to say about Mr. Seagal which will be known soon when my book comes out."

And that folks is what we call "a tease."

David Jamieson

04-20-2010, 11:50 AM

So, when is seagull gonna change his name to Li Hongzhi? lol

GeneChing

04-21-2010, 10:15 AM

TMZ rocks.

Seagal's New Accuser -- Ray Charles Connection (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/21/seagals-new-accuser-ray-charles-granddaughter-blair-robinson-kayden-nguyen-sexual-assault-lawsuit/)
Originally posted Apr 21st 2010 7:15 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

The Steven Seagal alleged sexual assault scandal now has a Ray Charles connection ... TMZ has learned one of the women who just came forward accusing Seagal of making unwanted sexual advances is Ray's granddaughter.

As we first reported, two new women have given sworn declarations to back up Kayden Nguyen's lawsuit against the star. One is Blair Robinson -- who claims she first met Seagal at her granddaddy Ray's funeral in 2004.

According to Robinson, she was invited to Seagal's home after the funeral -- along with her father Ray Charles Jr. -- to discuss a job opportunity with the actor.

In the declaration, Blair claims she took a job as Seagal's assistant one month after the meeting -- but on day 1, she claims Seagal came to her room and told her she was required to give him massages. In the docs, Blair also claims Seagal tried teaching her the proper method by massaging her.

In the docs, Blair states, "It became clear to me that he wanted and expected sexual favors as part of my job duties." Blair claims she quit after the first day.

Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, vehemently denies the accusations and claims Seagal has "no knowledge" of either Blair or the other woman who provided declarations.

Singer added, "The declarations were clearly prepared by Nguyen's lawyer to be leaked to the media to help bolster his client's meritless claims."

Two More Accusers in Steven Seagal Sex Case (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/20/steven-seagal-two-more-accusers-kayden-nguyen-sexual-assault/)
Originally posted Apr 21st 2010 1:00 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

Two more women have come forward claiming Steven Seagal made unwanted sexual advances toward them while they worked for the actor ... but Seagal's lawyer tells a very different story.

TMZ has learned both women have provided Kayden Nguyen with sworn declarations, to assist Nguyen's lawsuit against Seagal -- in which the 23-year-old claims she was sexually assaulted by the actor during her stint as his personal assistant.

In one woman's declaration, obtained by TMZ, Seagal is accused of luring her into his bedroom, putting his hands on the woman's breasts and stating that he was "checking just as a doctor would for lumps."

The declaration continues, "Seagal reached his hand down my pants. He said, 'I just wanted to touch it for a second to see what it felt like.'"

The woman claims she screamed and cried until Seagal let her go.

Like Nguyen, both women claim they were hired by Seagal to serve as his assistant, but quit after Seagal made inappropriate sexual advances.

TMZ spoke with Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, who tells us, "My client has no knowledge of these women and a preliminary check of his employment records does not show that they ever worked for him."

Singer also stated that regardless of whether they worked for him or not, their claims are "absurd."

Singer concluded, "The declarations were clearly prepared by Nguyen's lawyer to be leaked to the media to help bolster his client's meritless claims."

David Jamieson

04-21-2010, 01:46 PM

Maybe he could make a movie about bad touching?

you know, as his punishment when they convict him. lol :p

It could be called " aikido bear and the bad touch" or maybe " No means I'll sue you if you touch my junk again you fat washed up jerk"

or something like that.

ah, the price of fame! :D

GeneChing

04-23-2010, 10:00 AM

Steven Seagal's ex-wife, Kelly LeBrock, says she was 'constantly raped and abused my whole life' (http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/04/22/2010-04-22_steven_seagals_exwife_kelly_lebrock_says_she_wa s_constantly_raped_and_abused_my_.html)
BY Cristina Everett
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Wednesday, April 21st 2010, 6:09 PM
Updated: Thursday, April 22nd 2010, 9:25 AM

As Steven Seagal's history of allegedly sexually harassing women comes to light, model Kelly LeBrock recalls her own traumatic experience of being married to the action star.

"This whole thing is very upsetting," LeBrock, 50, told RadarOnline.com. "I do have children with this man."

According to court papers filed last week, Kayden Nguyen, a 23-year-old former model, filed a $1 million sexual trafficking and sexual harassment lawsuit against the "Under Siege" actor. She claims he hired her as an assistant, but then used her as a "sex toy."

Two other women have reportedly provided sworn declarations to assist Nguyen's lawsuit. Among those women is Ray Charles' granddaughter, Blair Robinson.

Like Nguyen, both women worked for Seagal but quit after he allegedly made inappropriate sexual advances at them.

His lawyer, Marty Singer, denies the "absurd" accusations and claims the actor has "no knowledge of these women."

He added, "The declarations were clearly prepared by Nguyen's lawyer to be leaked to the media to help bolster his client's meritless claims."

Amidst the accusations, LeBrock says she is trying to move forward from her own experience and finish her autobiography.

"I was constantly raped and abused my whole life," she revealed.

When asked if she was claiming that Seagal ever raped her, LeBrock replied, "I had a life before Steven Seagal, and a life after him. This book is not about Steven Seagal. But good or bad, he is a part of my life."

LeBrock and Seagal were married from 1987 to 1996. They have three children together who all are said to live with their mother in Santa Barbara County.

Seagal's Ex-Nanny: He Was a Total Gentleman (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/21/steven-seagal-female-employee-support-sexual-assault-tibet-buddhism-nanny-sonam-choezom/)
Originally posted Apr 22nd 2010 12:15 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

Another one of Steven Seagal's former female employees is finally speaking up, but this time, the woman claims Steven NEVER acted inappropriately toward her -- or anyone else -- during her employment.

TMZ spoke with Sonam Choezom -- who served as Seagal's nanny in 1996. Choezom tells us she met Seagal through a relative who was active in Tibetan Buddhism.

Choezom tells us soon after they met, Seagal learned that her father was very ill -- so he offered to move her from Nepal to the U.S. and employ her as his nanny so she could afford her father's health care.

Choezom claims once she took the job, Seagal was "always very nice and respectful" -- and added that the actor never once made any sort of sexual advance toward her, including massages.

As far as the sexual assault lawsuit against Seagal is concerned, Choezom tells us, "I was very surprised."
I couldn't find a pic of Sonam Choezom, just a facebook page. That's probably not her but check it out (http://www.facebook.com/profile/pic.php?uid=AAAAAQAQBN98dLEHSZJnMkfhDZoAogAAAArkai za6NMiZKsBk2Z-MNkP) - it makes this even funnier.

GeneChing

04-26-2010, 12:14 PM

arbitrating...

Steven Seagal Sex Suit on Hold
Fri., Apr. 23, 2010 7:08 PM PDT by Brandi Fowler and Lindsay MIller

After a ton of legal drama, Steven Seagal can rest easy…for now.

The lawsuit filed by former employee Kayden Nguyen accusing the Out for Justice star of tawdry sexual misconduct is now on hold, E! News has confirmed.

Why, you ask?

It didn't have to do with the confidentiality agreement she signed upon employment.

Nor is Nguyen dropping her case.

The stall in the suit actually came when Seagal attorney Marty Singer filed a motion to compel arbitration, meaning the case isn't moving forward until after that motion is heard in court late next month.

"Last Friday, we filed the motion to stay the lawsuit," lawyer Marty Singer said. "We filed an arbitration against Nguyen on Monday. Yesterday the court granted our ex parte application to stay the case pending the hearing on our motion to stay the case being heard in May."

Singer contends that under the terms of Nguyen's contract with Seagal, any claims she makes against him must be settled through an arbitrator, not in court.

Nguyen's attorney has not responded to a request for comment.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 27.

More dirt

Steven Seagal wanted co-star action (http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/seagal_wanted_co_star_action_WhNJVWbS3U1YcBiCsin4p M)
Last Updated: 4:16 AM, April 25, 2010
Posted: 11:50 PM, April 24, 2010

Steven Seagal paged young actresses on his movies to come to his hotel room at night and demanded they undress in his trailer, a co-star has alleged.

The action hero is denying the new allegations by the actress, who asked not to be named, that he hit on the women in his 1991 movie "Out for Justice," and made an obscene sexual suggestion to her in a late-night phone call. She told us, "Seagal's type was young, exotic-looking girls. He asked me and three other actresses to parade through his trailer, then asked me to stay.

"The wardrobe girl gave me a tacky corset and a tiny skirt and told me, 'He wants you to try this on,' [and] . . . led me into the bedroom. As soon as I undressed, he tried to come in. I didn't have a top on, so I pushed the door closed and screamed. When I came out, my boobs were hanging out. I was offered a contract.

"At least two other actresses on the set had beepers," our source continued. "He would beep them to go to his hotel room at night. His then-wife Kelly LeBrock was suspicious and showed up on set. She had just given birth to their son. I felt so bad for her.

"One night, he called me at home . . . he said, 'Do you want to come to my hotel room?' I said, 'I don't feel comfortable with that.' He asked if I wanted to perform a sex act on him. I said, 'I have a boyfriend and you are married.' Days later I was released -- technically, fired."

Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, said of the claims: "This is totally false. It's ridiculous that she is coming forward 20 years later . . . It is interesting this person doesn't give her name to give her claims legitimacy. I suspect she is a resentful one-time actress who has not become a major star."

Seagal's publicist, Ken Sunshine, added, "They are coming out of the woodwork, but this woodwork isn't usually 20 years old."

Ex-model Kayden Nguyen previously filed a $1 million suit against Seagal, claiming he hired her as an aide but used her as a "sex toy." Singer called the claims "absurd."

Never mind about Ray's Granddaughter

Seagal Witness: Steven Never Touched Accuser (http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/25/steven-seagal-blair-robinson-sexual-assault-kayden-nguyen/)
Originally posted Apr 25th 2010 12:45 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

Ray Charles' granddaughter is under attack from the legendary singer's former band member -- a man who claims he can prove Blair Robinson never had an inappropriate encounter with Steven Seagal.

TMZ spoke with Damien Ross -- a longtime friend of Ray's who claims he set up a meeting between Blair and Seagal at a Memphis hotel back in 2004, so Seagal could interview her for a personal assistant position.

As we previously reported, Blair signed a sworn declaration in support of Kayden Nguyen's lawsuit against Seagal -- in which Blair claims Seagal followed her to her hotel room and expected "sexual favors." Blair claims she told her mom about the encounter and left the next day.

But Ross claims Blair never had a hotel room where Seagal was staying -- and insists he was present with Blair during her entire 10-15 minute encounter with the actor. Ross also claims Blair and Seagal were never alone.

Seagal's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "Ms. Robinson was never employed by Steven Seagal and never received any compensation from any entity even though she claimed to have worked more than six years ago for my client."

GeneChing

04-26-2010, 04:26 PM

Actually, it's just two sentences, so it's more like exclusive two sentences from Seagal's son..

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Steven Seagal's Son: I Don’t Talk To My Dad (http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/04/exclusive-interview-steven-seagals-son-i-don%E2%80%99t-talk-my-dad)
Posted on Apr 26, 2010 @ 10:00AM

In the midst of Steven Seagal’s legal woes, his son doesn’t seem to be offering much support for the troubled action star, RadarOnline.com can report.

People may not recognize the name of Steven’s eldest son Kentaro, and he prefers it that way. But one thing’s for sure—he takes after his father in looks and love for the martial arts, as RadarOnline.com caught up with the Aikido master at his Torrance studio, where he has a photo of his famous father on the window of the dojo.

It became very clear that father and son don’t communicate anymore. “I don't talk to him right now,” Kentaro told RadarOnline.com.

And apparently his father hasn’t reached out to him either. Kentaro says he didn’t know about the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against his famous father.

“I don't know, I don't watch TV, I just read newspapers,” he said.

GeneChing

04-30-2010, 12:54 PM

This story just keeps getting better and better.

Steven Seagal manages to avoid being served court papers by mobbed-up movie producer Julius Nasso (http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/04/30/2010-04-30_steven_seagal_manages_to_avoid_being_served_cou rt_papers_by_mobbedup_movie_produ.html)
BY Alison Gendar
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, April 30th 2010, 1:05 PM
Steven Seagal bailed on four of producer Julius Nasso's movies due to a conflict in his beliefs.

Mobbed-up movie producer Julius Nasso claims to have a heart of gold.

His proof? He hasn't been stalking action star Steven Seagal to serve him with court paper.

Nasso is suing Seagal, saying the "Under Siege" actor reneged on a settlement to end a dispute over a four-movie deal.

He says Seagal owes him $165,000 - but he hasn't served the martial-arts expert with the papers.

Nasso's lawyer, Robert Hantman, said the producer could be laying in wait for Seagal "at the movie studios ... the dojo ... his home."

But he's not out of the "kindness of his heart."

The Nasso camp said they planned to serve the papers on Seagal's lawyer, high-powered attorney Abbe Lowell, but they're not sure Lowell still reps him.

"Nothing seems to be what it is," Hantman said.

In 2002, Nasso sued his ex-buddy for $60 million claiming Seagal bailed on four movies. Seagal claimed the violent scripts offended his Buddhist sensibilities.

Seagal testified that after he split with Nasso, a bunch of Gambino goons tried to shake him down in the back of a Brooklyn steakhouse.

Nasso was indicted as a minor player in a racketeering case and in 2003 pled guilty to extortion. He served a year in prison.

Seagal and Nasso reached their secret settlement in 2007. Lowell could not immediately be reached for comment.
violent scripts offended his Buddhist sensibilities....what the heck? :confused:

Scott R. Brown

04-30-2010, 05:22 PM

This story just keeps getting better and better.

violent scripts offended his Buddhist sensibilities....what the heck? :confused:

His acting offends my sensibilities!

Jimbo

04-30-2010, 10:50 PM

Actually, it's just two sentences, so it's more like exclusive two sentences from Seagal's son..

I have the movie Death Trance; Kentaro Seagal has a role, and IMO he doesn't really look much like his father at all.

GeneChing

05-27-2010, 03:23 PM

...too quiet. :confused:

Andrew Williams - 27th May, 2010 Share|
Mariella Frostrup: Steven Seagal was a bit sleazy when I met him (http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/827963-mariella-frostrup-steven-seagal-was-a-bit-sleazy-when-i-met-him)
TV presenter Mariella Frostrup, 47, started her career in the 1980s in the music industry before landing work on film review shows. She has recently cornered the market in literary programmes and will present daily coverage of the Hay Festival on Sky Arts.

How have you become the leading light of the literary scene?

I’m not sure how it happened at all. It’s very research-heavy, though. Every parent wants to instil a love of books in their children but mine are probably going to hate them because I spend my entire life saying, ‘Not now, I’m reading.’

Is Hay-on-Wye very debauched?

I’ll be upset if it is because I seem to be missing out on it. I do a show every day so it’s one of the busiest times of my year. I sometimes see people staggering around, which suggests there’s a thriving nightlife I’m not party to.

Who are you looking forward to meeting?

There’s a rumour I might interview Pervez Musharraf, the ex-president of Pakistan. You never know who’s going to turn up, it could be Bill Clinton or Gordon Brown.

Read any good books lately?

I’ve just read The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, which is fantastic. It’s from an immigrant perspective of a Melbourne suburb so it’s not as we usually see Australia. The premise is so clever: a guy hits a child who isn’t his own at a barbecue and you see the ripple effect on all the other characters.

Any favourite authors?

Salman Rushdie; Helen Fielding’s one of the funniest female writers around; I love a lot of Australian writers: Peter Carey, Tim Winton; and Alice Munro.

Are there any genres you can’t stand?

Biographies. I have a reasonably healthy interest in other people’s lives but you have to wade through 300 pages before you get to the bit you’re interested in.

Have you been offered any book deals?

One of the downsides of constantly being exposed to good books is the standard for your own writing reaches unachievable heights. You don’t want to contribute any more to the mediocre and know you won’t be as great as the greats.

Have celebrities ruined the publishing industry?

It would be a shame if celebrity memoirs squeezed other writing off the literary landscape but I don’t think that’s happening. There’s room for all sorts. There’s an obsession about pigeon-holing things in this country. You should be able to read whatever you feel like, depending on your mood.

Do any glamorous moments stand out from your career in the music industry?

I worked on the PR team for Live Aid, which I’ll never forget. It’s great to think I was part of it, and there were lots of badly debauched weeks and months that I struggle to recall in much detail. The music business has changed so much. Expense accounts have shrunk massively since my day.

You’re a broadsheet agony aunt. Do you get exasperated by your correspondents?

Ever since the notion of the ‘right to happiness’ was enshrined in the American constitution it’s spread like an epidemic across the developed world. It doesn’t feature very highly in the imaginations of people who are struggling but we have this delusion it’s a divine right. The minute you step into the underdeveloped world you realise how bloody lucky you are. That infects how I regard certain letters.

What’s been your worst job?

When I was 15 I went to Holland for the summer with a friend and worked in a chicken factory. The smell was hideous. I had to move the carcasses along the conveyor belt. It took me ten years before I could eat chicken again.

Who is the rudest celebrity you’ve met?

I wasn’t enthralled by Steven Seagal. He was a bit sleazy.

What’s been your most extravagant purchase?

When I first stated working in television I bought two Chanel suits. They cost me my first three months’ wages. I was thrilled. Both skirts are about the size of what I wear for a belt now.

GeneChing

06-04-2010, 09:43 AM

Wonder if we'll hear any more...

Steven Seagal In Costa Rica To Meet Presidenta Chinchilla
(http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/june/04/costarica10060408.htm)
Steven Seagal, the American action movie actor, producer, writer, martial artist, arrived in Costa Rica Thursday night to take part in a conference addressing the issue of public safety in Costa Rica.

Seagal was invited by former legislator Fernando Sánchez, who is organizing the event, that will be held at the Club Unión in downtown San José.

Attending the conference will also be authorities from different communities across the country, that included local mayors and local police officials.

Seagal, in addition to his "Hollywood" role is currently a Reserve Deputy Chief of the Sheriff's Office in the community of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

Seagal says that he graduated from a police academy in California and has a certificate from Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST), an organization that accredits California police officers. In television commercials broadcast prior to the premiere of his reality television series, Steven Seagal: Lawman, he says he has been a police officer for 20 years. However, according to a December 2, 2009 Los Angeles Times commentary, P.O.S.T. has no record of this, and his deputy chief rank is ceremonial only. It should be noted, however, that an individual can serve as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff at certain agencies in the state of Louisiana without being P.O.S.T.

Without a doubt, Seagal is expected to pay a visit to presidenta Laura Chinchilla, similar to his visits with former president, Oscar Arias, every time Seagal touched foot in Costa Rica.

sanjuro_ronin

06-04-2010, 09:56 AM

Chinchilla?

Hmmm, they say Chinchilla fur is smoother then a shaved beaver.
:D

GeneChing

06-07-2010, 04:45 PM

When he says 'not a big deal in the US' does he mean the scandal or Seagal in general? :o

Steven Seagal Says He Feels Treated Like A Criminal In Costa Rica (http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/june/07/costarica10060702.htm)

Actor Steven Seagal left Costa Rica an unhappy camper, discouraged and disappointed after not finding the same hospitality as in the past, in his latest visit to Costa Rica, saying he felt treated as a criminal.

Seagal was in Costa Rica at the invitation of legislator Fernando Sánchez, who helped him with contacting presidenta Laura Chinchilla. However, all he got was her subordinates, the ministrso de Relaciones Exteriores, René Castro, the ministro de Seguridad, José María Tijerino and the directot of the OIJ, Jorge Rojas.

In a statement by way of his lawyer, Jonathan Picado of the law firm, Zürcher, Raven y Odio, Seagal was withdrawing his interest to invest in movie projects in Costa Rica, a subject that he had discussed on various occasions with former president, Oscar Arias. Picado also said that Seagal had had intentions of buying property in Guanacaste, but that may put off those plans as well.

"He leaves the country very hurt. He said that he doesn't need Costa Rica and there are many other countries where he can invest. He feels that in Costa Costa he has been received like a criminal", said Picado.

Picado explained that Seagal felt like he was being judged unfairly in Costa Rica following allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in the United States of women in the brought to light by model Kelly LeBrock as she recalls her own traumatic experience of being married to the actor.

According to court papers filed earlier this year, 23 year old former model Kayden Nguyen, filed a us$1 million dollar sexual trafficking and sexual harassment lawsuit against Seagal, claiming she was hired as "his" assistant but then used as a "sex toy". Two other women have reportedly provided sworn declarations to assist Nguyen's lawsuit. Among those women is Ray Charles' granddaughter, Blair Robinson.

The actor felt that the issue was blown out of proportion and did not like it being brought up in Costa Rica, especially when "it is not a big deal in the US".

In the end, Seagal never got to meet with presidenta Chinchilla. According to Picado, the actor has cooled off on investing in Costa Rica, but is expected to continue to offer his expertise in security matters in the future.

Meanwhile, another bummer for Seagal

Derrick Bird 'watched violent Steven Seagal film' before Cumbria shootings (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/07/cumbria-shootings-steven-seagal)

Man who carried out Cumbria massacre watched film about shooting rampage the night before, reports say
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 June 2010 14.41 BST

The debate over the effect of violent films looks set to be revived after reports emerged that Derrick Bird watched the grisly Steven Seagal film On Deadly Ground hours before embarking on a shooting rampage last Wednesday in which he killed 12 other people and injured 11.

The 1994 film, which Seagal directed and starred in, centres on an environmentalist oil rig worker who, aggrieved after he learns faulty equipment is damaging Alaskan wildlife, goes on a murderous rampage against his co-workers and employees. The film, panned at the time, but now something of a cult favourite, involved multiple scenes of graphic violence involving a range of firearms.

Bird is said to have watched the film at his friend Neil Jacques's house, leaving in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the film ended. The following morning, he drove round Cumbria shooting, before taking his own life.

GeneChing

07-23-2010, 12:06 PM

Exclusive : Steven Seagal doing Series Television! (http://www.moviehole.net/201025612-exclusive-steven-seagal-doing-series-television)
by Captain Cumquat (Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 am )

Action movie icon Steven Seagal could make one hell of a comeback this year - after all, "Machete" marks the Aikido trained actor's first big screen release in over a decade. Even better, it's a film co-starring the likes of Robert De Niro (!) and Jessica Alba, so it's, in all likeliness, going to last a little in theaters than say, "Vampires Suck" will. And if the big guy's brief appearance in the trailer is anything to go by, looks like he's actually kickin' a bit of rump in this little ditty! (let's be honest, it's been a while since Seagal has really impressed in a screen skirmish).

So how will Seagal follow up his turn in the highly-anticipated "Machete"? After all, that next step will be an important one. Ask Travolta how to screw it up. Maybe he'll do a third "Under Siege"? That long planned "Genghis Khan" movie? An "Expendables 2" with Sly Stallone? Nup, none of those -- he's in fact headlining his own weekly TV series!

Seagal, who recently appeared in his own reality series (''Steven Seagal : Lawman''), is currently filming a new 13-part series titled "Southern Justice" (aka "True Justice").

Seagal plays Elijah Kane the leader of an undercover group of cops that chases down the bad guys in the Seattle, Washington area.

''It's being filmed from July to December in Vancouver, Canada'', a source on the production tells Moviehole. "There are 13 episodes ordered and it will air world wide through Voltage's foreign sales efforts. It will be an action/crime drama - one hour procedural. Crime of the week kind of thing."

The TV thing worked for '80s action movie icons Chuck Norris ("Walker : Texas Ranger") and Don Johnson ("Nash Bridges") so it's possible it might work for Seagal, too.

More on this shortly. I can hardly wait...:rolleyes:

JamesC

07-23-2010, 12:12 PM

Where the crap does he keep getting the money for these ridiculous projects?

This guy is like a bad dingleberry.

GeneChing

07-26-2010, 12:01 PM

July 15, 2010 10:16 AM
Kayden Nguyen v. Steven Seagal (PICTURES): $1M Sex Harassment Suit Dismissed (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20010630-504083.html)
Posted by Edecio Martinez

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) Court records show that the $1 million sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Steven Seagal's former assistant Kayden Nguyen has been dismissed in Los Angeles.

Nguyen had claimed that on three occasions Seagal "sexually assaulted" her with unwanted contact and groping at a Louisiana home where the actor and his family were staying. She accused Seagal of trapping her as a personal "sex toy."

The allegations led to the suspension of filming on the reality series "Steven Seagal Lawman."

Seagal's lawyer has previously called the claims "absurd." And Crimesider found television footage that questions Nguyen's credibility. In a 2009 episode of the "Tyra Banks Show" about the "gay community," Nguyen said she can use her "sex appeal to get any girl" and "trick any guy."

The 58-year-old actor, best known for his martial-arts moves in films such as "Under Siege" and "Exit Wounds," was being sued for sexual harassment, illegal trafficking of females for sex, failure to prevent sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and false representation about employment.

No reason was given for the dismissal granted Tuesday, but according to The Associated Press, Seagal's attorneys had been trying to resolve the case through private arbitration.

Seagal had denied the allegations through his attorney.
Got to score this one for Seagal.

Blacktiger

07-28-2010, 08:26 PM

I heard a story about SS from my teacher a while back who got this first hand from Richard Norton when he was back in Oz a few years back.

There was a party for Gene Labelle's birthday - lots of MA types in attendance of course.

The story goes..... and this is the cut down version.

Segal came in being very rude and referring to Gene as the old man. This continued over the course of the night until it got to the point where Gene got sick of it and told SS he was a poor practitioner etc etc. He then pointed at Richard Norton and said even this guy could beat you.

Some more words were exchanged and then Gene jumped out of his chair and choked SS out -this caused SS to wet his pants and I mean in the literal sense and as a result he left the function.

There was also something about SS ringing up Richard Norton wanting to fight him - quite funny :)

doug maverick

07-28-2010, 09:53 PM

Blacktiger

07-29-2010, 03:23 AM

Who knows - how would we know unless we were all there... Richard was LOL

:D

JamesC

07-29-2010, 04:58 AM

that story just reeks of unlikelyhood....not saying gene lebell couldnt do it..just saying it smells

I've heard a similar story that originated from the "Legends" tour. Funnily enough, the version I heard had to do with SS challenging Francis Fong. Which, if I remember correctly, is a stupid thing to do...

GeneChing

08-04-2010, 12:11 PM

Who here is stalking Seagal?

Steven Seagal Gets Restraining Order Against 'Stalker' (http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/29/steven-seagal-stalker-restraining-order-attack-house-groundskeeper/)
7/29/2010 4:18 PM PDT by TMZ Staff

The request for the TRO -- filed and granted in L.A. County Superior Court -- refers to Angela Rain Bates, a 55-year-old woman, as a "delusional stalker" who was arrested at Seagal's home on July 14.

According to the docs, she attacked a groundskeeper and threw rocks through a window of the house before LAPD arrived and took her into custody.

According to the papers -- Bates ran down Seagal's driveway and when the groundskeeper tried to stop her she, "forcefully kick[ed] him twice, in the groin, and on his shin, causing a two-inch contusion on his leg."

The police report states that Bates told officers she was married to Seagal's father -- who is deceased -- and that she has lived in Seagal's house for over 20 years.

Bates was charged with battery, vandalism, and trespassing -- all misdemeanors. She pled not guilty and is still in jail waiting for her next court date.

The order requires Bates to stay 100 yards away from Seagal, his family, and the groundskeeper.

GeneChing

08-18-2010, 09:57 AM

And I thought the Silva connection (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1032962) was weird. Got to hand it to Seagal. He's working it.

