Minggu, 30 Juni 2013

Michael Jackson accuser asks FBI to release damning files revealing 'hush money' payments

Michael Jackson accuser asks FBI to release damning files revealing 'hush money' payments

A former child dancer accusing Michael Jackson of years of abuse will ask the FBI to release damning files on The King of Pop.

Wade Robson’s lawyers hope the material, which claims Jackson paid £23million to hush up “abuse victims”, will help win their case.

Choreographer Wade, now 30, is suing Jackson’s estate claiming the star molested him time and time again when he was a child.

This is despite the fact he denied being abused by Jackson at the 2005 trial when the star was cleared of abusing another child.

Yesterday the Sunday People revealed the files show Jackson paid huge sums of hush money over 15 years.

US crime-busters seized the material â€" including tapes, phone transcripts and names of 17 alleged victims â€" from an investigator who worked for the star.

His documents were not passed to prosecutors in Jackson’s 2005 trial.

Wade Robson
Accuser: His ex-dancer Wade Robson

 

Last night a friend of Wade said: “He was shocked by the news of this report emerging yesterday.

“Wade has already asked his lawyers to contact the FBI to see if they could access the information.

"He feels his case could be bolstered if he could get another child or even more to come out and support what he went through at the hands of Jackson.

“It has been over 20 years, but right now his prime concern is to build a case to show the world he is in the right.”

The source continued: "Wade has been rocked by the reaction to his claims.

"He knows if he stands shoulder to shoulder with another accuser he might be viewed sympathetically."

The FBI files challenge Jackson’s insistence he never laid a finger on any of the kids invited to his Neverland Ranch in California for unsupervised sleep-overs.

They describe how the singer was caught groping a child star, molesting others.

A source said: “Spending a year’s royalties to keep him on his throne was worth it. The world never heard what took place.”

Jackson died in 2009 after a medical drug overdose.

The files were revealed as Jackson’s family attended the Las Vegas premiere of Michael ONE, a lavish stage show.

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'He'd pick and take kid he wanted'

Audio tapes from Michael Jackson’s secret FBI file offer a sickening insight into his depravity.

They reveal how children would be invited to his estate and how Jackson, who used the codename Blue Fox, would take them way and abuse them with their parents often just feet away.

The tapes are of interviews former employees Philip and Stella LeMarque gave to investigator Anthony Pellican. These are part of the transcripts...

Stella: Boy A came to see Michael. The parents were in the room smoking pot with a five-month-old baby. At the time he was crazy about Boy A and his little brother.

Philip: Michael likes them young. Boy A was getting too old. The first time Michael saw Boy A in the movie, XXXX XXXX, he told Boy A he wanted to meet him.

Investigator: Wait a minute. She (an ex-member o f Jackson’s staff) makes deals with the parents?

Philip: She makes the deals with the parents to bring everybody... the parents with the kids to the ranch. If there are five Michael takes the one he wants.

Investigator: You’re saying (the Jackson staffer) brings a selection of kids for Michael to choose from? Like a pimp?

Philip: Yes.

In another excerpt Philip tells how he found Jackson with his hands in the pants of another child after being woken up at 2am to make the star French fries.

And Stella says she saw Jackson kiss a boy in his cinema “like lovers” with his mother sitting just two or three rows in front.

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How to watch Glastonbury on TV and online if you won't be taking your wellies to Somerset

How to watch Glastonbury on TV and online if you won't be taking your wellies to Somerset

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For those of us that prefer to maintain our daytime cider-consumption levels at home and not temporarily lose olfactory functionality with every trip to the toilet by inhaling the sweet aroma of ammonia, there's still the opportunity to get involved with Glastonbury with our eyes.

Glastonbury 2013 is set to feature more coverage from the BBC than ever before, with more than 120 live performances and 250 hours of broadcasting across TV, radio, online and red button.

And for the first time, the BBC will be live-streaming the six key music stages - Pyramid, Other, John Peel, West Holt, Park and BBC Introducing - on four screens (PC, mobile, tablet and connected TV) .

