Maury Povich
TV talk-show host Maury Povich and other members of his staff are the subject of a $100-million sexual harassment lawsuit filed on Monday, in which the plaintiff claims she was barraged with sexual remarks, forced to view pornography and made to expose her body.
Bianca Nardi, 28, of Fort Lee, N.J., says in court papers obtained by the Associated Press that the sexually charged atmosphere among the show's production staff was fostered by the "intimate and sexual relationship between defendants Maurice Richard Povich and Donna Benner Ingber."
Court papers also say Nardi had an unfairly heavy workload because she did tasks that were supposed to be done by Ingber, who often refused to do her own work – without penalty – because of her relationship with Povich.
Gary Rosen, spokesman for the show, flatly denied the allegations, as did a spokeswoman for NBC Universal, which is also named in the lawsuit. "We are aware of the allegations of harassment made by Ms. Nardi.
We have done a complete and thorough investigation of her allegations of harassment and we are satisfied that there is no merit to them," Rosen said. "We stand behind our experienced and dedicated staff, fully.” "We do not believe that Ms. Nardi was a victim of unlawful sexual harassment and intend to defend this lawsuit vigorously," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said.
Among the many allegations listed in legal documents: Ingber, who is also named as a defendant, "many times in an intoxicated condition, telephoned (Nardi's) residence at all hours of the late evening to discuss her personal relations with defendant Povich (and other men whom she was secretly seeing)" and to ask Nardi what staffers were saying about the relationship.
Nardi's court papers also claim that during her six years of employment, she was ordered by Paul Faulhaber, executive producer of The Maury Povich Show, to wear short skirts, low-cut blouses and push-up bras.
Faulhaber is also a defendant in the suit. Povich has been married to veteran TV news anchor Connie Chung for 22 years. They have a 10-year-old son. Neither Povich nor Chung has commented on the case.
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Man Goes to Jail After Oprah Profile
Oprah Winfrey
An Indiana man arrested last fall on sexual-abuse charges after he was profiled on The Oprah Winfrey Show was sentenced Monday to 52 years in prison.
In February, a jury convicted William C. Davis, 33, on three counts of child molesting and acquitted him of two others. During his sentencing hearing Davis sobbed.
He had not testified at his trial, at which three boys took the stand to detail the abuse they said they suffered in 2004, when they were ages 13, 12 and 5.
Davis told the judge on Monday: "I've been to prison and I know what's coming. It's a terrible place. With the media attention, plenty of people have told me they're going to be waiting on me to kill me."
Davis fled Indiana in the summer of 2004, after learning that police were looking for him, authorities said.
He was arrested Oct. 6 in Fargo, N.D., two days after Winfrey broadcast his picture during her talk show and offered $100,000 for information leading to his capture. Two acquaintances in North Dakota and Minnesota split the reward after Davis was arrested.
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Ryan Seacrest & Paula Abdul's Feud Heats Up
Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest
Although American Idol host Ryan Seacrest often trades barbs with judge Simon Cowell, now the tension between him and another judge, Paula Abdul, has reached a boiling point. "It's awkward. I don't know what the deal is. It's very awkward," Seacrest, 31, told PEOPLE on Friday, referring to his relationship with Abdul.
Asked if he was speaking to Abdul, Seacrest answered: "No." Seacrest, who was in Las Vegas at a groundbreaking event for the new luxury Panorama Towers, said he hasn't yet confronted his fellow Idol cast mate.
"You know, I walked past her dressing room the other day and there was a group of people gathered in front of the door, so I can't even talk to her. Simon and I go back and forth with each other, but it's in a different way."
A source close to Seacrest says the Idol host was joking about the feud. But another inside source tells PEOPLE that Seacrest and Abdul’s relationship has been “icy” since they each appeared separately on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno recently.
In Seacrest's March 30 appearance, Leno said that Abdul had seemed "a little loopy" on a recent episode of Idol to which Seacrest replied, "Well, have you listened to her album?" When Leno playfully asked whether Abdul had been drinking, Seacrest answered, "Hey look, I don't look in their cups to see what's sitting before them on that table.
But at times I feel like we have reeled her in." Abdul, 43, had a chance to shoot back when she appeared on the show on April 10. Leno brought out an issue of Rolling Stone magazine that featured the three Idol judges prominently on the cover (and Seacrest in a small photo) and asked whether Seacrest was mad about being excluded. "I heard plenty mad," replied Abdul.
Next, Leno asked whether Seacrest was dating Teri Hatcher since the pair had been photographed kissing. "He only kisses the mirror," said Abdul. "And honestly, do you think Teri Hatcher is that desperate of a housewife?"
