NYU Hires Law Firm to Investigate Behavior of {Michael H} Steinhardt, a Prominent Donor

NYU Hires Law Firm to Investigate Behavior of {Michael H} Steinhardt, a Prominent Donor

NYU said on Monday that it had hired a prominent law firm to investigate whether the namesake of its school of education, Michael H. Steinhardt, had engaged in inappropriate conduct with students, faculty or staff.

The review will be headed by Joan McPhee, a lawyer who last year helped lead an investigation of Lawrence G. Nassar, a USA Gymnastics team doctor who last year was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young women. McPhee was hired by NYU as part of its response to a New York Times-ProPublica article that alleged a pattern of crude and demeaning sexual comments by Steinhardt toward women over decades.

Steinhardt, a hedge fund pioneer and philanthropist, denied many of the specifics of the allegations, saying that his behavior was always meant in jest, and never involved physical contact.

Michael Steinhardt, a Leader in Jewish Philanthropy, Is Accused of a Pattern of Sexual Harassment

MICHAEL STEINHARDT SHOWING ANTI-ISRAEL, ANTI-BIRTHRIGHT PROTESTERS WHAT HE REALLY THINKS. SOURCE: TWITTER PHOTO CAPTURE. VIA JNS

Michael Steinhardt, a Leader in Jewish Philanthropy, Is Accused of a Pattern of Sexual Harassment

By Hannah Dreyfus for ProPublica and Sharon Otterman, The New York Times

Sheila Katz was a young executive at Hillel International, the Jewish college outreach organization, when she was sent to visit the philanthropist Michael H. Steinhardt, a New York billionaire. He had once been a major donor, and her goal was to persuade him to increase his support. But in their first encounter, he asked her repeatedly if she wanted to have sex with him, she said.

Deborah Mohile Goldberg worked for Birthright Israel, a nonprofit co-founded by Steinhardt, when he asked her if she and a female colleague would like to join him in a threesome, she said.

Natalie Goldfein, an officer at a small nonprofit that Steinhardt had helped establish, said he suggested in a meeting that they have babies together.

Steinhardt, 78, a retired hedge fund founder, is among an elite cadre of donors who bankroll some of the country’s most prestigious Jewish nonprofits. His foundations have given at least $127 million to charitable causes since 2003, public filings show.

But for more than two decades, that generosity has come at a price. Six women said in interviews with The New York Times and ProPublica, and one said in a lawsuit, that Steinhardt asked them to have sex with him, or made sexual requests of them, while they were relying on or seeking his support. He also regularly made comments to women about their bodies and their fertility, according to the seven women and 16 other people who said they were present when Steinhardt made such comments.

November 1 Google Global Walkout Demands End To Sexual Harassment and Systemic Racism In 'Destructive' Corporate Culture

November 1 Google Global Walkout Demands End To Sexual Harassment and Systemic Racism In 'Destructive' Corporate Culture

At 11:10 am, Thursday morning November 1, thousands of Google employes worldwide stood up and walked out of their offices as participants in the Google Walkout. The global demonstration was triggered over their employer’s mishandling of sexual-misconduct allegations that surrounded Android creator Andy Rubin.

The Rubin case is not new. On October 25, the New York Times publishing a damning exposé that revealed Google had paid a shocking $90 million to Android creator Andy Rubin, who resigned in 2014 following a sexual-misconduct investigation. Per the report, Rubin “coerced [a female co-worker] into performing oral sex in a hotel room” in 2013 — allegations she reported a year later, which Google investigated and found credible.

Beyond the $90 million payout, Google’s then chief executive Larry Page celebrated Rubin’s career, without making public the reason for his departure. Page demanded Rubin’s resignation, after details of the situation between two Google execs was revealed. Rubin’s case is one of three high-profile Google executives accused of sexual misconduct charges.

