Accused Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson Will Sell Team, As Sean Combs Launches Bid To Be First NFL Black Owner

A Seatbelt Maneuver Blows Up

Accused Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson Will Sell Team, As Sean Combs Launches Bid To Be First NFL Black Owner

America's post-Weinstein sexual-harassment/sexual assault reckoning reached the NFL over the weekend, in a series of swift moves that culminated in Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardsonannouncing that he will sell his franchise at the end of the season.

“I believe that it is time to turn the franchise over to new ownership,” Richardson said. “Therefore, I will put the team up for sale at the conclusion of this NFL season. We will not begin the sale process, nor will we entertain any inquiries, until the very last game is played. I hope everyone in this organization, both on and off the field, will be firmly focused on just one mission: to play and win the Super Bowl.”

On Sunday rapper and music mogul Sean Combs, aka P Diddy, took to Twitter saying that he would like to buy the Panthers, promising to be "the best NFL owner that you can imagine". Diddy promised to consider hiring Colin Kaepernick, who launched the NFL's players feud with President Trump, and was at the center of NFL players taking a knee worldwide.

If Diddy were to own the Panthers by himself, he would become the league's first majority African-American owner. Our instincts say that the list of African American sports players who would join an ownership syndicate run by Diddy is huge. So he can raise the money.

Back that with a national social media campaign with Americans of every skin color supporting this bid, and Diddy's group would have the upper hand, leaving the NFL owners to fight sexual harassment allegations in the league, the Colin Kaepernick ongoing story and a Trumpian/post-Charlottesville mindset among progressives that would trash the NFL owners beyond belief if the league retained its white owners status. 

Merkel & Macron Called King & Queen of Europe

Merkel & Macron Called King & Queen of Europe

Euro News calls German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron the king and queen of Europe. 

Choreographed or not, the moment epitomised the unity and common purpose that the two leaders want to present, now that a British Prime Minister is no longer able to build alliances to challenge their countries' positions as the pre-eminent forces of the European Union.

It appears that Brexit has only driven them closer together. Not only do they finish each other's sentences, but they broke with tradition at the EU Summit, giving a joint press conference.

The German Chancellor has heaps of problems on her plate, including forming a government in limbo after the September elections. Leaders of Germany's center-left Social Democrats (SPD) agreed on Friday to enter talks on a new government led by Merkel conservative Union bloc (CDU). Merkel's earlier attempts to form a coalition with two smaller parties collapsed in November. What seems clear is that SPD is seeking an arrangement that will keep Merkel as Chancellor and thwart any possibilities that the German government will collapse. 

In France, Emmanuel Macron's popularity has recovered in what Politico Europe calls an 'unprecedented' bounceback. Fifty-two percent of respondents in a new poll are now satisfied with Macron's presidency, an increase of six points.

'Feminism' Ranks As Top Search Word In 2017, According To Mirriam-Webster Dictionary

It's official: leading US dictionary Merriam-Webster says that its 2017 word of the year is 'feminism'. Peter Sokolowski, Mirriam-Webster's editor-at-large said that people searching for the word was up 70 percent. "The word was in the air", said Sokolowski. 

Described as “the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes” by the dictionary, the word 'feminism also means “organised activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests”.

Other contenders for 2017’s prize were “complicit” (which was widely used in the Trump/Russia scandal) and “dotard” (which is the adjective Kim Jong-un used to describe the US president).

The word 'feminism' got a huge boost with the November 21 Women's March in DC and around the world. With Women's Marches all over America, the event is considered to be the largest activism march ever.

Just when searches were perhaps slowing down, the #metoo movement began, which put 'feminism' once again on the front burner, boosted yet again by TIME magazine's person of the year award as 'The Silence Breakers'. 

Republican women do not strongly identify with the word 'feminist' and Mirriam-Webster says Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway also gave searches a boost.  The Washington Post clarifies:

“It’s difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly is very pro-abortion, and I’m neither anti-male or pro-abortion. So, there’s an individual feminism, if you will, that you make your own choices…. I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances,” Conway said during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland last February.

In fact, feminism is not pro-abortion, but a core belief is the women have a right to control our own bodies and that opposition to a right to birth control, for example,  is now unconstitutional. Feminism does emphasize body autonomy within a range of sensible restrictions. 