Aug. 17, 2010, 8:01 a.m. EDT
Hollywood Superstar Steven Seagal Joins NeXplore Board of Advisors (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hollywood-superstar-steven-seagal-joins-nexplore-board-of-advisors-2010-08-17?reflink=MW_news_stmp)

PLANO, TX, Aug 17, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- NeXplore Corporation (PINKSHEETS: NXPC) today announced that famed Hollywood actor, musician, martial arts artist and philanthropist Steven Seagal has joined the NeXplore Corporation board of advisors and will help promote NeXplore Search and NeXplore's Web-based operating system and office-applications available for free to registered NeXplore users.

First introduced in public beta in January 2008, NeXplore Search (www.NeXplore.com) is an interactive and visually engaging Web 2.0 search engine optimized for a superior end-user experience, multi-media display and social sharing integration.

Consumers who register with NeXplore enjoy free access to a personal, Cloud-based desktop featuring an array of unified software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications for creating, consolidating and managing email accounts, contacts, calendars, projects, documents, music and movie files, among many other popular computing and Internet activities.

Said Steven Seagal, "NeXplore is more than just a great search engine. It's an action engine. It is the place to go online to find things fast, get things done quickly and review multi-media files such as photos, songs and videos. It is very interactive and visual, most definitely a next-generation search tool."

Said Edward Mandel, NeXplore Corporation CEO, "In addition to our friendship, I had the pleasure and good fortune of collaborating closely with Steven on a recent charity project. Steven is a very dynamic, intelligent and interesting person. He will be a tremendous partner as we strive to further grow awareness of NeXplore among both consumers and advertisers. We are greatly pleased to have Steven on the NeXplore team."

About NeXplore Corporation NeXplore Corporation (PINKSHEETS: NXPC) improves the online experience by providing Web tools and destinations that empower people to drive and define a World Wide Web perfectly suited for their unique needs, interests and online pursuits. For advertisers, NeXplore Search (www.NeXplore.com) offers a full array of search, display and interactive advertising products to reach and engage targeted consumers. For more information about NeXplore, visit www.nexplorecorporation.com.

Forward-looking Statement A number of statements contained in this presentation are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the applicable statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our ability to commercialize a proprietary product, our ability to generate product sales and operating profits, potential vulnerability of technology obsolescence, potential competitive products by better capitalized companies, potential difficulty in managing growth, dependence on key personnel, and other risks which will be described in future company Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Media Contact:
Rory Doherty
(214) 459-6321
Rory@CurrentCommo.com

Investor Contact:
Hala Elsherbini
(972) 458-8000
Hala@HalliburtonIR.com

GeneChing

10-18-2010, 05:38 PM

McCarthy strikes back.

Rep: Steven Seagal Denies Jenny McCarthy’s Casting Couch Claim (http://www.accesshollywood.com/rep-steven-seagal-denies-jenny-mccarthys-casting-couch-claim_article_38349)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Just months after the dismissal of a $1 million sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former assistant against Steven Seagal, a past harassment allegation from Jenny McCarthy resurfaced for an enterprise piece worked on by Access Hollywood – a claim that a spokesperson for the action star has denied.

In an investigative segment this week by Access on “The Hollywood Casting Couch,” Access revisited a 1998 Moveline interview in which McCarthy claims Seagal asked her to undress during an audition for “Under Siege 2.” A rep for Seagal denied the actress’ claim.

According to a spokesperson for Seagal, “Warner Brothers casting for the film ‘Under Siege 2’ has confirmed that Jenny McCarthy never auditioned for a role on ‘Under Siege 2.’ Her claim is completely false.”

The statement made by Seagal’s rep is referring to McCarthy’s allegations she made during an interview with Movieline in 1998.

“I went to the audition for ‘Under Siege 2’ with, like, 15 other Jenny McCarthys. These girls came in and out of his office and I was last. Steven comes out and goes, ‘Hmm, so you’re last.’ I’m thinking, ‘Shouldn’t a casting person be doing this?’ I go inside his carpet, which has shag carpet and this huge couch, and he’s by himself and says, ‘Sit on the couch.’ I have my [script pages] and I say, ‘OK, I’m ready,’ but he says, ‘No, I want to find out about you.’ I knew what was coming. He goes, ‘So, you were Playmate of the Year,’” McCarthy told Movieline at the time.

“I was wearing this very baggy dress, which I always wear to auditions, with my hair pulled back. I’m listening to him go on and on about how he found his soul in Asia and is one with himself and whatever. When I said, ‘Well, I’m ready to read,’ he said, ‘Stand up, you have to be kind of sexy in the movie and in that dress, I can’t tell.’ I stand up and he goes, ‘Take off your dress.’ I said, ‘What?’ and he said, ‘There’s nudity.’ I said, ‘No, there’s not, or I wouldn’t be here right now.’ He said again, ‘There’s nudity,’ and I said, ‘The pages are right in front of me. There’s no nudity.’ He goes, ‘Take off your dress.’ I just started crying and said, ‘Rent my [Playboy] video, you a**hole!’ and ran out to the car,” the actress claimed in the interview.

McCarthy went to claim that the incident didn’t end in the office.

“I’m closing my car door and he grabs me and says, ‘Don’t you ever tell anybody.’ He won’t sue me or say anything because he knows it’s true. If I saw him today, I would still say, ‘You’re a f***ing a**hole and I really hope you change your ways,’” McCarthy concluded.

During the same year, McCarthy spoke to then Access Hollywood correspondent Jeff Probst, who asked about her claims against Seagal.

“Everything is true and um, if I can spread the word for other girls and kind of warn them, then so be it,” she said at the time.

Access Hollywood has reached out to McCarthy’s rep for comment on Seagal’s rep’s denial but has yet to hear back.

GeneChing

01-25-2011, 03:32 PM

Seagal, the martial arts bad boy. :rolleyes:

Steven Seagal, A&E Cable Channel Idea Stolen? (http://67.59.172.92/article/Local_News/Local_News/Steven_Seagal_AE_Cable_Channel_Idea_Stolen/73765)

(CNS) Posted Thursday January 6, 2011 – 10:20am
Steven Seagal, A&E and a production company that claims the actor and cable channel stole its idea for a reality TV show agreed today to try and settle the case out of court.

The Idea Factory claims in a lawsuit filed in August 2009 that its representatives met with Seagal in 2007 and presented their idea of a reality show.

They also took the pitch to A&E Television Network, where the idea was allegedly first broached about focusing a show on Seagal's work as a reserve deputy sheriff in Jefferson Parish, La.

Lawyers for A&E and the 58-year-old action star argued the suit should have been tossed because there was no written contract with Seagal to participate in the Idea Factory show, and that the idea for the show was not unique.

But on Dec. 15, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon ruled that a jury should decide the case.

Alarcon postponed issuing rulings today on a series of new motions so that the mediation could begin.

The lawsuit was filed just before the premiere of A&E's "Steven Seagal: Lawman," which Idea Factory claims in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit was taken from its pitches.

The lawsuit maintains an agreement was in place with Seagal to do the show with Idea Factory and that an additional contract was presumed to exist with A&E for Idea Factory to produce any Seagal program.

GeneChing

02-28-2011, 10:41 AM

...actually, I'm still not sure I got it. :rolleyes:

BREAKING: Steven Seagal joins Sheriff Arpaio in immigration raid in Phoenix today (http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/files/2011/01/180214_189111471106999_135919673092846_641605_2775 561_n-300x179.jpg)
by Three Sonorans on Feb. 25, 2011, under Headline news

Friday afternoon Sheriff Arpaio, America’s toughest sheriff, needed to enlist the help of fictional hero Steven Seagal to crack down on immigration.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/files/2011/01/180214_189111471106999_135919673092846_641605_2775 561_n-300x179.jpg
Stephen Seagal joins Sheriff Arpaio in hunting immigrants.

7 dangerous men and 3 women from the ultra-secret society of ninjas had to be taken down which required Seagal to don a black suit and gain the trust of the Shaolin leader, and after the Chinese New Year was able to infilitrate the society and let Sheriff Arpaio raid the community.

Ok, so the last paragraph was fictional, but the arrest of 7 men and 3 women, evil “illegal immigrants” have been arrested by MCSO with the aid of Steven Seagal. Seriously.

Welcome to Arizona 2011…

enoajnin

02-28-2011, 10:54 AM

Supposedly, as in I think I heard this on the radio, Steven Seagal's show "Lawman" is moving from Louisiana to Arizona. Good times.

GeneChing

02-28-2011, 11:42 AM

You are correct, sir. Lawman is going to AZ (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1080521#post1080521).

GeneChing

05-03-2011, 09:52 AM

I so wanted to post this here (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1093417&posted=1#post1093417). In lieu of that, an update on Lawman AZ.

Steven Seagal - Steven Seagal Back On The Force As Arizona's Top Cop Calls Him Up As Deputy (http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/steven-seagal-back-on-the-force-as-arizonas-top-cop-calls-him-up-as-deputy_1215948)
28 April 2011 08:12

Movie star Steven Seagal has joined Arizona's top cop as part of his hardcore law force.

The Under Siege star has been invited to patrol the streets of Phoenix with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's lawmen, and he admits he jumped at the chance to serve as a deputy.

Seagal tells the Globe, "When Joe invited me to join them, there wasn't a moment's hesitation."

Arpaio insists the actor and martial arts star will be an "asset" to his team.

Seagal will also film his experiences on the job as a deputy for the new season of his hit show Steven Seagal: Lawman.

He filmed two seasons of the reality show in Lousiana, but the series was put on hold after the actor was accused of sexually harassing an assistant last year (10). She has since dropped her charges against Seagal.

And speaking of sheriffs...

Sheriff Lee Baca has accepted gifts from Michael Douglas, Steven Seagal, Lee Iacocca. Is it too much? (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/sheriff-baca-has-accepted-gifts-from-michael-douglas-steven-seagal-lee-iacocca-is-it-too-much.html)
May 1, 2011 | 12:02 pm

Since taking office in 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has accepted more than $120,000 worth of gifts and free travel. In a recent three-year span, he accepted significantly more freebies than California's 57 other sheriffs combined.

He's accepted gifts from big names including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, Michael Douglas and Lee Iacocca.

And, according to an investigation by The Times' Robert Faturechi, he's accepted gifts from executives seeking his agency's business, individuals who later received special treatment from him, and even a pair of felons implicated in a massive money-laundering and fraud scheme.

Check out the entire database here, then weigh in with your own opinion. Should Baca be accepting these gifts? He says there is no conflict. But others disagree: "Doesn't he realize the appearance is terrible?" said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies. "When you're taking gifts from strangers, there's only one reason. They only give gifts because they want something." I followed the link to the site. "Seagal, Steven Actor Los Angeles Calif. Dec. 20, 2003 Gift basket $100" Just a drop in the bucket really - the rest of the list is far more interesting...

GeneChing

06-01-2011, 03:31 PM

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/248478_231228096890787_100000107963591_1113897_272 2425_n.jpg
Who needs a "Deadly Stuff" secret manual when we have the forum. :rolleyes:

GeneChing

10-14-2011, 09:09 AM

Deputy Steven Seagal Coming to West Texas (http://www.wtaw.com/2011/10/13/deputy-steven-seagal-coming-to-west-texas/)
Posted by Bill Oliver Featured Stories, News Thursday, October 13th, 2011

http://www.wtaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/StevenSeagal_Hudspeth-e1318568271632-150x122.jpg
Photo courtesy of Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office with Sheriff Arvin West swearing in Deputy Steven Seagal.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Martial arts film star Steven Seagal has been sworn in as deputy sheriff in a West Texas border county and will start working sometime this year, authorities said.

Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Wilson confirmed Thursday that Seagal, 59, took the oath this week from Sheriff Arvin West.

The sheriff’s office says the star of such films as “Hard to Kill” and “Exit Wounds” contacted West in August inquiring about work opportunities.

Seagal has been a deputy sheriff in the past while filming a reality show about his work as an officer of the law in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

“It became clear to me that Mr. Seagal is not in this for his celebrity or publicity. He is like the rest of us,” West said in a news release.
I beg to differ. Seagal is not like the rest of us. He's an entirely unique case.

Brule

10-14-2011, 09:14 AM

That swearing in ceremony looks pretty official...:rolleyes: either that or their about to high-five each other.

GeneChing

01-20-2012, 04:56 PM

This thread keeps going and going...:rolleyes:

He's Under Siege! Steven Seagal faces lawsuit over unpaid debt to mafia backed former partner (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2085920/Steven-Seagal-faces-lawsuit-unpaid-debt-mafia-backed-partner.html)
By Mike Larkin
Last updated at 11:49 PM on 12th January 2012

His most famous movie role saw him evading pursuit by a group of well trained operatives.

So there is a certain life imitating art aspect to Under Siege star Steven Seagal being hit with a lawsuit over unpaid debts to his former business partner.

The martial arts actor has been accused of failing to pay up on $500,000 he owes to film producer Julius Nasso.

The executive, who has connections to the mafia, claims in court papers Seagal failed to pay him two installment payments of $50,000 each last year.

New York resident Nasso claims he made 'numerous attempts' to collect the money.

Eccentric Aikido master Seagal, 59, agreed to pay to the cash to dissolve their film-production companies in 2007.

The deal also required the actor to seek a pardon for Nasso, who was convicted in 2003 for trying to extort the money from the actor with the help of Mafia muscle

According to the New York Times his Manhattan federal court suit demands payment of the unpaid $100,000 plus 10 percent interest for 'breach of settlement agreement.'

It also states a similar suit that was filed in 2010 against the star and his Steamroller Productions company was 'eventually resolved,' but 'only after significant legal expense.'

The papers say: 'Considering the prior breaches by the defendants...we respectfully request that this court order that the outstanding and remaining payments under the agreement are now due, totaling $200,000.'
The good old days: Steven Seagal was a major action star in 1992 when his biggest hit Under Siege was released

The good old days: Steven Seagal was a major action star in 1992 when his biggest hit Under Siege was released

The Mail contacted Seagal's company, but have yet to receive a response.

Action star Seagal's career high-water mark was 1992 action film Under Siege, which grossed an estimated $156 million worldwide.
Out for Justice: Seagal's former business partner Nasso has taken legal action

Out for Justice: Seagal's former business partner Nasso has taken legal action

However his career rapidly declined, and he has since been appearing in low budget action flicks and even attempted to launch a career as a blues musician.

In 2002 Nasso sued his Seagal for $60 million claiming he backed out on four planned action films.

The flamboyant star claimed he walked because the violent movies were at odds with his Buddhist religious belief.

However he would later testify that after breaking ties with Nasso he was shaken down by soliders from the Gambino mafia family in the back room of a Brooklyn steakhouse.

He said a reputed mob captain told him he would be sorry if he did not start working with Nasso again, and that he would also have to pay an extra $150,000 per movie.

The mobsters were caught laughing about the incident on an FBI wiretap.

Nasso was indicted in a massive racketeering case that pulled in big gangland names and in 2003 pled guilty to extortion. He served a year in prison.

GeneChing

03-09-2012, 10:42 AM

This is a crazy story on so many levels...

MCSO, actor Seagal sued over 2011 arrest (http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2012/03/01/20120301mcso-seagal-sued-arrest.html)
by Richard Ruelas and JJ Hensley - Mar. 7, 2012 09:25 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

When a tank knocked down his block wall with a boom, waking him from a sound sleep, Jesus Llovera scrambled out of bed and grabbed his jeans and a phone to dial 911.

He made it to the hallway just as his bedroom windows shattered. At his door, members of a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office SWAT team in full riot gear told him to get on the floor.

He was handcuffed and taken outside, where action-movie actor Steven Seagal waited, clad in camouflage and sunglasses and hoisting a rifle.

"I looked up and saw his face," Llovera said. "It was very strange."

The SWAT team was at Llovera's Laveen home the morning of March 10, 2011, to search it.

Deputies suspected that Llovera, who had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of being present at a ****fight, still had roosters and chickens on his property, a violation of his probation. They also suspected he was raising them to fight, a Class 5 felony.

But the Sheriff's Office was also participating in the creation of a reality show, "Steven Seagal: Lawman," a cable show that followed Seagal's exploits as a deputized officer. Four cameras from the production company filmed the warrant execution and arrest. Arpaio's office had alerted the media. Reporters and television cameras lined the southwest Phoenix neighborhood's street.

This week, Llovera struck back. Llovera, 43, filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against the Sheriff's Office and Seagal, claiming his arrest was orchestrated to make for good television. He seeks unspecified monetary damages to be determined by a jury.

The suit, which also names the county Board of Supervisors, says it fit a pattern of Arpaio "arresting and prosecuting individuals without probable cause solely for the selfish and improper purposes of achieving personal and political gain through publicity."

The Sheriff's Office insists in court documents that the use of a tank, a bomb robot and 40 deputies was part of its normal course of duties.

"The search warrant was going to occur with or without Seagal," sheriff's Deputy Chief Dave Trombi said before the lawsuit was filed. "The search warrant was not based at all on the needs of the production company."

After the raid, Llovera was criminally charged with raising animals for ****fighting and possession of dangerous drugs used on the animals. At the time, he was not supposed to have the animals in his possession because he was on probation for a ****fighting-related offense.

Robert Campos, Llovera's attorney, has asked the court in the criminal case to throw out evidence discovered at Llovera's home, arguing that the warrant was not served property.

Campos said his client was not involved with ****fighting, as authorities suspect. But, even if he were, the raid "was still overkill, and that's the whole point."

The Arizona-filmed episode of "Steven Seagal: Lawman" was to premiere on the A&E Network on Jan. 4, but the season was pulled from the schedule and the channel's website.

At the time of his arrest, Llovera said, Seagal walked him off his property to a van but did not speak to him. Seagal went off to do media interviews. Show producers asked Llovera to sign a release allowing them to use footage of his arrest. Llovera said deputies removed his handcuffs twice as producers asked him to sign. He refused.

"They said, 'It will be good for you, so everyone can see your animals,' " Llovera said. "I said I didn't want to."

Deputies found more than 100 roosters on the property. Court records say some had been physically altered in ways suggesting the birds had been bred for ****fighting. Since such birds are too aggressive to be rehabilitated, deputies said, they were euthanized.

Deputies also found medicines, charging Llovera with possession of dangerous drugs, and accessories, like sparring balls.

Deputies interviewed Llovera for 90 minutes, according to a prosecution filing in court.

"During that time, defendant equivocated between saying that the roosters were being raised solely for show purposes and then stating that he was raising the roosters so that they could be sold to people who would use them for ****fighting," it said.

Llovera, during a recent tour of his home, told a reporter that he bred the birds to show their colorful plumage. But he did not know when the next rooster show was, or anything about competitions for rooster beauty or breeding.

He showed a copy of Game**** magazine, saying he's just like dealers who sell in that publication. The Humane Society calls the magazine a thinly disguised journal for ****fighting fans.

Llovera walked with a reporter through three rows of cages in his backyard for the 40 birds he owns.

To show his birds weren't meant for fighting, Llovera put his hand into a cage. The rooster backed up. Had they been fighters, he said, they would be used to handling and could be easily approached.

He conceded he trimmed some birds' wattles and combs, but only so the birds could place their heads through the bars of their cages to eat. He said a room authorities thought was a training ring is where he practices Santeria, a religion that includes animal sacrifice.

Llovera said he grew up a fan of ****fighting, watching battles in his native Cuba. He attended ****fights in Arizona when they were legal. Voters banned the practice in 1998.

"Those are traditions that you bring with you," Llovera said, "and it was in Arizona. It was a tradition that was in Arizona."

Llovera was one of 69 people arrested at a ****fight in Tonopah in May 2010. He pleaded guilty to being present at a fight and was given probation.

Phoenix police went to Llovera's home in February 2011 to investigate a man's claim that Llovera had kidnapped him and held him hostage for four days. Llovera told his own story of being kidnapped and having his pinky chopped off in the desert.

Confronted with differing stories, police didn't pursue the kidnapping case. But they did send the information about the roosters on Llovera's property to the Sheriff's Office.

That resulted in the search warrant that led deputies, with Seagal in tow, to storm Llovera's home. Trombi said the allegations against Llovera justified the sheriff's use of force.

"When SWAT is requested, it's based on previous history surrounding that suspect and that residence. Phoenix police did it with just as many if not more SWAT personnel as we did," Trombi said. "We had a legitimate law-enforcement reason to be there, we had a legitimate document, a search warrant, signed by that judge to be at that property. And a year later, we're still in the litigation phase. We're not willing to back down from the charges the county attorney filed based on our investigation."

Llovera said he's frustrated thinking how much his life was upended by the bust. "At the end of it, I realized it was a show," Llovera said. "What they showed up for was to make a show, and they made one."

GeneChing

05-15-2012, 01:37 PM

Brilliant idea for a book. Now updated!

Book Review: ‘Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal’ (http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/18411/book-review-seagalogy-a-study-of-the-ass-kicking-films-of-steven-seagal)
Submitted by BrianTT on May 7, 2012 - 1:09pm.

CHICAGO – Vern started his career as one of those snarky critics who wrote in to Harry Knowles’ landmark and influential movie website Ain’t It Cool News. He became a regular writer for the site and his work there turned him into a very unorthodox author. His first book was a fantastic examination of, believe it or not, the career of Steven Seagal. Newly updated with a dozen new chapters about the recent adventures of his subject matter (the first printing was in 2008), “Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal” is a funny, clever read for fans of the unusual action star and those who have never seen one of his movies. Vern’s movie-loving, smart, enjoyable writing makes this a more entertaining experience than Seagal himself has ever produced.

Don’t worry. This is not tongue-in-cheek nonsense. To say that Vern takes his subject matter seriously would be a MASSIVE understatement. He clearly watched every one of Seagal’s films multiple times, dissecting themes throughout them, noticing differences, and charting the trajectory of his career. And yet it’s also no puff piece. Vern doesn’t give Seagal any slack. He calls him out on his weirdness, bad acting, ego, etc. But he brilliantly wraps all of it together so the book becomes something fascinating in that it’s an appreciation of someone who most people would argue doesn’t really deserve an appreciation. I think Vern would claim that’s why he makes such a great subject. He’s not perfect. He’s not an obvious choice. His career is kind of a mess. But Vern approaches him like he’s completely deserving of 500 pages of detailed examination. And then writes with such style and humor that you won’t regret his decision.

http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/Seagalogy.jpg

In his intro (after a great one from writer/director David Gordon Green), Vern states that a “comic book nerd” friend helped him divide Seagal’s career into chapters and so the book is divided that way. The brief successful period of Seagal’s film career opens the book with “Golden Era.” Oh, yes, don’t worry. This is not some biography about Seagal’s odd background (he’s made a number of claims through his life about his history). It focuses almost entirely on the films, dissecting them like a detailed review and then offering them context within Seagal’s career and filmography. Vern brilliantly makes the case that we can learn more about Steven Seagal through his career choices and how he chooses to represent himself on film than through a typical biography. And have a hell of a lot more fun.

So, the “Golden Era” was from 1988-1991 and consists of “Above the Law,” “Hard to Kill,” “Marked For Death,” and “Out For Justice.” Some might argue that what Vern calls the “Silver Era” was actually a more profitable one for Seagal but Vern clearly prefers the work Seagal did in his first four films and makes a solid case that they were his best work. The “Silver Era” was from 1992-1997 and consists of “Under Siege” through “Fire Down Below.”

After his first ten films, Seagal went through what Vern calls a “Transitional Period” from 1998-2002, ending with Seagal’s last theatrical release in “Half Past Dead.” It gets kind of ugly from here. The “DTV Era” consists of 16 films from 2003-2008 with titles like “Today You Die,” “Shadow Man,” and “Pistol Whipped.” The updated material takes over here (and makes up about 100 pages) in the “Chief Seagal Era” from 2009 to present and more oddities like “Steven Seagal: Lawman,” the actor’s appearance in “Machete,” and something called “Born to Raise Hell.”

Vern doesn’t just recap plot. He goes into incredible detail, charting actors who appeared across multiple films, recurring themes (Seagal likes bar fights), and much, much more. And he does so with style and wit. He can perfectly capture the foundation of “Marked For Death” with a passage like “He breaks a lot of bones, shoots a guy in the throat, punches a guy in the balls, throws a guy out a window, etc. This movie has it all.” But just after that he’s pointing how some of the scenes feel like deleted ones on a DVD.

It would be silly to deny that “Seagalogy” gets a little repetitive. So did Steven Seagal’s career. But it’s a nice book to read in chunks. Pick it up. Read about a silly B-movie that a former action icon made. Go back to something else. Not only will it make you appreciate its subject matter a bit more but the very art of how we write about movies. Vern does so from such a place of passion that it’s infectious.

The updated and expanded edition of “Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal” by Vern was released on April 3, 2012.

doug maverick

05-16-2012, 01:48 AM

this time in a good way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMByDfFMPcE&feature=youtu.be

Hebrew Hammer

05-16-2012, 10:07 AM

this time in a good way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMByDfFMPcE&feature=youtu.be

I would pay good money for that flick...I actually saw this sometime ago...hilarious.

GeneChing

09-18-2012, 03:33 PM

After posting The Steven Seagal Show by Ken McIntyre thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64471), I got curious, did a search, and look what popped out on top.

8/30/2012 12:30 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Steven Seagal
Not Above the Law ...
He's a Massive Tax Debtor (http://www.tmz.com/2012/08/30/steven-seagal-tax-lien/)

http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/08/24/0824-steven-segal-3.jpgTaking out a boatful of terrorists hell-bent on nuking Honolulu does not mean you can skip out on paying your taxes ... so the State of California has filed a giant tax lien against action film star Steven Seagal, TMZ has learned.

According to documents filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office, Seagal owes the Golden State a whopping $335,606.35 for the year 2010.

It's hard to imagine how Seagal amassed such a large tax bill -- he has appeared in mostly direct-to-video movies for the past decade, with his only real work being a small role in "Machete" in 2010 and his reality show, "Steven Seagal: Lawman."

Calls to Seagal were not returned.

Lucas

09-18-2012, 04:01 PM

I like how he just doesnt have a neck anymore.

Steven Seagal: Lard Man

GeneChing

01-23-2013, 02:48 PM

There are pix and vids if you follow the link.

Steven Seagal Is the Lamest Guy Ever (http://www.vice.com/read/steven-seagal-is-the-lamest-guy-ever)
By Jamie Lee Curtis Taete
submit

About a year ago I wrote a thing about how Johnny Depp just might be the lamest guy on Earth.

For some reason, a lot of people remember that post, and it's frequently brought up to me by ****ing geniuses who say things like "Uhhhh, so you think Johnny Depp is the lamest guy on Earth? What about Kim Jong-un? What about the Dark Knight shooter?"

OBVIOUSLY, I did not mean Johnny Depp is LITERALLY the worst person on Earth. Just because he wears dumb hats and is in ****ty movies and is, generally, just an all-around unbearably smug turd, I know that doesn't mean he is worse than a dictator or mass murderer. I am not retarded. CLEARLY, if we're looking at and considering every single person in the entire world and being completely and totally literal, Steven Seagal comes out the worst.

Here are the most terrible things I can think of about him.

HE MAKES INSANE MUSIC

I often worry, when I embed videos on this site, that people reading it might not watch them because they're at work or deaf or whatever, so just in case: this video is a dancehall song that Steven Seagal made, and it contains the following lyrics:

"Me want tha poonani"

"Nice itel breeze, we jammin'"

"That would be phat"

Also, his last album was called "Songs From the Crystal Cave," which sounds like something they would play in Urban Outfitters.

HE'S A COMPULSIVE LIAR

Over the years, Steven has claimed that he:

- Helped train CIA operatives and did "special favors" for them (his ex wife says, "Not at all. He was never in the CIA.")

