Washington Post cartoonist arrested over child porn
Darrin Bell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist known for his work with The Washington Post, has been arrested on child pornography charges, according to an entry on the Sacramento County Jail’s website.
In the listing detailing Bell’s inmate information, he is reported to have been booked on January 15, and is said to be charged with felony “possession/control of obscene matter depicting a person under 18.”
The investigation into Bell was conducted by Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children detectives (ICAC) and apparently began after a tip about 18 files containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that were uploaded to an online service, according to the outlet BNO, citing a statement by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators are said to have ultimately found a total of 134 videos linked to the same account, which was allegedly owned and controlled by Bell. A search warrant was reportedly executed at Bell’s residence, resulting in his arrest and booking into the Sacramento County Main Jail.
The inmate information listed on the jail’s online database shows that Bell’s bail has been set at $1 million.
The outlet quotes Sgt. Amar Gandhi of the sheriff’s office as saying that Bell’s arrest is the first case in Sacramento County for possession of AI-generated child pornography under a new law that came into force on January 1.
Well, that didn't take long!
There has so far been no official confirmation from Bell’s representatives of his status. Major news outlets, including The Washington Post, have not yet reported on the matter.
Darrin Bell is known for his comic strips “Candorville” and “Rudy Park,” both featured in the Post and other newspapers nationwide. In 2019, he became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.
Drake files defamation lawsuit against label, denies ‘pedophile’ allegations
Drake has escalated his ongoing legal battle against his record label, Universal Music Group (UMG), by filing defamation lawsuit against the parent record label he and rival Kendrick Lamar are signed to.
The Toronto rapper filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, Jan. 15, and referred to the release of Lamar’s diss track, “Not Like Us,” as an example of ” corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists,” according to The New York Times.
In his filing, Drake’s team says the diss track aimed at the Canadian rapper spreads the “false and malicious narrative” that he is a pedophile.
“On May 4, 2024, UMG approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him,” the complaint reads. “Even though UMG enriched itself and its shareholders by exploiting Drake’s music for years, and knew that the salacious allegations against Drake were false, UMG chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
The filing states that Drake is “not a pedophile” and he has “never engaged in any acts that would require him to be ‘placed on neighborhood watch’.”
“Drake has never engaged in sexual relations with a minor. Drake has never been charged with, or convicted of, any criminal acts whatsoever,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit goes on to detail a shooting at Drake’s home a few days after the song was released, resulting in a security guard being seriously injured.
“During the nearly 30 minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive, Drake and others labored to keep the man alive by applying pressure to the gunshot wound with towels. Blood was everywhere,” the filing reads.
According to the suit, nothing like that had happened to Drake or his family during the two decades that he’s been working in the music industry.
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Neil Gaiman denies sexual assault allegations as more accusers come forward
Best-selling British author Neil Gaiman released a statement Wednesday denying he had ever engaged in non-consensual sex after a magazine this week published allegations from several women, accusing him of sexual assault.
The 64-year-old author of The Sandman comic book series and novel American Gods was responding to a New York Magazine article that detailed allegations of assault, abuse and coercion levelled by eight women. The allegations of four of them had been broadcast in July in a Tortoise Media podcast.
Gaiman said he had watched stories about him circulate on the Internet for months with “horror and dismay.”
“As I read through this latest collection of accounts, there are moments I half-recognise and moments I don’t, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen. I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever,” Gaiman posted on the social media platform Tumblr.
Gaiman said he had read back message exchanges he had had with his accusers. They still read like “two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again,” he said.
“And I also realise, looking through them, years later, that I could have and should have done so much better. I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been. I was obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings, and that’s something that I really, deeply regret,” Gaiman said.
Most of the allegations relate to occasions when Gaiman was in his 40s or older and living in the United States, Britain, and New Zealand.
One of the accusers, Scarlett Pavlovich, told New York Magazine she met Gaiman through his then-wife, U.S. performer Amanda Palmer, on a New Zealand island where the couple lived with their son in 2022. Pavlovich alleges Gaiman abused her several times starting the night they met.
The Associated Press doesn’t identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they publicly identify themselves.
Some of Pavlovich’s allegations were first made public six months earlier in the podcast. She told the magazine she filed a police report in January 2023 accusing Gaiman of sexual assault.
New Zealand Police this week would not say whether Gaiman was, or had been, under investigation.
“In general, Police cannot respond to queries which seek to establish whether specific individuals are, or have been, under Police investigation. Additionally, anyone who makes a complaint to Police has the right to privacy,” New Zealand Police told AP in an email on Tuesday.
The AP’s messages to Gaiman’s agent, his office and to Bloomsbury, publisher of several of his recent books, were not returned.
Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, which both have Gaiman-related projects scheduled for this year, haven’t responded to the AP’s messages.
Several of Gaiman’s works have been turned into movies and TV shows.
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