Additional red button streams will offer more content and highli ghts from the festival for TV, and the BBC’s Connected Red Button service available on Virgin Media’s TiVo service will bring viewers all the live streams and on-demand video seamlessly on their TV.

On BBC iPlayer, all the action from BBC One, Two, Three and Four will be available live or as catch-up for 7 days after broadcast.

An additional roaming camera will follow BBC Radio DJs throughout the festival.

And as well as bookmarking our Glastonbury coverage page, it should be worth checking out bbc.co.uk/glastonbury, too.

Sure, it's a little less communal, but it won't be an isolated experience in every sense - the BBC expect more than 20 million people will tune into the festival at some point over the extended weekend.

So settle in and put all thoughts of digging out your wellies still encrusted with beastly mud and oomska from last year's festivalling aside. Unless you have major drain problems and recreate that 'drowning in mud' authentic feeling in your living room, you shouldn't need them.

There's also iPlayer Radio...Download the iPlayer Radio app for your mobile from the BBC and viewers will be able to watch all the live video streams and on-demand video. It will work on both iOS and Android devices.

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What to watch and when

Friday 28th June

BBC One: Live at Glastonbury with The One Show at 7pm.

BBC Two: 10-10.30pm and 11pm-2am. Interviews and highlights will include Arctic Monkeys’ headline set on the Pyramid Stage. Presented by Mark Radcliffe, Lauren Laverne and Jo Whiley.

BBC Three: 7-11pm. Interviews and highlights featuring Dizzee Rascal, Foals, Professor Green, Jake Bugg and Bastille. Presented by Greg James, Jen Long and Gemma Cairney.

BBC Four: Adding context to the festival with artists on the West Holts Stage. Seasick Steve at 9.15-10.15pm and the stage headliners Chic feat. Nile Rodgers at 11.15pm-12.30am. Presented by Craig Charles and Mark Radcliffe.

And on the Red Button… on air from 21:00 to 02:00. Various performances from the Pyramid, Other, John Peel, West Holts and Park Stages.

Saturday 29th June

BBC Two: 4-6pm and 10pm-2am. Inclu des performances from artists such as Elvis Costello, Primal Scream, Haim, The Strypes and an hour of headliners The Rolling Stones on Pyramid Stage. Presented by Mark Radcliffe, Lauren Laverne and Jo Whiley.

BBC Three: 7pm-12am. Interviews and highlights featuring Ben Howard, Example, Two Door Cinema Club, Laura Mvula and Chase Status headlining The Other Stage. Presented by Greg James, Jen Long and Gemma Cairney.

BBC Four: Adding context to the festival with artists on the West Holts Stage. Public Enemy at 11pm-12.30am. Presented by Craig Charles.

And on the Red Button… on air from 21:00 to 02:00. Various performances from the Pyramid, Other, John Peel, West Holts and Park Stages.

Sunday 30th June

BBC One: Glastonbury edition of Songs of Praise at 5pm including an interview with Michael Eavis himself.

BBC Two: 5-7pm and 10pm-2am. Interviews and highlights featuring Nick Cave The Bad Seeds, Kenny Rogers, Lianne La Havas and headline rs Mumford Sons. Presented by Mark Radcliffe, Lauren Laverne and Jo Whiley.

BBC Three: 8pm-12am. Interviews and highlights featuring Vampire Weekend, Editors, Phoenix and The xx headlining The Other Stage. Presented by Greg James, Jen Long and Gemma Cairney.

BBC Four = Adding context to the festival with artists on the West Holts Stage. Bobby Womack at 11pm-12.30am. Presented by Craig Charles.

And on the Red Button… on air from 16:30 to 02:00. Various performances from the Pyramid, Other, John Peel, West Holts and Park Stages.

 

Sabtu, 29 Juni 2013

Is Lady Gaga's nose looking thinner?

Is Lady Gaga's nose looking thinner?

These pictures of Lady Gaga â€" who had a hit with Born This Way â€" suggest she might no longer like the way SHE was born.

The wacky star made her first appearance since hip surgery at the TriBeCa Pride Rally in New York on Friday.

And our “before and now” pictures reveal that ­surgeons might have had a go at her nose, too.