Boston Globe Denies Ever Accusing Karl Templer Of Sexual Coercion Of Models

Boston Globe Denies Ever Accusing Karl Templer Of Sexual Coercion Of Models

In February 2018, the Boston Globe published a 5,100-word investigation into alleged mistreatment of, and sexual misconduct against fashion models. Stylist Karl Templer was mentioned in the Globe investigation when three models explained that as a stylist, Templer yanked at the underwear and shorts of one, touched another’s crotch and a third model’s breast.

The paper reported that models felt this behavior “crossed the line of professionalism”, seeming to question if this behavior was truly necessary to get the job done on an assignment. One of the models interviewed recalled the instance of her underwear and shorts being pulled off as “trying to get me naked,” although she’d told her agent she did not want to be nude below the waist.

“A stylist’s movement of clothes multiple times — over three decades and possibly tens of thousands of interactions — is not the same as sexual predation or sexual harassment or touching with the intent of self-gratification,” Templer said in an open letter to WWD published the next day.

He added that it was “impossible” for him to defend himself, as the prominent stylist been given no specific information to which he could respond.

On Oct. 2, the Boston Globe responded to Templer’s lawyer, asserting that it never reported that the stylist was accused by any model of “coercing or trying to coerce models to engage in sex or sexual activities” with him.

#MeToo Leader Asia Argento Paid Her Own 17 Year-Old Accuser $380,000 For His Silence

#MeToo Leader Asia Argento Paid Her Own 17 Year-Old Accuser $380.000 For His Silence

I slept in this am, being just drained from work. I read yesterday about CNN making a documentary about the extraordinary human Anthony Bourdain, who committed suicide a few months ago. I miss him so much.

And now I wake up this morning to read that Bourdain's girlfriend Asia Argento, one of Harvey Weinstein's chief accusers of rape in 1997 and a leading figure in the #MeToo movement, quietly arranged to pay $380,000 for her own alleged assault against Jimmy Bennett when he was 17 and she 37.

Eye: Karl Lagerfeld Is "Fed Up" With #MeToo | Interview Magazine Scrambles | Georgina Chapman Is Ready For Marchessa Comeback

Eye: Karl Lagerfeld Is "Fed Up" With #MeToo | Interview Magazine Scrambles | Georgina Chapman Is Ready For Marchessa Comeback

Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld has an opinion on absolutely every topic, and now he's told Numero magazine that he is "fed up" with the #MeToo movement. Lagerfeld takes issue with moves in the fashion industry to embrace new regulations in the interest of protecting young models. 

Lagerfeld was interviewed by Numero on International Women's Day -- perhaps not the best idea. 

[Numero] Anyway, moving on, today is International Women’s Day…

{KL] For me Women’s Day is every day of the year. Men’s fashion does little for me. I buy it of course, and I’m delighted that Hedi [Slimane] is going to Céline but drawing a men’s collection and having to put up with all those stupid models, no thanks. Not to mention the fact with all their accusations of harassment they have become quite toxic. No, no, no, don’t leave me alone with one of those sordid creatures.

Sara Sampaio Talks Her Nipple Showdown With Lui & Why Victoria's Secret Is A Feminist Brand

Sara Sampaio Talks Her Nipple Showdown With Lui & Why Victoria's Secret Is A Feminist Brand

Top model and Victoria's Secret Angel Sara Sampaio is fired up and ready to roll, interviewed for the March 23, 2018 issue of Porter Edit. Sampaio is well on the way to establishing herself as an activist voice for a new generation of models. 

“Models are expected to show up on set, just be pretty, do our job and not say a word,” the Portugese beauty explains. “When we do open our mouths, we’re branded as difficult, opinionated, troublemakers; we are told that we don’t know what we are talking about.” Pointing out that women out earn men in modeling, Sara insists that "we are still not respected. We are still exploited. And it’s such a disposable industry that girls feel like they can’t say anything, because there will be some other girl out there who will just do it.”