Alison Brie Talks GLOW Nude Scenes, Lensed By Txema Yeste For The Edit December 14, 2017

Alison Brie Talks GLOW Nude Scenes, Lensed By Txema Yeste For The Edit December 14, 2017

Actor Alison Brie was jumping for joy on Wednesday night's Jimmy Fallon show. The 34-year-old Community actor celebrated news of her Golden Globe nomination for her female wrestling Netflix show GLOW. 

Brie is styled here by Tracy Taylor in dark, romantic looks lensed by Txema Yeste for The Edit Magazine December 14, 2017. Brie is interviewed by Jennifer Dickinson for 'Best in Show. Looking back Alison Brie says she was very pleased with hos her nude scenes in GLOW were handled. 

Eye: Jessica Chastain Tells ES Magazine She Will No Longer Be Paid A Third Less Than Men, Praises Salma Hayek

Jessica Chastain Tells ES Magazine She Will No Longer Be Paid A Third Less Than Men, Praises Salma Hayek

Actor Jessica Chastain covers the December 1, 2017 issue of London's Evening Standard ES Magazine. Styled by Nicky Yates in ruffled, ruched and pleated looks from Alessandra Rich, Gucci, Givenchy, Prada and more, the 'Molly's Game' star is lensed by Camilla Armbrust. 

Chastain's rep has confirmed that she is one of the growing list of female actors confirming that they will be wearing black to the 2018 Golden Globes, as a symbol of protest against harassment in Hollywood. There are murmurings that the all-black protest will continue throughout the awards season. In addition, the female actors say they will not discuss the typical "who are you wearing?" red-carpet question and will insist that questions be focused on activism and a range of societal and cultural topics heavy on women's rights in America and around the world. 

Charlottesville Car Killer James Alex Fields Jr. Charged With First Degree Murder

Charlottesville Car Killer James Alex Fields Jr. Charged With First Degree Murder

Self-professed neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with first-degree murder Thursday, after being jailed on lesser charges since the Aug. 12 for the death of Charlottesville protester Heather D. Heyer. 

Fields had been charged with second-degree murder, punishable by five to 40 years in prison. WaPo writes:

Authorities had initially said that 19 people were injured, in addition to Heyer, when Fields allegedly rammed his 2010 Dodge Challenger into another vehicle on purpose on a crowded street. But testimony at the preliminary hearing revealed that there were many more victims. Besides first-degree murder, Fields, who lived in Ohio before his arrest, is charged with eight counts of “aggravated malicious wounding,” meaning that at least eight of the 35 people who were hurt suffered what Virginia law describes as “permanent and significant physical impairment," writes the New York Times. 

Stars Align In Alabama: Emmett Till; Four Birmingham, Alabama Church-Going Girls; Doug Jones; Dana Schutz & Racial Reconciliation

Stars Align In Alabama: Emmett Till; Four Birmingham, Alabama Church-Going Girls; Doug Jones; Dana Schutz & Racial Reconciliation

Nigerian-born, Huntsville-raised, U of Alabama grad Toyin Ojih Odutola first got the attention of Voguemagazine when the poet Claudia Rankine published as essay in Aperture magazine, "A New Grammar for Blackness'. 

A year later, Toyin Ojih Odutola has mounted a solo show 'To Wander Determined' at the Whitney Museum in New York. Upon entering the show, visitors see a letter written by Odutola in the persona of the 'Deputy Private Secretary' for two aristocratic families in Lagos. 

artNet writes: "For Ojih Odutola, their images form a corrective to a Eurocentric art history that thinks of both court portraiture and genre paintings as belonging to a primarily white world, with black characters as footnotes—cast as servants, slaves, or left out completely.."

The topic of black identity, colonialism, and cultural appropriation have lived front and center in our national -- and international -- dialogue in 2017. 

Ten Women Have Now Accused Russell Simmons Of Sexual Assault Or Harassment

Ten Women Have Now Accused Russell Simmons Of Sexual Assault Or Harassment

Four more women have come forward to accuse music producer Russell Simmons of sexual assault. In what are becoming excruciating reads in the New York Times, former Def Jam Records employee Drew Dixon, former music journalist Tonie Sallie and performer Tina Baker allege that Russell Simmons raped them in encounters that span a period from 1988 to 2014.In a separate report published Wednesday in The LA Times, performer Sherri Hines alleged that Simmons raped her around 1983.

