GEORGE Clooney is mourning the loss of his sister Adelia Zeidler who has died aged 65.
The Hollywood star’s sibling passed away on Friday (December 19) following a battle with cancer.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Hollywood star George Clooney has confirmed his older sister Ada has diedCredit: GettyClooney with his older sister Adelia Zeidler during his wedding in Venice in 2014Credit: GettyAda was a talented artist and worked as a schoolteacherCredit: Facebook
Clooney, 64, described his sister – known as Ada – as his “hero” and praised her bravery.
He said: “My sister, Ada, was my hero. She faced down cancer with courage and humor.
“I’ve never met anyone so brave. Amal and I will miss her terribly.”
Ada’s official biography says she died “peacefully” while “surrounded by the people she loved” at St Elizabeth healthcare in Kentucky.
She was born on May 2 1960 in Los Angeles to mum and dad Nina and Nick, and was described as a “talented artist”.
She was named after her great-grandmother.
Her obit states: “A talented artist, she shared her skills as an elementary art teacher at Augusta Independent School for several years.
“In high school, her academic achievements qualified her to be a National Merit Scholar.
“Her love for reading connected her with other readers in a local book club.
“She was also a member of the Augusta Art Guild and was a past grand marshal of Augusta’s Annual White Christmas Parade.”
Ada married Norman Zeidler, a retired army captain, in Augusta in 1987.
While she led a very private life, she supported her brother publicly over the years, including attending his wedding to wife Amal in Venice in 2014.
Ada was snapped standing next to Clooney on a boat as they rode along a canal in the Italian city.
The siblings grew up together in Kentucky.
Clooney toldCBS This Morning in 2015: “My sister, I’m very close to.”
Their mum Nina told HGTV in 2006 how she once came home to find her children had thrown a house party, and had thrown cooked marshmallows all over the walls.
Ada pictured next to her famous brother during a boat trip along a Venice canalCredit: GettyGeorge and Ada as children with their mum and dad Nina and NickCredit: Alamy
BROOKS Nader has left very little to the imagination in a sexy ensemble while on a night out with pals.
The reality star and model bared all in a totally see-through black dress on a wild night in Hollywood, while looking sensational in the process.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Brooks Nader left very little to the imagination in the sheer numberCredit: BackGridShe put on the eye-popping display while going braless underneath the sheer garmentCredit: BackGridShe finished off the look with a bright red clutch bagCredit: BackGrid
The former Dancing with the Stars starlet, 28, donned a tiny minidress made of an incredibly flimsy fabric.
The black minidress was made of an extremely sheer chiffon.
Brooks risked it all by going completely braless for the occasion, which meant her breasts and nipples were on full display.
She wore her blonde locks down and in a sleek style, with her makeup glamorous yet natural.
Brooks completed the look with a red clutch bag and some gold earrings.
On the night out, Brooks was seen beaming beside Jeff Bezos’ wife Lauren Sanchez.
Lauren was seen rocking all navy in the form of a lace top and oversized long-line double-breasted coat.
This isn’t the first time Brooks has bared all.
Back in October,Brooks showcased her bare breasts once againin an entirely see-through top while leaving a talk show appearance in New York City.
Photos obtained by The U.S. Sun captured the reality star donning the sexy ensemble.
Brooks paused to acknowledge the cameras, showing off her sheer black top, exposing her boobs, and a short black skirt.
She completed the look with a black blazer, pointed-toe black high heels, and her blonde hair flowing straight down.
Brooks became a household name after winning the Sports Illustrated Swim Search competition in 2019, which skyrocketed her modeling career.
Dancing With The Stars fans would also remember her from last season, when she competed with her pro partner, Gleb Savchenko – who she struck up a romance with on the show.
The pair were eliminated after reaching ninth place, but their names continued to circulate in the media due to their romance.
However, their relationship ended not long after when Brooks accused Gleb of cheating on her, which he vehemently denied.
Brooks is now romantically linked to Spanish professional tennis player Carlos Alcaraz.