- Is of Italian descent (he's actually half-Jewish, half-Irish)

- Fought the Yakuza (lol) with assistance from the American mob (lol)

- Is called in to help authenticate antique swords by auction houses as he is one of the world's "foremost experts on swords" (again, lol)

- Was a student of the founder of Akido, Morihei Ueshiba (who died in 1968, meaning Steven would have had to have been a teenager living alone in Japan for that to have happened)

- Speaks four languages fluently (I'm unable to find any evidence of him speaking anything other than English made entirely of lies)

HE POOPED HIMSELF

In a 2002 profile in Vanity Fair, martial artist Gene LeBell claimed he choked out Steven during an Aikido exhibition, causing Seagal to poop in his pants. Steven denies it ever happened. But he also said he was a multilingual, Yakuza fighting, CIA assassin. So, ya know...

THESE ARE THINGS HE'S ACTUALLY SAID

- "I’m a very funny guy, if you’ll forgive me for saying so. When I did The Glimmer Man with Keenan Ivory Wayans, he and I were talking about who was funniest, and... I kicked his ass every day." (source)

- "I was born very different, clairvoyant and a healer." (source)

HE RUNS LIKE PHOEBE FROM FRIENDS

THAT TIME HE KILLED THAT DOG AND ALL THOSE CHICKENS

I assume everyone already knows about this, but just to be sure: in March 2011, while filming his reality show Steven Seagal: Lawman (the one where he pretended to be a policeman) Steven was involved in a raid on a person's house that resulted in the death of a puppy and 115 chickens.

Jesus Llovera was suspected of ****fighting. So Mr. Seagal, Sheriff Joe Arpaio (who, himself, is a pretty terrible guy), a camera crew, and a SWAT team turned up at his house with a tank, some other armored vehicles, and a ****ing bomb robot.

Despite the fact that Jesus had no history of weapon ownership, was home alone, and was suspected of ****fighting rather than like, bomb making or murder or something, Steven was allowed to drive a tank through the front wall of the man's home, while the SWAT team smashed through his windows and moved in to arrest him. A puppy belonging to Jesus's children was killed during the raid, and the 115 chickens that Steven and pals were there to rescue ended up being euthanized on the spot. When asked for a comment by a local news station, Seagal said, "animal cruelty is one of my pet peeves."

Also, can you imagine how ****ing humiliating it must be to get arrested by Steven Seagal on camera? No matter what your crime is, if you have to go through that level of shame they should just release you with the crime removed from your record. It's inhumane.

HE HAS A BULLET PROOF KIMONO

A ****ing bullet proof kimono! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Also, a stylist who fitted him for a tuxedo for the Academy Awards once said, "I had to tailor the tux around two giant guns. He said he needed 'cover' in case 'they' rushed the stage on him. Who 'they' were, I have no idea.'"

HIS HAIR IS REALLY WEIRD AND IT FREAKS ME OUT

HE TAKES HIMSELF VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY

From a profile on Steven in Vanity Fair:

"One day an executive walked into Seagal's trailer and found Hollywood's reigning manly man... weeping. 'Oh, I'm reading this script,' Seagal explained, still misty. 'It's the most incredible script I've ever read.'

'That's fantastic,' the executive said, 'Who wrote it?'

Seagal didn't miss a beat. 'I did,' he replied."

Also, here are some things Steven Seagal, star of Under Siege and whatever-that-film-is-called-where-him-and-Ja-Rule-steal-gold-or-something, has said about acting:

"The secret is not to act, but to be."

"I am hoping that I can be known as a great writer and actor some day, rather than a sex symbol."

HE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HAD SEVERAL SEX SLAVES
At various points, Steven has (allegedly) sexually harrassed Jenny McCarthy, Ray Charles' grandaughter, and four office assistants on the set of Out for Justice.

In 2010, a 23-year-old former model who was hired as Steven's "executive assistant" claims that, when she showed up to work for her first day, she learned that "Mr. Seagal had been keeping two young female Russian 'attendants' on staff who were available for his sexual needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He was sued for sexual harassment, illegal trafficking of females for sex, failure to prevent sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and false representation about employment. The matter was "resolved privately" by Steven's lawyer, and the case dismissed.

HE "DESIGNED" AN ENERGY DRINK

Oh, sorry, did I say "energy drink"? I meant "sizzling nutraceutical beverage." (That's really what the press release refers to them as. Yikes.)

GeneChing

01-23-2013, 02:51 PM

I'm sure POTUS made the time this week to attend to Steven's needs. It's not like he had anything better to do...

Seagal’s plea for extort pal (http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/seagal_plea_for_extort_pal_tmiyK7NfCXh7gSovWrBPTI)
Last Updated: 8:08 AM, January 22, 2013
Posted: 11:50 PM, January 21, 2013

Steven Seagal is asking for a presidential pardon to be handed to film producer Julius Nasso, who was convicted of teaming up with the Gambino crime family to shake him down.

Even though Nasso pleaded guilty to conspiracy to extort Seagal and was sentenced to a year in federal prison in 2003, the tough-guy actor has written to the office of the pardon attorney at the Department of Justice.

In the letter, exclusively obtained by Page Six, Seagal said, “I have no objections to and would support the application (when it is timely) of Julius R. Nasso for a Presidential pardon.”

Nasso, who had been a business partner of Seagal for 10 years, has asked President Obama to grant him an official pardon for his conviction.

It was reported that martial arts black-belt Seagal had severed his relationship with Nasso when the actor decided to stop making violent action films on the advice of his spiritual guru.

But Nasso had already lined up four action projects for him, and set up meetings with Gambino captain Anthony “Sonny” Ciccone and other Gambino associates to persuade the ponytailed powerhouse to do the movies. Seagal went to the FBI saying Nasso was trying to extort money from him.

Prosecutors said Nasso turned to Ciccone to pressure Seagal for $60 million the producer thought he was owed when the screen star backed out of the action-movie projects.

Nasso was convicted on the extortion attempt charge, the judge found no proof he was a member of an organized crime family. He was released two months early on good behavior in 2005.

Ciccone is still in a federal prison.

As part of a deal to dissolve their production companies in 2007, Seagal agreed to support Nasso in his bid to get an official pardon.

Nasso’s lawyer, Robert Hantman, said Nasso is producing movies again. “Julius is now looking forward to hopefully getting a pardon,” he said, adding, “Seagal supporting him for a pardon is apropos of two close friends who had a falling out.” Seagal’s rep didn’t comment.

Jimbo

01-24-2013, 03:16 AM

Several months ago, I was watching a local morning news program, and a guest, comedian Jo Koy, was there, and they had Steven Seagal via satellite. It was to promote Seagal's new show or whatever. Seagal was out of it. He looked half asleep. The female anchor was gushing, saying how when she was a girl, Seagal's movies were a staple in her household. Seagal angrily mumbled, "What's a staple?" The whole rest of the interview was a disaster, Seagal looking like he wanted to be somewhere else, and the male anchors were audibly cracking up.

After Seagal's spot was over, the weatherman said, "Duh! What's a staple?" Then Jo Koy made several mocking, mercilessly funny Steven Seagal jokes, and the entire newsroom was laughing.

MightyB

01-24-2013, 08:38 AM

“Judo” Gene LeBell Talks The Steven Seagal Incident (http://www.cagepotato.com/quote-of-the-day-judo-gene-lebell-talks-the-steven-seagal-incident/)

funny story - involves sh*tting of the pants.

GeneChing

02-11-2013, 11:13 AM

Seth Meyers said something to the effect of how Seagal would be teaching how to defeat terrorists using quick editing cuts. :p

Sheriff Arpaio Enlists Martial Arts Film Star Steven Seagal To Train School Guards‏ (http://www.eurasiareview.com/10022013-sheriff-arpaio-enlists-martial-arts-film-star-steven-seagal-to-train-school-guards%E2%80%8F/)
Written by Jim Kouri
February 10, 2013

In spite of being denigrated by Democrats in his state, the man known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff” is enlisting the assistance of movie star Steven Seagal, who is known for his unarmed combat prowess, to train volunteer armed guards to protect Arizona schools within his jurisdiction against gunmen and other violent perpetrators this weekend, according to a spokesperson.

Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of President Barack Obama’s fiercest critics, claims his commonsense plan will aid in avoiding a repeat of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting that left 27 people dead, including the gunman and 20 first-graders in December, according to Sergeant Brandon Jones, MCSO spokesperson.

“Sheriff Arpaio is loved by his constituents and despised by the liberal-left,” former Maricopa County Attorney’s Office prosecutor Rachel Alexander, who worked with Arpaio, told the Law Enforcement Examiner. “He’s also one of the few true policing innovators in the U.S. today.”

The Seagal-Arpaio training program is scheduled to begin today at a school site located in a Phoenix suburb where Arpaio’s SWAT team will assist in setting up various scenarios. Democrats became angry when they discovered that actual students would be used in the training exercise.

The volunteers will become unpaid members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department and will be sworn in as peace officers by Arpaio, a Republican.

Seagal, who is considered one of the top martial arts experts-turned actor, will train the volunteer sheriff’s posse in Japanese defense tactics known as Aikido, a system that uses hand and foot strikes, arm and body locks, choke holds and other tactics.

The posse members will also learn techniques from other martial arts systems such as Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido and other styles, according to Sheriff Arpaio.

Semiautomatic rifles and handguns called simunitions (guns which use marking rounds rather than bullets) will be used by the posse volunteers throughout the training. Four scenes will be offered simultaneously and each will be held in separate parts of the school building, noted Sgt. Jones.

Media were permitted to shoot one active simulated scenario. This photo-opportunity will be coordinated by the on-site media relations officers. Interested media must be in place at 1:45 p.m. at the Sheriff’s Command post which will be parked in the vacant school parking area.

During the training sessions and photo-ops, Sheriff Arpaio was scheduled to answer any questions pertaining to the day’s training from the Command Post. That briefing will be followed by media assignments for the filming of active scenarios inside the school building. At the conclusion of the training, posse volunteers, instructors and the Sheriff were available for comment.

GeneChing

06-19-2013, 09:18 AM

Steven Seagal dances up a storm in Russia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmPcHtWjqxY)

GeneChing

08-29-2013, 02:00 PM

There are more pix if you follow the link. I only cherrypicked a few.

EXCLUSIVE: 'I hated myself': Woman In Red star Kelly LeBrock emerges from hiding for first stunning photoshoot in years to reveal the toll drugs and divorce took on her life (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2402408/Woman-In-Red-Kelly-LeBrock-comes-hiding-photoshoot-California-ranch.html#ixzz2dBoGp5w2)
By Jeff Maysh
PUBLISHED: 09:50 EST, 27 August 2013 | UPDATED: 05:22 EST, 28 August 2013

Kelly LeBrock's roles in 1980s movies Woman In Red and Weird Science made her the sexiest woman in the world.

Yet for years the actress has removed herself from the limelight, hiding away at her sprawling Santa Barbara, California ranch.

And now, speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Kelly reveals that her bitter 1996 divorce from action hero Steven Seagal after nine years of wedlock left her too afraid to leave her home.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/27/article-2402408-1B7A1939000005DC-43_634x703.jpg
Woman in red: Kelly LeBrock, who found fame in the '80s in such films as Woman In Red and was once wed to actor Steven Seagal, has offered a look at her life on a sprawling ranch in Santa Barbara, California

'I admit, I became a hermit,' says Kelly, 53. 'When I split with Steven, the divorce was very ugly, and details of the case were on the evening news. I didn't want my kids seeing it, so I simply got rid of the TV. I moved my kids out of LA so they could grow up with real people—the kids of gas pump attendants, plumbers, and real family people.

'I had absolutely no self-esteem. I hated myself. I decided to swap my old life in Beverly Hills for a new one in the country, in Santa Barbara.'

She lives in a single-storey farmhouse and spends her evenings riding her horse, Kiwi.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/27/article-2402408-1B7A18F1000005DC-17_634x388.jpg
Home on the range: The still stunning actress lives in a single-story farmhouse and does most of the ranch work herself

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/27/article-2402408-1B7A30CE000005DC-216_634x354.jpg
Red hot: Kelly famously danced over an air vent in the 1984 comedy The Woman In Red

'I feared everything and didn’t want to leave the house,' she says. 'Sometimes I sleep three nights in a row outside with no tent, just under the stars. Just me and my horse. It brings me closer to the earth.

'I grow all my veggies and make my own cheese and yoghurt. It’s bloody exhausting! To work the land full time keeps me so fit that I haven’t worked out in seven years. I clean the pool myself, muck out the pigs and the horses.

It is a far cry from the model’s British upbringing as Le Brock was born in New York City to an Irish-Scottish mother, Mary Cecilia Traynor and to Harold Arthur Le Brock, an affluent businessman from Lake Champlain, New York.

The family moved to London when she was five, opening art galleries on Duke Street, St. James’, and another in Bond Street, while Kelly was sent to boarding schools in Sussex.

'I was 15 and a half when I started modeling. It’s a familiar tale, but I was at a party, and some dirty old man saw me and thought I was pretty. The next thing I knew I was on an airplane to the Seychelles to shoot an advertisement for British Airways. My father got me an agent and quickly, to my surprise, my modeling career took off and I became the new face of '70's fashion.'

Kelly became an overnight sensation, appearing in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and the top magazines of the time, working with such fashion photographers as Richard Avedon and David Bailey.

'I decided to move out of England to survive the drug scene and thought New York would be a safer place, but I was mistaken.

'I did take it too far, and when my weight dropped from 135 to 90 pounds my agent, Eileen Ford, called my mother and said, "You better get over here." I took my mother to Studio 54 and we danced all night, but she had no idea why I was so energetic.'

'Back in London I had been sheltered from the real world, but in America I was all alone and this terrified me. In England we were all genuine and nice, then suddenly I went straight to America and it was a foreign land. It was full of dangerous people, and I found it frightening and intimidating.'

Kelly witnessed the underbelly of New York’s drug scene and grew increasingly nervous of her new friends and their wild lifestyles.

'I had absolutely no self-esteem. I hated myself. I decided to swap my old life in Beverly Hills for a new one in the country'

When things seemed too bleak for her, Kelly turned her back on modeling and New York, and set her sights on Hollywood.

'I didn't want to get hooked on heroin and die like some of my friends. I decided to change my lifestyle and quit modeling and go to the next obvious thing, movies.'

Once in California, at age 24, Kelly married aspiring movie producer Victor Drai in 1984.

'We went to Paris, fell in love and rented a bunch of French movies. We saw Pardon Mon Affaire and decided it was a good film to remake in Hollywood.'

That film became Woman In Red, and Drai cast Kelly in the title role.

Kelly played the sexy siren Charlotte, Gene Wilder’s love interest, and in one iconic scene she stood atop an air vent that caused her red dress to billow upward in the wind.

Woman In Red became a box office sensation, grossing $25,308,147—a large sum for the time, and even won an Academy Award.

'It was a thrilling experience. Not only did it help me cut my teeth on movie making, but it also placed me at the movie’s center, which, I must say, overwhelmed me.'

'After Woman in Red, a few men in Hollywood had their eye on me,' admits Kelly, whose marriage to Victor Drai would end after only two years in 1986.

'Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Billy Wilder used to come to the house. Billy once said to me, "If I was a little bit younger, I’d be directing you in a movie." He had directed Marilyn and I was flattered by is interest.'

In 1987, during a trip to Japan, Kelly’s publicist **** Gutman introduced her to martial artist and aspiring movie actor Steven Seagal in Japan.

Seagal was there to visit his ex-wife Miyako Fujitani and their two children at the same time as Kelly was shooting a 24-page feature for American Vogue.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/27/article-2402408-1B7A309A000005DC-231_634x942.jpg
Renaissance man: Kelly says that when she first met Steven Seagal, seen here with her in 1990's Hard To Kill, she was swept off her feet by his charms and his many talents

Remarkably, Steven had married La Russa before divorcing Fujitani, committing bigamy.

'I had spoken to Steven a number of times on the phone but I was going to blow him off.

'I finally said I would have a drink with him and when he came to my room I opened the door he was just standing there, six feet four inches tall, nice looking, slim, he spoke fluent Japanese and he could do acupuncture, chiropractics, sang, played guitar and drums, and could draw.

'There seemed to be nothing he couldn't do. He was an all-round Renaissance man and I was instantly attracted to him.

Yet from the start of their relationship, Kelly soon learned that there might be trouble ahead. Her initially favorable impression of Seagal would soon evaporate and her marriage would tailspin into a horror story.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/27/article-2402408-1B7C2249000005DC-531_634x667.jpg
Family portrait: The couple, seen here in 1989 with their first child Annaliza; their marriage produce three children in total

In 1988, Kelly says she suffered a horrendous incident at the hands of Seagal that would change their relationship forever and lead to a stormy divorce.

'Writing about that experience in my book has been incredibly painful, but I’m relieved the truth will finally come out.'

Kelly says that it was her love for their three children—Dominic, Annaliza and Arissa Seagal—that caused her to stay with Seagal through many explosive and traumatic times.

Kelly has spent the past few years writing a tell-all book and is preparing to make a return to Hollywood.

'I see kids like Lindsay Lohan going off the rails because she has no one there for her. Lindsay reminds me of a 12 year old, like a little girl stuck in a young woman’s body, with all the drugs and alcohol.'

I blame Steven for ruining her.

GeneChing

01-07-2014, 01:51 PM

Gotta luv him. Just gotta.

Steven Seagal would be a strange Arizona governor (http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/articles/20140106seagal-would-strange-governor.html)
Our View: But his candidacy would be hilarious, would it not?

http://i.azcentral.com/i/a/a/c/L169_CIFR61cb51b0e6b841f158ac4dd240bb3caa.jpg
Actor Steven Seagal is interviewed by the media in March, 2011 after Maricopa County sheriff's officers arrested a man suspected of running a ****fighting operation.
Deirdre Hamill/ The Republic

By Editorial board
The Republic | azcentral.com
Mon Jan 6, 2014 6:23 PM
Our valued colleague E.J. Montini beat us to the punch on this one, but we nevertheless must add our enthusiastic encouragement to actor Steven Seagal, who says he is “remotely” considering running for governor of Arizona.

Please. Please consider it seriously. Or at least as seriously as a self-obsessed Hollywood actor, whose grasp of real Arizona issues is at best marginal, can contemplate such matters.

Seagal is a good friend of Arizona’s pre-eminent political camera hog, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpiao. So, it is probably safe to presume that as a gubernatorial candidate, Seagal would be as unavoidable for comment as his political mentor. An abundant supply of humorless self-parody would be ours for the taking! Oh, the riches.

As is usually the case, a Seagal candidacy would be too good to be true, so it probably won’t happen. Arpaio and the actor are filming some kind of buddy-reality show called “Steven Seagal — Lawman: Maricopa County,” so these “remote” political aspirations likely are intended to promote the show more than reflect real aspirations.

But we can dream. And in our dreams, we see a really serious guy with a really bad hairpiece performing his own Arpaio impressions as he runs — hysterically — for governor of Arizona.

GeneChing

03-05-2014, 10:00 AM

Russia Today interviews actor and martial arts expert Steven Seagal about Ukraine (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/140304/russia-today-interview-steven-seagal-ukraine)
Steven Seagal isn't just an international relations expert. He also plays one on Russian news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAb39HMVAGE#t=11

Events in Crimea are spiraling out of control, with Russian or pro-Russian forces holding key government buildings and military bases under siege. So naturally, Russia Today asked Steven Seagal to weigh in on the situation in Ukraine. He begins:

"Well, it's exactly the kind of thing we — meaning myself, several members of Congress, and millions of other people — have been trying to avoid. I hear a lot of political rhetoric, I hear a lot of political spinning." (audible sniff)

Steven Seagal is of course noted for his work in stopping the attempted terrorist takeover of the USS Missouri. No. No, that was a character he played in a movie. Steven Seagal is famous for his time as an NYPD detective and for the takedown of noted mafioso Richie Madano. No, wait. That was also a movie. Maybe he's famous for his time as an elite fire fighter who fought the corrupt Aegis Oil conglomerate? NOPE. Still a movie.

Wait — did RT just ask some random actor who played tough guys who relentlessly take the law into their own hands to comment on one of the largest games of geopolitical brinkmanship in recent memory?

Of course not! Steven Seagal is totally an international relations expert, if by that you mean he gets paid to promote the Russian firearms industry. He’s also a regional and subject matter expert, if by that you mean he shares a love of mixed martial arts with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he's actually a big star in Russia.
He was right about Sochi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67060-2014-Winter-Olympics-in-Sochi&p=1261305#post1261305). Send Seagal in to Ukraine!

GeneChing

03-31-2014, 01:48 PM

"a brother"? oh brother. :rolleyes:

Movie Star Seagal Backs Russia's Actions in Crimea (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/movie-star-seagal-backs-russias-actions-in-crimea/496896.html)
By Christopher Brennan
Mar. 27 2014 00:00
Last edited 15:23

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/upload/iblock/f9f/Steven_Seagal_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg
Steven Seagal in Arizona on Oct. 27, 2012.

American action movie star Steven Seagal has given state-run newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta a whopping 2,000 word interview in which he expressed support for Russia's actions in Crimea.

In the interview on the set of a movie he is shooting in Romania, Seagal said President Vladimir Putin's "desire to protect the Russian-speaking people of Crimea, his assets, and the Russian Black Sea military base in Sevastopol … is very reasonable."

Criticizing the "idiotic" U.S. policy on Ukraine, Seagal said the American media coverage of the crisis was promoting the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Seagal, a Republican who is thought to be a relatively close acquaintance of Putin partly due to their shared love of martial arts, said that Putin is "one of the great living world leaders" and that he "would like to consider him as a brother." Earlier this month he helped Putin promote the relaunch of a physical fitness program discontinued after the fall of the Soviet Union.

This is not the first time that the action star and former deputy sheriff has spoken to Kremlin-run media about the situation in Ukraine. Last month English language television station RT brought on Seagal, 61, as an expert panelist on the situation in the country.

Rossiskaya Gazeta pumped up the actor's political prowess by mentioning that fellow actors like former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan have played major roles in politics and saying that Seagal is "no less popular or authoritative in the world today."

The newspaper's faith in his stardom may be misplaced, however. The celebrity popularity tracking STARmeter on movie site imdb.com, places Seagal 1,454th for overall star popularity while Schwarzenegger ranks 124th.

In addition to discussing Ukraine during the interview — published Wednesday — the newspaper asked whether Seagal would run for governor of Arizona, to which the actor said it was more important to be a peacemaker than the leader of a state.

Seagal also said that although he loves the United States, it is possible — "sometime" — that he will follow the lead of French movie star Gerard Depardieu and take Russian citizenship.

crazychang

04-03-2014, 09:50 PM

THATS JUST GREAT!! Another martial arts swashbuckler who is trying to put his hand in politics.

He will leave the place a train wreck!!!

Haha NATO have turned around and threatened PUTIN over his little incursion/annexation.

Back in 98 the world press was warning that he would threaten ww3 in a strange love manner. Mean while, the martial arts community has been ramping his profile, which goes to show the idiotic, politically impoverished mindsets of the martial arts 'world':mad:!

crazychang

04-03-2014, 09:56 PM

Stickgrappler

04-04-2014, 10:10 AM

past two nights, i rewatched above the law and hard to kill

man early seagal is awesome! i recall there was no action star doing aikido let alone wristlocks/breaks and it was a breath of fresh air for the action movies scene coming from hollywood

so sad how the rest of his life turned out

GeneChing

08-11-2014, 10:54 AM

The Night Wolves? That is just too awesome for words.

American actor Steven Seagal reportedly performs in Crimea (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/10/us-actor-steven-seagal-reportedly-performs-in-crimea/)
Published August 10, 2014
Associated Press

MOSCOW – The Russian news RIA Novosti says American actor and musician Steven Seagal has performed at a concert in the breakaway region of Crimea on a stage decorated with the flag of pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Seagal, who knows Russian President Vladimir Putin, performed with his blues band Saturday night in the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol at a concert organized by a motorcycle gang of Russian nationalists known as the Night Wolves. Russia annexed the Ukrainian region in March.

RIA Novosti reported that Seagal was then handed a shirt with Putin's face on it, which he held aloft as he thanked the crowd.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine continued to rage Sunday while Ukrainian officials demanded that the insurgents surrender.

Steven Seagal plays at concert for pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/10/steven-seagal-pro-russian-separatists-ukraine-crimea-concert)
Actor, musician and Vladimir Putin's friend performs with band at pro-'Donetsk People's Republic' show in Sevastopol, Crimea
Agence France-Presse in Sevastopol
theguardian.com, Sunday 10 August 2014 09.19 EDT

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/8/10/1407676439527/Steven-Seagal-on-stage-in-011.jpg
US action movie actor Steven Seagal on stage at a bikers' show in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. Photograph: Yuri Lashov/AFP/Getty Images

Hollywood actor and musician Steven Seagal played a weekend concert in the Crimean peninsula, appearing on a stage adorned with the flag of pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine.

Seagal and his blues band played on Saturday at a bikers' show held in the city of Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea fleet. The star has come under fire for supporting Russia's March annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, a view that saw him bounced from the lineup at an Estonian blues festival this summer.

At the corner of the stage hung the black, blue and red flag of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" (DNR), declared independent by pro-Russia rebels fighting to break away from Ukraine. Fans waved Russian and DNR flags as Seagal performed.

The US and EU have imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and for allegedly providing weapons and support to the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Seagal said he had travelled to Crimea because music unites people, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported. In a March interview with a Russian newspaper, Seagal was quoted as saying that President Vladimir Putin's desire to protect Russians in Crimea was completely reasonable.

Crimea's largely Russian-speaking residents voted in March to become part of Russia in a hastily organised referendum held as Russian troops patrolled the Black Sea peninsula they had occupied only weeks before.

Seagal said he considers Putin, with whom he has promoted martial arts in Russia, "a friend and I'd like to consider him a brother". Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last year that the Russian president and Seagal have been friends for a long time and meet regularly.

Russian media also reported Seagal put on a Putin T-shirt given to him by the concert's organiser. In television footage broadcast on a channel owned by Russia's defence ministry, Seagal can be heard telling his hosts about his Russian ancestors.

In the March newspaper interview Seagal said he did not rule out eventually seeking Russian citizenship in addition to his US citizenship.

For more on Seagal music, see our 6-6-6 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41575-6-6-6) thread. ;)

GeneChing

09-03-2014, 09:15 AM

I don't even want to know if this is real.... alas the internet. always good for a chuckle if you don't take it too seriously.

Public warned not to download naked photos of Steven Seagal (http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2014/09/02/public-warned-not-to-download-naked-photos-of-steven-seagal/)

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/350-seagal.jpg

Fear has gripped online users who may have, in a furtive attempt to view intimate erotica of Jennifer Lawrence ‘before their family comes home’, inadvertently downloaded explicit images of Hollywood’s favourite martial arts veteran, ironic Buddhist and poster-boy for Cuprinol®. Although a sprightly 62, most teenage boys or frustrated husbands would admit that Mr. Seagal’s squinty-eyed leer is not quite the same as a gyrating Kim Kardashian.

As the FBI investigates the ‘iCloud’ celebrity picture leaks, they have taken the unprecedented steps to pixelate out Mr. Seagal’s genitals from raw footage of ‘Under Siege 2’. A spokesman said: ‘We take the hacking of celebrity accounts very seriously but of greater concern is that we could end up with Steven Seagal doing naked yoga lunges as a screen saver’.

Much of the confusion has been caused by a hyperlink named ‘bronzed arse on film’, which many assumed was a coded reference to a cavorting Miss Lawrence. Instead, once clicked, you are taken to gallery of ‘naked Seagals’, with all but a 7th-dan black belt to cover his aging ‘man bits’. One browser expressed surprise over the security leak: ‘Just how many pornographic selfies do celebs own? That’s a hell of a lot of photos, if you’ve filled your hard drive and you need to start storing the excess on a Cloud. Frankly, that’s a lot of narcissism, pouting and whipped cream’.

