They may have thought they were untouchable, but justice finally caught up with them in 2023. Some people have in fact paraded in the courts more often this year than on the red carpets. From the outset, it’s difficult not to mention the latest chapter of one of the most sordid affairs since the Weinstein trial, and we obviously want to talk about the R. Kelly scandal.
Sentenced for the first time in 2022 to 30 years in prison by a New York court for extortion, sexual exploitation of a minor, kidnapping, trafficking, corruption and forced labor over a period from 1994 to 2018, the artist was the subject of a second trial, this time in Chicago, the verdict of which was pronounced last February. He received an additional 20 years in prison for producing child pornography. However, this sentence will be served simultaneously with the previous one, with the exception of one year, bringing the total sentence to 31 years in prison. Aged 56, R. Kelly has little chance of regaining freedom.
Thirty years is also the sentence Danny Masterson received after being found guilty of two rapes by a Los Angeles court last June, the maximum sentence incurred. There were a total of three women, all members of Scientology like him, who accused the star of That’70s Show of having “drugged and raped” them, the jurors not having reached a consensus concerning one of them. Remember, however, that at least two other similar complaints were filed but could not be investigated due to lack of evidence or because the facts were prescribed.
Relaxation
We now move on to Kevin Spacey who, for his part, was found not guilty of sexual assault on four men by the British courts. A few months earlier, he had also been acquitted by a New York court for similar charges. A legal sequence which ends, five years after the accusations which put an end to the career of the star of House of Cards. Now cleared, it remains to be seen whether Kevin Spacey will regain the pride of place he once occupied in Hollywood.
On another note, Ed Sheeran’s fans took a big breath when, last May, the singer emerged victorious in his plagiarism trial. In fact, the singer announced that, if he was found guilty of plagiarizing his hit Thinking Out Loud on Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye, he would put his guitar and microphone in the closet forever. “It looks like I won’t have to change jobs after all,” he joked after leaving court.
And we end with Gwyneth Paltrow who got off lightly in her ludicrous ski accident affair. Terry Sanderson, a retired ophthalmologist, accused the welfare popess of hitting him on a ski slope in 2016 and demanded millions of dollars in reparations. But the jury was ultimately convinced of the opposite: it was rather he who caused the accident. As a result, Terry Sanderson had to pay a symbolic dollar to the actress who, for once, was magnanimous.