The bridge of her conk suddenly looks thinner.

The Poker Face singer, 27, has rarely been seen in public since she went under the knife in February for severe joint inflammation. But celebrity blog sites are rife with speculation she has also had cosmetic work.

Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, has always poured scorn on stars who have cosmetic surgery.

She once said: “I have never had plastic surgery. I am an artist and I have free will to choose the way the world will envision me.” Still, who nose…

Drinking, dressing gowns, and Deirdre's nicotine eye-patch: What we learnt from Corrie this week

Drinking, dressing gowns, and Deirdre's nicotine eye-patch: What we learnt from Corrie this week

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WARNING: Contains spoilers

So that’s that then. Tina has given back baby Jake and Izzy and Gary are now his parents, but don’t worry, because they’re being subtle about their joy.

“We’re just having a night in before Jake comes home!” shouted Gary at a grimacing Tina across the bar, offering her a drink as though she’s going to say yes to a gin and then propose a toast.

“To the baby that was mine until yesterday but who is now yours. Cheers! Now let’s party!”

Every time Tina turns around they’re there, telling her that they can never repay her for what she’s done (relocating your celebratory boozing to the Weathy Arms might be a start) and how grateful they are and offering her yet another drink.

Somehow I suspect that when Tina finally says yes to that drink - possibly at the 80th offering, which can’t be far off -  it might be a b ucket of beer, which she might pour all over Gary’s head, with a large chaser of vodka, which she will neck very, very fast .

On to this week’s Corrie lessons...

The Red Rec at night is quite romantic really

“Ee, you don’t ‘alf see some sights on the Red Reck,” says Deirdre.

Oh I bet she does, and I tell you what, if Deirdre had met any other sleepwalkers apart from Roy while she was out walking Eccles, things could have ended very differently. And that dressing gown tie might not have been on so tightly, if you know what I’m saying. Which let’s face it, you probably do, because it’s not like I’m talking in code here.

For a minute I thought it was Round Two

I saw Deirdre coming out of the house in the dark (bit late for a walk, that, Deirdre), and Dev hanging about on the street, and what with Sunita and Ken g one I thought... Oh god, it’s taken years to erase that memory, and now it’s back.

I’m so sorry.

Mandy is back, but there is some good news

Writers appear to not be letting her speak. Works for me!

David is Lewis Archer’s love-child

Now long-term readers of the column know that being from the North-West I have a big issue with the fact Martin Platt can’t jump in the car from Liverpool to see his son David in Weatherfield.

It’s really not far! You could have a stop off in St Helens! Unless... unless it’s because... no, it can’t be... But all the signs point... Ok, fine, I’m putting it out there: did Gail secretly meet Lewis Archer years ago and is he David’s real dad?

All this plotting, and sowing seeds in people’s minds, and turning people against each other... it’s just classic Lewis Archer. And Martin Platt couldn’t empty a pint in the time it took Lewis to empty Gail’s bank account.

D ad David might be Martin’s child, but Bad David? Oh he’s surely Lewis’s.

Nicotine patches work differently for different people

For Deirdre, that’s only if she puts them over her eyes to stop her finding her cigarettes. Look, if it works, it works, get her on the adverts.

Also of note from Deirdre this week: her completely ignoring Roy’s post-sleepwalk request for water, as though she only hears ‘brandy’ and ‘Merlot’ and the word ‘water’ just doesn’t compute for her.

Roy got his own water.

Leanne’s Battersby gene is still there

Sometimes I feel sad that we don’t get more fightiness from Leanne, and that she has become a bit of a blah character. I want Becky/ Kylie level feral, I want that stroppy face that her and Toyah pulled in the press shots when they first arrived on the street.

For now though I will make do with this cracker of a line aimed at Gail, who thinks her daughter-in-law is getting it on with Peter Barlow. “Just because the stereotype of a mother-in-law is of an interfering old bag, it doesn’t mean you have to live up to it.”

Somewhere, Les is supping a pint and going “That’s my girl, that is my girl .”

Norris isn’t actually very nice, is he?