In addition to her modeling career and stint on DWTS, Brooks stars on the new reality TV series, Love Thy Nader, which premiered on Hulu earlier this year.
The show follows Brooks and her sisters —Mary Holland, Grace Ann, and Sarah Jane —as they navigate building careers in the Big Apple.
She wore tights and heels to round off the lookCredit: BackGridShe stepped out alongside Lauren SanchezCredit: BackGrid
A group of entertainment industry workers launched a new coalition that aims to advocate for the rights of creators amid the growing AI industry.
The group, called Creators Coalition on AI, was founded by 18 people, including writer-director Daniel Kwan, actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natasha Lyonne and producer Janet Yang, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gordon-Levitt said the group is not limited to Hollywood luminaries and is open to all creators and the skilled workers around them, including podcasters, digital content creators and newsletter writers.
“We’re all frankly facing the same threat, not from generative AI as a technology, but from the unethical business practices a lot of the big AI companies are guilty of,” he said in a video posted on X on Tuesday. “The idea is that through public pressure, through collective action, through potentially litigation and eventually legislation, creators actually have a lot of power if we come together.
The coalition’s formation comes at a time when Hollywood has been grappling with the fast growth of artificial intelligence tools. Many artists have raised concerns about tools that have used their likenesses or work without their permission or compensation.
The tech industry has said that it should be able to train its AI models with content available online under the “fair use” doctrine, which allows for the limited reproduction of material without permission from the copyright holder.
Some studios have partnered with AI companies to use the tools in areas including marketing and visual effects. Last week, Walt Disney Co. signed a licensing deal with San Francisco-based ChatGPT maker OpenAI for its popular Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Yoda to be used in the startup’s text to video tool Sora.
Kwan told The Hollywood Reporter that when Disney and OpenAI’s deal was announced many people felt “completely blindsided.”
“On one hand, you can say that this is just a licensing deal for the characters and that’s not a big deal, and it won’t completely change the way our industry works,” Kwan told THR. “But for a lot of people, it symbolically shows a willingness to work with companies that have not been able to resolve or reconcile the problems.”
There has also been lawsuits filed against some AI companies. Earlier this year, Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery sued AI business Midjourney accusing it of copyright infringement.
The Creators Coalition on AI said it plans to convene an AI advisory committee “to establish shared standards, definitions, and best practices as well as ethical and artistic protections for if and when AI is used.” Some of the principles the group lists on its website include the importance of transparency, consent, control and compensation in the use of AI tools, sensitivity to potential job losses, guardrails against misuse and deepfakes and safeguarding humanity in the creative process.
“This is not a full rejection of AI,” the group said on its website. “The technology is here. This is a commitment to responsible, human-centered innovation.”
“This is not a dividing line between the tech industry and the entertainment industry, nor a line between labor and corporations,” the group said . “Instead, we are drawing a line between those who want to do this fast, and those who want to do this right.”
The idea for the coalition was sparked by Kwan, who produced a documentary about AI, which comes out next year, Gordon-Levitt said in his video. He said work on the group began in the middle of this year. Already the collective has many signatories, including actors Natalie Portman, Greta Lee, Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom.
The Mexican actor and human rights advocate taps into her inner Sydney Bristow alongside Simu Liu in “The Copenhagen Test,” the new spy series on Peacock.
Melissa Barrera is no stranger to a certain type of espionage. Dangerous missions. Sometimes starting in the dark of night. One particular covert operation she regularly took part in is one many daughters have had to take with their resolute mothers — Black Friday shopping.
She recalls crossing the border from her hometown in Monterrey, Nuevo León, in the wee hours of the morning to McAllen or Brownsville in Texas to score primo deals at the big-box stores.
“It felt like a treasure hunt for me,” she recalled. “In my mind, it was like a mission, getting the things that we had to get. I like challenges and being given instructions. That was very satisfying for my personality type.”