Around twenty celebrities are alleged to have been hacked, but half of all web addresses lead back to Mr. Seagal ‘…in his birthday suit’. An agent for the ‘Actor stroke Musician’ said: ‘Mr. Seagal is raising awareness of environmental issues by appearing stark bollock naked on your PC. You may be expecting to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead and her husband, but you’re much more likely to be concerned about the torture of baby elephants if you’re starring at something resembling a swinging, wrinkled, grey trunk’.

GeneChing

09-24-2014, 09:11 AM

Russia's Kalashnikov Drops Actor Steven Seagal Over Tensions With U.S. (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-kalashnikov-drops-actor-steven-seagal-over-tensions-with-u-s/507604.html)
The Moscow TimesSep. 23 2014 14:47 Last edited 14:47

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/upload/iblock/240/Steven-Seagal.jpg
ABC15 Arizona / YouTube
The actor Steven Seagal will no longer promote Kalashnikov weapons.

Russia's iconic weapons maker Kalashnikov Concern has changed its mind about having action hero Steven Seagal promote the brand, with relations between Russia and the U.S. on sharp following the crisis in Ukraine.

"At the moment we have no plans to invite Steven Seagal to be the ambassador of our brand," a Kalashnikov spokesman said, the Izvestia newspaper reported Tuesday.

Discussions between Seagal and representatives from Kalashnikov were opened in January when it was thought the American star could boost the weapons maker's image in the U.S., the company's biggest market, the report said.

Since then relations between the U.S. and Russia have steadily soured, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March and its perceived support of separatists in the east of Ukraine. Kalashnikov Concern has also found itself among the Russian companies blacklisted by Washington in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

Having turned its back on Seagal, Kalashnikov is now looking for new ambassadors to help it break into emerging markets, namely Asia, Africa and Latin America, the company spokesman said.

It is estimated the decision not to work with Seagal will save the weapons maker between 17-21 million rubles ($444,000-$544,000) a year, Izvestia reported, citing an analyst. I didn't even know this was happening...:o

and i never did click that, SKM. honestly, i don't wanna know...

GeneChing

01-08-2015, 10:14 AM

Seagal is the Bill Cosby of martial arts. :eek:

Steven Seagal Lawsuit: Former Model and Assistant Suing Former ‘Under Siege’ Actor for Sexual harassment and Sexual trafficking (http://www.crossmap.com/news/steven-seagal-lawsuit-former-model-and-assistant-suing-former-under-siege-actor-for-sexual-harassment-and-sexual-trafficking-15311)
By KC Curay On January 5, 2015
Flickr Commons

http://cdn.crossmap.com/images/2/37/23797.jpg
Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal, the star of such hit movies as "Under Siege," "Hard to Kill," and "On Deadly Ground" is being sued for sexual trafficking and sexual harassment. The martial arts actor is being sued by a former employee and personal assistant, Kayden Nguyen, a 23-year old model, for $1 million. According to insider information from the judge's office and other insider documents, Kayden Nguyen alleges that the actor Steven Seagal hired her to be his personal assistant, but instead, the model ended up as his "sex toy." This is the phrase the model has used to describe her working relationship with the actor and as used in the language of the court documents. Here are more news about the Steven Seagal Lawsuit.

Aside from Nguyen, there are two other witnesses to strengthen her claims against the actor. These are also two former female employees who also experienced sexual harassment with the actor as Seagal attempted to come on to them. However, before the situation could escalate, both female employees resigned from their jobs.

Marty Singer is Steven Seagal's attorney and claims everything is just a foul case. Singer claims that the details of the lawsuit were obviously purposely leaked to the media to cause a loud sensation to garner some sort of sympathy for the alleged victim, Kayden Nguyen. Singer further claims that the allegations are quite absurd since Seagal claims that he doesn't know nor has no knowledge of any of the women, nor have they been in his employ.

However, Kelly LeBrock, Seagal's ex-wife casts a doubtful shadow on the actor's defense since she was the first to ever expose the martial artist's dark side when she revealed in past interviews that she was constantly raped and abused during their marriage together. LeBrock and Seagal married in 1987 and had 3 children together for nine years before the actress filed for divorce in 1994. Another reason for the divorce was that Seagal was having an affair with the couple's nanny. That same nanny ended up having a child by Seagal. As far back as 1991, some sexual harassment allegations were already surfacing about the action star.

David Jamieson

01-08-2015, 11:51 AM

Let me get this straight...
Kelly LeBrock says she was raped and abused by Steve for years. 9 years she says.
They have kids together etc.

then he has an affair with a maid and THEN she decides to divorce?

Yeah...I'm gonna call BS on Kelly on that one.

GeneChing

04-22-2015, 08:38 AM

Kremlin Won't Confirm Putin Asked Obama to Make Seagal Russian Consul' (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/news/article/kremlin-report-putin-asked-obama-to-make-steven-seagal-russian-consul-exaggerated/519571.html)
The Moscow TimesApr. 22 2015 17:31 Last edited 17:31

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/upload/iblock/cc2/Obama_and_Vladmir_Putin_seagal.jpg
Pete Souza / Wikicommons
Putin told Obama that “Seagal, the martial artist turned washed-up action hero, was just the man to pull U.S.-Russia relations back from the brink,” BuzzFeed reported.

The Kremlin has dismissed reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin asked U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to appoint action star Steven Seagal as an intermediary between the White House and the Kremlin.

Putin reportedly asked for Seagal to be appointed an honorary Russian consul in the U.S. states of California and Arizona during a G8 summit in northern Ireland two years ago, BuzzFeed reported Monday, citing unnamed U.S. officials who attended the meeting.

The June summit— held months before violence erupted in Ukraine in February 2014 and Russia's annexation of Crimea a month later — was fraught with tension over U.S. plans to arm opposition fighters in Syria, a move that Russia staunchly opposed.

Putin told Obama that “Seagal, the martial artist turned washed-up action hero, was just the man to pull U.S.-Russia relations back from the brink,” BuzzFeed reported, citing four unnamed current and former U.S. officials.

“Our reaction was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’” one of the officials was cited as saying.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/upload/medialibrary/58e/steven-seagal-putin-obama.jpg
Gage Skidmore / Flickr
Steven Seagal

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday dismissed the report, telling journalists that it had been very much exaggerated.

“There is a lot of exaggerated and incorrect information in this article,” Peskov was cited as saying by Interfax, while noting that “[Seagal] indeed has deep sympathy toward our country, and he has met with the president several times, and they have a good relationship.”

Seagal is a popular guest among the Russian political elite, and the U.S. martial arts star has openly expressed his support for Russia's annexation of Crimea.

In an interview with state-run newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta in March last year, Seagal called Putin "one of the great living world leaders" and said he "would like to consider him as a brother."

The action hero this year dismissed reports he was planning to run for Arizona governor this year as “kind of a joke.”

If this happens, well...I won't know what to say. :o

GeneChing

09-08-2015, 11:02 AM

Vladimir Putin ducks out of a martial arts fight with Hollywood action star Steven Seagal (http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/603611/Vladimir-Putin-martial-arts-fight-Hollywood-Steven-Seagal)
RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin has been flexing his country's military muscle in recent days but a bout with Hollywood action man Steven Seagal has proved too much of a challenge.
By Rob Virtue
PUBLISHED: 00:00, Mon, Sep 7, 2015 | UPDATED: 19:28, Mon, Sep 7, 2015

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/putinseagal-603611.jpg
GETTY
Steven Seagal and Russian president Vladimir Putin

The bizarre match up was posed by China's deputy prime minister Wang Yang on the final day of a meeting of nations in eastern Russia, while the three were being taken on a tour of an aquarium.

Putin, a long-time friend of Seagal, has regularly taken to the martial arts mat but decided against fighting the star action films such as Under Siege.

Seagal has in the past defended Russia's invasion of Crimea and even performed a concert for pro-separatists.

The Russian leader, 62, appeared as a celebrity guest at a special Russian martial arts competition earlier this year and has previously joked of a bout with Seagal.

The Hollywood action hero, 63, is one of the president's favourite showbiz friends and is a regular visitor to Russia.

The suggestion was made on the final day of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, during a tour of one of the biggest aquariums in the world when it opens in 2016.

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/secondary/vladseagal-343205.jpg
AP
Putin and Seagal met last week at a political forum

Seagal, who did not want to discuss the proposed bout, attended the Forum along with former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, 48.

They used it to speak about their wildlife protection activities.

Seagal said he was "happy to use my face to help the leopards".

He also attended an eco-auction for the big cats in Russia and was given the chance to name one of the females.

He said: "I called her Queen Borte. That is the name of the first wife of Gengis Khan.

"A strong name will give the animal additional power."

It was revealed on Sunday Putin was building an air base in Syria from which to attack Islamic State.

That was seen as a show of support for the nation's leader Bashar al-Assad, who is one of Putin's key allies.

My respect for Seagal would have gone through the roof if he was able to pull this one off... ;)

GeneChing

01-12-2016, 11:16 AM

Steven Seagal gets Serbian citizenship after offering to start martial arts school (http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/11/steven-seagal-serbian-citizenship-martial-arts-school)
Action star and friend of Vladimir Putin has made several visits to Serbia, meeting with president and prime minister and saying he feels like a Serb

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0f7519c885a7914fd11313e9a062e6b898008beb/0_0_1803_1082/master/1803.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&
Vladimir Putin and Steven Seagal visit a new sports arena in Moscow in 2013. Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/AP
Staff and agencies
Monday 11 January 2016 12.02 EST Last modified on Monday 11 January 2016 12.40 EST

Serbia has granted citizenship to American action hero Steven Seagal, state television reported Monday, after he offered to set up a martial arts school in Belgrade.

The decision, announced in the official state gazette, came after the veteran actor and producer made two recent visits to Serbia, praising its populist leadership and saying he feels like a Serb.

The star of Under Siege and Above the Law visited the capital twice in December and was received by President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

At the time, Seagal said he would do “everything possible to promote Serbia” worldwide and expressed a wish to establish an Aikido school in the capital city, according to a government statement.

Has Steven Seagal proved you can be a Buddhist and a mascot for the arms trade?

During one visit, Seagal was asked to train Serbian special police forces in Aikido, a Japanese martial art that he has displayed in his blockbuster movies.

His visits were sponsored by a pro-Russian Serb group.

A friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Seagal has in the past promoted sports for Russian schoolchildren and said he would not rule out eventually seeking Russian citizenship.

Serbia has officially sought EU membership but has been struggling to overcome strong opposition from pro-Kremlin nationalists.

That's gotta be a first. Citizenship to open a dojo.

GeneChing

05-08-2017, 10:23 AM

...or at least a good reality show?

Ukraine bans Steven Seagal as threat to national security (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/may/05/ukraine-bans-steven-seagal-national-security-russian-citizenship)
Security service says it has forbidden Seagal entry into country for five years, after actor received Russian citizenship

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7da5a33c72ed72a67cef61a73c8d957b427cb0a3/0_130_5151_3090/master/5151.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&
Vladimir Putin presenting Steven Seagal with a Russian passport. Photograph: TASS / Barcroft Images

Alec Luhn in Moscow
Friday 5 May 2017 15.07 EDT Last modified on Friday 5 May 2017 18.55 EDT

Ukraine has banned American action movie star Steven Seagal as a national security threat, making him the latest of several cultural figures to be blacklisted.

The Ukrainian security service said it had forbidden Seagal entry to the country for five years, in a letter published by the news site Apostrophe. The service’s press secretary later confirmed the ban to other media.

The letter said such a decision is made when a person has “committed socially dangerous actions … that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security”. The move comes after the actor received citizenship in Russia, which has backed separatists in a simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin handed Seagal a Russian passport and told him he hoped their “personal relationship will remain and continue” during a meeting in the Kremlin last year.

Ukraine previously banned Russia’s entry to the Eurovision song contest that Kiev is hosting next week.

Seagal, the star of the 1992 hit Under Siege as well as straight-to-video films such as Kill Switch, Out for a Kill and Driven to Kill, has had a long love affair with the former Soviet Union. He has eaten carrots with “Europe’s last dictator” Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, ridden a horse in a suit of armour at the Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan and taken part in a traditional dance while visiting Chechnya strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

But Seagal’s outspoken support for Putin and his policies have earned the enmity of the Ukrainian authorities. The actor called Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine “very reasonable”. He later played with his blues band at a concert in Crimea put on by a pro-Putin biker club, with the flag of eastern Ukraine separatists flying onstage.

In 2015, Seagal was included in a proposed blacklist of foreign cultural figures who “speak out in support of violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine” along with French actor Gérard Depardieu and many Russian artists. Ukraine later banned Depardieu and has also blacklisted more than 100 Russian films.

The cultural war with Moscow continued this year when Kiev banned Russia’s Eurovision entrant, Yulia Samoilova, for performing in Crimea in 2015. Samoilova plans to give another concert in Crimea when the contest is held in Kiev on 13 May.

Ukraine earned the right to host the competition when its 2016 entrant, Jamala, won with a song about Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatars, which was also interpreted as a commentary on the 2014 annexation.

GeneChing

09-15-2017, 09:00 AM

Gotta hand it to Looper.com. I seldom click through all the pages when they are divided up so, but this piece had me captivated.

Whatever happened to Steven Seagal? (http://www.looper.com/22997/whatever-happened-steven-seagal/?utm_source=fb.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=facebook_zergnet)

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images
Brian Boone @brianbooone
The savviest movie stars give the people what they want. And in the late '80s, the people wanted action movies in which drug dealers and international criminals got kicked and punched and shot at by a sort-of-mystical, stone-faced martial arts expert with a ponytail—in other words, Steven Seagal. He ruled the box office for years with huge hits like Hard to Kill, Above the Law, and Under Siege, but tastes change, and eventually, Seagal faded from movie star prominence. Here's a look at what he's been up to since receding from the spotlight.

He still makes movies. Lots of movies

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/he-still-makes-movies-lots-of-movies-1504822090.jpg

Seagal's contract with Warner Bros. ended with the release of the environmentally-themed thriller Fire Down Below in 1997. He still makes action movies, and he still puts them out at a rapid clip. Since 1998, however, most (but not all) have gone directly to DVD and/or streaming services. Among those projects: The Patriot, Exit Wounds, Half Past Dead, Out for a Kill, Into the Sun, Submerged, Black Dawn, Attack Force, Urban Justice, Kill Switch, Code of Honor, and Driven to Kill. In all, Seagal has churned out more than 30 movies in less than 20 years.

In 2016 alone, he starred in a whopping seven non-theatrically-released (or barely theatrical-released) films: Contract to Kill, End of a Gun, Code of Honor, Sniper: Special Ops, The Asian Connection, Cartels, and The Perfect Weapon.

He had a reality show

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/he-had-a-reality-show-1504822090.jpg

Starting in the late '80s, Seagal took a side job as a police consultant in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Sheriff Harry Lee, a big Seagal fan, had asked the action star to train his force in martial arts and marksmanship, and he did it for so long that Lee eventually enlisted Seagal as a reserve deputy. In 2009, Seagal's side gig became the basis for a reality show on A&E called Steven Seagal: Lawman. It was similar to Cops in that a film crew tagged along while police officers investigated local crimes as they happened—yet different, in that Steven Seagal was there, usually hanging out in the police car observing the cops from a safe distance.

Sadly, Seagal reportedly resigned from the force after he found himself the subject of an internal affairs investigation that, according to the Phoenix New Times, sought to uncover the truth about "allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault." Gross.

He also starred in a TV cop show

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/he-also-starred-in-a-tv-cop-show-1504822090.jpg

Seagal took his crime-fighting, butt-kicking cop act to TV with his 2011 action series True Justice, which he created and starred in as Eljah Kane, head of an elite undercover Seattle task force. (The show was actually taped in Vancouver, Canada.) True Justice first aired in Spain on a cable channel called Nitro before showing up on the American movie network Reelz, which renewed the show and funded a second season. True Justice ran for a total of 26 episodes.

He's an entrepreneur with widely varying business interests

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-an-entrepreneur-with-widely-varying-business-interests-1504822090.jpg

Many celebrities have their own vanity wines—including Seagal, sort of. He owns an estate in California's Santa Ynez Valley, where 200 acres are set aside to grow Cabernet grapes that he then sells to other wineries. From 1999 to 2007, he also owned a 995-acre lavender farm in northern California where he grew the raw materials for Diamond Lotus Essentials, a line of "therapeutic oils." And in 2005, Seagal's company Steven Seagal Products launched Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt, a line of canned energy drinks which was proudly marketed as the first of its kind to contain "Tibetan Goji Berries" and "Asian Cordyceps." Flavors include Cherry Charge, Root Beer Rush, and Asian Experience.

He even teamed up with a Cold Steel, a California knife manufacturer, to create the "Steven Seagal Series" of knives and swords. A katana sword with sheath costs a mere $1099.99, while a shorter "Steven Seagal Helmet Breaker" runs just $499.999.

He's had some romantic ups and downs

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-had-some-romantic-ups-and-downs-1504822090.jpg

Seagal has been married four times. His third and most prominent marriage was with another nostalgic icon, model and actress Kelly LeBrock, most famous for being the dream woman created by teen scientists in Weird Science (and for saying "don't hate me because I'm beautiful" in a long-running series of Pantene commercials). Seagal and LeBrock divorced in 1996—he reportedly had an affair with their nanny, and she got pregnant. In 2009, he married his personal assistant, Erdenetuya Batsukh.

He's been sued for sexual harassment

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-been-sued-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

In 2010, another of Seagal's former personal assistants, Kayden Nguyen, sued Seagal for $1 million, alleging he sexually harassed and abused her. Those allegations were corroborated by two other female ex-employees who alleged similar treatment by the actor, but the suit was dropped later in the year.

He's missed some big comeback opportunities

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-missed-some-big-comeback-opportunities-1504822090.jpg

Seagal is reportedly good friends with fellow martial arts movie star Jackie Chan. They're so tight that while Chan's Rush Hour 3 was entering production in 2007, Chan is rumored to have suggested that Seagal play the film's villain. He didn't end up in the role, and the script was rewritten to accommodate Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada.

Sylvester Stallone's 2010 hit The Expendables showed that there was still a big audience out there for '80s-style action movies, as well as '80s-style action heroes. Among the cast of the Expendables series: Stallone himself, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mickey Rourke, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Conspicuously absent from that list: Steven Seagal. Stallone reportedly offered Seagal a spot in the ensemble, but he turned it down. The reason: Seagal hates one of the movie's producers, Avi Lerner, with whom he worked on several of his direct-to-video features.

He's a citizen of the world

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-a-citizen-of-the-world-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

Seagal lives a very full life outside of making movies and hanging out with cops. He also spends a lot of time traveling around the world to visit his friends who live far away. Incongruously, two of his best friends are Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama…and Russian president Vladimir Putin. In addition, Seagal gained citizenship in Serbia in January 2016 when he offered to set up a martial arts studio there. He probably wouldn't be able to live in Serbia, however, if he followed through on his plans to someday run for governor of Arizona.

His movies have 0 percent on Rotten Tomatoes

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/his-movies-have-0-percent-on-rotten-tomatoes-1504822090.jpg

Two Seagal films—The Foreigner and Contract to Kill—earned the not-so-prestigious score of 0 percent on Rotten Tomatoes—which means that not a single critic that saw either film liked them. Regarding The Foreigner, Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic called the film "so bad that it makes Seagal's other films look like the combined efforts of Frank Capra and Billy Wilder." As for Contract to Kill, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The AV Club wrote that Seagal "gives the kind of performance traditionally associated with stars who died during filming. And yet, Seagal is in almost every scene."

As for the rest of Seagal's recent, direct-to-home video filmography? Those movies haven't even been seen by enough people to be rated yet (a whopping 37 of his movies since 2001 are listed as "No Score Yet"), while 2002's Half Past Dead only managed to eke out a 3 percent. In fact, you can count on one hand the number of "Certified Fresh" movies he has, despite his incredibly long filmography—ouch!

continued next post

GeneChing

09-15-2017, 09:05 AM

A puppy? Aw man.

If only it was this guy' (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68148-John-Wick)s puppy.

He got sued for killing a puppy (http://www.looper.com/22997/whatever-happened-steven-seagal/s/he-got-sued-for-killing-a-puppy/)

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/he-got-sued-for-killing-a-puppy-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

Seagal was sued again, this time for his part of a police operation filmed (but never aired) for Steven Seagal: Lawman. In 2011, Seagal drove a SWAT tank used to raid the home of Jesus Llovera, an Arizona man suspected of holding cockfights. Llovera sued for $100,000 in damages; he also wanted Seagal to write a letter to his kids to apologize for killing their puppy in the melee. Llovera ultimately pled guilty to the cockfighting charges. After a change of attorney and a failure to submit paperwork, a judge dismissed the lawsuit against Seagal.

He's not welcome in Estonia or the Ukraine

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-not-welcome-in-estonia-or-the-ukraine-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

Seagal's bromance with Putin has earned the star some enemies. When he told a Russian state-run newspaper that he considers Putin "one of the great living world leaders" and that he thinks of him like a brother, he also came out in support of Putin's controversial intervention in Crimea.

That got him dropped from a gig performing at a blues festival in Estonia. After Putin personally granted Seagal a Russian passport in 2016, the actor was banned from entering the Ukraine, another former Soviet republic. Officials said that Seagal had "committed socially dangerous actions," which "contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine's security."

He's a Trump supporter

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-a-trump-supporter-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

If you thought Seagal's admiration of Putin was weird, it may not seem quite as strange in the context that he's also a Donald Trump supporter.

It might seem surprising that the same man who starred in and directed the environmentally conscious On Deadly Ground, where he battles an oil tycoon and notorious polluter, and starred in Fire Down Below, where he took on baddies dumping toxic waste, would support a president who doesn't believe in global warming, but does anything about Steven Seagal surprise you anymore?

On the night of President Trump's inauguration, Seagal took to Twitter to congratulate the new leader of the free world, saying, "Congratulations to President Donald Trump! Wonderful speech! So grateful & proud to finally have a president 4 the People!" Then again, maybe it's actually Melania that he's a fan of, considering a December 2015 post on his official Facebook where he shared, "If Donald Trump becomes president, she will be the First Lady."

He's revisiting the films that made him famous

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/hes-revisiting-the-films-that-made-him-famous-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

Seagal is moving forward in his career by reaching into the past. Under Siege and Under Siege 2 are among Seagal's biggest hits, and a film to complete the trilogy is in the works. In October 2016, Seagal took to his official Twitter account to announce that former Navy SEAL Woodie Mister was hard at work on the Under Siege 3 screenplay adding, "It's time." Mister is a producer on another Seagal project in development: Above the Law 2, a sequel to Seagal's debut film from 1988.

He starred in a curious Russian martial arts viral video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=N5D4V6xcVdE

Seagal is no longer the athletic martial arts master of Under Siege or Above the Law. So maybe he's put on some weight and moves a little slower—but that's going to happen to most any guy who's in his mid-sixties. That's why some were a little skeptical of a viral video of Seagal demonstrating the martial art of aikido at the 2015 International Youth Sambo Tournament, held in the Russian city of Saratov.

Seagal takes on two faster, younger combatants and effortlessly flips and tosses them, all while barely moving around. When cornered by TMZ, Seagal laughed off accusations that the fighting in the viral video was fake.

"I've been doing martial arts all my life, how could it be fake?" Seagal argued. After the TMZ reporter suggested that the guys up against Seagal flopped a little too hard, Seagal explained that, "when you're about to break someone's arm or wrist, usually they like to go with it so it doesn't snap."

His daughter is a model

http://img.looper.com/img/gallery/whatever-happened-to-steven-seagal/his-daughter-is-a-model-1504822090.jpg
Getty Images

While this isn't really about what Seagal's been up to recently, fans of the the actor might be interested to learn what the rest of his family has been up to as a little bonus.

After Kelly LeBrock divorced Seagal, she purposely left Hollywood to "raise my babies away from the limelight," she told Closer Weekly. One of those babies was her daughter with Seagal, Arissa LeBrock. The younger LeBrock is now 24-years-old and back in the limelight, as a model for clothing lines such as Mac Duggal and Ashley Stewart. She told the New York Post that while she's following in her mother's modeling footsteps, she "ended up looking like a Seagal: strong and built."

Read More: http://www.looper.com/22997/whatever-happened-steven-seagal/s/his-daughter-is-a-model/?utm_campaign=clip

GeneChing

09-27-2017, 01:54 PM

Why the **** are we still listening to Steven Seagal?
(https://www.avclub.com/why-the-****-are-we-still-listening-to-steven-seagal-1818843791)
Sean O'Neal
Today 11:05am

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--_QR6_PCm--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/nzzovg9nvgcpwmqqnnbj.png

In a charitable attempt to put Piers Morgan’s commentary in perspective, today’s Good Morning Britain welcomed straight-to-DVD human Steven Seagal, looking to get some expert thoughts on the controversy surrounding the ongoing protests in the NFL from a man shaped like a football. The goatee-smudged Seagal—who these days actually looks more like Jim Belushi trying to “lay low” in China—appeared in his now-standard uniform of Mandarin-style shirt, dangerously overtaxed glasses, and hair dipped in souvenir oil from On Deadly Ground, where he set about decrying various things as un-American in front of the Moscow skyline the Russian citizen now calls home. It was more unflinching, uncompromising tough talk from the guy who sometimes gets paid to deliver it to some Bulgarian extra, and it all raised some important questions. Namely, why the **** are we listening to Steven Seagal again?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i86M4zj_Kec

“I believe in free speech, I believe that everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but I don’t agree that they should hold the United States of America or the world hostage by taking a venue where people are tuning in to watch a football game and imposing their political views,” Seagal imposed his political view of this, the worst hostage situation since that one he stopped on a boat or whatever in 1992, which somehow sentenced us to 25 years of geopolitical analysis from a guy who has lied about working for the CIA and fighting the Yakuza, proclaimed himself one of the world’s “foremost experts on swords” and a reincarnated 17th-century Tibetan monk, and—and we simply cannot state this enough—obviously, obviously wrote his own IMDB bio.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--1eBOiWHi--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/xvtnwlitmdx9cduzl8iv.png

The warrior for free speech, BUT... continued: “I think it’s outrageous, I think it’s a joke, it’s disgusting. I respect the American flag. I myself have risked my life countless times for the American flag and I don’t understand or agree with this kind of behavior. I think it’s an outrage,” added Seagal, presumably referring to the many other times he put his life on the line against America’s enemies, which have, indeed, numbered in the dozens, according to your father-in-law’s DVD collection. Or maybe Seagal is talking about his work as a reserve deputy sheriff on his reality show, Steven Seagal: Lawman, where he proudly served alongside Joe Arpaio in protecting the American flag from Mexicans and puppies. How dare these NFL players protesting police brutality take a knee, when Steven Seagal worked side by side with some of the worst perpetrators of that police brutality to bolster his own massive, America-sized ego?

Regardless, the man who has for years courted Vladimir Putin with the same romantic tenacity that’s seen him slapped with several sexual harassment allegations, wheedled his way into becoming the off-putting face of Russia’s weapons industry, and, finally, been granted Russian citizenship after “asking quite insistently and over a lengthy period”—that Steven Seagal, the one who up and decamped the U.S. for Russia like the productions of so many of his ****ty movies, he still has thoughts about what does and doesn’t constitute American patriotism, and somehow we are still indulgently listening to them, like a prostitute trapped inside Seagal’s dojo while he dicks around on blues guitar.

To Piers Morgan’s base-level credit, after Seagal rambled on about the “ton of enemies within,” and “leftover Obama-ites,” and other assorted people with “this other agenda” attempting to overthrow American democracy, Morgan asked Seagal how he could square those red-blooded patriotic views with his loyalty to Putin. Especially with regards to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and especially while Seagal sat there in Moscow looking like the poorly rendered villain from a Tom Clancy CD-ROM shooter.

