sexual harassment

NEW DELHI — Nana Patekar, an acclaimed Indian actor and filmmaker, died Thursday at his home in the western state of Goa. He was 75.

Patekar died of a suspected cardiac arrest, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, citing a doctor at the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Born in 1951 in India’s western state of Maharashtra, Patekar built a career spanning nearly five decades in Hindi- and Marathi-language cinema. He was known for intense performances and roles that often portrayed complex or unconventional characters.

Patekar made his film debut in the 1978 Hindi film “Gaman” and later earned acclaim for “Parinda” and “Krantiveer.” Patekar became popular in mainstream Bollywood films, while also working in India’s “parallel cinema” movement, known for its focus on realism and social issues. He gained wider international recognition with filmmaker Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated “Salaam Bombay!”

He won three National Film Awards, India’s highest film honors, and received the Padma Shri, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.

In 2018, during India’s #MeToo movement, a Bollywood actress accused Patekar of sexual harassment on a film set. Patekar denied the allegation. The case was among several that drew attention as women publicly spoke about sexual misconduct in India’s film industry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned Patekar’s death, praising his “intensity, individuality and unmistakable presence” as an actor.

“He brought remarkable versatility and creativity to every role and gave us characters that will be remembered for generations,” Modi wrote on X.

Patekar is survived by his wife and son.

What a surprise. David Ellison has decided to name the Frankenstudio media company created by the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery simply Skydance.

And why not? “Massive Debt Funding Media” doesn’t really roll off the tongue (though “Ultra Leveraged” has a nice ring); “Ellison and Dad” is a bit too on the nose; and “Skydance” is, after all, the name he chose for the one company out of those four that he built rather than bought.

Skydance is a poetic term with some definite “Star Wars” overtones and perhaps unintentional symbolism. Before the aviation-loving Ellison claimed it, “sky dance” referred to the aerial mating of certain birds, most famously the American woodcock, also known as the timberdoodle or (I’m not making this up) the bogsucker.

(“Timberdoodle Media,” now that’s a splendid name, and “Bogsucker Productions” could work as well.)

In his attempts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Ellison has certainly engaged in some high-flying … well, courtship might not be the right term for the dizzying mix of cajoling and threats he has employed to get the deal done, and it certainly does not seem fair to the American woodcock. I’m no expert, but I don’t think their mating rituals involve using the New York Times to plead their case or, when that doesn’t work, threatening to move en masse to Tennessee.

For those inexplicably hoping for ParaBros, Skydance seems a bit of a letdown, especially considering all the trouble Ellison went to. It’s been quite a show, the various razzle-dazzle versus strong arm tactics (not to mention the Middle Eastern money) he mobilized to turn two of Hollywood’s preeminent founding studios into ingredients in sub-brand stew that also includes CNN, HBO Max, CBS, DC Comics, Nickelodeon, MTV and Food Network.

Overseeing such a diverse mix is obviously too big a job for one person so Ellison added yet another flavor by drafting Ynon Kreiz as co-chief executive. Kreiz was previously chairman and chief executive of Mattel, where he facilitated the toy company’s big Hollywood push with “Barbie,” “Masters of the Universe” and the upcoming Hot Wheels movie. (Polly Pocket, now in development at Reese Witherspoon’s Sunshine Productions, should be preparing for her close-up.)

By sticking with Skydance, Ellison is not just making a large swath of Hollywood indisputably his own, he’s showing remarkable confidence in a name that first came to many people’s attention in 2019 when he hired John Lasseter.

Six months after Walt Disney Co. ended its relationship with the then-chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios following an investigation into multiple accusations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct, Ellison hired him to oversee Skydance Animation.

Unsurprisingly, this led to all manner of protest, within and outside the company. When Emma Thompson learned of Lasseter joining Skydance, she withdrew from its highly anticipated upcoming animated film “Luck.” In a stinging letter she sent to the company at the time (and allowed The Times to make public), she wrote: “It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate.”

Lasseter was not Skydance’s only controversial hire. After merging with Paramount, the company made deals with or hired multiple men, including Brett Ratner, Max Landis and Jeff Shell, who had been accused of sexual harassment and/or misconduct.

Shell was made president of Paramount less than three years after losing his job as NBCUniversal chief executive following the disclosure of an “inappropriate relationship” with an NBC employee. He stepped down from Paramount in April after a monthslong legal battle with a Las Vegas gambler and self-described “fixer” who claimed that Shell had reneged on a deal to develop a series in exchange for free crisis control.

Now, of course, all of that is ancient history. Now Paramount is merely a sub-brand and Hollywood is less concerned with who Skydance hired as it is with who, and how many, Skydance will fire.

Also how exactly the CNN/CBS oversight committee Ellison agreed to create as part of the settlement with 12 states is going to work. And what will happen if Skydance does not release 30 new films each year, which Ellison has promised to do as part of the settlement deal. And how expensive the new Skydance streaming bundles are going to be. And if, perhaps, in some language Skydance translates to “the end of the entertainment industry as we know it.”

Most important, is it too late for the American woodcock to sue?

Sept. 25, 2026 12:31 PM PT

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey ’s Democratic lieutenant governor has resigned after the governor demanded he step down over sexual harassment allegations and ethical lapses involving his relationships with women.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill had given Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell an ultimatum that he resign by Friday, though she lacked the power to remove him if he said no. Sherrill announced the resignation at a news conference that afternoon.

“His decision will allow us to move forward with important work serving the people of our state,” she said. “In my administration we are committed to doing what is right, not what is politically expedient.”

Sherrill picked Caldwell, a Methodist pastor and former president of Centenary University, to be her running mate last year. They were elected together and took office in January, but within four months, Caldwell had become the subject of an anonymous complaint about his behavior with women.

In New Jersey, a governor can’t fire the lieutenant governor, as the post is independently elected. But lieutenant governors can be impeached and removed from office by the Legislature. A governor can strip a lieutenant governor of nearly all duties and responsibilities, effectively sidelining them from the administration.

Sherrill hired the law firm of a former New Jersey attorney general, Christopher Porrino, to investigate.

In a report released Thursday, the lawyers said Caldwell had committed several violations of state policy. It said Caldwell, 66, had made an advance toward a staff member’s friend and when he was rebuffed told the staffer, “you young women are looking for young sperm.”

The report also said Caldwell had tried to get a promotion for a state employee he was dating and brought personal guests to the opera and other ticketed events without paying for them, as required by ethics rules.

Caldwell denied any misconduct and said in a letter included in the report that he suspected his relationships with women were being subjected to extra scrutiny because he was a single Black man.

His lawyer, Thomas Calcagni, said Caldwell never made the sperm statement or used his position to further his romantic life. Caldwell did recommend a female friend for a promotion, Calcagni said, but only because he thought she would be a good candidate for the job. Caldwell denied ordering anyone to promote her or knowingly violating ethics rules by failing to disclose their personal relationship when he recommended her.

Sherrill had said Caldwell needed to resign because he committed “serious, repeated violations of state policy,” despite multiple warnings and trainings.

Besides being the first in line to become governor if Sherrill were to die, be removed from office or become incapacitated, Caldwell also had served as New Jersey’s appointed secretary of state. In that role, he had a supervisory role over the state’s elections.

In neighboring New York, a similar impasse has played out over the last year between Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and her estranged Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who launched a caustic primary challenge to unseat her only to withdraw from the race as the election neared.

Hochul is running for reelection in November with Adrienne Adams, the former speaker of the New York City Council, as her replacement lieutenant governor nominee.

Catalini and Marcelo write for the Associated Press. Marcelo reported from New York.