That experience prepared the Mexican actor for her role as a spy juggling secret identities in Peacock’s “The Copenhagen Test,” premiering Dec. 27. The espionage thriller stars Simu Liu as an intelligence analyst whose brain has been hacked, putting his thoughts and memories in the hands of unknown perpetrators. Barrera co-stars as Michelle, a spy tangled in the web of deceit.
“It was a challenge. I’d never done anything like this before, in the sense that you really don’t know who Michelle is,” said the actor, who chatted over Zoom from Barcelona where she’s filming another thriller, “Black Tides.”
“It was also confusing for me as an actor, because we didn’t have all the scripts at the beginning, so I had made up who I thought Michelle was — and then I would get more scripts and I was like, ‘Well, that goes out the window.’ It was a constant construction.”
Those Black Friday missions weren’t the only ways in which Barrera was innately prepared for the role. Growing up, she devoured the Jennifer Garner spy series “Alias.” She spent hours as a teen watching and rewatching episodes on DVD. It was Garner’s ass-kicking turn as Sydney Bristow, and her many stealthy alter egos, that planted a seed in Barrera.
“I was obsessed with that show,” she says. “As a young teenager, I was like, ‘I want to be a spy.’ I would research online: ‘How do you get recruited as a spy?’ That’s how obsessed I was.”
She longed for intrigue, for covert operations, for wigs. Not just the kind of spy business that equates to elbowing señoras at Best Buy for a deeply discounted TV. And then came “The Copenhagen Test.”
“I just thought that it was so fun, the role playing within the role playing that happens,” she said. “I read the scripts, and they were really good. And I got to be a spy. I was like, this is a no-brainer for me. I’ve been asking for this since I was 12, so it was a dream come true for young me.”
From “Episode 101” of “The Copenhagen Test”: Melissa Barrera as Michelle and Simu Liu as Alexander.
A spy series is just the latest in a long wishlist of roles for Barrera, who got to flex her dramatic side in “Vida,” her vocal and dance prowess in the musical “In the Heights,” and dive into scream queen territory in “Scream V” and “Scream VI.”
“I think it’s valuable for Latinos onscreen to bring in some of their background when it fits, and when it doesn’t, there’s no need to push it — I’m representing Latinos just by being there,” said Barrera, with a nod to ongoing discussions surrounding Latino inclusion in Hollywood. “[Yet] I’ve always wanted to explore all parts of myself. I’ve always wanted to try different things. I think it’s been happening, because I do believe that whatever you put out into the universe comes to you.”
It’s not just dream acting roles that Barrera puts out into the universe, hoping it produces something good. The 35-year-old is an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, wearing her beliefs quite literally on her chest — during our call she sports a hoodie with the phrase “words not actions” in the shape of a watermelon, a symbol of perseverance and resistance for Palestinian people. She’s never shied away from using her voice, in particular for this specific human rights issue, and it’s come with its consequences.
Two years ago, Barrera was fired from the forthcoming installment of the Scream franchise, “Scream VII,” as well as dropped from her agency for posts she shared and wrote on social media calling Israel’s attacks on Gaza acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” read one of her Instagram stories in following the events of Oct. 7. “Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt [sic] nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
Her firing drew widespread attention and critical discussion over what was viewed by many as the latestform ofHollywood blacklisting. Last year, Barrera spoke to De Los about the backlash, saying, “It wasn’t easy to be labeled as something so horrible when I knew that wasn’t the case. But I was always at peace because I knew I had done nothing wrong. I was aligned with human rights organizations globally, and so many experts and scholars and historians and, most importantly, Indigenous peoples around the world.”
Over a year later, her stance hasn’t changed. In fact, that period changed everything for Barrera.
“I’ve always had that inner inquietude, that kind of yearning for equality and for justice and for eliminating any kind of prejudices and racism and colorism, which is very prevalent in Mexico,” she explained. “But I honestly think it was Palestine that did it for me, that crumbled everything for me. After that, it’s been a before and after in my way of thinking and my way of viewing the world; in my way of viewing the industry and the way that I want to move forward.”