“Let’s be really honest, Piers,” Seagal said, rubbing his nose with patriotic fervor. “Every country is involved in espionage… However, for anyone to think that Vlad-ee-meer Poo-tin had, uhhhhh, anything to do with fixing the elections or even that the Russians had that kind of technology is, uh, uh, stupid. And uh, we have a situation where really all of this is happening from, in my opinion, astronomical propaganda, and this kind of propaganda is really a diversion from, you know, creating a diversion so that the people of the United States of America won’t really see what’s happening.”

Speaking of cheap political diversions from the sad reality of things, the interview wrapped up with Morgan asking about Seagal’s latest movie, about which even Seagal himself seemed caught off guard that anyone would actually be interested. It’s called Attrition, by the by, it stars Seagal as a guy named “Axe” who’s out to rescue a “Thai girl with mythical powers,” and Steven Seagal is a viable voice opining on the most important matters of the day. Life continues to be a sickbed basic-cable fever dream.

There are some hilarious internet trolls all over Seagal now.

GeneChing

10-02-2017, 09:09 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eAuJIGlp9I

Jimbo

10-02-2017, 10:03 AM

While I agree in principle with Colbert's spoofing of Trump and Seagal, I've NEVER found Colbert himself to be funny. AT ALL. Trump and Seagal do a much better job, however unintentionally, of spoofing themselves.

For example, this would have been hilarious (and a lot funnier than Colbert) if the situation weren't so horrific and so many people weren't suffering. Instead, it's just another sign of Trump's pathetic (and apathetic) cluelessness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71rg6jKMd6A&sns=em

GeneChing

10-03-2017, 02:58 PM

George Foreman ‏Verified account (https://twitter.com/GeorgeForeman/status/914930639534772224/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jiujitsutimes.com%2Fgeor ge-foreman-issues-strangest-challenge-ever-steven-seagal%2F)
@GeorgeForeman
Follow
More
Steven Seagal, I challenge you One on one, I use boxing you can use whatever. 10 rounds in Vegas

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DLJ8jjGVoAEsTI7.jpg

12:10 PM - 2 Oct 2017
16,601 Retweets 39,499 Likes

Things just got real. Foreman's gonna grill Seagal's ass. :p

For example, this would have been hilarious (and a lot funnier than Colbert) if the situation weren't so horrific and so many people weren't suffering. I feel ya, Jimbo. But I've been finding some comfort in the late night comedians, finding humor in such times. When we lose to comedians, then we will have truly lost our freedom.

Jimbo

10-03-2017, 07:56 PM

Gene:

I agree that comedy is essential in these times. I've just never found Colbert to be even remotely funny. I like comedians who are funny and can actually do decent impressions of the people they're mimicking.

rett2

10-04-2017, 03:01 AM

Yes yes and yes.

Colbert tries to be funny and isn't.

Seagal doesn't try to be funny but is.

Jimbo

10-05-2017, 08:27 AM

Yes yes and yes.

Colbert tries to be funny and isn't.

Seagal doesn't try to be funny but is.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks so, rett2. That's exactly it; Colbert TRIES too hard to be funny. IMO, the very best comedians simply ARE funny.

Gene:

As far as Foreman challenging Seagal, I don't see it ever happening. But even on the off-chance it did, it wouldn't be much of a show. Both Foreman and Seagal are old (to be fighting in a ring). I'm certain that Foreman still packs a powerful punch and always will, but even when he made his 'old man' comeback decades ago, he was slow, stiff-legged and immobile. Now add on about 25 years to that. As for Seagal, by all accounts his real-life MA is (or was) very good, but he looks like Jabba the Hut now. I don't think either of them is in any condition to go 2 rounds, let alone 10. The only possible entertainment to come out of it would be if Foreman could catch Seagal with one big punch. Otherwise, it'll just be too big, slow old guys huffing, puffing and laying all over each other against the ropes.

GeneChing

10-06-2017, 07:34 AM

This article nails it. Note that if you go to the original source, the author has all of her citations hyperlinked to the source.

George Foreman fighting Steven Seagal in Vegas? It’s the least we deserve (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2017/oct/05/george-foreman-fighting-steven-seagal-in-vegas-its-the-least-we-deserve?CMP=share_btn_tw)
The noted countertop-grill retailer and ex-heavyweight champion has issued a challenge to Vladimir Putin’s best friend. If it ever happens, it will be a cultural event worthy of our troubled times

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/48153ce67072b65ee9afb62dc7b90a17466f16bf/0_0_2560_1536/master/2560.jpg
Foreman told Seagal on Twitter: ‘I challenge you ... I use boxing, you can use whatever.’ Composite: Getty

Marina Hyde
@MarinaHyde
Thursday 5 October 2017 12.18 EDT Last modified on Thursday 5 October 2017 17.00 EDT

It has become a cliche of the era to say we are getting what we deserve. We get the politicians we deserve, we get the presidents we deserve, we get the world we deserve. Without getting overly L’Oreal advert about it all, surely we deserve a respite from these just deserts? Can’t something hilarious and magical come along that we can all welcome with open arms, realising that we are, without question, getting the thing that we deserve – and that it is good?

Yes. Yes it can. George Foreman has challenged Steven Seagal to a proper fight. This is the cultural event that should have you telling yourself “because I’m worth it”. Clearly, the best time to enjoy it is at this dare-to-dream stage because I sense that one of the parties may ultimately decide the bout can’t go ahead. Maybe because he’s too good. Maybe because he’s afraid of hurting the other guy. Maybe because he was demoted to chef after a bungled special forces operation to take out General Noriega.

But at this stage, when Seagal has pointedly yet to respond and everything still seems possible, let’s get down to the background. A few days ago, former two-time heavyweight champion of the world and noted countertop grill retailer George Foreman took to Twitter to issue a challenge to cinema’s Steven Seagal. As all of us adrift on the strange tides of early 21st-century culture should know, Seagal is something of a renaissance man himself, combining age-inappropriate, straight-to-gif action roles with functioning both as a hench-sensei/fat best friend to Vladimir Putin, and as an occasional spokesmodel for the Russian arms industry.

That is not the half of it, although space constraints mean we must gloss over his stint as an energy drink inventor and blues guitarist. Ditto the headlines he drew for his stint as an Arizona border-control guard – as part of the “posse” of recently pardoned horror sheriff Joe Arpaio – following which Seagal was accused of killing a puppy during a raid on a house. (“Animal abuser is a role I will not accept,” ran a rebuttal that primarily reminded completists like me of all the roles he has accepted. Some of the later performances are arguably on a par with canicide.)

And of course there is more – so much more. Just when you think you know him, Seagal unfurls himself in another direction. Crimea expert. Ukrainian national security threat. Aikido trainer to the Serbian special forces. Like a series of lotus blossoms, his career decisions constantly rise above the ****ty waters in which they germinated. And then they die and rot away again, and it all really stinks somehow much, much worse than it did before. But I think the message is the eternal cycle, or something.

Anyhow, on to Foreman’s challenge, which may or may not be provoked by Seagal’s recent outburst on Good Morning Britain. Beamed in from Moscow, where he now lives, he raged about US athletes taking the knee in protest, declaring: “I myself have risked my life countless times for the American flag.” Mmm. As a young Katherine Heigl reveals in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory: “Uncle Casey’s got medals at home that are so secret he can never show them to anybody.” No doubt, no doubt. Seagal certainly has a purple heart in dismissing domestic abuse lawsuits.

Shortly after this well-publicised rant, and indeed after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Foreman tweeted: “Steven Seagal, I challenge you, one on one. I use boxing, you can use whatever. 10 rounds in Vegas.”

Well. I think you’ll agree those few characters contain multitudes, but the big-fight trash talk has been formally opened with that “you can use whatever”. As students of Seagal’s work will know, Steven has a seventh dan black belt in aikido, and a 10th dan in making it sound like he was given his powers by Buddha at a mountain rendezvous in Nepal, sometime between the mid-Mahajanapada era and the North American theatrical release of Above the Law. He has spent a lifetime talking up his “whatever”, while always remaining sufficiently adaptable to improvise a weapon from a bar towel, microwave or Native American something-or-other. To hear this art form – the sweet pseudoscience – dismissed as “whatever” by Foreman will surely send him up the wall.

Where better to settle this than the ring? While Seagal desperately tries to come up with credible and face-saving answers to that question – and Foreman continues to goad him – we should consider the tale of the tape. At 68, Foreman is three years older than Seagal, with both of them clocking in a little older than the age that Rocky got back into the ring in Rocky Balboa. Which was pretend.

Weight? Look ... I’m not sure we dare speculate here. George’s grill obviously indicates an interest in retaining lean muscle, while in his DVD outings, Seagal is mostly shot in shadow so dark it makes Marlon Brando’s lair in Apocalypse Now look striplit.

In terms of other liabilities, Seagal’s widow’s peak is now being comprehensively out-acted by even John Travolta’s, and he may be terrified of experiencing something of what Andre Agassi went through during the 1990 French Open final. As the tennis star later revealed, there’d been some kind of toupee malfunction the night before, resulting in him squaring up to Andrés Gómez with it held together by paperclips, and being so worried about his rug coming off that he lost.

On the plus side, Seagal is a sort of demigod, having been formally declared a tulku (a reincarnated lama) by the oldest sect of Tibetan Buddhism. That may come with powers of which we are as yet unaware.

He is, however, slightly less known for actual fighting than George Foreman. Seagal’s martial artistry was only brought to a wider audience by his most famous client. Yes, if you’ve ever watched a Seagal movie and wondered “How did this guy get into motion pictures?”, you may like to know that he used to train legendary former Creative Artists Agency overlord Michael Ovitz. Seagal’s stardom is largely down to the fact that Ovitz couldn’t have a single second of the day where he wasn’t packaging some kind of deal, including at 5am or whatever ungodly hour he was shouting “judo CHOP!” at Steven, probably in some Beverly Hills aerobics studio where the part of “the Far East” was played by a silver bell and three jossticks. A star was born – and the rest, as they say, is history.

It’s certainly in the past, anyway, with Seagal’s activities these days confined to touring Russian schools and arms fairs with Putin, cheerleading for Trump and explaining impatiently to western media that all governments dick around with other countries’ elections (I paraphrase slightly). Foreman’s history is a little more ... well, seriously historical.

Still, there you have it. Think of the buildup. Think of the training montages. Think of the press conferences. Think of the undercard (preference: Holyfield-Van Damme). Think of the ponytail lumbering for the hills.

It’s not going to happen in Vegas, but perhaps some ambitious dictator might oblige and stage it, as Mobutu Sese Seko did for the Rumble in the Jungle? Perhaps Putin could use it as a World Cup curtain-raiser next year? After all, Seagal now seems a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian state, rather like Ivan Drago, and could be introduced as fighting out of his home town of Moscow. That might swing the scales in his favour (probably literally). Though this would obviously be a contest less morally shaded than even Rocky IV. As for the name of this epochal meeting, it should be thrown open to all of us prospective pay-per-viewers. I’ll start the ball rolling with the Oh-No in the Dojo and the Twatting on the Matting, and invite further suggestions at your earliest convenience.

Jimbo

10-10-2017, 09:45 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P8jfW65wls&sns=em

Jimbo

10-11-2017, 08:40 AM

This guy is a GREAT storyteller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cUNU8GkMso&sns=em

GeneChing

10-13-2017, 09:15 AM

Seagal was at the 50 yrs Ip Man VTAA Anniversary in HK recently too. Of course, that doesn't compare to Duarte...

Steven Seagal likes Duterte & Pinoy martial arts (http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2017/10/13/1748181/steven-seagal-likes-duterte-pinoy-martial-arts)
By Maridol Rañoa-Bismark (The Philippine Star) | Updated October 13, 2017 - 12:00am

http://media.philstar.com/images/the-philippine-star/entertainment/20171013/steven-4.jpg
The international film star (center) is on his nth visit in the country to shoot the new action TV series General Commander about a crime-fighting former CIA agent

MANILA, Philippines — Some celebrities may have shied away from the Philippines because of news about extra-judicial killings and the Marawi attack. But not actor, producer, director, martial artist and musician Steven Seagal.

The 65-year-old Seagal is on his nth visit in the country to shoot the new action TV series General Commander, where he plays the title role of Jake Alexander, a former CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) operative who fights crime without the constraints and the rules of the CIA.

Seagal will be here for at least nine months to shoot the series in Vigan (where his friend, former Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson hails from) and other tourist spots in the country.

“I don’t feel like this is a dangerous place,” he told media in a press conference at The Peninsula Manila Hotel. “I think it’s a place that’s up and coming with the new leadership.”

Seagal is referring to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, whom the Hollywood celebrity is “a big fan” of. In fact, he thinks Duterte “has been instrumental in making the Philippines a safer place.”

Seagal is also a big fan of the Filipino people because he finds them “gentle, kind, musical, fun, humble and (armed with) a great sense of humor.”

This is the reason why he keeps coming back to the country, even if he’s been around in so many places around the world.

Seagal even knows the word salamat (he ended the presscon with this word) and about the Bataan Death March, which he’d love to play a role in should a new version of that milestone in Philippine history be filmed in the country.

But his immediate concern is shooting scenes for General Commander and finding two Filipino actors who can play the role of agents in the series.

“At least 90 percent of the production (team) will consist of Filipinos. They’re a good workforce,” Seagal revealed.

He added that the labor cost is lower.

Another thing going for the Philippines is its location, which Seagal and other American film lovers find “a little bit exotic” and therefore different.

Then, there’s the Filipino martial arts, like the arnis and others, which Seagal would like to include in General Commander.

“That’s a really good idea!” he exclaimed when asked if he plans to use Filipino martial arts in his projects.

Seagal may not be Filipino. But he’s promoting the Philippines every step of the way.

GeneChing

10-13-2017, 09:20 AM

...I'm starting to worry that Seagal may be our next president. :eek:

CULTURE
‘TAKE OFF YOUR DRESS’: HOW MEN IN HOLLYWOOD, FROM STEVEN SEAGAL TO HARVEY WEINSTEIN, TREATED WOMEN FOR DECADES (http://www.newsweek.com/steven-seagal-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-lisa-guerrero-683684)
BY JOHN WALTERS ON 10/12/17 AT 4:20 PM

Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero, who has worked as an actress since 1990, nodded knowingly when the Harvey Weinstein news broke late last week. “Nearly every woman I know in Hollywood has been ‘Weinsteined’ at some point in their careers,” says Guerrero. “If not by him, then by someone else.”

In 1996, Guerrero was a 31-year-old with a few minor roles to her credit (Matlock, Batman Returns ) when her manager, Lorraine Berglund, phoned with exciting news. “They want you to read for the female lead in a Steven Seagal film,” Berglund said, “but the audition is going to be held at his house in Beverly Hills.”

In the mid-’90s, Seagal was a box-office juggernaut, but Guerrero was wary of the offer. The casting agency offered to send a female associate, Shari Rhodes, to accompany Guerrero on the audition. “This was potentially a huge break for me,” Guerrero says, “but there was no way I was going there by myself.”

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/full/public/2017/10/12/1012seagal01.jpg
Lisa Guerrero of ‘Inside Edition’ tells Newsweek action star Steven Seagal propositioned her on the set of a movie in the ’90s.
GETTY IMAGES

Upon arrival, Guerrero and Rhodes were greeted by Seagal, who answered the door clad only in a silk robe. He ushered them into a side room, where he sat in an oversized, ornate chair on a platform (“We called it ‘the throne,” says Guerrero) and asked Guerrero to read her scenes. When she finished, Seagal, who was also a producer on the film, Fire Down Below, said, “You’re fantastic! Tell me about yourself.”

“I drove home feeling pretty good about the audition,” Guerrero recalls, “and that same day my manager called. ‘Steven wants to offer you the lead,’ she said, ‘but you have to go back to his home for a private rehearsal tonight.’”

Guerrero declined. The lead role of Sarah Kellogg in that film went to Marg Helgenberger (of CSI fame), but Guerrero was given a small part. On the day she arrived on set, she spotted Seagal talking to male crew members. From Guerrero’s perspective, it seemed like a scene out of high school. “He was looking at me and then he’d say something to them and there’d be laughter,” says Guerrero, who was listed in the film’s credits as “Blonde Beauty.” “Finally he approached me and asked, ‘Would you like to go into my dressing room?’”

Once again, Guerrero declined. She has never seen Fire Down Below and as far as she knows, her scene was cut. “When I read about Harvey Weinstein, the reports of him appearing in a robe triggered me,” she says. “That’s exactly what Steven Seagal did. I found out later that he was notorious for this.”

An Inside Edition report that will air Thursday evening includes multiple allegations against Seagal spanning more than two decades. One of his accusers, Jenny McCarthy, said that during a casting session she was ushered into a room with Seagal, who said, “So you were [Playboy’s] Playmate of the Year? Take off your dress.”

That’s Hollywood, says Guerrero. “As an aspiring actress you have zero leverage,” says Guerrero, who appeared in the 2011 Oscar-nominated film Moneyball. “Who was I going to go to complain about sex discrimination? He was both the star and a producer on the film.”

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/full/public/2017/10/12/1012guerrero01.jpg
'Inside Edition' correspondent Lisa Guerrero tells Newsweek "nearly every woman I know in Hollywood has been ‘Weinsteined’ in their careers.
GETTY IMAGES

Guerrero later ventured into sports reporting, but was unable to escape the casting-couch syndrome. As an on-air reporter at Fox Sports in the early 2000s, she says that she was twice propositioned by Fox executives and twice rejected them. There were consequences. “I was supposed to provide on-site coverage for the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans that aired on Fox,” Guerrero says. “Before we departed, an executive—he was married—suggested that we share a hotel room.”

No way, Guerrero told him. “Then they took me off our Super Bowl coverage,” says Guerrero, who left Fox Sports in 2003 to be the sideline reporter for ABC’s Monday Night Football.

Guerrero believes that the Weinstein scandal will lead to a tidal wave of similar stories. “The only way to get [this abuse] to stop is for every woman to come forward and to tell their stories,” she says. “It’s not just about going to Human Resources any more. If the most powerful studio mogul in Hollywood could be brought down, I hope more women find the courage to come forward.

GeneChing

10-16-2017, 07:49 AM

...I wonder if anything will actually come of these accusations or if it's just the tweet-du-jour...:o

Steven Seagal, a Silk Kimono and a "Private Rehearsal": One Actress Remembers Her Nightmare Audition (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-seagal-a-silk-kimono-a-private-rehearsal-one-actress-remembers-her-nightmare-audition-1048828)
4:46 PM PDT 10/13/2017 by Seth Abramovitch

http://cdn2.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/10/_steven_seagal_and_lisa_guerrero.jpg
Getty Images
Steven Seagal and Lisa Guerrero

"There's not a human resources person to go to when you're working on a film," says actress-turned-journalist Lisa Guerrero. "Especially not when the film is produced by the person being inappropriate to you."
Emboldened by the avalanche of sexual assault accusations leveled against Harvey Weinstein over the past week, others have begun to come forward with their own experiences of harassment in Hollywood — and they are naming names.

Among them is Lisa Guerrero, 53, an Inside Edition correspondent who says, while pursuing an acting career in the mid 1990s, she was summoned to Steven Seagal's Beverly Hills mansion for an audition for the female lead in 1997's Fire Down Below, in which Seagal plays an EPA agent who investigates the dumping of toxic waste in a Kentucky mine.

Guerrero, then 31, agreed to the audition but, together with her female manager, insisted that the film's casting director Shari Rhodes be in attendance. (Rhodes, whose career spanned everything from Jaws to Breaking Bad, died in 2009.) When they arrived, Seagal, then 43, answered the door in a silk kimono. Guerrero — who first shared her story publicly on Thursday's Inside Edition — spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the nightmare audition.

Was it the Harvey Weinstein news that convinced you to go public with your story?

I’ve actually been telling this story dozens of times over the years. I’ve told friends, colleagues — I’ve warned young actresses in acting classes and projects I’ve worked on. I said, “Don’t go to Steven Seagal’s home alone. This is what happened to me.” But the Weinstein story, specifically the part about him answering the door in his robe, that triggered my memory and brought up those images again of what happened with Steven Seagal. It triggered my revulsion at what it feels like to be an actress and having a powerful star and executive producer answer his door in a robe.

You had the savvy to show up to this audition at Seagal's home with another woman — the movie's casting director. What happened when he answered the door?

He looked surprised that she was with me. Then he let us into the foyer of his house which was decorated in an Asian style. The outside was a big Beverly Hills mansion, but when you go inside the house it looked very Asian inspired. He waved me into another room. That room was also Asian. There was a big chair on a platform. Again, it looked like a big Asian throne. He sat on the chair in the silk robe and asked me to perform the scenes I had prepared. I had worked on those scenes for days. I performed them for him while he sat on this throne. It was so strange.

Was he wearing anything under this robe?

I don’t know. He was bare-legged, barefooted. He certainly wasn’t wearing a suit underneath it. But he never exposed himself or touched me, so I don’t know what was beneath it.

And the casting associate is standing next to you for all of this?

Standing. Her name was Shari Rhodes. She was there.

How long did all this last?

Ten minutes.

Probably the longest ten minutes of your life.

The longest ten minutes. I remember doing adjustments based on directions he gave me from the throne. And he said, “You’re fantastic. You’re fabulous.” The weird thing was, if this situation had happened in a casting room with a fully dressed Steven Seagal, it would have been normal.

How did it end?

I remember leaving and feeling really good about my audition but also as if I had dodged a bullet — because what if I had gone alone?

What did Shari Rhodes say when you left?

She said, “Great job. Great job.” He had said, “We’re going to call you.” So I ran out to my car, a piece of crap Nissan on this Beverly Hills street, and I just remember feeling like I dodged a bullet. I immediately called my manager and told her I was OK. By the time I got home she called me and said they called back and wanted me to go back that night for “a private rehearsal.”

Did the Shari Rhodes seem surprised at all by this audition?

She was employed by the production company but since Seagal was the executive producer, he was her boss. My manager at the time, Lorraine Berglund, kept notes. She still has them all these years later. Then we got a phone call. They said, “Well, you don’t have the lead now, because you refused to go back for the ‘private rehearsal,’ but we would like to offer you a smaller role. You are to report to wardrobe and the set.” It was a one-day shoot. I was an actor who wanted the credit on my resume and wanted the scene on my reel, so I said yes. It was understood that I would not have to be alone with him.

So you went through with it?

I did the scene. However I felt uncomfortable because he was with these other male cast and crew members giggling and leering at me, like they were having some kind of boys’ joke about me. I was the only woman in that vicinity and clearly they were talking about me. Then he came up to me and asked me to go to his dressing room. I was appalled. I must have been bright red. I was humiliated. I was so embarrassed. At this point I’m 31 years old, I’m not 18, but I felt like a child.

What did you say?

I said no. And he gave me a dismissive look and walked away. My role was completely cut out of the film. I believe it was because I declined his offers three times.

Was there anyone on the set who could have shielded you from some dangers or were you just completely exposed?

Completely exposed. Especially when you’re not the star of the film — you’re just a working actor there to do your job. You go in, you report to the assistant director, they take you to your trailer, you put your wardrobe, hair and makeup on, you report on the set, you do a run-through, do your scene, you sign your papers and you’re gone. There’s not a human resources person to go to when you’re working on a film. Especially not when the film is produced by the person being inappropriate to you. He’s 100 percent the boss.

Has anyone else relayed similar stories to you about Steven Seagal over the years?

Yes, a girl in my acting class years ago. I was on a soap opera called Sunset Beach and was with a group of young, attractive actors every single day — and a couple shared stories about Steven Seagal. After the Inside Edition piece aired, an actress reached out saying she was once asked to come in for a “chemistry test” for Under Siege 2. The audition was at Steven Seagal’s hotel room and he answered the door in nothing but a robe. I read that and started crying. All these memories came flooding back.

Did that one audition change your perception of Hollywood?

The Steven Seagal experience is one of the things that ultimately when I had the opportunity to do another [scripted] show or do broadcast journalism, I chose broadcasting because I thought I’d have more control over my destiny. Now, I found out there’s still creeps in sportscasting. But in acting, I think women are much more vulnerable.

Steven Seagal could not be reached for comment.

Jimbo

10-16-2017, 09:23 AM

I think the entire industry needs to be overhauled. This is something that's gone far deeper and goes way further back than Harvey Weinstein or Steven Seagal. Believe it or not, aspiring child actors are even more vulnerable than adult women. This crap has been rampant since the very beginning, and after this Weinstein thing is no longer 'hot news', it will continue to fester, unfortunately.

In the meantime, to bring some levity back to this thread, there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VM9gMR4z5I&sns=em

rett2

10-16-2017, 10:04 AM

Love this youtube comment

Daniel mc beauty 1 year ago (edited)
I will never understand all this hate for segal. he's a movie legend/hero and one double hard *******. people only hate on him because they're jealous

Jimbo

10-16-2017, 05:24 PM

Seagal does still have a few rabid fans.

Here, Liam Neeson and Jimmy Kimmel briefly discuss Seagal, which begins at 2:00. I seriously doubt that Liam could be jealous of Seagal in any way. They're the same age, but Liam is 100 times the better, more successful actor, and is in 10 times better shape. If anything, Seagal is the jealous one, doing and saying anything to try to stay relevant in the public eye.

Steven Seagal: Makin' friends!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB69rg6oQrc&sns=em

rett2

10-18-2017, 09:24 AM

Lovin those youtube clips :D

Jimbo

10-18-2017, 11:20 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMvHzaCy-VU&sns=em

GeneChing

10-18-2017, 12:18 PM

Not to stifle the 'levity' but here's a Washington Post article that gives an overview of Seagal's sexual abuse situation now. There's some embedded vids if you follow the link (I find much levity in the carrot eating one).

Steven Seagal: Drug warrior, honorary cop, alleged serial sex abuser (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2017/10/13/steven-seagal-drug-warrior-honorary-cop-alleged-serial-sex-abuser/?utm_term=.9ba857dcfdc5)
By Radley Balko October 13

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_960w/2010-2019/Wires/Images/2014-01-04/AP/People-Steven_Seagal-06962.jpg
Actor Steven Seagal in Moscow in 2013. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

The Harvey Weinstein scandal has finally cast some needed light on sexual harassment and alleged sexual abuse by the men who wield power in Hollywood. We’ve also known for years about widespread sexual abuse by police officers, which is also often driven by power imbalances between the officers and the women they attack.

Believe it or not, there’s actually a point of convergence between these two stories. His name is Steven Seagal.

In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, a number of women have come forward this week with allegations of sexual harassment against the action movie star. Start with TV reporter Lisa Guerrero.

In 1996, Guerrero was a 31-year-old with a few minor roles to her credit (Matlock, Batman Returns ) when her manager, Lorraine Berglund, phoned with exciting news. “They want you to read for the female lead in a Steven Seagal film,” Berglund said, “but the audition is going to be held at his house in Beverly Hills.”

In the mid-’90s, Seagal was a box-office juggernaut, but Guerrero was wary of the offer. The casting agency offered to send a female associate, Shari Rhodes, to accompany Guerrero on the audition. “This was potentially a huge break for me,” Guerrero says, “but there was no way I was going there by myself.”

Upon arrival, Guerrero and Rhodes were greeted by Seagal, who answered the door clad only in a silk robe. He ushered them into a side room, where he sat in an oversized, ornate chair on a platform (“We called it ‘the throne,” says Guerrero) and asked Guerrero to read her scenes. When she finished, Seagal, who was also a producer on the film, Fire Down Below, said, “You’re fantastic! Tell me about yourself.”

