Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1983, it is the largest international comedy festival in the world. It also serves as a television division.
Russell Wendell Simmons is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and writer. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' net worth was estimated at $340 million in 2011.
Mario Francesco Batali is an American chef, writer and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and New Haven, Connecticut. Batali has appeared on the Food Network, on shows such as Molto Mario and Iron Chef America, on which he was one of the featured "Iron Chefs". In 2017, the restaurant review site Eater revealed multiple accusations of sexual assault against Batali and, in March 2019, he sold all his restaurant holdings.
Stephen Alan Wynn is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construction and operation of several notable Las Vegas and Atlantic City hotels, including the Golden Nugget, the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, The Mirage, Treasure Island, the Bellagio, and Beau Rivage in Mississippi, and he played a pivotal role in the resurgence and expansion of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s. In 2000, Wynn sold his company, Mirage Resorts, to MGM Grand Inc., resulting in the formation of MGM Mirage. Wynn later took his company Wynn Resorts public in an initial public offering and was Wynn Resorts' CEO and Chairman of the Board until February 6, 2018, when he announced his resignation. He is a prominent donor to the Republican Party, and was the finance chair of the Republican National Committee from January 2017 to January 2018, when he resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations.
The Westheimer Street Festival was a community street fair held bi-annually in Houston, Texas, United States from approximately 1971 to 2004. The festival underwent name and management changes afterwards. By 2009 the street festival was absorbed into what is currently now known as the Free Press Summer Fest.
James Lawrence Levine was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was formally terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 12, 2018, over sexual misconduct allegations, which he denied.
Montrose is a neighborhood located in west-central Houston, Texas, United States. Montrose is a 7.5-square-mile (19 km2) area roughly bounded by Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 to the south, Allen Parkway to the north, South Shepherd Drive to the west, and Taft to Fairview to Bagby to Highway 59 to Main to the east. The area is also referred to as Neartown or Neartown / Montrose.
Lorin Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar, is an American DJ and record producer.
John Besh is an American chef, TV personality, philanthropist, restaurateur and author. He is known for his efforts in preserving the culinary heritage of New Orleans cuisine.
Marcelo Mourão Gomes is a Brazilian ballet dancer who performed for two decades with the American Ballet Theatre.
The Stanford Financial Group was a privately held international group of financial services companies controlled by Allen Stanford, until it was seized by United States (U.S.) authorities in early 2009. Headquartered in the Galleria Tower II in Uptown Houston, Texas, it had 50 offices in several countries, mainly in the Americas, included the Stanford International Bank, and said it managed US$8.5 billion of assets for more than 30,000 clients in 136 countries on six continents. On February 17, 2009, U.S. Federal agents placed the company into receivership due to charges of fraud. Ten days later, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amended its complaint to accuse Stanford of turning the company into a "massive Ponzi scheme".
Eric Carl Bauman is an American political operative who was most recently the Chair of the California Democratic Party. Previously the vice chair of the state party (2009–2017) and Chair of the Los Angeles Democratic Party (2000–2017), he is known for his influence in Los Angeles County Democratic politics. He announced his resignation as head of the California Democratic Party on November 29, 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations.
Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, including non-consensual kissing or groping, by at least 25 women since the 1970s. The accusations have resulted in three instances of litigation: his then-wife Ivana made a rape claim during their 1989 divorce litigation but later recanted that claim; businesswoman Jill Harth sued Trump in 1997 alleging breach of contract while also suing for sexual harassment but agreed to forfeit her sexual harassment claim as part of a settlement she received relating to the former suit; and, in 2017, former The Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos filed a defamation lawsuit after Trump accused her of lying about her sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Day for Night was an art and music festival in Houston, Texas that "explores the deep connections between light, technology, sound and space". Producer Omar Afra co-conceived the idea of a festival experience that would reintroduce visual art back into the musical experience on a large scale when Kiffer Keegan pitched the idea of including new media installations during preparations for Free Press Summer Festival 2014.
Lower Westheimer is an area in Houston, Texas, United States. It is centered on Westheimer Road, and is considered to be East of Shepherd, and West of Midtown. Several historic neighborhoods are partially or completely located within the area including Montrose and Hyde Park. Lower Wertheimer is known for its hipster culture, nightlife, arts, and food scene.
The Me Toomovement, with variations of related local or international names, is a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment where people publicize allegations of sex crimes. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. Harvard University published a case study on Burke, called "Leading with Empathy: Tarana Burke and the Making of the Me Too Movement".
The Weinstein effect is a global trend in which allegations of sexual misconduct by famous or powerful men are disclosed. The first of a worldwide wave of allegations were made in the United States in October 2017, when media outlets reported on the sexual abuse allegations made against film producer Harvey Weinstein. The allegations were described as a "tipping point" or "watershed moment" and precipitated a "national reckoning" against sexual harassment.
The 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals include multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, and subsequent firings and resignations of American politicians in 2017 and 2018. Some of these allegations are linked to the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations starting in October 2017.
The Me Too movement in Pakistan is modeled after the international Me Too movement and began in late 2018 in Pakistani society. It has been used as a springboard to stimulate a more inclusive, organic movement, adapted to local settings, and has aimed to reach all sectors, including the lowest rungs of society.