As Barrera moves forward, using her platform to speak up for injustice is inextricable from her sense of self and her place in Hollywood. What she brings to the screen is her full self, regardless of the role; to play a spy, or a scream queen, or any other character takes knowing who you are and what you stand for. Now, more than ever, Barrera is firmly grounded and ready for action.
Los Angeles police are investigating an apparent homicide at the Brentwood home of Rob Reiner, where two people were found dead Sunday afternoon.
The bodies of a 78-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman were found at the home in the 200 block of Chadbourne Avenue, according to Police Capt. Mike Bland.
Law enforcement sources told The Times that a family member was being questioned in connection with the death. .
The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation, confirmed that there was no sign of forced entry into the home. The names of the victims have not been released.
Margaret Stewart, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman, said the department was called to the residence around 3:30 p.m. for medical aid. Inside the home, fire personnel discovered the bodies of the man and woman.
Rob Reiner and wife Michele Reiner attend the 46th Kennedy Center Honors gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in December 2023.
(Kent Nishimulra / AFP via Getty Images)
Reiner, 78, has had a five-decade-long career in Hollywood.
Early in his career, he played Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the iconic sitcom “All in the Family” from 1971 to 1979, alongside Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker.
As a director, Reiner helmed a string of hits including “When Harry Met Sally,” “The Princess Bride” and “This Is Spinal Tap.” His work took a dramatic turn when he directed the 1986 adaptation of Steven King’s novella “Stand by Me.”
Reiner was finally nominated for an Academy Award for 1993’s “A Few Good Men,” which starred Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, though the movie lost to Clint Eastwood’s western “Unforgiven.”
Reiner also was a leading political voice in Hollywood.
He was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization that led the fight to overturn Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. He’s also been active in children’s issues through the years, having led the campaign to pass Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created an ambitious program of early childhood development services.
Proposition 10 was considered landmark policy. Reiner enlisted help in the effort from Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, and his own father, comedy legend Carl Reiner.
Reiner was married to Penny Marshall, star of “Laverne & Shirley,” from 1971 to 1981. He met photographer Michele Singer on the set of “When Harry Met Sally” and the two married in 1989, the year the movie came out.
Michele Singer Reiner began producing films over the last decade, including “Shock and Awe,” “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” and “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” all directed by her husband. She also produced “God & Country,” a look at Christian nationalism in the U.S.
By Sunday evening, law enforcement had swarmed Reiner’s sprawling estate in Brentwood, though an eerie quiet hung over Chadbourne Avenue, which had been sealed from the public with yellow crime scene tape.
Police cars were stationed at either ends of the block where the Reiner residence is located while a chopper circled overhead.
Officers spoke to a young man inside of the sealed off area, who left the scene around 7:30 p.m. in a white Tesla and declined to speak to the media.
Councilmember Traci Park, whose Westside district includes Brentwood, said in a statement that the LAPD had increased patrols in the neighborhood “out of an abundance of caution.”
“As we continue to wait for more updates, I want to express my profound concern and sadness at the news coming out of Brentwood,” Park wrote in the statement. “We are in close contact with LAPD as the homicide unit continues their investigation.”
This breaking news story will be updated.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
Andy Dick says he is “110 percent” fine after video of him slumped over unresponsive on some steps from an apparent overdose in Hollywood circulated this week.
The comedian and convicted sex offender has been updating numerous outlets about the incident, telling the New York Post on Friday that he believes fentanyl is to blame for his medical emergency. This follows his Wednesday interview with TMZ in which he mentioned he doesn’t “mind doing a little crack [cocaine] every now and then.”
“It has to be [fentanyl],” Dick said to the Post, explaining that paramedics told his friends that the synthetic opioid was the likely cause. “That’s the only thing that can kill you that quickly, like I just dropped.”
Dick recounted to both outlets how he was out with friends Tuesday when he saw a stranger waving him over. He then “snuck away” briefly and did some drugs.