“I drove home feeling pretty good about the audition,” Guerrero recalls, “and that same day my manager called. ‘Steven wants to offer you the lead,’ she said, ‘but you have to go back to his home for a private rehearsal tonight.’ ”

Guerrero declined.

According to the Newsweek article linked above, “Inside Edition” is preparing a report that will include similar allegations by multiple women going back decades. One of them was Jenny McCarthy, who says during casting for a Seagal movie in the 1990s, she was taken to a room where she was alone with the actor, at which point he said to her, “So you were [Playboy’s] Playmate of the Year? Take off your dress.”

But you needn’t go back that far. You might remember that for a time, Seagal starred in an A&E reality TV series in which cameras followed him around in his role as a deputy for the Jefferson Parish, La., Sheriff’s Office. That gig ended because of this:

Kayden Nguyen, 23, answered an online Craigslist ad for an executive assistant job at Seagal’s production company in February and was soon on his private jet taking off from Los Angeles, California, bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, the suit said.

“As the jet taxied down the runway, Mr. Seagal turned to Ms. Nguyen and said ‘I’m a family man, and I live with my wife, but she wouldn’t care if you were my lover,’ ” the suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court said.

“Ms. Nguyen decided to take a wait and see attitude,” the suit said.

After Nguyen arrived in New Orleans, “she learned that the job she was expected to perform had nothing to do with being an ‘executive assistant,’ ” it said.

Over the next five days, she was sexually assaulted three times by Seagal at a house “many miles from New Orleans in a remote rural area of Jefferson Parish,” the suit said.

Seagal also kept “two young Russian ‘attendants’ on staff who were available for his sexual needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” it said.

During Nguyen’s first night on the job, Seagal demanded a “massage,” it said.

“He then proceeded to treat Ms. Nguyen as his sex toy.”

The suit gives graphic details of Seagal’s alleged groping and fondling of Nguyen.

Nguyen claimed that when she finally escaped the house, Seagal chased her while pointing a flashlight that he had mounted to a gun. This passage is particularly chilling:

Nguyen claims she was kept against her will for six days at a secluded Louisiana home where Seagal and his family were allegedly staying. When she finally escaped, she claims Seagal chased after her with a “flashlight with a gun attached to it.”

Nguyen’s lawyer, William Waldo, told CBS News’ Crimesider that Nguyen did not call police because she believed they would listen only to Seagal.

“Mr. Seagal is the police,” he said. “She is in a remote area of Jefferson Parish. It is in the middle of nowhere and he is the police.”

Seagal’s lawyer said at the time that the lawsuit was “ridiculous” and “absurd” and accused Nguyen of using illegal drugs. (Apparently if the victim uses illegal drugs, sexual assault isn’t possible.) Nguyen later dropped the suit, although it wasn’t disclosed whether that was the result of a settlement. A Times-Picayune article at the time did note that Seagal’s lawyers “had been trying to resolve the case through private arbitration.” (As we’ve seen with Weinstein, such settlements often come with nondisclosure agreements.) Rather than face an internal-affairs investigation into Nguyen’s claims, Seagal resigned from the Sheriff’s Office.

In fact, Seagal has been accused of similar behavior by too many women to count. He was sued for sexual harassment by another of his assistants in 2001. Multiple women have also accused him of inappropriately asking for or offering sexual massages (sound familiar?), including Blair Robinson, granddaughter of Ray Charles. Robinson was hired as Seagal’s assistant, then quit after her first day when she said it became clear that sexual favors would be part of the job. Another woman accused him of putting his hand down her pants, then refusing to remove it until she screamed. During the filming of Segal’s movie “Out for Justice,” four female staffers quit after alleging sexual harassment, including one “sexual attack.”

One would think that after all of that and the Nguyen suit — which, again, alleged harassment in the course of his job as a sheriff’s deputy — would be enough to end Seagal’s law enforcement ambition for good. Enter Joe Arpaio. The now-former, now-pardoned sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., was apparently undeterred by what happened in Jefferson Parish. In 2011, Arpaio allowed Seagal to join his “posse” (a group of volunteer officers, generally tasked with harassing undocumented immigrants), and the A&E cameras started rolling again, now from Arizona. It was at his stint with Arpaio’s department that Seagal participated in an infamous raid in which an armored vehicle drove through the outer wall and into the living room of a man suspected of raising chickens for cockfighting, and may or may not have shot a puppy. (It’s also disputed whether Seagal was in the armored vehicle when it crashed through the wall.)

Despite the long and sordid history of complaints from women against Seagal, Joe “law and order” Arpaio gave the actor a badge and the authority to detain, arrest and, depending on who you believe, drive armored vehicles into living rooms — and authorized a TV crew to glamorize him as he did it. For a while there, the two were even talking about a bid for the Arizona governor’s mansion. Imagine being a woman and trying to report an incident involving Seagal to Arpaio’s sheriff’s department. Arpaio already had a reputation for ignoring sex abuse cases.

Incidentally, if you’re wondering what Seagal is doing now, in the course of researching this post I happened upon this Reuters item, published just today.

US actor Steven Seagal, famous for playing action roles like a vice squad detective in “Above the Law,” met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte while on a location scouting trip in Manila.

Video footage released by government channel RTVM showed Seagal animatedly talking to Duterte.

Seagal, 65, was in the Philippines to look for a location for his upcoming movie, which will be “about illegal drugs and other crimes,” a presidential palace statement said . . .

Earlier this week, Seagal said at a news conference in Manila that he didn’t think the Philippines was “a dangerous place.”

“It’s a place that’s up and coming with the new leadership,” the Philippine Star reported him as saying.

Sounds as if Seagal may be fishing for his next law enforcement gig. And why not? He could summarily execute Filipino drug users by day and patronize Manila’s finest brothels by night. And you could watch it all on A&E.

Radley Balko blogs about criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties for The Washington Post. He is the author of the book "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces." Follow @radleybalko

rett2

10-19-2017, 12:30 AM

That Portugal video... I take it back Seagal can be funny and even have a little self irony. Amazing.:p

GeneChing

10-26-2017, 10:07 AM

Here’s Steven Seagal putting his hand on 16-year-old Katherine Heigl’s breast (https://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/349447/steven-seagal-katherine-heigl-photo-grab-breast-jimmy-kimmel/)
In News by Drew Salisbury / October 24, 2017

https://static.deathandtaxesmag.com/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2017-10-24-at-11.26.09-AM-1508858871-compressed.png

There’s no shortage of creeps in Hollywood, as the last few weeks have made abundantly clear (if you weren’t already well aware, that is). While trying to crown the worst abuser in Tinseltown would be an endeavor akin to identifying the smelliest turd floating around in a Porta John, audio recordings uncovered Monday by the Daily Mail (and years of documented gross behavior) make a strong case for samurai-cum-******* Steven Seagal.

While it has circulated for some time and was even pointed out in an April 2017 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, a reader brought our attention to the above photo of Seagal with a then-barely 16-year-old Katherine Heigl promoting “Under Siege 2.”

Heigl turned 16 while filming the movie, which was also her big-screen debut. Here’s how she described the 43-year-old Seagal’s behavior on the set to Kimmel (emphasis ours):

The last day of shooting, and again, I had just turned 16 on this movie. And he said, ‘You know Katie, I got girlfriends your age.’ And I said, ‘Isn’t that illegal?’ And he said, ‘They don’t seem to mind.’ And I said, ‘Mom!’ I’m not making that up.

While Heigl seemed to laugh off the incident years later (or perhaps more accurately, as she tellingly put it, “block it out”), it’s wild to think that this was (and continues to be!) considered acceptable behavior. Seagal was photographed putting his hand a teenage girl’s breast in 1995, and I can guarantee you not a single word was probably written about it. Even just months ago, Kimmel was mining it for laughs. That’s pretty ****ed up!

Heigl told Kimmel despite everything she still “loved” Seagal — a performance worthy of an Emmy if I ever saw one, and very possibly driven by anxiety about hurting her career. It wouldn’t be the first time talking about sexism and misogyny in the industry got her branded as “difficult.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsvoMGGUrMU
[screenshot: Jimmy Kimmel Live!]

Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again) & Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

10-31-2017, 07:59 AM

"a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on the broken windshield of her car" :eek:

OCTOBER 30, 2017 2:11pm PT by Eriq Gardner
At Trial, Michael Ovitz Intends to Blame Steven Seagal for Threatening Journalist (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/at-trial-michael-ovitz-intends-blame-steven-seagal-threatening-journalist-1053021)
Anita Busch wants the judge to rule that Ovitz can't shift responsibility for the acts of private eye Anthony Pellicano.

http://cdn4.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_crop_768_433/2017/10/gettyimages-644863218_-_h_2017.jpg
Getty Images
Steven Seagal

Anita Busch wants the judge to rule that Ovitz can't shift responsibility for the acts of private eye Anthony Pellicano.

Michael Ovitz, the former Hollywood super-agent, is finally showcasing what his defense will be when he stands trial in February for hiring Anthony Pellicano to allegedly surveil and threaten entertainment journalist Anita Busch.

In court documents filed earlier this month, Ovitz argues that he should be able to pin blame on actor Steven Seagal for what happened in 2002, when Busch found a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on the broken windshield of her car, with a card that said, "Stop."

Busch's lawsuit is the last of many civil actions over the activities of private eye Anthony Pellicano, who is currently sitting in a prison for illegal possession of firearms and explosives, unlawful wiretapping and racketeering. Before the trial begins, a judge must rule whether Ovitz can point the finger at Seagal (who has recently been the focus of accusations of sexual misconduct).

Ovitz has admitted hiring Pellicano, and Busch has brought a motion to preclude him from introducing arguments, testimony or speculation as to others who bear responsibility for Pellicano's acts.

Fighting this motion, Ovitz's attorney tells the court that Busch must prove that Pellicano was acting as his agent when he allegedly caused Busch's injuries including severe emotional distress. "But if [Busch] cannot show Mr. Pellicano was acting as Mr. Ovtiz's agent when the alleged incidents occurred, then she has no case against Mr. Ovitz," states Ovitz's court brief.

When Busch originally filed her lawsuit way back in 2004, there was a great deal of mystery about who had harassed Busch, who has worked for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter, and who currently writes for Deadline Hollywood. She originally sued anonymous John Does.

In 2002, around the time of the dead-fish incident, Busch was working on two prominent stories — one about Jules Nasso, Seagal and organized crime in Hollywood and the other about Ovitz's career, which included co-founding CAA and briefly serving as president of Disney.

Busch kept notes about the incidents and talked with the FBI in connection with its investigation. She once testified that she understood "Stop" to mean Nasso and Seagal, but later came to conclude it was Ovitz. The FBI would later say there was no persuasive evidence against Seagal, who has sought an apology over accusations that he says have been devastating to his career.

Nevertheless, in his newest court documents, Ovitz talks about how Pellicano was a high-profile investigator with numerous clients and that "evidence shows Steven Seagal hired Mr. Pellicano, and Mr. Pellicano hired [Alex] Proctor, who put the metal tray with the dead fish with a rose in its mouth on the windshield of Plaintiff's car..."

Ovitz insists the evidence is "not speculative," pointing, to among other things, what was produced by a government informant named Daniel Patterson. Working with the FBI, Patterson would secretly record conversations with Proctor.

"In July and August 2002, Patterson recorded Proctor telling Patterson that Steven Seagal hired Mr. Pellicano to set fire to Plaintiff's car, and Mr. Pellicano hired Proctor to set fire to Plaintiff's car," states the Ovitz brief. "Seagal wanted to dissuade Plaintiff from reporting on Seagal's relationship with organized crime (the Gambino family). Proctor told Patterson that Seagal was Mr. Pellicano's client, that Seagal wanted to stop Plaintiff, and that Seagal wanted to make it appear as if the Gambino family were 'putting the hit' on Plaintiff."

In reply, Busch's attorney Evan Marshall suggest this is all inadmissible and unreliable hearsay.

In a brief filed last week, they characterized what Proctor was doing was "purporting to recount statements by Pellicano," and that Proctor himself didn't buy it.

"Under no theory would Pellicano have a reason to subject his real client to potential exposure by confiding his client's identity to a minion with no need to know," states the Busch brief. "Pellicano's statements to Proctor are not even consistent, sometimes implicating Seagal, sometimes forces 'back east.'"

Marshall tells the judge of the need to screen out a prolonged examination of "every possible person [Busch] could have suspected," while Ovitz argues that his adversary is trying to win the case by disguising a motion for summary adjudication as one over the evidence to be presented at trial.

Jimbo

10-31-2017, 09:32 AM

This was back in 2010:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB1RvU8UR38&sns=em

GeneChing

11-06-2017, 09:09 AM

More are coming forward against Seagal. Wonder when legal action might commence...if ever...:o

Julianna Margulies Recalls "Horrific" Hotel Room Meeting With Steven Seagal (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/julianna-margulies-recalls-horrific-hotel-room-meeting-steven-seagal-1055000)
8:52 AM PDT 11/4/2017 by Meena Jang

http://cdn3.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/11/julianna_m.jpg
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Julianna Margulies

The 'Good Wife' actress shared she also drew the ire of Harvey Weinstein when she refused to enter his hotel suite alone after learning from her experience with Seagal.

Julianna Margulies on Friday morning spoke candidly about her harrowing experience with Steven Seagal during a visit to Sirius XM's Just Jenny.

Speaking to host Jenny Hutt, the former Good Wife star revealed she narrowly escaped a hotel room meeting with Seagal, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, before things could take a turn for the worse. Margulies, then 23 years old, said she was persuaded to meet the actor late at night by a female casting director who insisted he wanted to go over a scene.

"I lived in Brooklyn, and I said, 'Oh, I don't do that. I don't travel. I don't have money for a cab.' And I didn't," Margulies recalled. "And she says, 'Don't worry, we'll reimburse you.'"

The actress claims Seagal was armed with a gun when she arrived.

"I got to the hotel around 10:40, and she [the casting director] wasn't there. And he was alone and he made sure that I saw his gun, which I had never seen a gun in real life," Margulies continued. "I got out of there unscathed. … I never was raped, and I never was harmed. I don't know how I got out of that hotel room."

Margulies told Hutt she felt she had been "set up" by the casting director, and learned from the experience that she should never go into private meetings alone.

The actress added, "Because of my experience with Steven Seagal in that room, which was horrific, I refused to meet Harvey Weinstein in his hotel room when another woman brought me, saying, 'You will absolutely get [a] screen test.'"

On a separate occasion, Margulies claimed the film mogul, whose accusers now total over 70, attempted to lure her to his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills through a female assistant to discuss a film role she had auditioned for.

"She said, 'I'm going to drop you off at the Peninsula,' and I said, 'I'm not going up there alone.' I saw how she started to sweat. She was like, 'Don't be silly, I'm just going to drop you off. It's going to be fine.' And I said, 'Nope, then I'm going home,"" the actress recalled.

When the assistant reluctantly agreed to escort Margulies up to Weinstein's room, he opened the door in a bathrobe.

"I could see that there were candles lit in the room, and there was a dinner for two. And I saw him stare at her, daggers. And I turned to see what she had done to deserve that, and I caught her in a shrug, like, 'What could I do?'" said the actress. "He looked at me, furious, and he took the door and he said, 'Just wanted to say, "great audition."' And he slammed the door. Of course, I didn't get the part."

Margulies admitted that if she hadn't experienced that initial meeting with Seagal and didn't have an established career at the time, "I would've gone in, absolutely."

The actress slammed the notion of victim-shaming, saying, "It's not to be shrugged off."

Turning the focus to women who enable men to abuse their power, Margulies noted, "It's not always the men that are awful. … We have to start holding these people accountable."

Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again) & Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

11-09-2017, 08:48 AM

Maybe they'll replace Seagal with Christopher Plummer for China Salesman (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70325-China-Salesman). Too soon? :o

Portia de Rossi Claims Steven Seagal Exposed Himself to Her in Private Audition (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/portia-de-rossi-claims-steven-seagal-exposed-himself-her-private-audition-1056423)
4:33 PM PST 11/8/2017 by Patrick Shanley

http://cdn4.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/11/gettyimages-474165652_-_h_2017.jpg
Getty Images
Portia de Rossi

The actress on Wednesday wrote about the incident on her personal Twitter account.

Portia de Rossi has accused Steven Seagal of exposing himself to her.

The actress on Wednesday posted to her personal Twitter account that, while auditioning for a role in a film starring Seagal, the actor "told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants."

De Rossi then said that she called her agent who was "unfazed" and replied, "Well, I didn’t know if he was your type.”

Seagal has previously been accused of misconduct and harassment, including allegations by: former actress and Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero, who claims the actor invited her to audition in his private home and conducted the audition in a silk kimono; actress Rae Dawn Chong, who claims that sometime in 1989-90, she was sent by her agent to Seagal's hotel for a 9:30 p.m. audition, during which he exposed himself; and Juliana Margulies, who similarly claims she met with the actor in a private room where he harassed her and was armed with a gun.

A request for comment from de Rossi was not immediately returned.

After de Rossi spoke out, wife Ellen DeGeneres took to Twitter to say, "I’m proud of my wife."

Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again) & Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

11-13-2017, 10:05 AM

...I know, Monty Python lyrics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkJnd9rSAQ8) are inappropriate here, but it's Monday and it's more Seagal. :(

Steven Seagal accused of telling actress to sit on his face (https://pagesix.com/2017/11/10/steven-seagal-accused-of-telling-actress-to-sit-on-his-face/)
By Emily Smith November 10, 2017 | 9:07pm

https://nyppagesix.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/steven-seagal.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=664&h=441&crop=1
Steven Seagal Getty Images

A Hollywood exec has told how she was sexually harassed by Steven Seagal as a budding actress on the set of his 1991 movie “Out for Justice.”

The exec, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions, said Seagal lured her to his trailer for a “costume change,” then propositioned her by phone, crudely demanding, “You are not comfortable sitting on my face for an hour?”

She alleges that her first day on the set, Seagal insisted that all the new actresses gather for him to “check us all out.”

The former actress said, “Moments later, a wardrobe assistant led me to Steven’s personal trailer, to his bedroom, and asked me to change into a corset. Then, Steven opened the door [and] tried to barge in. I said, ‘Excuse me, I am changing in here,’ but he insisted, ‘I need to see what you look like.’ I told him that I wasn’t comfortable and began screaming for the wardrobe person. He just smirked and said, ‘It’s OK, I like nice girls, too.’ ”

The next night, Seagal — who was married to Kelly LeBrock, who’d just given birth to their second child — called the woman at home, saying Gregg Allman had recorded music for the soundtrack. “Steven told me, ‘You should come by and listen to some of the tracks. I’m staying at the [Hotel Bel-Air].’”

Again, she said she didn’t feel comfortable, and alleges that Seagal responded, “You are not comfortable about coming over and sitting on my face for an hour?’”

The ex-actress said, “I told him, ‘You’re married,’ and he just said, ‘Ah, you are no fun.’ I worked for two weeks, then they let me go. If I’d gone to the hotel room and slept with him I would have had a much better role.”

She recounted the ordeal to a fellow actress on the movie, who wasn’t surprised, “ ‘He didn’t give you a pager?’ she asked. ‘He has given them to a few actresses, and when he pages, you have to go immediately to his hotel room, even if it is 3 a.m.’”

Jenny McCarthy, Portia de Rossi and Julianna Margulies have also accused Seagal of inappropriate behavior.

His rep didn’t get back to us.

Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again) & Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

11-14-2017, 11:07 AM

Jenny McCarthy Reshares Steven Seagal Harassment Claim (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jenny-mccarthy-reshares-steven-seagal-harassment-claim-1056931)
7:02 AM PST 11/10/2017 by Jackie Strause

http://cdn2.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/11/jenny.jpg
Getty Images
Jenny McCarthy

The actress, who first spoke out about her alleged casting-couch experience with the actor-producer in 1998, retold the experience on her Sirius XM radio show.
Jenny McCarthy has joined a handful of women to come forward and allege they were sexually harassed by actor Steven Seagal.

The actress and former Playboy model recalled a 1995 audition for Under Siege 2, which Seagal starred in and produced, while speaking on her Sirius XM radio show Thursday — something she had previously told to Movieline in 1998 — adding that "a lot of people" had already heard her tell the story.

"I stand across from him and he plops onto a sofa that’s near a fireplace," she recalled. "And he points at the sofa cushion next to him saying to me, 'Take a seat. Relax.' I said, 'No, thank you. I’m just really excited to read for this part. And I have so much energy I need to stand.'"

McCarthy said she wore a loose muumuu outfit so the casting people would "actually look at my face and watch me work," but that her meeting ended up being only her and Seagal.

She said the actor told her there was nudity in the part and that he couldn't tell what her body looked like in the oversized dress she was wearing.

“In my head I’m like, 'Okay. here we go. Sound the alarms, this is not a test, this is the real thing, activate all defense systems,'” she said. “But I so wanted to legitimately read for this part that I wasn’t going to give up yet. So I told him, ‘Listen. My agent says there’s no nudity. I specifically asked her and she said no.'"

She says he told her there was "off-camera nudity," which didn't make sense to her, and asked her to lower her dress. She said she only wanted to read the scene but that he asked again for her to lower the dress “so I can see your breasts."

She paused, says her eyes filled with tears and then yelled back at him, "Go buy my Playboy video — it’s on sale for $19.99." She said he followed her to her car and instructed her not to tell anybody, "or else."

“It was so disheartening,” she said of bursting into tears in her car and fearing his words. She said she was disheartened and ready to move back to Chicago at that point. “I was the last girl that day. How many girls had to take off their clothes? How many girls had to do more? It just so grossed me out.”

Jenny McCarthy's casting couch experience with Steven Seagal (https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmentertainment/jenny-mccarthys-casting-couch-experience-with-steven-seagal)

A rep for Seagal had previously denied the claims to The Daily Beast, saying, “Warner Brothers casting for the film Under Siege 2 has confirmed that Jenny McCarthy never auditioned for a role on Under Siege 2. Her claim is completely false.” THR has reached out for comment.

McCarthy joins actresses Portia de Rossi and Julianna Margulies in speaking out about Seagal, allegations that come during a shift in the Hollywood climate. Seagal was first accused of misconduct and harassment by Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero, her allegations sparking others, like actress Rae Dawn Chong, to come forward. The allegations are threaded together by stories of a private meeting or audition with Seagal that developed into the actor either allegedly exposing himself or sexually harassing the actress.

Seagal, along with former Amazon content chief Roy Price, director James Toback, actors Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Piven and Ed Westwick, and, most recently, comedian Louis C.K., have all had allegations leveled against them in wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which broke early October.

Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again) & Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

11-16-2017, 10:04 AM

Jenny McCarthy: Steven Seagal followed me to my car, asked me not to tell (http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/15/jenny-mccarty-steven-seagal-followed-me-to-my-car-asked-me-not-to-tell.html)
By Matthew Wisner Published November 15, 2017 Media & Advertising FOXBusiness Opens a New Window.

Jenny McCarthy recounts alleged sexual harassment at an audition with Steven Seagal

Actress and 'Blondies' creator Jenny McCarthy on her new line of cocktails and the alleged sexual harassment she faced in Hollywood.
The sexual harassment scandal in Hollywood that initially began with allegations against Harvey Weinstein continues to expand, revealing a seemingly industry-wide issue. Movie director Brett Ratner now faces multiple allegations while “One Tree Hill” creator and executive producer Mark Schwann was accused of sexual harassment by cast members including Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton.

Actress, model and “Blondies” creator Jenny McCarthy, who was also an MTV host like Hilarie Burton, discussed the alleged sexual harassment she faced in an audition with Steven Seagal when she began making the transition from modeling to acting.

“I went into an audition and wore a long muumuu-type dress that he [Seagal] could pay attention to my eyes. I did, I looked like Mrs. Roper, you know because I wanted to be taken seriously, I was Playmate of the Year at the time and not many people take a Playmate of the Year seriously at all,” McCarthy told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria.”

According to McCarthy, Seagal commented on the dress.

“He asked if I would lower my dress because my dress was too baggy and I said ‘no.’ And he said ‘well, there’s nudity in this movie.’”

But when McCarthy countered that there was no nudity in the movie, she says Seagal replied “there’s off-camera nudity.”

She says she then left after telling Seagal, “no…go ahead and pick up my Playboy video, it’s on sale.”

But Seagal reportedly followed McCarthy to her car and said “don’t tell anyone.”

After the audition McCarthy says she called her mom and vowed to tell the world once she became famous.

When asked if she was surprised to hear about the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, McCarthy responded, “Not at all, I’m surprised it took so long though for the world to really start talking about it.”

If it seems like I'm harping on Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again) the most with the Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch) scandals, it's true. He's a martial artist. He's one of us. So I find this most repugnant. It's also true that in America, we're innocent until proven guilty, but the preponderance of evidence on Seagal's character is overwhelming. We need to clean our own house.

Jimbo

11-16-2017, 10:15 AM

In my experience/observation, MA does very little to develop good character. A teacher can only do his best to serve as a good example. But if someone is inherently bad, as I believe Steven Seagal to be, no amount of proper teaching or hard-knocks experience is going to change that. In fact, as his abilities develop more, so will his power-driven ego.

I've met a number of great people in the MA. But, sadly to say, I've met at least as many people of poor character, and a few outright sociopaths/psychopaths.

TBH, I haven't been able to watch a Seagal movie in years. Even though I thought that 4 of his first 5 movies were pretty decent, or at least watchable. It isn't ONLY because the movies he's made for the past couple decades are in straight-to-DVD hell. It's because I know I'm watching a known psychopath playing a hero onscreen. When in fact, his true character is really like the villains he fought onscreen. And his early movies had some vile villains.

GeneChing

12-27-2017, 03:22 PM

By Stephen Seagal! :eek:

Steven Seagal has written an action novel, starring himself, about the deep state (https://www.avclub.com/steven-seagal-has-written-an-action-novel-starring-him-1821529875)
Clayton Purdom
Friday 9:42am Filed to: STEVEN SEGAL

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--I6psJm13--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/dfdvyggecqr3zth0ichm.png
Screenshot: YouTube

Apparently smarting after his interview with Piers Morgan (https://www.avclub.com/why-the-****-are-we-still-listening-to-steven-seagal-1818843791) was ridiculed far and wide for, among other things, obtusely arguing against NFL player protests and enthusiastically praising Vladimir Putin, lawman and blues guitarist Steven Seagal licked his wounds by writing a book, such that he could better explain his political ideas. It is written in the only language Seagal knows: that of a low-rent, straight-to-DVD action flick, its dual nature upheld by each side of the colon in its title The Way Of The Shadow Wolves: The Deep State And The Hijacking Of America. The foreword is by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, because of course it is.

The book follows John Nan Tan Gode, an Arizona Tribal police officer, described on the first page of the book as having “classic chiseled features,” who stumbles upon a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of power. It is, in other words, a written adaptation of a Steven Seagal movie by Steven Seagal himself, a casting suggested most prominently by its cover, in which the legendary lawman saunters brow-a-furrowed out of some sort of wolf sunset.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--xVztVqkd--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/zt190ah5hjricb6twbhf.png
Screenshot: Amazon.com

But it is also much more than that, built in the mode of so many religious and political “novels” transparently dramatizing their ideologies with a low-rent narrative, ranging from The Omega Code back to, well, Atlas Shrugged. The book synopsis touts the bona fides of Seagal and his co-author, Tom Morrissey:

Shadow Wolves is a book of fiction based on reality. Both author’s (sic) have worked with, confronted, and seen the power of the Deep State and the manner in which many federal government agencies willfully violate the Constitution and the laws of the land in service to special interests.

The 2016 election has for the first time made many American citizens aware that the Deep State is very real; that the mainstream media is a fake news media offering a false narrative designed by the secret intelligence world in service to special interests.