Sampaio regularly leverages her more than 10 million followers on social media to use her voice and “hold people accountable”. In 2017, the firebrand used Instagram to call out French magazine Lui after it published revealing pictures of her. AOC wrote about this situation, and we were honestly confused. Sampaio uses her Porter Edit interview to clarify her view of what happened.

UPDATE Mar 6. DEAL IS DEAD. Maria Contreras-Sweet, Obama SBA Head, Announces Investor Purchase Of The Weinstein Company

Maria Contreras-Sweet, Obama SBA Head, Announces Investor Purchase Of The Weinstein Company

Updated Tues. evening Mar. 6: Never Mind: $500 Million Deal to Save the Weinstein Company Is Kaput Vanity Fair

Maria Contreras-Sweet announced Thursday afternoon that an investor group lead by herself and billionaire Ron Burkle reached a deal to buy The Weinstein Company. The complex and infuriating negotiations to reach a deal that kept TWC from not having to declare bankruptcy even included New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who ended up acting as a necessary mediator, given the complexity of TWC's legal problems. 

In a statement Schneiderman said:  "As part of these negotiations, we are pleased to have received express commitments from the parties that the new company will create a real, well-funded victims' compensation fund, implement HR policies that will protect all employees, and will not unjustly reward bad actors. We will work with the parties in the weeks ahead to ensure that the parties honor and memorialize these commitments prior to closing."

Contreras-Sweet, who served as 24th Administrator of the Small Business Administration in the Obama Administration, and Burkle organized the group of investors who are putting up $500 million to buy the once-powerful indie film and television production company founded by Weinstein and his brother, Bob in 2005. 

David Bellemere Reminds Me Why I'm An American Woman Charmed But Not Seduced By French Men

David Bellemere Reminds Me Why I'm An American Woman Charmed But Not Seduced By French Men

I am so disgusted with photographer David Bellemere tonight, that I regret having written such positive words about his sensual images over the years.  AOC is probably one of the most beautiful repositories of his work on the Internet.

Even though I come out of the Victoria's Secret organization, this ardent feminist was circumspect in writing about the recent Lui magazine controversy between VS Angel Sara Sampaio and Bellemere. Sampaio might even accuse me of siding with Bellemere, in spite of my expressed neutrality, and I would understand her accusation. 

The #MeToo movement had broken in America by the end of October when Sara Sampaio took issue with her photographic experience with David Bellemere, and I listed a few #MeToos of my own that are quite serious as sexual assault experiences go. The memories have never doused my appreciation for men, although I no longer tolerate nonsense -- only because life is too short, and I am a lovely woman in every aspect. 

At this moment I am so angry with David Bellemere, I will have to sleep on my response to his comments to WWD about the explosive Boston Globe story on sexual harassment and aggression among fashion photographers. Bellemere is named in a detailed, front page story that has already impacted his career. I note, though, that VS ended their relationship with Bellemere over complaints about his behavior from the models and Angels, many of whom also consider themselves to be feminists. It's not a word we throw around, but we will all use it especially in this #MeToo moment. 

I am using the word 'feminist' because Bellemere has used it. He has dropped the gauntlet, and so will I. There will be no neutrality now on my attitude about David Bellemere. His comments brought back a night in my life and an essay I wrote several years ago about my limited experiences with French men -- which have never been favorable in a romantic sense. 

These are Bellemere's comments, published in WWD, that have really pissed me off. I will continue this dialogue after some reflections. 

“There is due process. We have something called justice here. We have been walking on it since the [beginning] of the story of humanity. We are not savages in the Middle Ages. If you have any proof, you bring the proof,” Bellemere said. “Today if a feminist says, ‘He’s guilty,’ everybody is going to believe he’s guilty.”

At 45, the twice-divorced photographer pointed to his middle-age status and said he doesn’t own anything. “They are destroying people. They are destroying lives. My [15-year-old] daughter is crying. It’s too much. I’m going to lose everything. I’m not like Patrick Demarchelier or all of those (older) guys who have a career that is finished."