Simmons has responded: "I have re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working on behalf of the communities to which I have devoted my life. I have accepted that I can and should get dirt on my sleeves if it means witnessing the birth of a new consciousness about women," Simmons said in a statement to the New York Times on Wednesday. “What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done. I have conducted my life with a message of peace and love. Although I have been candid about how I have lived in books and interviews detailing my flaws, I will relentlessly fight against any untruthful character assassination that paints me as a man of violence.”

Because the Salma Hayek/Harvey Weinstein op-ed is waiting to be posted, and I just read that PBS has suspended Tavis Smiley after conducting a private investigation, I have nothing more to say about Russell Simmons behaving badly. Oh, and I must update Trump's attack on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Tracking all these guys is a full-time job these days.

Mn. Lt. Gov. Tina Smith Will Assume Sen. Al Franken's Seat | Smith Will Run In 2018

CURRENT MINN. SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D) WILL BE JOINED BY CURRENT MINN. LT. GOV. TINA SMITH (D), TAPPED BY MINN. GOV. MARK DAYTON TO REPLACE CURRENT SEN. AL FRANKEN, WHO IS RESIGNING.

Mn. Lt. Gov. Tina Smith Will Assume Sen. Al Franken's Seat | Smith Will Run In 2018

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton appointed fellow Democrat Lt. Gov. Tina Smith on Wednesday to replace Sen. Al Franken until a special election in November. Smith, who previously said she was not interested in a permanent Senate seat, has reversed her decision and will run in a potentially bruising 2018 election.

“I will run in that election and I will do my best to earn Minnesotans’ support,” she said at the news conference where Dayton announced her appointment.

Franken, who resigned under pressure from fellow Democrats after he was accused of improper behavior by at least eight women, announced last Thursday that he would resign “in the coming weeks.” His office said Tuesday that he had not yet set a final departure date.

A native of New Mexico, Smith graduated from Stanford and earned an MBA from Dartmouth. She moved to Minn. for a marketing job with General Mills and eventually started her own marketing and political consulting firm. 

Smith has served as an executive for Planned Parenthood, certain to be a flash point with her Republican candidate. Her position will simultaneously solidify her support among Democratic women. 

Rujeko Hockley & Jane Panetta Named Curators Of 2019 Whitney Bienniale

RUJEKO HOCKLEY (LEFT) AND JANE PANETTA. © 2017 SCOTT RUDD. COURTESY OF THE WHITNEY MUSEUM.

Rujeko Hockley & Jane Panetta Named Curators Of 2019 Whitney Bienniale

The Whitney Museum announced Wednesday that Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley will co-curate the 2019 Whitney Biennial. As current curators of the Whitney’s staff. the two women are “two of the most compelling and engaged curatorial voices of the moment,” according to a statement from the Whitney’s chief curator, Scott Rothkopf.

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Panetta joined the Whitney in 2010 and has curated solo presentations by Willa Nasatir and MacArthur “Genius” Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Hockley, who was came to the museum in March 2017, co-curated the highly acclaimed Brooklyn Museum show “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85.” At the Whitney, she has so far co-curated “Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined,” , on view at the Whitney until February 25, 2018, as well as the ongoing group show “An Incomplete History of Protest.”

The news comes at the end of a year marked by intense controversies around cultural appropriation in the art world. Among the most divisive arguments was the public maelstrom around Dana Schutz's painting of Emmett Till, Open Casket. The painting prompted open letters calling for the removal and even destruction of the painting, silent protests in front of the work, and demands that other works ALL of Dana Schutz's paintings be banned from a show in Boston as punishment for her offense of the Emmett Till painting.

Anine Bing Launches Superb, Photoshop-free, Real Women Lingerie Campaign #AnineBingStories

Anine Bing Launches Superb, Photoshop-free, Real Women Lingerie Campaign #AnineBingStories

ANGELINA JOLIN, 51

Fashion Editor―World Traveler―Force of Life

Anine ling's new ad campaign is just smashing. It features nine women posing in their 'natural environment' with captions about their backgrounds. The campaign, which is Photoshop-free, features women ages 10 to 64, including three generations from one family -- Julie and daighter-in-law Ashleigh Dempsey -- featured above with baby daughter Vincent.. 

Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid are big fans of Anine Bing's delicate lace bralets and sheer intimates, but they don't front this new campaign called #AnineBingStories. 