I always think of him as well-intentioned, but d’you know what, I’m not so sure any more.

I’m not even talking about passing the Film Noir box set off as his own (the storyline was as juicy as it sounds, for those who missed it) or getting anxious over Dennis being left in charge of the aniseed balls (again...).

Or the way he’s blatantly more bothered about someone nicking his house off him than he is about Emily’s ankle (another one so gripping, the writers of Broadchurch could have learnt a thing or two).

But it was the way he muttered “You would say that” to Hayley when she told him to live and let live. Now you can mutter at Mary, and you ca n slag off Dennis, but do not attack my Hayley.

I feel as defensive as snarling, hissing Anna when Tracy laughed at Roy. “He’s MY friend,” she said, shooting one of those looks that she was flashing at Tina last week, and even Tracy Barlow looked a little bit scared.

When TV worlds collide, I find it hard to compute

“I’m all for a will they-won’t they but this is worse than Ross and Rachel,” said Tina to Izzy, and my brain combusted, because Friends is on the other channel just after Corrie finishes â€" I know, because I’m getting the remote ready â€" and Tina, in Corrie, is talking about it, as though she were a real person who watched telly, like I am.

Did that make sense? No? Well NOTHING DOES any more, since people in Corrie watched Friends, so there you go.

Click here to check out Caroline's previous, ace columns ab out Corrie

Mariah Carey releases two new 'Beautiful' remixes with Miguel and A$AP Rocky

Mariah Carey releases two new 'Beautiful' remixes with Miguel and A$AP Rocky

She recently announced that her new album The Art of Letting Go is being delayed, so to tie you over with your Mariah Carey cravings here are two new remixes of her first single from the new album, called (modestly as ever) Beautiful.

Or #Beautiful, which is its official title.

The album, which was meant to be dropping in July, is postponed indefinitely.

The American Idol judge tweeted:

"While making this album, I got so immersed in the creative process that I just don't feel I would be doing it justice to release it on 7/23."

"I'd rather not exclude meaningful songs. I want to give you this album as it's meant to be heard. When I'm ready, you'll be the first 2 know!"

OK, as long as we're the very first to know Mariah.

Miguel, who duets with Mariah on '#Beautiful' had this to say about the Twitter friendly title.

"The hashtag in the title of this s ong is particularly fitting because the word that comes before 'beautiful' when I sing the chorus is an expletive that I can't say on air," he said, referring to the F-word he sings on song's hook.

"But the hashtag is particularly fitting for that expletive, if you just kind of pay a little bit of attention."

Um, right.

Mariah Carey and Miguel perform during HOT 97 Summer Jam XX
Mariah and Miguel: get a room guys

            

The first remix features rapper A$AP Rocky doing a cool little rap at the beginning before Miguel says how 'effing beautiful' Mariah's mind is.

The second is a Spanish or should that be Spanglish version of the song called 'Hermosa' which is Spanish for Beautiful.

Either it's Spanglish or mid-way through we become bilingual because we can totally understand parts it.

Props to Mariah for singing 'en Espanol'.

And for wearing these teeny tiny shorts even though she's 43-years-old.

We're a bit obsessed with 'Beautiful' it's just so summery.

A bit like Beyonce's new track Standing On The Sun which leaked today, listen to it here.

WARNING: these songs contain explicit language!

 

Simon Cowell set to agree new X Factor deal with ITV

Simon Cowell set to agree new X Factor deal with ITV

Simon Cowell is on the verge of agreeing a new X Factor deal with ITV.

The next series was rumoured to be the last ever, but channel boss Adam Crozier said: “It is going to be around for quite some time.

“It remains a very important programme for ITV.”

But he admitted: “We’ve got to make sure we improve it and get it right.

“Funnily enough, we did the same with I’m A ­Celebrity, which dipped a little bit two years ago, and it has been back stronger than ever.

"It is perfectly possible to do it. All these shows need a bit of love and attention and for things to change to keep people interested.”

Mr Crozier also hinted that ITV will create a new channel soon â€" and may even charge viewers.

He said: “I think there are other potential ­channels we could do, both free and pay-for.”

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