Bellemere makes the suggestion that the photographer not be alone with the model -- which I think is a good idea. At the end of the shoot, he proposes that everyone sign a report that everyone was well-behaved. The objective would be to “prove that all as been done under respect or without misbehavior,” Bellemere said (to WWD). “This is to avoid lies and problems. We have to sit around the table and write it down together. I want this war to end between feminists and the industry. We are wasting too much talent.”

In all my time in the fashion industry, in all the sad experiences I've had with men -- ones Bellemere probably agrees with, like the experience I narrate below -- I have never been so goddess-damned resentful of a statement. I have championed male photographers for a decade, including David Bellemere, although working with female photographers is so much easier. But for him to condemn feminism and the #MeToo movement -- which suggests he has no problem with the Harvey Weinsteins of the world -- that is a reflection of the masculine arrogance and self-importance that has launched what is a seismic #MeToo movement. 

In reality, these utterly stupid and self-destructive comments by Bellemere about feminism and our failure to understand and nourish creative talent suggests that he has a Pablo Picasso complex. Well, I'm not having it one minute longer from David Bellemere and I regret the mountains of praise that I've heaped on him for a decade. ~ Anne

Previously:  'An American Woman Charmed But Not Seduced By French Men

I’m not one of those American women who throws herself on the sidewalks of Paris, saying “please, please like me, mighty Parisians.”  But it is true that France has always inspired me in what I wish America could be more of — a country with a passion for living well in mind, body and with beauty.  As a key executive with Victoria’s Secret for 10 years, lastly as the head of product development and then fashion director, I’ve long embraced France’s approach to living in touch with one’s senses.

Boston Globe Writes Fashion Industry Sexual Expose On Patrick Demarchelier, Greg Kadel, David Bellemere, Karl Templer & More Model Aggression

Boston Globe Writes Fashion Industry Sexual Expose On Patrick Demarchelier, Greg Kadel, David Bellemere, Karl Templer & More Model Aggression

In what is becoming a fashion industry #MeToo moment, The Boston Globe released their investigation of sexual assault and misconduct accusations against at least 25 photographers, agents, stylists, and casting directors including Patrick Demarchelier, David Bellemere, Greg Kadel, Seth Sabal, Karl Templer and more. 

Models offering testimony include Abbey Lee, RJ King, Myla Dalbesio, Chloe Hayward and more prominent names in the industry. 

One of the industry's most prominent voices Coco Rocha told the Globe's Spotlight team that when she refused to get naked on the set at age 16, the photographer replaced her with a girl younger and more obedient. Months later, another famous photographer simulated an orgasm as he took her picture.

On her first test shoot at age 15, Dasha Alexander said the photographer held the camera in one hand and digitally penetrated her with his other. The move would make the pictures more "raw" and "sensual". I find this move laughable because a woman's sensuality is much more innate. If anything, the photographer would inspire raw fear -- unless the model was in full agreement with the gesture. If the photographer didn't ask her in advance about this digital penetration, he is guilty of sexual assault. 

Salma Hayek Honors Jill Messick, Dead By Suicide In Rose McGowan-Harvey Weinstein Battle

Salma Hayek Honors Jill Messick, Dead By Suicide In Rose McGowan-Harvey Weinstein Battle

Actor Salma Hayek honored her friend, the late producer and studio executive Jill Messick, who died by suicide on Wednesday at age 50.  Messick's name has been in the news recently, because she represented McGowan in 1997, the time period during which McGowan was allegedly raped by Harvey Weinstein. 

According to her family in a statement published in The Hollywood Reporter, Messick has endured a longtime battle with depression and bipolar disorder and a particularly bad manic episode five years ago. Her personal trauma was recently triggered again by gossip and inferences about her role -- if any -- in McGowan's alleged rape by Harvey Weinstein. Messick was the executive producer of 'Frida', working closely with Hayek, who has written her own story about how an angry Weinstein tried to destroy the movie. 