“There was a guy that was my age and I felt for him,” Dick said to TMZ. “He was depressed and he was on the sidewalk … and then he whipped out [what looked like] crack. And I’m like, you know what, I might need a little bit of that.”
He told the Post that he then “just dropped,” but declined to elaborate any further.
According to Shawn Harrell, who came across the scene as friends were trying to revive the unresponsive comedian and was present when first responders arrived, Dick was in pretty bad shape Tuesday.
“He was blue. His hands [were] blue and his face was blue,” Harrell told People. “His body was limp. It was like deadweight. … I thought he passed away.”
But after being administered some Narcan, the brand name of a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, Dick reportedly was able to leave the area with a friend and was not transported to a hospital.
“It was a group effort,” one of Dick’s friends said to TMZ.
According to the Post, Dick’s comments about crack were meant to be a joke.
“I jokingly said ‘a little crack every now and then [is] not gonna kill anybody,’ but it killed me,” Dick said. “It killed me. I died, you know, my lips turned purple.”
The sale of Warner Bros. — whether in pieces to Netflix or in its entirety to Paramount — is stirring mounting worries among Hollywood union leaders about the possible fallout for their members.
Unions representing writers, directors, actors and crew workers have voiced growing concerns that further consolidation in the media industry will reduce competition, potentially causing studios to pay less for content, and make it more difficult for people to find work.
“We’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends,” said Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West. “There are lots of promises made that one plus one is going to equal three. But it’s very hard to envision how two behemoths, for example, Warner Bros. and Netflix … can keep up the level of output they currently have.”
Last week, Netflix announced it agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studio, Burbank lot, HBO and HBO Max for $27.75 a share, or $72 billion. It also agreed to take on more than $10 billion of Warner Bros.’ debt. But Paramount, whose previous offers were rebuffed by Warner Bros., has appealed directly to shareholders with an alternative bid to buy all of the company for about $78 billion.
Paramount said it will have more than $6 billion in cuts over three years, while also saying the combined companies will release at least 30 movies a year. Netflix said it expects its deal will have $2 billion to $3 billion in cost cuts.
Those cuts are expected to trigger thousands of layoffs across Hollywood, which has already been squeezed by the flight of production overseas and a contraction in the once booming TV business.
Mulroney said that employment for WGA writers in episodic television is down as much as 40% when comparing the 2023-2024 writing season to 2022-2023.
Executives from both companies have said their deals would benefit creative talent and consumers.
But Hollywood union leaders are skeptical.
“We can hear the generalizations all day long, but it doesn’t really mean anything unless it’s on paper, and we just don’t know if these companies are even prepared to make promises in writing,” said Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters at-large vice president and principal officer for Local 399, which represents drivers, location managers and casting directors.
Dougherty said the Teamsters have been engaged with both Netflix and Paramount, seeking commitments to keep filming in Los Angeles.
“We have a lot of members that are struggling to find work, or haven’t really worked in the last year or so,” Dougherty said.
Mulroney said her union has concerns about both bids, either by Netflix or Paramount.
“We don’t think the merger is inevitable,” Mulroney said. “We think there’s an opportunity to push back here.”
If Netflix were to buy Warner Bros.’ TV and film businesses, Mulroney said that could further undermine the theatrical business.
“It’s hard to imagine them fully embracing theatrical exhibition,” Mulroney said. “The exhibition business has been struggling to get back on its feet ever since the pandemic, so a move like this could really be existential.”
But the Writers Guild also has issues with Paramount’s bid, Mulroney said, noting that it would put Paramount-owned CBS News and CNN under the same parent company.
“We have censorship concerns,” Mulroney said. “We saw issues around [Stephen] Colbert and [Jimmy] Kimmel. We’re concerned about what the news would look like under single ownership here.”
That question was made more salient this week after President Trump, who has for years harshly criticized CNN’s hosts and news coverage, said he believes CNN should be sold.
The worries come as some unions’ major studio contracts, including the DGA, WGA and performers guild SAG-AFTRA, are set to expire next year. Two years ago, writers and actors went on a prolonged strike to push for more AI protections and better wages and benefits.