'The campaign is about loving yourself, celebrating yourself, being yourself, and wearing what you want to wear for yourself!' Anine wrote on her blog, where we learn much more about the women featured here. I will pull out more of this info and feature them in our Women's News channel. 

'We worked with nine amazing women with individual stories who are entrepreneurs, cancer survivors, philanthropists, mothers, and such inspiring people.' 

Martha Stewart In Dubai Sets A Standard For Friendly Photos With No Groping Worries

Martha Stewart In Dubai Sets A Standard For Friendly Photos With No Groping Worries

This photo of Martha Stewart in Dubai caught my eye, reading W Magazine's short on why everyone is going to Dubai. Martha spent Thanksgiving in Dubai, enjoying a visually stunning meal here at Dubai's Arabian Tea House. 

I note the placement of the gentleman's hand on Martha's shoulder -- at a time when men are nearly weeping that the #MeToo movement is leaving them clueless of even touching a female colleague. Anything sets us off these days. 

Dustin Hoffman Groper?

The acclaimed Dustin Hoffman has been in a total state of denial over allegations that has has a wandering hand. It just didn't happen says Hoffman, regarding Anna Graham Hunter's assertion that Hoffman sexually harassed her at age 17.

Kathryn Rossetter weighed in over the weekend, saying that her dream job of performing eight times a week with Hoffman in 'Death of a Salesman' became "a horrific, demoralizing and abusive experience at the hands (literally) of one of my acting idols."

Rossetter wrote that Hoffman would take photos with her and "grab my breast just before they snapped the picture and then remove it." She often didn't notice in time, which she says made it seem like she was "complicit with the gesture. I was not. Not ever."

This sense of her own complicity in Hoffman's actions haunted her, especially in view of her total experience with one of the most acclaimed actors in America. 

In the past weeks, countless men have damned women for not speaking out sooner. Shamed in our own humiliation, we feel that somehow we have caused the groping. Where did we go wrong? Read on in In-Depth.

Eye: South African Artist Tony Gum's 'Ode to She' Wins 2017 Miami Beach Pulse Prize

South African Artist Tony Gum's 'Ode to She' Wins 2017 Miami Beach Pulse Prize

South African artist Tony Gum is the recipient of the 2017 Miami Beach Pulse Prize. Gum's gallery Christopher Moller Gallery mounted a solo show for Gum, who is barely 22 years old. 

Gum's presentation 'Ode to She' is inspired by her own experiences and reflections as a Xhosa woman. Her work is rooted in the tradition of 'intonjane', an Xhosa rite of passage into womanhood practiced in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The ritual in which a girl is secluded at her homestead after her first period, is symbolic of her sexual maturity and ability to bear children.

AOC has previously written about the talented Tony Gum. See end of article. 

Turner Prize Winner Lubaina Himid Explores Black Identities In The Web Of Global Prejudice

Turner Prize Winner Lubaina Himid Explores Black Identities In The Web Of Global Prejudice

Zanzibar-born Lubaina Himid is the first black woman to ever win the Turner Prize. She’s also the oldest at age 63. Himid's artistic focus is the "forgotten creative legacies of the African diaspora", writes Vogue UK. 

The politically-charged images that comprise her Turner Prize exhibition drill deeply into prejudice. In 'Swallow Hard: The Lancaster Dinner Service' Lubaina takes the traditional British crockery of history’s elite and, by painting over it, reveals the mostly invisible stories of the servers. By leaving the intricate detailing of the original china around the edges, Himid reveals the complex framework of prejudice that Western society stands on cannot be erased. 

Nigerian Girls Raped By Boko Haram Are Now Raped By Nigerian Security Forces 'Protecting' Them

Nigerian Girls Raped By Boko Haram Are Now Raped By Nigerian Security Forces 'Protecting' Them

While my self-appointed Grade A feminist friends (note that I have been demoted) obsess with the injustice against the wonderful supporter of women Sen. Al Franken, who resigned yesterday, my own focus today is the dreadful lives of these poor Nigerian girls. (And beating Roy Moore in Alabama) First these innocent young girls were kidnapped from their schools and raped repeatedly for three years by Boko Haram terrorists. Many have babies. And now, having escaped to a Nigerian camp where they are supposed to be safe, these girls are being raped by the men who are supposed to protect them.

Al Franken is a fine, fine, fine man. But I object to him becoming the face of women's rights injustice against men, when women of every age are suffering around the world -- and here in America -- because we do not have body autonomy of ANY KIND. Life is not 'fair' for billions of people around the world. And it's not "fair" at all for these young women.