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Jill Messick,” Hayek said of Messick, who was an executive producer on Hayek’s 2002 Miramax film, “Frida.” “She always navigated the frustrating and hostile environment of Miramax with grace and elegance. She became my ally and my friend. In the many years we worked together I witnessed her professionalism while being pregnant, a mother and through incredible pressure. She was a girl’s girl and a romantic when it came to fighting for the underdog. I will forever be grateful for her support and kindness.”

Eye | Kate Upton Details Specific Allegations Against Guess Co-Founder Paul Marciano

Eye | Kate Upton Details Specific Allegations Against Guess Co-Founder Paul Marciano

On Jan. 31, top model and talent Kate Upton wrote a Tweet that sent the value of GUESS stock into a nosedive. Upton wrote:  “It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand @Guess is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director #metoo.” At the time, Kate said  nothing further about the details of her allegations against Marciano. 

Kate Upton has now detailed her allegations against Marciano, while addressing the larger issues around body shaming and harassment in the fashion industry, in an interview with TIME magazine. Photographer Yu Tsai has corroborated details of Upton's allegations, as a witness of her interaction with Marciano. 

TIME: What happened with Paul Marciano?

Kate Upton: "After the first day of shooting the Guess Lingerie campaign [on July 25, 2010], Paul Marciano said he wanted to meet with me. As soon as I walked in with photographer Yu Tsai, Paul came straight up to me, forcibly grabbed my breasts and started feeling them — playing with them actually. After I pushed him away, he said, “I’m making sure they’re real.”

Covering PORTER Magazine Spring 2018, Natalie Portman Talks Hollywood Horror Stories, Raps on SNL

Covering PORTER Magazine Spring 2018, Natalie Portman Talks Hollywood Horror Stories, Raps on SNL

Academy award winner Natalie Portman covers the Spring 2018 edition of PORTER magazine. Veronique Didry styles Portman with images by Cass Bird. Celebrating the 25th issue of Porter Magazine, Natalie talks equality, abuse in Hollywood, politics and more. 

Portman ditched her good girl image once again, morphing into a foul-mouthed rap star for a sketch on this weekend's Saturday Night Live. The modern momma had no patience for pleasantries, rapping that "Tide Pods the only f-cking thing I snack on, black out and go motherf-ing 'Black Swan'. 

Better yet, Portman has no time for family topics, rapping "When I gave birth I didn't even push / I was blazed out, smoking bomb kush."

In a perfect complement to Portman's PORTER magazine interview about Hollywood, Beck Bennet, playing the nervous celebrity interviewer with Portman, has the nerve to ask her about her involvement in 'Time's Up', fighting against sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood and on behalf of working class women in America with their new legal defense fund.

Eye | Kate Upton Joins the #MeToo Convo, Accusing Guess Founder Paul Marciano Of Sexual Harassment

Eye | Kate Upton Joins the #MeToo Convo, Accusing Guess Founder Paul Marciano Of Sexual Harassment

Former GUESS model Kate Upton added her voice to the #MeToo convo Thursday morning, using social media to speak out against Paul Marciano, co-founder of the company. 

Upton doesn't say if she is among the harassed women, but the inference is clear, with Upton saying that Marciano  "shouldn't be allowed to use his power in the industry to sexually and emotionally harass women."

Her post brought responses from others about Marciano's alleged misconduct.

Eye | Edie Campbell Joins Tim Blanks, Talks 'Creative Genius' Sex Demands and New Age For Female Photographers

Edie Campbell Joins Tim Banks, Talks 'Creative Genius' Sex Demands and New Age For Female Photographers

Edie Campbell sits down with Tim Blanks at London's Dover Street Market, for a frank conversation on enabling behavior in the fashion industry. The convo is a follow-up to her open letter published on WWD in November 2017. 

First and foremost, Edie challenges the entire industry -- agents, publishers, designers -- about their protection of the 'creative geniuses' at the expense of young models. Campbell is so articulate in her observations and critical thinking that this interview is well worth the listen. 