The whole thing was originally uncovered on Twitter by TheWarax, who pointed users toward some of its most noteworthy reviews:

The Warax
@iAmTheWarax
Ok guys, so Steven Seagal wrote a book called

THE WAY OF THE SHADOW WOLVES: The Deep State and the Hijacking of America.

If you were wondering "is the foreword written by Joe Arpiao," well of course it is.

What we need to talk about though are this book's reviews. pic.twitter.com/LqKXIA0CKm

The Warax
@iAmTheWarax
We need to talk because this review from a "clandestine case officer (spy) working the Latin American cartel terrorist target … and the interagency enemies of the constitution target" is better than Steve's whole ****ty book. pic.twitter.com/cWpPy44vei

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRiVykrWsAAoKwH.jpg:small

6:25 PM - Dec 20, 2017
View image on Twitter
41 41 Replies 117 117 Retweets 865 865 likes

The Warax
@iAmTheWarax
Replying to @iAmTheWarax
We need to talk because this review from a "clandestine case officer (spy) working the Latin American cartel terrorist target … and the interagency enemies of the constitution target" is better than Steve's whole ****ty book. pic.twitter.com/cWpPy44vei

The Warax
@iAmTheWarax
"Read this book as if it were a TOP SECRET briefing,"

not making this up

"on the real enemy, which consists of rogue elements of the US Government … but are actually central to the intersection of treason, pedophilia, nuclear smuggling, and everything else that is evil." pic.twitter.com/g7VcCnQRtD

6:36 PM - Dec 20, 2017

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRiYSqmW4AA_hMn.jpg:small

34 34 Replies 99 99 Retweets 558 558 likes

Now that people have noticed the book, its reviews are sullied by sheeple unshook by Seagal’s prophecies:

The Warax
@iAmTheWarax
Replying to @iAmTheWarax
You all probably think I am fukn with you but know this, I would never lie to you pic.twitter.com/O5mZPXevS6

The Warax
@iAmTheWarax
UPDATE: Ppl who saw this thread are leaving reviews now pic.twitter.com/KhMUje5IgR

9:22 PM - Dec 20, 2017
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRi-T8wW4AEwcHW.jpg:small
10 10 Replies 65 65 Retweets 654 654 likes

Still, perhaps we should give The Way Of The Shadow Wolves: The Deep State And The Hijacking Of America (with a foreword by Sheriff Joe Arpaio!) its fair shake. After all, as Seagal’s author bio notes, he “is an actor, producer, screen writer, director, martial artist, sheriff, musician and international businessman.” He also has experience with groping 16-year-old girls, falsely claiming to have worked with the CIA, fending off sexual-harassment lawsuits, uh delivering roundhouse kicks or whatever, and turning into a wolf, if the cover of his debut novel is to be believed. Why would we doubt his ability to write a kickass novel that proves the existence of a vast international conspiracy of pedophiles or something?

Thread: It is available for $2.99, or free if you have Amazon Prime. Act now.

The Way Of The Shadow Wolves: The Deep State And The Hijacking Of America (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70619-The-Way-Of-The-Shadow-Wolves-The-Deep-State-And-The-Hijacking-Of-America)
Thread: Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)

GeneChing

01-15-2018, 08:34 AM

Steven Seagal Accused of 1993 Rape: ‘Tears Were Coming Down My Face’ (https://www.thewrap.com/steven-seagal-rape-regina-simons-faviola-davis/)
LAPD is investigating a separate 2005 accusation against the actor
Itay Hod | Last Updated: January 11, 2018 @ 5:04 PM

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Steven-Seagal-and-Accusers-.jpg
Left to Right: Faviola Dadis, Steven Seagal, Regina Simons

Regina Simons says she was 18 and an extra on Steven Seagal’s 1994 film “On Deadly Ground” when he invited her to a wrap party at his Beverly Hills home. But when she arrived, she said, he was the only one there.

“He took me into this room and then just closed the door and started kissing me,” she said. “He then took my clothes off and before I knew it he was on top of me, raping me… I wasn’t sexually active yet. People always talk about fight-or-flight. But no one talks about the freeze.”

Simons is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct, but she appears to be the first to publicly accuse him of rape. She and another woman, Dutch former model Faviola Dadis, told TheWrap they filed reports about Seagal with the LAPD in the last month. Dadis said he groped her during an audition in 2002.

The LAPD detective who Seagal and Dadis said they spoke to declined to comment, citing confidentiality. An LAPD spokeswoman said the department is investigating a separate case involving Seagal from 2005 but declined further comment.

Both Simons and Dadis told TheWrap that they shared their accounts with several other people years ago before going public, and those people corroborated the women’s accounts in interviews with TheWrap.

Numerous attempts to reach Seagal for comment on this story were unsuccessful. His son, actor and model Kentaro Seagal, told TheWrap he did not know how to reach his father.

A producer who recently worked with Seagal put TheWrap in touch with an attorney he said represented Seagal, but the lawyer did not respond to a lengthy description of the accusations, or to phone calls seeking comment.

‘On Deadly Ground’

Simons — now a 43-year-old mother of two — said she had just turned 18 when she met Seagal — then in his early 40s — during an open call for his movie “On Deadly Ground” in 1993. The year before, Seagal’s “Under Siege” had raked in more than $156 million, even earning two Oscar nominations for sound production.

When her brother heard she was going on an audition for a Seagal movie, he asked to tag along. Seagal was casting for Native Americans, and Simons, who is part Navajo and part Sioux, wore borrowed tribal regalia.

As they waited with hundreds of other hopefuls, Simons said, Seagal stopped, introduced himself, and invited her and her brother to join him on set.

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IMG_5241.jpg
Regina Simons at her audition for “On Deadly Ground.” Steven Seagal can be seen in the background

Soon, they were sitting in Seagal’s trailer. She said her brother and Seagal did most of the talking: She was a shy girl from a conservative Mormon family. When she mentioned a minor headache, Seagal offered to give her a massage. She said he rubbed her hand and neck, which seemed odd, and then went to the set. (Her brother, Ben, corroborated her account of the day to TheWrap).

Steven Seagal On Deadly Ground A few weeks after shooting her scene, Simons got a phone call: She was invited to his home for the wrap party. When she arrived, she said, no one but Seagal was home, and there was no sign of a celebration.

“I asked him where is everyone and he said that they had already left,” she said.

She said Seagal then took her into an adjacent room and raped her. She was so overwhelmed that she froze — though she cried through all of it, she said.

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/220px-On_deadly_ground.jpg

“The only way I’m able to describe it is I literally felt like I left my body,” Simons explained. “I think because of the situation I was completely caught off guard. Tears were coming down my face and I know that it hurt. He was three times my size.”

She couldn’t utter a word, she said.

“I was crying when he was on top of me,” she said. “Even now, my 43-year-old mind knows how to process this and understand what a loving relationship is and what consensual sex is. And there was none of that.”

When it was over, she said she quickly grabbed her clothes and made a “beeline” for the door.

“All I remember is him asking me if I needed any money,” she said. “I shook my head and ran towards my car. I cried the whole way home.”

She said she contemplated coming forward and sought advice from her Mormon bishop, but decided against it.

“I wasn’t even allowed to date so for me it was a shameful thing,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, how could this have happened?’ So, I blamed a lot of it on myself and tried to pretend it didn’t happen.”

The bishop corroborated her story, with Simons’ permission. He asked that his name not be used, but said he would be willing to come forward if necessary.

“She had done a lot of crying and I tried to comfort her as best I could,” he said.

Simons said Seagal kept calling her. “I just told the lady I was living with to not take his calls,” she said. “And he finally just stopped.”

That woman, Patricia Alaniz, said she remembered Seagal calling for several weeks. She said she warned Simons to be careful.

“His behavior, calling so often, it felt predatory to me,” Alaniz told TheWrap. “He was a middle-aged man, married at the time, and she was young and naive. I thought he was grooming her.”

Simons said the trauma soured her on acting. She moved home to Utah, then back to the Los Angeles area, where she now works as a case advocate for Native-American families.

She said she went to counseling for years and a therapist diagnosed her with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in August. Her psychologist, who asked to remain anonymous, corroborated her account with Simons’ permission, saying she believed the incident with Seagal was the source of her trauma.

“For a first sexual encounter to be violent, it skews your views of the world, relationship and sex,” the therapist said. “It modified the trajectory of her life.”

The therapist also said her response — to freeze during a rape — is “unfortunately very common.”

Simons’ mother, ex-boyfriend and ex-husband also corroborated her story in interviews with TheWrap.

Betty Simons, Regina’s mother, said her daughter told her about the incident about a year after it happened.

“She was having these terrible migraines and she was stressed out and wasn’t excited about things,” she said. “Finally, she broke down and told me what happened.”

‘This Audition Is Over’

Last month, Dadis took to Instagram to accuse the actor of sexually assaulting her in 2002, saying that he fondled her breasts and grabbed her crotch during an audition for a part in an epic about Genghis Khan. The movie was never made.

She said she was invited to a “private audition” at the W Hotel in Beverly Hills where she was told to wear a bikini under her clothes so that Seagal and his team could evaluate her figure. She was promised that a production assistant and a casting director would be present.

But when she got to the hotel room, Seagal and his security guard were the only ones there.

Dadis said Seagal asked her to take off her clothes and walk through the room in her bikini. He then approached her and said he wanted to act out a “romantic scene.”

“I expressed that I was uncomfortable with that especially since I was in my bikini,” Dadis told TheWrap. “And then he started pinching my nipples and grabbing my crotch area with his other hand. I quickly yelled ‘This audition is over!'”

She said she tried to run out of the room but was blocked by Seagal’s security guard. “I began yelling: ‘I need to leave right now, this is B.S., I need to leave right now!’ He motioned to his security guard to let me go and I ran out.”
continued next post

GeneChing

01-15-2018, 08:34 AM

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screen-Shot-2018-01-08-at-2.45.04-PM.png
Photo: Faviola Dadis/Instagram

TheWrap spoke to Dadis’ mother and her ex-boyfriend, who corroborated her account. Her mother, Ute, said her daughter told her what happened about a week later.

Dadis is currently being represented by civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom.

Both Dadis and Simons share an agent, but said they did not discuss their accounts before deciding to come forward. They said their agent introduced them to each other after learning from each of them, separately, about their accounts.

Seagal has been spending time in Asia and Russia, where he is a passport-carrying citizen and enjoys a cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin.

He has been previously been accused of harassment and other misconduct by actresses Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies, Katherine Heigl, Eva LaRue, Rae Dawn Chong, Lisa Guerrero and Jenny McCarthy. (A rep for Seagal told The Daily Beast of McCarthy: “Her claim is completely false”).

Seagal has also been accused of sexual misconduct by several ex-assistants: Patricia Nichols, Kayden Nguyen, Blair Robinson, and an unnamed assistant.

Marty Singer, Seagal’s lawyer at the time of Nguyen’s accusations, called them a “complete fabrication without a scintilla of truth.” Singer also said Seagal had “no knowledge” of Blair.

Singer no longer represents Seagal.

Seagal's 'at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)' may finally be catching up to him at Hollywood's Open Secret (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch) gets exposed. I wonder if this will affect his latest film, China Salesman (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70325-China-Salesman&). I doubt they could pull a Plummer/Spacey swap on that one.

GeneChing

01-15-2018, 08:39 AM

Steven Seagal Accused of 1993 Rape (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/steven-seagal-accused-of-1993-rape-w515395)
Two women have levied allegations against the actor, who has also been accused of sexual misconduct by Portia di Rossi, Jenny McCarthy and others

https://img.wennermedia.com/article-leads-horizontal-800/gettyimages-611654252-1ba50f17-8520-4336-bc74-e4cdd1dd1cd6.jpg
Two women have accused actor Steven Seagal of sexual misconduct, including one alleged rape. Vyacheslav Prokofyev\TASS via Getty Images

By Kory Grow
3 days ago

Two women have accused Steven Seagal of sexual misconduct, including a rape that one of the women claimed took place in 1993. The accounts, first reported by The Wrap, describe an alleged pattern where the actor would invite women to places where they expected to find multiple people, only to allegedly see only him; he'd then allegedly advance on them. The women said they both filed reports with the Los Angeles Police Department.

"I have a platform that I will continue to use to amplify those who don't have a voice," writes actress and activist

Regina Simons, 43, said she first encountered Seagal at a casting call for what would be the 1994 film On Deadly Ground. The production was casting Native Americans, and the actress, who's of Navajo and Sioux descent, borrowed regalia from her family. Seagal allegedly spotted her and introduced himself, inviting her and her brother, who'd accompanied her to the audition, on set. When she said she had a headache, she said the actor offered her a massage that included rubbing her hand and neck – which she felt was odd.

After she shot her scene, Seagal allegedly invited her to what he described as a wrap party at his home. When she arrived, she said no one else was home and that he took her into another room. "He took me into this room and then just closed the door and started kissing me," she claimed. "He then took my clothes off and before I knew it he was on top of me, raping me. … I wasn't sexually active yet. People always talk about fight-or-flight. But no one talks about the freeze." She claimed she cried the whole time. Several people, including her mother and a bishop, corroborated that Simons had told them about the assault.

Another woman, Dutch former model Faviola Davis, told The Wrap she'd gone for a "private audition" in 2002 for a Genghis Khan movie that ultimately was never made. Davis said she had expected a casting agent and a production assistant to be there, but when she arrived, she said she found only Seagal and a security guard. She'd been instructed to wear a bikini for the role, and Seagal allegedly asked her to disrobe so he could see her figure and then asked to act out a romantic scene.

"I expressed that I was uncomfortable with that especially since I was in my bikini," Dadis told The Wrap. "And then he started pinching my nipples and grabbing my crotch area with his other hand. I quickly yelled, 'This audition is over!'" She attempted to leave but the guard reportedly blocked her exit; she claimed Seagal motioned that it was OK for her to leave and she did. Multiple people, including Dadis' mother, said she'd told them about the alleged incident, which she also described on Instagram.

A rep for Seagal did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.

LAPD reps said they were not able to speak about Seagal and Dadis' complaints. A spokeswoman for the police told the site that it was investigating a separate case regarding the actor that allegedly took place in 2005.

More than half a dozen women in Hollywood have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct, including Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies, Katherine Heigl and Jenny McCarthy, among others. Similarly, several ex-assistants have levied accusations against the actor. A rep for Seagal told The Daily Beast that McCarthy's claim was "completely false," and a lawyer addressed two of the assistants who've accused him, saying Kayden Nguyen's accusation was "complete fabrication" and that the actor had "no knowledge" of another woman's claims. The Wrap reported that the lawyer no longer represented the actor.

"Is the thrill that'll gitcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone"

Thread: Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
Thread: An Open Secret: Hollywood - Please Watch (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

01-17-2018, 10:04 AM

Steven Seagal Says Accusers Have ‘Lied and Been Paid to Lie About Me Without Any Evidence’ (https://www.thewrap.com/steven-seagal-says-accusers-have-been-lied-and-paid-to-lie-about-me-without-any-evidence/)
TheWrap reported last week on a woman who accused Seagal of rape in 1993
Tim Molloy and Itay Hod | Last Updated: January 15, 2018 @ 6:56 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rQyOCaBD04

Steven Seagal responded to sexual misconduct accusations against him by saying women have “lied and been paid to lie about me without any evidence, any proof, any witnesses.”

“This is just a complete tragedy,” the action star told “InfoWars” host Alex Jones on Monday. “This isn’t just me but hundreds of people around the world,” he said, adding that “many of those people are completely innocent.”

“I can tell you that 40 percent of these claims are false,” he added, without elaborating on how he arrived at that particular figure.

“There is a whole force of people gathering around the world now putting in lots of money and lots of time investigation people who are coming are coming after us,” Seagal added in a remote interview from Japan. “The people who are being paid to lie and the people who are paying them to lie are going to be exposed.”

Seagal did not respond to attempts to contact him last week when TheWrap reported the account of Regina Simons, a woman who said Seagal raped her in 1993 while she was an extra on his film “On Deadly Ground.” Her mother, a bishop at her church and a therapist, among others, corroborated that Simons had shared her story with them.

Seagal chose Jones’ conspiracy-minded “InfoWars” to break his silence. In a lengthy interview, which covered everything from Vladimir Putin to the “deep state” to the so-called “gay-mafia,” Jones claimed that he was contacted by “former high-level people in the CIA and others, saying, ‘Hey Steven Seagal wants to talk to you and we need to get him on to counter the narrative.'”

TheWrap first reported Thursday that the Los Angeles Police Department has opened an investigation into Seagal on a separate sexual misconduct case from 2005. The department declined further comment.

Simons and another women recently filed complaints against the actor with the LAPD. Simons said Seagal invited her to his home in Beverly Hills in 1993 after she appeared as an extra in his movie “On Deadly Ground.”

“He took me into this room and then just closed the door and started kissing me,” she told TheWrap. “He then took my clothes off and before I knew it he was on top of me, raping me… I wasn’t sexually active yet. People always talk about fight-or-flight. But no one talks about the freeze.”

Simons is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct, but she appears to be the first to publicly accuse him of rape. Dutch former model Faviola Dadis told TheWrap she filed a report about Seagal with the LAPD in the last month. Dadis said he groped her during an audition in 2002.

The LAPD detective who Seagal and Dadis said they spoke to declined to comment, citing confidentiality.

On Monday, ex-Bond girl Rachel Grant accused the actor of sexual assault in 2002 during a film rehearsal in Bulgaria.

Through his lawyers, who spoke with the BBC, the action movie star has denied Grant’s assault accusation as well as another claim by the actress that he tried to expose himself.”I want to share what happened to me, so people will hear it and others might come forward,” Grant told the BBC.

You can watch the full interview with Seagal above.

I didn't watch the vid. If anyone does and wants to post the time codes for the best parts, be my guest.

Thread: Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
Thread: An Open Secret: Hollywood - Please Watch (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

01-31-2018, 09:54 AM

Woman accuses film star Steven Seagal of rape in 1993 (http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Woman-accuses-film-star-Steven-Seagal-of-rape-in-12528235.php)
Updated 9:40 pm, Friday, January 26, 2018

http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/71/01/04/14946587/5/920x920.jpg
Photo: Ivan Sekretarev, AP
FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2015, file photo, actor Steven Seagal speaks at a news conference, while attending an opening ceremony for a research and development center in Moscow, Russia. A once-aspiring actress has alleged Seagal raped her at a wrap party for the film “On Deadly Ground,” claiming he undressed her and assaulted her on his bed while she focused on a photo of Seagal’s wife on the nightstand. Regina Simons called the alleged assault “very predatory, very aggressive and traumatizing” during an interview that aired Friday, Jan. 26, 2018 on “Megyn Kelly Today.” She was 18 at the time.

NEW YORK (AP) — A once-aspiring actress has alleged Steven Seagal raped her at a wrap party for the film "On Deadly Ground," claiming he undressed her and assaulted her on his bed while she focused on a photo of Seagal's wife on the nightstand.

Regina Simons called the alleged assault "very predatory, very aggressive and traumatizing" during an interview that aired Friday on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today." She was 18 at the time.

Seagal's lawyer did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.

Simons said she was surprised to find that she was the only one invited to Seagal's 1993 party to celebrate the end of filming. She had been an extra and said "before I knew it, he was on top of me and I couldn't move." She says she froze and "felt like I left my body."

During the alleged attack, Simons said she remembers looking at a photo of Seagal and "the lady from 'Weird Science.'" At the time, Seagal was married to Kelly LeBrock, who starred in "Weird Science."

Simon said she reported her allegations to Beverly Hills, California police, where the incident occurred.

Other women have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct. Jenny McCarthy said the action star sexually harassed her during a 1995 audition, while Portia de Rossi accused Seagal of unzipping his pants during an audition.

A Seagal spokesman denied McCarthy's accusations to The Daily Beast. McCarthy told the same story to Movieline in 1998.

Thread: Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
Thread: An Open Secret: Hollywood - Please Watch (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

05-29-2018, 01:54 PM

Steven Seagal to Produce Live MMA Show in Russia (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-seagal-produce-live-mma-show-russia-1115473)
12:42 PM PDT 5/29/2018 by Vladimir Kozlov

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/11/gettyimages-186107272_-_h_20178.jpg
Getty Images
Steven Seagal

He serves as president of the newly formed sports promotion company Zhara Fight.

Hollywood actor and Russian citizen Steven Seagal has launched a sports promotion company in Russia to produce a live fight show.

Zhara Fight, with Seagal at the helm as president, will promote live events featuring MMA and other fighters from various countries. The inaugural show is scheduled for May 30 at one of Moscow's most popular venues, Vegas City Hall. "Emin Agalarov helped to make it real," Seagal said in a video, published on Vegas City Hall's website, referring to a Russian pop star and entrepreneur whose family owns the venue.

(Incidentally, Agalarov's name has popped up in the investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.)

"We want to set up a situation where we do everything," Seagal said, explaining the concept of his show. "Maybe there is an MMA kind of thing; maybe there is boxing; maybe there's different kind of fights."

Seagal, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, obtained Russian citizenship in late 2016. "He is a spectacular human being and a great, great, great world leader, maybe, the greatest," Seagal said about Putin in the Vegas City Hall video.

Seagal has recently been accused of sexual assault and harassment by several women, including Regina Simons and Jenny McCarthy. In late January, Beverly Hills police submitted a sexual assault case against Seagal to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Last week, Julianna Margulies spoke about her uncomfortable meeting with Seagal while he toted a gun.

THREADS
Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
Zhara Fight (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70790-Zhara-Fight)

GeneChing

06-04-2018, 11:32 AM

Julianna Margulies Recalls a Meeting With Steven Seagal and His Gun: "I Was Scared"
12:00 AM PDT 5/24/2018 by Lexy Perez

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2018/05/julianna_margulies_and_steven_seagal_-split-getty_h_2018.jpg
Vera Anderson/WireImage; Kristina Nikishina/Getty Images

“He lifted up the cushion and he took out his gun. And I had never seen a gun in my life, not up close. And I said, 'Oh, my god.' I started getting very sweaty," the 'Dietland' actress said on Katie Couric's podcast.
Julianna Margulies opened up about her uncomfortable meeting with a gun-toting Steven Seagal for The Katie Couric Podcast on Thursday, where she also addressed the #MeToo movement and Matt Damon's "spectrum of behavior" controversy.

The Dietland star told Couric that her “horrific” hotel meeting with Seagal, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, took a dark turn when she realized he had a gun hidden in the couch.

“I walked in and I sat down and I jumped right back up because there was something very uncomfortable and hard in the couch. He laughed and said, 'Oh, sorry, that must have been my gun,'” the actress told Couric. “He lifted up the cushion and he took out his gun. And I had never seen a gun in my life, not up close. And I said, 'Oh, my god.' I started getting very sweaty and he said, 'Oh, it’s just for all the crazies that are out there. I have to protect myself.'”

After a casting director informed the then-recent college graduate that Seagal wanted to go over a scene with her in his hotel room, Margulies visited the actor, believing the female casting director would be accompanying her. Margulies quickly learned that she was alone with an armed actor.

“I started getting angry at myself. Because my inner dialogue was, 'You stupid idiot. How could you have done this? No one knows where you are, and you’re in a hotel room alone with this guy and he’s got a gun. How stupid. You’re stupid.’ I was just chastising myself,” Margulies recalled.

Margulies continued to grow uncomfortable after the actor informed her that he was a “healer” and requested she allow him to read her palm, something the actress recalled being odd and comical. “He told me I had really weak kidneys. At that point, to be honest, as a New York girl, I kind of started laughing inside. Like, this guy’s pathetic. Does he think I’m buying this line of crap? ... I just started talking a lot out of nerves. ...I squirmed my way out of there.”

Though the actress left “sweating” and with a “pounding” heart, she had to return to Seagal’s hotel room, after realizing she had no cab fare. Prior to their meeting, Margulies had requested that she be reimbursed for her trip to Brooklyn. “I went back and I knocked on the door, and he smirked, and I think he thought I was coming back, like, ‘Oh, she got smart.’ And I stayed on the other side of the door and I held my hand out and I said, ... 'It cost me $15 to get here and I need cab fare to get home,” the actress explained.

After Seagal supplied her with money, Margulies rushed away. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought if I just survived Steven Seagal and a gun in a hotel room by myself, I can handle a subway back to Brooklyn.” The actress would later land the role in Out for Justice, but warned the film’s team that she refused to meet with Seagal alone. “I said to everyone in there, I know you don’t know me, but I’d really appreciate it if no one would ever let me be in the room alone with him. Because I was scared.”

Margulies’ story comes in wake of the #MeToo movement, which has seen a slew of Hollywood figures being accused of sexual harassment and assault. Apart from female empowerment, the actress explained that the movement has also instigated a conversation as to what qualifies as everyday bad behavior and sexual assault, something she defends Damon on attempting to speak out about. The actor received backlash after arguing that there’s a “continuum” and “hierarchy of abuse” with predatory behavior.

“Matt Damon tried to do that, quite eloquently, and he got demonized,” Margulies argued. “I didn’t think that was right. I understood what he was saying. He was completely compassionate about what was going with people who are raping, but it’s not the same as what’s going on with people who are joking around on a set. You have to differentiate between what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable. The dialogue has been opened, finally, after all these years. The reason the pendulum swung so far was that women, it’s been bubbling under the surface and this tiny little opening happened, and we all just ran out of that one ripped seam.”

In light of the #MeToo movement, the actress admitted to Couric that she too has endured “invasive” experiences with men after a man once got underneath her legs to look under her skirt. Margulies added that the current climate has marked an “empowering” change among both men and women, but it's important "not to pit women against men." "This isn’t about women against bad guys. This is about people who abuse power. I think what’s important to remember is that there is also women who abuse their power. This whole movement, I feel, has been bubbling under the surface for years. ... It's just the beginning.”

Marguilies also added, "I truly do think that when you’re desperate for a job and you’re excited and you want to act and here is someone offering you something, you don’t think that’s going to happen, but now you will. So hopefully now that conversation will protect the next generation of actors."

Listen to the full audio of Couric's interview with Margulies below.

Julianna Margulies has been lighting up the small screen for over two decades, with standout roles on TV shows like ER and The Good Wife. She joins Katie and Brian to discuss everything from the big impact George Clooney had on her career to what she loved about playing Alicia Florrick. She also explains what makes her latest character on AMC's Dietland such a delicious role. Plus, Julianna opens up about her own experiences with harassment as a young actress.
https://art19.com/shows/katie-couric/episodes/aa374a77-95d9-4065-98f2-41aece4891be

Margulies' initial report here. (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again&p=1305847#post1305847)

THREADS:
Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
An Open Secret: Hollywood - Please Watch (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

07-17-2018, 08:20 AM

Hollywood martial arts star to open transport technology festival in Moscow in late August (http://tass.com/society/1012842)
Society & Culture July 12, 14:00 UTC+3
The festival will gather modern bright innovations and present concepts of the future in the sphere of transport and autonomous movement

https://phototass1.cdnvideo.ru/width/744_b12f2926/tass/m2/en/uploads/i/20180712/1198317.jpg
Steven Seagal © Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/. Renowned American actor and film director Steven Seagal will open the Mobilistic (mobility and logistics) technology festival in Moscow’s Crocus Expo exhibition center, which will run from August 29 to September 9, Crocus Group First Vice President Emin Agalarov told reporters on Thursday.

"Our friend Steven Seagal, now a Russian citizen, will open the exhibition and articulate the basic concepts of the event," he specified.

The festival will gather modern bright innovations and present concepts of the future in the sphere of transport and autonomous movement, Agalarov said. The exhibition will focus on environmentally friendly means of transport aimed at fostering an attitude of care towards nature. The exhibition’s visitors will learn about modern environmental challenges connected to the use of diesel transport, alternative fuel, transport infrastructure, "smart cities" and test electric car technologies and a virtual reality attraction.