Atlanta Mayor's Race Between Bottoms & Norwood Moves To Recount With Bottoms Leading By 800 Votes

Atlanta Mayor's Race Between Bottoms & Norwood Moves To Recount With Bottoms Leading By 800 Votes

For the second time in eight years, the leadership Atlanta, the South’s most influential city, is settling into a recount, writes The New York Times. 

Fewer than 800 votes separated Atlanta’s two candidates for mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mary Norwood, after officials tallied more than 92,000 ballots that were cast in Tuesday's  runoff election. Ms. Norwood, seeking to become Atlanta’s first white mayor in more than 40 years, said she would ask for a recount once provisional and absentee ballots were counted this week.

Ms. Bottoms and her allies would not cede the moment of jubilation, declaring victory on Wednesday.

Victor Demarchelier Eyes Sarah Paulson In 'She Who Dares' For The Edit December 2017

Victor Demarchelier Eyes Sarah Paulson In 'She Who Dares' For The Edit December 2017

Actor Sarah Paulson fronts The Edit's 'Get Into The Red' December 7th issue with 'She Who Dares', a fashion story about scarlet, styled by Charles Varenne. Photographer Victor Demarchelier is in the studio, with an Edit focus not only on Paulson's clothes, but her relationship with Holland Taylor ./ Hair by Earl Simms; makeup by Tyron Machhausen

Eye: Lawsuit Filed Against Photographer Bruce Weber In New York Supreme Court For Sexual Harassment

Eye: Lawsuit Filed Against Photographer Bruce Weber In New York Supreme Court For Sexual Harassment

Ex-model Jason Boyce, who has appeared in Lexus and Amazon ads, filed suit against Bruce Weber in the New York Supreme Court alleging the iconic fashion photographer sexually harassed the male model in December of 2014. The suit was filed on behalf of Boyce by civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom, well-known for representing accusers in high profile cases involving accusers of Bill O’Reilly, Bill Cosby and John Coyers. Bloom has also been widely criticized for her controversial representation of Harvey Weinstein until dropping him as a client in October. With the publicizing of Boyce’s suit, 31-year-old Mark Ricketson has alleged a similar history with Weber, saying he too was a victim of Weber's sexual harassment in 2005. Prosecution is not possible in Ricketson’s case, as the statue of limitations has expired. 

Six Democratic Women Senators Call On Franken To Resign Immediately

Six Democratic Women Senators Call On Franken To Resign Immediately

In statements Wednesday, six of Franken's female Democratic colleagues — Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Patty Murray of Washington and Kamala Harris of California — pushed for him to step down. Murray is the third-ranking Senate Democrat and the highest ranking woman.

We wrote last week that the new accusation from a veteran was totally backing the women into a corner, especially Sen. Gillibrand. I called on Franken to resign that day, because no one person deserves center stage. That may sound unfair, but women have dealt with false accusations for years -- and we know the probability of false accusations varies from 2-8%. When a group of women come forward -- several of them Democrats -- the probability of false accusations dwindles to near zero. 

Met Refuses To Bow To Petition Demanding Removal Of Balthus 'Thérèse Dreaming' (1938), Suggesting Dialogue Instead

Met Refuses To Bow To Petition Demanding Removal Of Balthus 'Thérèse Dreaming' (1938), Suggesting Dialogue Instead

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has no intention of removing a painting of a young girl by Balthus, 'Thérèse Dreaming' (1938), that has been targeted by an online petition. 

The petition, launched by New York City resident Mia Merrill, has garnered more than 8,700 signatures in five days. Headlined “Metropolitan Museum of Art: Remove Balthus’s Suggestive Painting of a Pubescent Girl, Thérèse Dreaming", the petition states that the Met should not “proudly display” an image that “romanticizes the sexualization of a child.”

In response to Merrill's accusation that the Met is, perhaps unintentionally, supporting voyeurism and the objectification of children, a spokesman for the Met called the controversy “an opportunity for a conversation” about the “continuing evolution of existing culture.”

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s mission is to ‘…collect, study, conserve, and present significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.’ Moments such as this provide an opportunity for conversation, and visual art is one of the most significant means we have for reflecting on both the past and the present, and encouraging the continuing evolution of existing culture through informed discussion and respect for creative expression.”