In a closing statement that is music to my ears, Edie Campbell is asked by Tim Blanks if we are entering a golden age for female photographers in the fashion industry. Edie is very comfortable agreeing that this is a likely possibility and a clear way of ending the abuse, especially with so many talented women available without the sexual expectations and demands of male photographers. 

Wynn Resorts Stock Plunges 9% on WSJ Report On Serial Sexual Misconduct By Steve Wynn, RNC Finance Chair

RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn hosted Donald Trump's First Year Anniversary Party at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 20, 2018

Wynn Resorts Stock Plunges 9% on WSJ Report On Serial Sexual Misconduct By Steve Wynn

Wynn Resorts stock plunged 9 percent Friday on a report by The Wall Street Journal that billionaire CEO Steve Wynn engaged in sexual misconduct for many years. The Journal reported, writes CNBC,  that dozens of current and former employees "told of behavior that cumulatively would amount to a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct." Some described being pressured into performing sex acts with him.

In the case of a manicurist, the woman's supervisor filed a detailed report to the casino's human-resources department after the woman returned from Wynn's office sobbing, explaining that she said no and explained to Wynn that she was married. Ultimately she did disrobe and they had sex. People familiar with the incident told WSJ that Wynn paid the manicurist a $7.5 million settlement, and his lawyers have admitted that the payment was made.

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Steve Wynn donated $729,217 to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has called him a "great friend." Wynn also serves as the Republican National Committee's finance chairman. 

The RNC skewered the DNC for taking campaign cash from Harvey Weinstein, demanding that the tainted contributions be returned.  Following this part of the story, The Daily Beast says that numerous Democrats ended up giving their Weinstein donations to either charities or "political groups who work to elect progressive female lawmakers. " Officials like GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the actions were insufficient, writing on Twitter: If the DNC truly stands up for women like they say they do, then returning Weinstein's dirty money should be a no-brainer. The Daily Beast writes:

The RNC, which last year chose not to distance itself from another official credibly accused of sexual harassment—Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore—did not respond to a request for comment as to whether they would now do the same. Nor did Sean Spicer, the president’s former press secretary and the committee’s former top strategist, who was particularly aggressive in criticizing Democrats after the Weinstein revelations.

10 Interviews Support Sexual Harassment Allegations Against PA (R) Rep. Patrick Meehan

10 Interviews Support Sexual Harassment Allegations Against PA (R) Rep. Patrick Meehan

Apparently, House Speaker Paul Ryan didn't ask Pennsylvania Republican Representative Patrick Meehan if there was any private reason outside of his position on the House Ethics committee that would prevent him from conducting an effective role in redefining how sexual misconduct claims are handled in Congress.  

Revelations that Congressman Meehan actually made a settlement with a decades younger aide in 2017 caught Speaker Ryan by surprise. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for the said that “this is new information to us” when asked about the settlement in a brief interview on Friday.

The New York Times interviewed 10 people including friends and former colleagues of the former aide and others who worked around the office. The young woman is a family friend of the Meehan's and became so demoralized by the Congressman's antagonistic behavior when she became involved with a new boyfriend, that she filed a complaint with the congressional Office of Compliance in the summer of 2017, alleging sexual harassment. The events that followed underscore why women typically don't file complaints against members of Congress. Now Meehan is theoretically empowered to change those procedures with new ones much fairer to victims. The Times writes a Rep. Jackie Speier's playbook expose. Speier's is leading the charge in Congress to reform current procedures:

Condé Nast Leads Fashion Industry In Suspending All Work With Mario Testino and Bruce Weber, Based On NYT Sexual Harassment Investigation

Condé Nast Leads Fashion Industry In Suspending All Work With Mario Testino and Bruce Weber, Based On NYT Sexual Harassment Investigation

Hours after a Saturday morning report on The New York Times about the very significant and growing number of accusations against Bruce Weber and Mario Testino,  Condé Nast's Anna Wintour issued a statement that the magazines will not commission any new work with the two men  "for the foreseeable future." Terry Richardson was previously banned in October. 