The Directors Guild of America and performers union SAG-AFTRA have voiced similar objections to the pending media consolidation.
“A deal that is in the interest of SAG-AFTRA members and all other workers in the entertainment industry must result in more creation and more production, not less,” the union said.
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the union has been in discussions with both Paramount and Netflix.
“It is as yet unclear what path forward is going to best protect the legacy that Warner Brothers presents, and that’s something that we’re very actively investigating right now,” he said.
It’s not clear, however, how much influence the unions will have in the outcome.
“They just don’t have a seat at the ultimate decision making table,” said David Smith, a professor of economics at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. “I expect their primary involvement could be through creating more awareness of potential challenges with a merger and potentially more regulatory scrutiny … I think that’s what they’re attempting to do.”
ICONIC rapper 50 Cent and actor Jason Momoa look totally different after undergoing major makeovers as part of their impending movie roles.
They have both undergone transformations for the movie Street Fighter which is due to be released in theatres next October.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
50 Cent has undergone a major transformationCredit: Instagram/streetfightermovieJason Momoa also looks totally different ahead of the release of the movie Street FighterCredit: Instagram/streetfightermovie
The two will be among an ensemble cast helping to reboot the popular film franchise.
In his poster promo image, Jason has transformed into Blanka the beast and looks a million miles away from himself.
He can be seen with ginger hair and a scruffy beard as he takes on the character.
Meanwhile, 50 Cent adopts his birth name of Curtis Jackson for his movie credit.
Donning boxing gloves and a unique haircut, he will play Balrog, a boxer, in the flick.
Other members of the cast include actor Noah Centenio, Andrew Koji, Orville Peck and Cory Rhodes.
Paramount Pictures have already released a synopsis for the movie, teasing: “Set in 1993, estranged Street FightersRyu(Andrew Koji) andKen Masters(Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysteriousChun-Li(Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury.
“But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past.”
Street Fighter first launched as a popular video game that was first launched in 1987.
50 Cent previously revealed he had undergone an intense fitness regime in order to get himself ready for the movie role.
He wrote on TikTok three month ago alongside a video clip of him working out: “I don’t expect you to understand my level of discipline but watch it, it’s entertaining.”
50 Cent originally made his acting debut in the 2005 movie Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
He has since appeared in a plethora of hit movies and TV shows including Streets of Blood, Dead Man Running, Den Of Thieves and Power.
50 will be playing Balrog in the filmCredit: Instagram/streetfightermovieThe rapper has a completely different hairline to his Street Fighter characterCredit: GettyYou’d be forgiven for not recognising Jason in the picturesCredit: Getty
A former Los Angeles Police Department commander who authorities said tipped off CBS to a rape allegation against the network’s top executive will not face criminal charges, with two LAPD detectives claiming department leaders undermined the investigation, according to documents obtained by The Times.
The L.A. County district attorney’s office decided in April it would not prosecute Cory Palka for warning CBS executives in 2017 that a woman had walked into the LAPD’s Hollywood station and accused then-Chief Executive Les Moonves of sexual assault, according to a document provided to The Times in response to a public records request.
Although heavily redacted, the declination memo includes details and a timeline that match up with the findings of a 2022 New York state attorney general’s office investigation that first revealed Palka’s relationship with Moonves. The TV executive’s career ended in disgrace after dozens of women came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and abuse in 2018.
Palka has not disputed that he improperly disclosed information to CBS, but denied any improper benefit from his relationship with Moonves when reached for comment by The Times this week.
The former LAPD chief who led the department during the investigation, Michel Moore, called allegations the matter was not properly handled “absolutely false.”
Representatives for CBS and Moonves declined to comment.
The Moonves affair drew significant attention at the height of the #MeToo movement, but the fate of Palka has remained a question mark in the years since. The newly uncovered documents shed light on both the outcome of the investigation and tensions within the police department over scrutinizing one of its own.