In the weeks after Abdul's Leno appearance, Seacrest frequently approached the judges' table during Idol commercial breaks, but usually spoke only to Cowell and Randy Jackson. Abdul could not be reached for comment.
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'Silent Hill' Leads Box Office With $20.2M
A show attendee walks past a poster of Sony Pictures' movie "Silent Hill" during the opening day of ShoWest at Paris hotel-casino in Las Vegas in this Monday, March 13, 2006, file photo. "Silent Hill" debuted with $20.2 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, April 23, 2006.
Horror was king of the hill at the box office again. "Silent Hill" debuted as the weekend's top movie, taking in $20.2 million, the latest in a string of No. 1 debuts for fright films, including "Hostel" and "When a Stranger Calls."
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. are:
1. "Silent Hill," Sony, $20,152,598, 2,926 locations, $6,887 average, $20,152,598, one week.
2. "Scary Movie 4," Weinstein Co., $16,814,942, 3,673 locations, $4,578 average, $67,478,181, two weeks.
3. "The Sentinel," Fox $14,367,854, 2,822 locations, $5,091 average, $14,367,854, one week.
4. "Ice Age: The Meltdown," Fox, $13,284,408, 3,540 locations, $3,753 average, $168,348,135, four weeks.
5. "The Wild," Disney, $8,332,068, 2,854 locations, $2,919 average, $22,240,635, two weeks.
6. "The Benchwarmers," Sony, $7,256,143, 3,094 locations, $2,345 average, $47,101,418, three weeks.
7. "Take the Lead," New Line, $4,176,517, 2,413 locations, $1,731 average, $29,482,613, three weeks.
8. "Inside Man," Universal, $3,748,955, 2,021 locations, $1,855 average, $81,313,510, five weeks.
9. "American Dreamz," Universal, $3,667,420, 1,500 locations, $2,445 average, $3,667,420, one week.
10. "Friends With Money," Sony Pictures Classics, $3,179,025, 991 locations, $3,208 average, $4,960,765, three weeks.
11. "Thank You for Smoking," Fox Searchlight, $2,780,969, 1,020 locations, $2,726 average, $15,781,403, six weeks.
12. "Lucky Number Slevin," MGM, $2,475,903, 1,735 locations, $1,427 average, $18,674,953, three weeks.
13. "Failure to Launch," Paramount, $1,410,982, 1,295 locations, $1,090 average, $85,604,643, seven weeks.
14. "V For Vendetta," Warner Bros., $1,049,273, 855 locations, $1,227 average, $68,002,102, six weeks.
15. "La Mujer De Mi Hermano," Lionsgate, $567,671, 217 locations, $2,616 average, $1,902,664, two weeks.
16. "Phat Girlz," Fox Searchlight, $493,120, 444 locations, $1,111 average, $6,358,003, three weeks.
17. "ATL," Warner Bros., $476,395, 602 locations, $791 average, $20,694,837, four weeks.
18. "She's the Man," DreamWorks, $413,640, 440 locations, $940 average, $32,694,175, six weeks.
19. "Deep Sea 3-D," Warner Bros., $386,002, 45 locations, $8,578 average, $6,765,608, eight weeks.
20. "Eight Below," Disney, $304,818, 432 locations, $706 average, $80,587,787, 10 weeks.
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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal; DreamWorks is a unit of DreamWorks SKG Inc.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Classics are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line and Warner Independent are units of Time Warner Inc.; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.
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Rather: Couric Will Need to Be a Leader
Dan Rather, former anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, discusses the future of news as he joins other panelists during the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, Monday, April 24, 2006.
Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather wished his successor luck Monday, but said Katie Couric will need to be a leader and demonstrate a passion for news to succeed in the anchor chair.
"No doubt the CBS Evening News will be different," Rather said, referring to changes planned for the broadcast beyond the new anchor.
"Katie is a superb person and she's a great pro. I'll be rooting for her and I wish her well."
Rather, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings, who anchored ABC's nightly news, were honored Monday at the annual National Association of Broadcasters show.
Rather said the role of a news anchor is overestimated and is not as hard as the job of the journalist in the field.
"The role is basically a leadership role and the organization begins to take on the personality and the character of the anchor," Rather said. "If Katie Couric comes to CBS News and demonstrates she's a leader and loves the news, she'll be fine."
Brokaw also wished his former colleague well.
"I'm confident that at the end of her first year in that chair, she'll be the anchor of the second most-popular evening news broadcast around," he joked.
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