"The key objective of the festival - which is mostly social, educational and even raises awareness-is to tell everyone who comes, what the future will look like, the technologies we have today and the innovative solutions that change our present and will change our life for the better in the future, so that it could become even more comfortable, pleasant and dynamic," said Vyacheslav Kuzyakov, Director General of Jaguar Land Rover (Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan), who is taking part in the exhibition.

The organizers invited Russian and foreign companies to showcase their products at the auto show.

And why wasn't he in Helsinki? :p

GeneChing

08-06-2018, 07:50 AM

WORLD NEWSAUGUST 4, 2018 / 12:09 PM / A DAY AGO
Russia tasks Hollywood actor Seagal with improving U.S. ties (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-seagal/russia-tasks-hollywood-actor-seagal-with-improving-u-s-ties-idUSKBN1KP0NP)
Reuters Staff

2 MIN READ

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had made U.S. actor Steven Seagal its special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties, a role it said was meant to deepen cultural, art and youth ties between the two countries.

President Vladimir Putin presented a Russian passport to U.S. actor Steven Seagal in 2016, saying he hoped it would serve as a symbol of how fractious ties between Moscow and Washington were starting to improve.

Since then, U.S.-Russia relations have only got worse however with U.S. intelligence agencies accusing Moscow of interfering in Donald Trump’s White House run, an allegation Russia denies. The two countries are also at odds over Syria and Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry likened Seagal’s new role to that of a U.N. goodwill ambassador and said that the actor, who is known for his martial arts prowess, would receive no salary.

“It’s a case of people’s diplomacy intersecting with traditional diplomacy,” the ministry said.

Seagal, who sometimes appears on Russian state TV to talk about his views and career, was cited by Kremlin-backed TV station RT as welcoming the appointment.

“I’ve always had a very strong desire to do all I can to help improve Russian-American relations,” RT cited Seagal as saying. “I have worked tirelessly in this direction for many years unofficially and I am now very grateful for the opportunity to do the same thing officially.”

For more than a decade Seagal, who according to his own website is 66, has been a regular visitor to Russia. His movies, including such titles as “Under Siege” and “Sniper: Special Ops,” are popular with Russian audiences.

http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20180804&t=2&i=1290235082&r=LYNXMPEE730E9
U.S. actor Steven Seagal watches the Victory Day parade, marking the 73rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, at Red Square in Moscow, Russia May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

President Putin is also a fan of the kind of martial arts that Seagal often practiced in his Hollywood action movies.

Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Andrew Osborn

Now Russia is just flat out mocking us. :mad:

GeneChing

10-05-2018, 02:24 PM

No words, man. Just no words. :rolleyes:

Steven Seagal Walks Out of Interview After Being Asked About Sexual Assault Claim (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-seagal-walks-interview-being-asked-sexual-assault-claim-1149544)
3:52 PM PDT 10/4/2018 by Katie Kilkenny

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/10/gettyimages-644863218_-_h_2017.jpg
Getty Images
Steven Seagal

The actor has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by multiple women.
Steven Seagal walked out of a BBC Newsnight interview on Thursday when he was asked about being accused of sexual misconduct in the U.S. amid the #MeToo movement.

The moment happened when host Kirsty Wark said to the actor, "In terms of your life in America, you've been very much caught up in allegations of sexual harassment. You had a rape allegation against you and I wonder how you deal with all that." Seagal then pulled his earpiece off and wordlessly left the chair where he was conducting the interview; he forgot to take the microphone off, and offscreen someone can be heard helping him remove it.

"Hello, Steven Seagal?" Wark responded, before pivoting immediately into a report: "Seagal there, and of course though he didn't respond there, he has said previously that he denies any allegation made against him."

The actor has been accused of misconduct or strange solo encounters by several major Hollywood figures, including Julianna Margulies and Portia de Rossi.

In September, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute a sex crimes case involving Seagal, an alleged sexual assault that took place in 1993, because the statute of limitations had passed. Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero recalled an audition where Seagal was wearing only a silk kimono, and being asked to attend a "private rehearsal" with him. Regina Simons says the actor sexually assaulted her at a wrap party for one of his films, in which she was an extra.

Later on Thursday, Guerrero responded to the BBC's tweet about the incident, writing on Twitter, "This is SO GREAT! As one of the dozen women who have shared our #MeToo stories about @sseagalofficial , Thank you @BBCNewsnight @BBC and @KirstyWark for asking him about it. Very telling that he that he ran away... #TimesUp."

Watch Seagal's Newsnight appearance, below.

This is the moment Steven Seagal walks out on a #newsnight interview over questioning about #metoo allegations, which he denies.@sseagalofficial | @KirstyWark | @BBCTwo | #newsnight pic.twitter.com/Lr6mE3th4F

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 4, 2018

GeneChing

12-26-2018, 09:16 AM

DECEMBER 21, 2018 12:08PM PT
D.A. Declines to Charge Steven Seagal in Sexual Assault Case (https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/steven-seagal-da-declines-to-charge-1203094870/)
By GENE MADDAUS
Senior Media Writer
@GeneMaddaus

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Steven-Seagal.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: YURI KOCHETKOV/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

For the second time this year, the L.A. County District Attorney’s office has declined to file a sexual assault charge against actor Steven Seagal.

A woman came forward to the LAPD to allege that Seagal had sexually assaulted her in the summer of 2002. The D.A.’s Hollywood sex crimes task force reviewed case, but determined that the statute of limitations had expired.

The D.A.’s office did not identify the alleged victim. However, attorney Lisa Bloom said that the case involves her client, former model Faviola Dadis. In January, Dadis told the Wrap that Seagal had groped her during an audition. She said Seagal asked her to strip down to a bikini, and then wanted to do a “romantic scene” with her. She said she was uncomfortable with that.

“And then he started pinching my nipples and grabbing my crotch area with his other hand,” she told the Wrap. “I quickly yelled ‘This audition is over!’”

In a statement, Bloom said the case was not charged solely because the law requires that older cases include independent, corroborating evidence.

“We appreciate the DA’s office’s careful review of this case,” Bloom said. “Its hands are tied by this unfair law which bars the courthouse door even to young women like my client, Faviola Dadis, who is highly credible. The law fails to recognize that few minors are emotionally ready to seek justice against their rapists until many years later. Instead, it offers rapists a “get out of jail free” card if they simply pass an arbitrary time deadline. And the law seems to presume that victims are lying, creating an unfairly high evidentiary standard not required in other criminal cases. Few rapists commit their crimes in the presence of witnesses.”

The D.A.’s office also declined to charge Seagal in September, after receiving an allegation that had been investigated by the Beverly Hills Police Department. In that case, a woman alleged that he had sexually assaulted her in 1993. That case also fell outside the statute of limitations. In January, the Wrap reported that actress Regina Simons accused Seagal of raping her in 1993. Eleven other woman, including actresses Portia de Rossi and Julianna Margulies, have also accused Seagal of sexual misconduct.

Seagal is a Russian citizen, and earlier this year was appointed as a special envoy to improve U.S.-Russia relations. In 2017, he was banned from visiting Ukraine for five years, due to his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

THREADS:
Seagal is at it again (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
An Open Secret: Hollywood - Please Watch (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70520-An-Open-Secret-Hollywood-Please-Watch)

GeneChing

06-29-2020, 07:40 AM

Charlize Theron Says ‘Overweight’ Steven Seagal ‘Can Barely Fight’: ‘He’s Not Very Nice to Women’ (https://people.com/movies/charlize-theron-says-overweight-steven-seagal-can-barely-fight-hes-not-very-nice-to-women/)
Charlize Theron, who has done her own stunts in several action movies, called Steven Seagal’s martial arts skills into question
By Ally Mauch June 26, 2020 03:05 PM

https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2020%2F06%2F26%2F charlize-theron.jpg
JOHN LAMPARSKI/GETTY; JEFF BOTTARI/ZUFFA LLC/GETTY

Charlize Theron has criticized fellow actor Steven Seagal, calling into question his martial arts skills and sharing that “he’s not very nice to women.”

While promoting her latest action film, The Old Guard on Howard Stern’s radio show, the 44-year-old actress said that she prepares for her action projects by watching old fighting videos, and has often come across one of Seagal, who has said he has a black belt in karate.

“At night I’ll go online to watch fighters or watch people fight and you always come across that odd Seagal video of him ‘fighting’ in Japan, but he really isn’t,” she said.

She continued, “He’s just incredibly overweight and pushing people. He’s overweight and can barely fight … look it up, it’s ridiculous. He’s shoving people by the face. It’s a whole setup.”

The Mad Max: Fury Road star then justified her criticism of Seagal, 68, noting, “I have no problem talking s--- about him because he’s not very nice to women so f--- you!”

A rep for Seagal did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

This is not the first time that Seagal’s conduct towards women has come into question.

The actor has been accused of sexual harassment and other misconduct by several women, including Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies, Jenny McCarthy and Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero.

In 2018, he was also accused of rape by an extra who appeared in his 1994 film On Deadly Ground, Regina Simons. She told TheWrap that she was 18 at the time of the alleged rape, which she claimed happened after Seagal invited her to a wrap party for the movie at his Beverly Hills home in 1993.

Around the same time, Dutch model Faviola Dadis took to Instagram to accuse the actor of sexually assaulting her at an audition in 2002 after being inspired by de Rossi coming forward with her own accusations.

Seagal has denied all accusations against him.

THREADS
The-Old-Guard (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71790-The-Old-Guard)
Seagal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)

Jimbo

06-29-2020, 08:19 AM

I agree with her 100% that Seagal is a dirtbag.

However, I’d be careful about judging his ability to actually fight based on some Aikido demonstrations. From what I’ve heard from some very legitimate MAists who have had experience with him on the mat, in his younger years, Seagal had legitimate high-level Aikido skills. They may have evaporated since then, but being fat alone does not mean a person can’t fight, for real or for the screen. Look at Sammo Hung, who, although in recent years he can’t move nearly like he did in the past, has been hampered by injuries from a lifetime of difficult and dangerous film stunts. You don’t need to have 6-or-8-pack abs to be a legitimate MAist. Action-wise, Charlize Theron will never equal what fat Sammo Hung accomplished in action films. Anyway, Charlize Theron may be tough, fit, and may do her own stunts, and can probably even handle herself in some real-life self-defense situations; but that doesn’t make her a ‘fighter.’ It makes her an actress/screen fighter. I give her tons of credit for that. BUT, even if she does go through actual fight conditioning for her roles, it’s not the same thing as real fighting.

Long ago, there was a celebrity boxing match between Joey Buttafuoco and former WWF/WWE wrestler “Chyna” (Joanie Laurer). Buttafuoco was big and fat, and “Chyna” looked to be conditioned, and had been a big, physically strong woman who lifted weights. In spite of (or perhaps because of) his girth, and maybe his attitude, Buttafuoco won, pretty easily. Before the match, ‘Chyna’ had stated that she was confident she was going to beat him. I’m not making this a male vs female thing; it’s about underestimating a person’s ability to fight based on their physical appearance. You don’t really know until you know.

Another article states that Charlene Theron made movie heroines a thing. Maybe she got the ball rolling in Hollywood, but lead female heroines are old hat in old-school Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Japanese cinema. Look at Cheng Pei-Pei, Angela Mao and Meiko Kaji as only a few examples. And Chinese wuxia films featured lead female characters all the way back to the late 1920s.

GeneChing

05-30-2021, 09:39 AM

...someday, an unauthorized biography of Seagal will make an amusing read.

MAY 30, 20216:04 AMUPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Hollywood actor Seagal joins pro-Kremlin party, proposes tougher laws (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-seagal-idUSKCN2DB0A1)
By Reuters Staff

2 MIN READ

https://static.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20210530&t=2&i=1563896150&r=LYNXNPEH4T05W&w=1024
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Steven Seagal, a long-time admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has joined a pro-Kremlin party, the the party said on Sunday.

Seagal received a party membership card of an alliance named Just Russia - Patriots - For Truth on Saturday, a video relased by the party showed. It was formed earlier this year, when three leftist parties, all of which support Putin, merged into one.

Seagal, a Russian citizen since 2016, proposed a crackdown on businesses which damage the environment.

“Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them, they are probably making more money of the production of the things that are defiling the environment,” said in his welcome speech at a party event.

The party controls a faction in the lower house of the Russian parliament and plans to take part in a parliamentary election in September.

Seagal, a U.S.-born martial artist, is best known for producing and starring in action movies, while Putin, who granted him the citizenship, is a fan of martial arts.

At Saturday’s ceremony, Seagal posed for pictures next to one of the party leaders, Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, who enrolled in an army of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and admitted to commanding a combat unit in a conflict which has killed 14,000 people in seven years.

In 2018, Russia tasked Seagal with improving humanitarian ties with the United States at a time when relations between the two countries have deteriorated to their worst level since the Cold War.

As a Russian representative, Seagal visited Venezuela earlier in May and presented a samurai sword to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Angus MacSwan

GeneChing

03-01-2022, 07:32 PM

PECULIAR PALS Inside Vladimir Putin & Steven Seagal’s odd friendship from martial arts events together to actor calling him ‘brother’ (https://www.the-sun.com/news/4793484/steven-seagal-vladimir-putin-friendship/)
Cheyenne R. Ubiera
1:01 ET, Mar 1 2022 Updated: 1:01 ET, Mar 1 2022
THE seemingly close friendship between Vladimir Putin and actor Steven Seagal has made headlines as the Russian President's invasion of Ukraine escalates.

The unlikely duo has had a friendship for many years with Seagal reportedly calling the Russian leader his "brother" in previous interviews.

https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/02/kc-putin-and-seagal-comp.jpg?w=1560
Many people were asking questions about Steven Seagal's strange friendship with Russian President Vladimir PutinCredit: AFP
https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/02/NINTCHDBPICT000715444056.jpg?w=1440
A photo shared on social media claimed that Seagal had joined Russia's militaryCredit: AFP
Following Putin's invasion of Ukraine, videos shared on social media claimed to show the veteran actor participating in Russia's military operations.

A screenshot of a bogus tweet was shared by podcaster Joe Rogan, among others, that falsely claimed Seagal had been "spotted by intelligence agencies" while fighting alongside Russian forces near the Hostomel military airfield.

Rogan shared the image on Instagram, nothing how ridiculous "this f**ked up movie we're living through."

However, the post was eventually removed.

"I deleted my earlier post about Steven Seagal being in Ukraine because it was a parody, which isn't surprising, but honestly it wouldn't be surprising if it was true either," he wrote in another post.

"He was banned from Ukraine in 2017 because he was labeled as a national security threat. I, like all of you, hope the tragic situation is resolved there quickly."

The image being spread around featured Seagal in army gear, which was actually from his 2017 film Cartels.

Seagal eventually shared his thoughts amid the invasion, telling Fox News: "Most of us have friends and family in Russia and Ukraine.

"I look at both as one family and really believe it is an outside entity spending huge sums of money on propaganda to provoke the two countries to be at odds with each other.

"My prayers are that both countries will come to a positive, peaceful resolution where we can live and thrive together in peace."

Seagal has called Putin "one of the greatest living world leaders" and had previously defended the president's actions in Crimea during an interview with the state-run newspaper, Rossiskaya Gazeta.

The actor went on to say he considers Putin "a friend, would like to consider him a brother."

ODD FRIENDSHIP
The two have bonded over their shared love of martial arts and Seagal was even granted Russian citizenship in 2016.

At that point in their friendship, the actor had visited Russia several times and had accompanied the president to multiple martial arts events.

In 2018 Seagal was appointed as Russia's special envoy to the US. His position was to "facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public, and youth exchanges," said the Foreign Ministry.

As Rogan said in his post, Ukraine had banned Seagal from entering the country for five years back in 2017, because the actor was a "threat" to national security.

INVASION CONTINUES
Meanwhile, Russia's military assault on Ukraine is entering its fifth day after Putin ordered nuclear forces on increased alert. Determined troops in Kyiv have held onto the capital and other major cities for now.

Loud explosions from airstrikes continue to rock the capital city. Dramatic video showed the night sky lit up, as a huge 40-mile column of Russian tanks was earlier seen advancing to the city.

Air raid sirens blared out across the city as police officers hurried people to shelters.

Putin's troops are believed to be looking to surround Kyiv after earlier attacks by advanced forces were repelled in fierce battles.

Kyiv was bracing itself for a further onslaught after the Russians unleashed hell on Ukraine's second city Kharkiv using deadly cluster bombs.

In Kyiv, many were preparing for a fresh assault with makeshift barricades dotting the streets.

Residents in the city remained defiant in the face of the onslaught.

"We will greet them with Molotov cocktails and bullets to the head," said bank employee Viktor Rudnichenko.

"The only flowers they might get from us will be for their grave."

https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/02/NINTCHDBPICT000425693267.jpg?w=1440
Seagal received Russian citizenship in 2016 and has been a special envoy for the country since 2018Credit: Alamy
https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/02/NINTCHDBPICT000715444053.jpg?w=1440
In 2017, Seagal was banned entry to the Ukraine for five yearsCredit: Getty

Threads
Seagal-is-at-it-again (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
Joe-Rogan (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62063-Joe-Rogan)
Ukraine (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72272-Ukraine)

GeneChing

03-07-2022, 10:14 AM

Putin’s Hollywood pals – the stars who snuggled up to the Russian dictator (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/07/putin-hollywood-pals-leonardo-dicaprio-steven-seagal-depardieu-rourke-stars-snuggled-up-russian-dictator)
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a656bf1ea24d0078c1bc5e721669ac377fd7febf/0_0_2560_1536/master/2560.jpg?width=1020&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&
Golden photo ops … clockwise from top left, Steven Seagal, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gérard Depardieu and Mickey Rourke. Composite: Getty, Reuters, AFP
From Leonardo DiCaprio to Steven Seagal, Tinseltown’s biggest names were once happy to hang out with the invading president. Are they all now cringing? Not entirely
Phil Hoad
@phlode
Mon 7 Mar 2022 03.00 EST

It was one of those surreal moments when light entertainment mugs history. Vladimir Putin crooned the song Blueberry Hill at a children’s charity benefit in St Petersburg in 2010, as a crowd of celebrities – including Sharon Stone, Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Gérard Depardieu, Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci – clapped along like they were in kindergarten. When the politician reeled off the opening line – “I found my thrill” – thoughts of the Georgian invasion or the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko didn’t seem to be urgently popping into anyone’s head. Knowing what we know now, the spectacle plays more like Dr Evil’s rendition of Just the Two of Us – but far less funny. In 2022, after Putin’s ruthless assault on Ukraine, the guests present that day must feel very naive, perhaps even ashamed – but they are not the only western celebs who cosied up to Putin. In defence of this bunch, they had been booked to appear by Samuel Aroutiounian, a New Yorker who specialised in bringing Hollywood talent to Russia and later said that he had been unaware Putin would be appearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekeq4szDmJo

Now, as big names from Angelina Jolie to Sean Penn and Mark Ruffalo issue their support for besieged Ukraine, Hollywood must be cringing at the days when a public appearance with Putin wasn’t beyond the pale. In the mid-00s, he had merely nibbled at a few former Soviet provinces and seen off the odd dissident – events that didn’t trouble most Entertainment Weekly readers. Russia was an important emerging film market, and firmly on the celebrity junket circuit. So Jean-Claude Van Damme, in 2007, could happily buff the president’s macho credentials at a St Petersburg MMA event, while Leonardo DiCaprio purred at his fellow feline lover during a big-cat conservation summit in 2010.

His hegemony firmly established by then, Putin already had a domestic entertainment machine working hard in his favour. Channel One – descendant of the Soviet-era state TV station RTO – had produced Night Watch and Day Watch, two aspiring global blockbusters that put a manichaean gloss on the chaotic post-communist Russia that Putin had quelled in the early 21st century. “Dark means freedom and light means responsibility – and, in real life, Putin, for sure, is a light one,” said director Timur Bekmambetov at the time. “He is trying to fix everything, make everything organised. But it’s very bad for freedom.” Perhaps the succession of jingoistic military films the Russian cinema industry was also starting to churn out – which included 2005’s 9th Company, 2008’s Admiral and 2013’s Stalingrad – were a true bellwether of his actual allegiance.

But Putin – lambasted for his aggressions in Chechnya and Georgia, and with suspicions swirling around state agencies after the killings of Litvinenko and Anna Politkovskaya – was sorely in need of international legitimacy. Photo ops with big stars and the implied entry into the VIP area of global mass entertainment helped normalise his rogue state in the eyes of the world.

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0f079c8083c9fad255db736a62bb8597caf29abd/0_192_4984_2991/master/4984.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&
Picks his moments to challenge the leader … Oliver Stone during the making of The Putin Interviews. Photograph: Komandir/Courtesy of Showtime
Or so he assumed. By 2014, when Putin had annexed Crimea and by which time it was obvious he wasn’t going to surrender the leadership any time soon, Hollywood was starting to run shy. Talking to Time magazine, Blueberry Hill mastermind Aroutiounian said of the A-list: “They’re much more concerned about not killing their careers. [In the current political climate] they don’t know what will happen to them when they come back home. They will take a lot of heat.” With his inscrutable air, machiavellian geopolitical schemes and his critics’ habit of dying in outlandish assassinations, Putin was increasingly resembling a cartoonish arch-villain of the Blofeld ilk. His foreign military intelligence agency was even called GRU, like the Despicable Me baddie. But there remained a coterie of film-world refuseniks who were unbothered by his growing pariah status: not just Depardieu, but Mickey Rourke, Steven Seagal and director Oliver Stone. In fact, this set of leathery iconoclasts and libertarians seemed to actively embrace it.

Three of them fell into the useful-idiot camp. Depardieu took Russian citizenship, and its refreshing 13% flat tax rate, in 2013, after criticising the French government over its levying plans. On friendly terms with Putin, he called Russia “a great democracy” in an open letter. At a Latvian film festival in 2014, Depardieu was sufficiently high on great sentiments to declare Ukraine “part of Russia”. Cue tanks rolling across the border in 2022 and the sound of tarte à l’humble being scoffed: “I am against this fratricidal war,” he said. “I say, ‘Stop the weapons and negotiate.’”

Rourke, meanwhile, was unfazed by Putin’s Crimea incursion and judged him “a real gentleman” while buying a T-shirt with the leader’s face on it at a Moscow department store in 2014. “I met him a couple of times and he was a very cool regular guy, looked me right in the eye,” he told Sky News. It’s easy to assume this was some kind of edgelord publicity stunt from the one-time hellraiser, but he offered up his Russian girlfriend as the real reason: “It’s all about family. I don’t give a **** about the politics. That’s not my department.”

Seagal doesn’t even try to play that get-out-of-jail-free card. Granted Russian citizenship in 2016, he had already called Putin’s Crimea annexation “very reasonable” and lauded the president as “one of the world’s greatest living leaders”. With his old pal now trashing the rest of Ukraine, he’s only dialled down his support one notch: “I look at Russia and Ukraine as one family and really believe it is an outside entity spending huge sums of money on propaganda to provoke the two countries to be at odds with each other,” he told Fox News.

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4fed7d59e47c72dd197a99e8b6b9f70bc0e21983/0_121_2500_1820/master/2500.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&
Putin shakes hands with martial arts movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme as they watch a mixed fight event in St Petersburg in 2007. Photograph: Vladimir Rodionov/AFP/Getty Images
You can see why – in a kind of Botoxed 21st-century version of the Hollywood Ten – three over-the-hill blowhard actors might identify and want to shack up with the Russian president. Stone’s case is more complicated. He had already made documentaries about Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, so with his past proclivity for revolutionary figureheads, Putin was a logical next candidate. The director’s four-hour 2017 series, The Putin Interviews, undoubtedly indulges the leader but in doing so it draws him out in all his bland cynicism. It also picks its moments to challenge him: on Chechnya, on Russian “democracy”, on election interference.

It’s not hard to understand what Stone got out of discussing realpolitik with his country’s adversary. The bigger question is how Putin benefited from this arrangement. Could the series, in continually insisting on the equivalence between US and Russian expansionism, have been part of his broader disinformation strategy? To throw a tantalising bone to sympathetic liberal anti-imperialists to distract them from his real endeavour during the period: radicalising the US and Europe’s nativist right wing.

At least Stone’s dalliance with Putin gave us an opportunity to sit and watch the surface of the man – even if it didn’t quite get at what lay beyond. In one remarkable vignette, the director gets the autocrat to sit for his first viewing of Dr Strangelove. As the climactic mushroom-cloud montage plays out, Putin seems faintly amused by this depiction of mutually assured destruction: “Nothing has changed.” Maybe that’s what the Moscow celebrity train has helped obscure all along – for Putin, it has always really been about a colder, harsher reality.

Threads
Seagal-is-at-it-again (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37259-Seagal-is-at-it-again)
Van Damme!!! (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?44123-Van-Damme!!!)
Ukraine (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72272-Ukraine)

GeneChing

04-19-2022, 07:55 AM

Steven Seagal Called Worst SNL Host Ever (https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/steven-seagal-snl.html)
By DOUG NORRIE | 1 MONTH AGO
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Steven-Seagal-SNL-900x514.jpeg
Saturday Night Live is such an institution at this point, running for decades and becoming a firm part of the cultural zeitgeist that we often end up praising those who’ve come along and taken the stage for the show. It’s been a who’s who of series regulars, guest hosts, and musical numbers so much so that some of the most iconic sketches and characters ever first started on the show’s stage. We don’t often talk about who was the *worst* to ever appear on Saturday Night Live. Why should we? There’s almost too much great stuff. But hasn’t stopped many series writers and regulars from talking about who should never have been there in the first place. Recently, Bob Odenkirk discussed the show’s worst host and he was unequivocal in naming Steven Seagal as the worst to ever do it.

While appearing on The Howard Stern (via UpRoxx) show Odenkirk discussed his time as a writer on Saturday Night Live and, of course, the shock jock had to bring up the less positive times on the show. Odenkirk was asked who the worst ever SNL how was and he didn’t hesitate in naming Steven Seagal. For starters, Odenkirk reiterated the idea that Seagal seemed to have almost no idea they were doing a comedy show. The former said Seagal was much more concerned with his own personal appearance than actually getting to something that could be funny. For instance, in a Hanz and Franz sketch with the two Schwarzenegger-adjacent bodybuilders, Seagal was insistent on beating them up to keep up with his own gestalt.

And Odenkirk didn’t stop there with Steven Seagal, saying that the martial arts and action star (at the time) basically came in and said he really didn’t know anything about Saturday Night Live as a show. Even going as far as to say he didn’t know who any of the talent was at the time. Remember, this episode happened back in 1991 when the cast included Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, David Spade, Chris Farley, and others who were considered some of the premier comedic talent of a generation. Check out what Odenkirk had to say about Seagal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0RfZ7L45wA

For his part, Bob Odenkirk isn’t the first Saturday Night Live talent to name Steven Seagal as the worst host the show has ever had. A number of others have done rounds on this before with David Spade even including whole stories about Seagal’s appearance in the book Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. And Julia Sweeney backed up the claim saying Seagal pitched an absolutely insane, and not all funny, sketch about a psychiatrist wanting to have sex with a client. Plus, the aforementioned Carvey mentioned in the past about the Hanz and Franz sketch in which Seagal ultimately walked off despondent about his interaction with the comically obtuse “bodybuilders”. Apparently, Seagal lamented that he didn’t have the chance to kick the real Arnold’s “f#@#ing ass”.

These days, Steven Seagal is long past the days of getting invited to do Saturday Night Live hosting duties. He’s been embroiled in a number of different controversies over the years while also putting out direct-to-video movies in the meantime. Whatever happens though, at least he will live on in SNL lore even if it isn’t for the most positive of reasons.

I remember watching that episode.