Palka, a former station captain who retired as a commander in 2021, was often referred to as “Capt. Hollywood” and known for mingling with stars, scoring a bit part in the TV series “Bosch.”
In 2022, the New York state attorney general’s office released a report that revealed Palka left a voicemail for a CBS executive in November 2017, shortly after an 81-year-old woman walked into his station and accused Moonves of sexually assaulting her on two occasions in the late 1980s.
“Somebody walked in the station about a couple hours ago and made allegations against your boss regarding a sexual assault,” he said in a voicemail message left for Ian Metrose, who was then CBS’ senior vice president for talent relations, according to reports made public by prosecutors. “It’s confidential, as you know, but call me.”
For months, Palka gave Moonves and other CBS leaders inside information about the rape investigation and slipped the network a copy of the accuser’s report, according to the New York attorney general’s office. At one point, Palka and Moonves met in person and the executive told the captain he “wanted the LAPD investigation closed.”
Ultimately, prosecutors could not bring a rape case because the statute of limitations had long expired. The accuser, Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, was a television development executive who previously told The Times that Moonves assaulted her in 1986 and 1988. Those dates match an alleged victim described in the L.A. County district attorney’s office’s memo on Palka. Golden-Gottlieb died in 2022.
Former television executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb talks about alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Les Moonves in the law offices of Gloria Allred in L.A. on Sept. 11, 2018. Golden-Gottlieb, who died in 2022, worked with Moonves in the 1980s.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
After hearing from Palka, top CBS executives “began investigating the victim’s personal circumstances and that of her family,” according to the New York attorney general’s report, which was produced as part of an investigation into the TV network’s leaders for selling stock and allegedly misleading investors while not disclosing the allegations against Moonves.
The district attorney’s office said in the memo obtained by The Times that it declined to bring charges, in part, because the statute of limitations on one of the potential charges against Palka had run out.
The LAPD claimed it didn’t learn of Palka’s alleged misconduct until 2022, but a whistleblower complaint filed in late 2023 by Det. Jason Turner alleges Moore knew of the issue much earlier and ignored it, allowing Palka to escape accountability.
Turner also alleged he found evidence that Palka told at least two other LAPD employees about his relationship with Moonves, but said he was barred from interviewing them, according to the complaint, which was filed with the LAPD’s Office of the Inspector General in November 2023.
“Chief Moore’s failure to initiate a complaint circa 2018-2021 against Palka compromised the investigation and allowed Palka to avoid criminal charges,” Turner wrote in the complaint obtained by The Times.
The LAPD declined to comment. Moore unequivocally denied Turner’s allegations, but did not elaborate further in response to questions about the handling of the investigation. Moore announced his retirement from the LAPD in January 2024.
“It is absolutely baseless,” Moore said of Turner’s claim, adding that the Office of the Inspector General had determined the complaint was unfounded.
A spokesperson for the inspector general’s office said they could not discuss the status of Turner’s complaint.
Michel Moore announces his retirement as LAPD chief at a press conference with Mayor Karen Bass at L.A. City Hall on Jan. 12, 2024.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The ex-chief described the whistleblower complaint as a “distraction” from Palka’s “terrible actions.”
“It was a disservice. It lacked integrity. It tarnished the badge. It was wrong,” Moore said of Palka.
Turner declined a request to comment through his lawyer Thursday. .
In September 2023 — 10 months after the allegations against Palka became public — a different LAPD internal affairs detective presented a case for L.A. County prosecutors to consider against Palka, according to a memo explaining the decision to decline charges. Prosecutors weighed charges of bribery, obstruction and disclosing information from a criminal investigation for financial gain.
LAPD detectives “suspected Palka had possibly engaged in bribery,” according to the document. While there was no evidence Palka was paid directly for leaking the information about Moonves, he received $500 annually to be part of Moonves’ security detail at the Grammy Awards, according to the New York attorney general’s report.
After leaving the LAPD, Palka was hired as chief of security to billionaire hedge fund manager Michael Milken, according to public records and testimony given by Moonves in a deposition for a civil lawsuit reviewed by The Times. Palka is still employed by Milken today, the records show.
