Punk gig cancelled over sex allegations
Toronto has become the latest city to cancel a planned performance by New York City punk band the Casualties due to multiple allegations of sexual assault levelled against lead singer Jorge Herrera.
The ’90s hardcore quartet was scheduled to perform at the Mod Club on Aug.14, but promoter Inertia Entertainment finally bowed to the same public pressure that has already seen 13 Canadian dates on the current Casualties tour in cities such as Halifax, Saskatoon, Moncton and Calgary shut down.
The trouble for Herrera and the Casualties began with a post, initially anonymous, to the website putyourdamnpantson.com in November of 2013 by a woman named Beth Gorley Dickerson claiming in vivid detail that she had been assaulted by Herrera “roughly 16 years ago” when she herself was just 16 and he 10 years older.
No criminal charges have ever been brought against Herrera, but numerous allegations of assault and a “Boycott the Casualties” Facebook page with nearly 4,000 “likes” have since followed online. The Casualties, for their part, issued a lengthy statement denying the charges against Herrera last year.
“We will not stand by while an innocent man’s life is being ruined,” it read. “The only thing Jorge can be found guilty of is playing in a punk band. It is appalling that people are so quick to agree with one side of an anonymous Internet rumour without personally knowing either of the parties involved.” Ben Rayner
Cosby must appear for sex assault suit
A Los Angeles judge has ordered comedian Bill Cosby to give a deposition in a lawsuit by a woman who says she was molested as a 15-yearold at the Playboy Mansion in the 1970s. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Craig D. Karlan ruled Wednesday that Cosby, 77, must be inter- viewed under oath Oct. 9 as part of a civil suit filed by Judy Huth. Huth will be deposed Oct. 15.
The decision comes after a Pennsylvania judge last month released a 2005 deposition stemming from a sexual abuse case against Cosby. He said in the deposition that he obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with and that he gave them to at least one woman. More than 45 women have accused The Cosby Show star of sexual misconduct dating back to the late 1960s. Los Angeles Times
Prison Break returns with TV miniseries
Break out the chisels and get working on the great escape, because Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield are officially back. A Prison Break miniseries was officially green-lit Thursday at the Television Critics Association conference.
Network bosses Dana Walden and Gary Newman revealed some key details, while keeping plenty under the hood. There could never be a return to Fox River without our two main protagonists: actors Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. Fox confirmed that both actors will reprise their respective roles as Michael and Lincoln. The series went with a bang in the TV movie Prison Break: The Final Break (spoiler alert: Michael dies), but viewers are being asked to forget that epic moment. Creator Paul Scheuring, who wasn’t a part of the final seasons of the series, is writing the script. Production is expected to begin in the near future. Amber Dowling
WWII bomber film to be shown free
A film documenting the historic reunion of the world’s two remaining airworthy Lancaster bombers will be screened free at select theatres on Remembrance Day.
Cineplex Entertainment says the screening will offer Canadians a chance to remember the crews who flew and maintained the Second World War-era planes. Reunion of Giants follows a 70-year-old Avro Lancaster bomber as it travels to the U.K. from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. The plane encountered engine failure, an emergency landing and a storm on this flight. Cineplex says it will announce participating theatres in September.