The Telegraph wrote today that Mario Testino, the front runner to photograph the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle given his long and close relationship with the royal family, was no longer under consideration. 

"Today, allegations have been made against Bruce Weber and Mario Testino, stories that have been hard to hear and heartbreaking to confront," Wintour wrote. Fashion industry insiders described the industry icon as being deeply upset. 

"Both are personal friends of mine who have made extraordinary contributions to Vogue and many other titles at Condé Nast over the years, and both have issued objections or denials to what has emerged. I believe strongly in the value of remorse and forgiveness, but I take the allegations very seriously, and we at Condé Nast have decided to put our working relationship with both photographers on hold for the foreseeable future."

Brands Michael Kors, Stuart Weitzman issued statements confirming that they will not work with Testino in the future. Burberry made the same pledge, although it hasn't work with Testino for a year. A spokesperson for Ralph Lauren, which frequently uses Weber to shoot its ad campaigns, said, “The allegations reported in the recent New York Times article are completely contrary to our values, and to our commitment to creating an environment where our employees and outside partners feel welcome, safe and can perform at their best. We will not do business with anyone who behaves in a way that compromises this commitment.”

Condé Nast also issued new guidelines for working with models appearing in their publications, and we will publish those guidelines separately. It's noteworthy that the organization again raised the age of its editorial models from 16 to 18. 

Hoda Kotb Becomes 'Today' Co-Anchor! With Daughter Haley Joy, Hoda Says: 'Let's Go Girls!'

HODA KOTB, LEFT, AND SAVANNAH GUTHRIE IN NOVEMBER. CREDIT: HIROKO MASUIKE/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Hoda Kotb Becomes 'Today' Co-Anchor! With Daughter Haley Joy, Hoda Says: 'Let's Go Girls!'

Hoda Kotb (pronounced COT-bee) will permanently replace disgraced NBC Today show anchor Matt Lauer, the network announced on Tuesday. For the first time in 'Today's' history, NBC's most profitable franchise will be placed in the hands of two women -- Kotb and existing anchor Savannah Guthrie. 

“We are kicking off the year right, because Hoda is officially the co-anchor of ‘Today,’” Ms. Guthrie said, sitting next to Ms. Kotb. “This has to be the most popular decision NBC News has ever made, and I am so thrilled.”

Ms. Kotb, 53, responded: “I am pinching myself.”

Guthrie has been a 'Today' anchor since 2012 and Kotb joined NBC News in 1998 as a correspondent for 'Dateline'. In 2008 Kotb became the co-host of the fourth hour of 'Today' and rushed into the emergency substitute host spot on the morning that Laurer was fired.

An Egyptian-American, Kotb adopted in early 2017 a little girl Haley Joy and lives since fall 2016 with her longtime partner, financier Joel Shiffman. The event has completely changed her life, says Hoda, who has long wanted to be a mother but -- as a breast cancer survivor -- couldn't conceive children. 

Hollywood Launches Time's Up With Powerhouse Message To Working Class Women

Hollywood Launches Time's Up With Powerhouse Message To Working Class Women

Driven by disgust, disenchantment and disbelief that sexual harassment and gender inequality run rampant in America, 300 prominent and not-so-well-known Hollywood women have launched a sprawling initiative to fight the Hollywood power structure and blue-collar workplaces nationwide.

Born with a name that resonates deeply with women fighting this gender inequality battle for 60 years in the case of women like Jane Fonda, Time's Up has 1) a legal defense fund, backed now by $13 million in donations earmarked to help less privileged women protect themselves from sexual misconduct and threats of job loss among janitors, nurses and workers at farms, factories, restaurants and hotels. Articles like the New York Times' How Tough Is It to Change a Culture of Harassment? Ask Women at Ford astonished many professional women in and out of Hollywood.