Moonves said in the deposition that he recommended Palka for the job.
A separate complaint to the inspector general’s office obtained by The Times shows another internal affairs detective made allegations that echoed Turner’s. In that complaint, the second detective said LAPD supervisors blocked attempts to interview Moonves, Milken and Metrose, the CBS vice president that Palka purportedly first tipped off about the rape case.
“It is my belief that the refusal by our supervisors to permit us to interview these key individuals jeopardized the integrity of the investigation and was done for improper motives,” wrote the detective, who requested anonymity, fearing professional repercussions.
The April memo from L.A. County prosecutors said there was substantial evidence Palka had improperly disclosed information from a criminal case, but they lacked proof that “Palka gained financially,” so charges of bribery and disclosure of confidential information for financial gain could not be filed.
Asked whether Moonves helping Palka land a high-level security job would be considered financial gain, a district attorney’s office spokesman said prosecutors “could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Palka disclosed confidential information in return for financial gain, which is an essential element of the crime of bribery.”
In an email to The Times, Palka did not address questions about the alleged bribery or the district attorney’s charging decision, but challenged the idea that there was any link between Moonves’ recommendation for his current job and the leak of information to CBS.
“My post retirement employment was not considered until I completed my career and fully separated from the LAPD,” Palka said.
Les Moonves, former chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation, poses at the premiere of the new television series “Star Trek: Discovery” in Los Angeles on Sept. 19, 2017.
(Chris Pizzello / AP)
Caleb Mason, a partner at Brown White & Osborn LLP in Los Angeles and a former federal prosecutor, said charges related to Palka’s post-LAPD work would be challenging to prove in court.
“I think a lot of prosecutors would get anxious about filing a case where the theory was simply he had this relationship and after he retired the relationship would get him a job,” Mason said.
In his complaint to the inspector general, Turner said department executives knew of the Hollywood captain’s links to CBS much earlier than has been publicly reported.
CBS attorneys questioned Palka about his relationship with Moonves in 2018, while performing an audit connected to the rape allegations, according to the detective’s complaint. At that time, Palka demanded that the LAPD Command Officers Assn., the union that represents officers above the rank of captain, provide him an attorney, according to the complaint.
“Chief Moore was the Chief at the time and had to have been aware that one [of] his Captains was being interviewed in his official capacity by CBS attorneys for misconduct,” the complaint read. “However, Chief Moore did not initiate a complaint/internal investigation into Cory Palka.”
Muna Busilah, the attorney who Turner claimed represented Palka, declined to say whether or not she was involved in the case. She confirmed she did work with the Command Officers Assn. in 2018, and said there was no requirement to formally notify Moore if a member of the command staff sought legal counsel through the union.
Turner’s complaint accused Moore and LAPD Det. Jason De La Cova, an internal affairs division supervisor, of obstructing justice and dissuading an investigation. De La Cova was the detective who presented a case to the district attorney’s office, according to the declination memo.
“The Chief doesn’t want heads to roll,” De La Cova said to Turner when blocking one of his requests to interview another member of the LAPD, according to the whistleblower complaint.
When reached on Wednesday, De La Cova declined to comment.
A district attorney’s office spokesperson would not say if prosecutors were aware of the misconduct allegations levied against Moore and De La Cova while reviewing Palka’s case. The allegations of obstruction made against the ex-chief and De La Cova in Turner’s complaint have never been presented for consideration of criminal charges, the spokesman said.
De La Cova was previously named in another complaint filed by Tuner.
In 2023, Turner and another detective alleged they were ordered to launch an investigation into Mayor Karen Bass’ receipt of a scholarship from the University of Southern California at Moore’s behest. When both refused, the case was taken over by De La Cova.
Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations. Moore was later cleared of wrongdoing by the department’s inspector general, which concluded in June 2024 after a months-long probe that the detective’s claims were “unfounded.”
