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Michael Avenatti Indicted Again in NY, This Time for Stealing Money from Stormy Daniels, Charged with Aggravated Identity Theft (Read it Here)

Roger Friedman
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Michael Avenatti Indicted Again in NY, This Time for Stealing Money from Stormy Daniels, Charged with Aggravated Identity Theft (Read it Here)

Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti has been indicted again by the US Attorney in New York. The victim was his former client, Stormy Daniels.

Here’s the release:

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the indictment today of MICHAEL AVENATTI on fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.  As alleged, AVENATTI used misrepresentations and a fraudulent document purporting to bear his client’s name and signature to convince his client’s literary agent to divert money owed to AVENATTI’s client to an account controlled by AVENATTI.  AVENATTI then spent the money principally for his own personal and business purposes.  The fraud and aggravated identity theft case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts of the Southern District of New York.

AVENATTI was separately indicted today on extortion charges, which were the subject of a previous Complaint and arrest of AVENATTI, relating to his alleged attempt to extract more than $20 million in payments from Nike, Inc., by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.  That case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Michael Avenatti abused and violated the core duty of an attorney – the duty to his client.  As alleged, he used his position of trust to steal an advance on the client’s book deal.  As alleged, he blatantly lied to and stole from his client to maintain his extravagant lifestyle, including to pay for, among other things, a monthly car payment on a Ferrari.  Far from zealously representing his client, Avenatti, as alleged, instead engaged in outright deception and theft, victimizing rather than advocating for his client.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed today[1]:

            From August 2018 through February 2019, AVENATTI defrauded a client (“Victim-1”) by diverting money owed to Victim-1 to AVENATTI’s control and use.  After assisting Victim-1 in securing a book contract, AVENATTI allegedly stole a significant portion of Victim-1’s advance on that contract.  He did so by, among other things, sending a fraudulent and unauthorized letter purporting to contain Victim-1’s signature to Victim-1’s literary agent, which instructed the agent to send payments not to Victim-1 but to a bank account controlled by AVENATTI.  As alleged, Victim-1 had not signed or authorized the letter, and did not even know of its existence.

            Specifically, prior to Victim-1’s literary agent wiring the second of four installment payments due to Victim-1 as part of the book advance, AVENATTI sent a letter to Victim-1’s literary agent purportedly signed by Victim-1 that instructed the literary agent to send all future payments to a client trust account in Victim-1’s name and controlled by AVENATTI.  The literary agent then wired $148,750 to the account, which AVENATTI promptly began spending for his own purposes, including on airfare, hotels, car services, restaurants and meal delivery, online retailers, payroll for his law firm and another business he owned, and insurance.  When Victim-1 began inquiring of AVENATTI as to why Victim-1 had not received the second installment, AVENATTI lied to Victim-1, telling Victim-1 that he was still attempting to obtain the payment from Victim-1’s publisher.  Approximately one month after diverting the payment, AVENATTI used funds recently received from another source to pay $148,750 to Victim-1, so that Victim-1 would not realize that AVENATTI had previously taken and used Victim-1’s money.

            Approximately one week later, pursuant to AVENATTI’s earlier fraudulent instructions, the literary agent sent another payment of $148,750 of Victim-1’s book advance to the client account controlled by AVENATTI.  AVENATTI promptly began spending the money for his own purposes, including to make payments to individuals with whom AVENATTI had a personal relationship, to make a monthly lease payment on a luxury automobile, and to pay for airfare, dry cleaning, hotels, restaurants and meals, payroll, and insurance costs.  Moreover, to conceal his scheme, and despite repeated requests to AVENATTI, as Victim-1’s lawyer, for assistance in obtaining the book payment that Victim-1 believed was missing, AVENATTI led Victim-1 to believe that Victim-1’s publisher was refusing to make the payment to the literary agent, when, as AVENATTI knew, the publisher had made the payment to the literary agent, who had then sent the money to AVENATTI pursuant to AVENATTI’s fraudulent instructions.

*                *                *

AVENATTI, 48, of Los Angeles, California, is charged in the fraud and aggravated identity theft indictment with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory term of imprisonment of two years in addition to the sentence imposed for the wire fraud charge.

AVENATTI is charged in the extortion indictment with one count of conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, one count of transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and one count of extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in both cases are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the work of the FBI and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The cases are being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Podolsky, Robert L. Boone, and Robert B. Sobelman are in charge of the prosecutions.

Vanity Fair Plays the Graydon Carter Card of Exclusive “Star Wars” Covers: Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley Signal Young and White, While Diverse Actors Are Featured Inside

Roger Friedman
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Vanity Fair Plays the Graydon Carter Card of Exclusive “Star Wars” Covers: Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley Signal Young and White, While Diverse Actors Are Featured Inside

Vanity Fair has been struggling with circulation problems in print and online. So now they’re offering two exclusive photos as covers from the new “Star Wars” movies to boost interest.

This is really playing the Graydon Carter card. For over a year, VF has eschewed Carter’s successful methods and had mostly difficult covers that were poorly shot of people not so popular and not looking great.

But the “Star Wars” covers– a Carter traditional exclusive– show that editor Radhika Jones is a little bit in retreat. Her template has been to offer covers of diversity. But those didn’t sell well. Last month, Jones returned to old standby Nicole Kidman, even though our favorite actress didn’t have a big movie to sell. But she signaled a pause in Jones’s radical makeover of the magazine.

The “Star Wars” covers are notable in that they are a choice of either Adam Driver or Daisy Ridley. There’s no John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, or especially Billy Dee Williams. Driver and Ridley are young and white, the demo Conde Nast and VF used to hold to their hearts dearly. Diversity be damned, even though that’s what “Star Wars” is about. Well, let’s see if that works.

The magazine has just endured a traumatizing Cannes pool party in drenching rain at the Hotel duCap. Even though Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were on the grounds, they didn’t attend. Their big get was Quentin Tarantino, and a bunch of actors who’d already been at every party in town. The rain was so bad the guests couldn’t go outside, so the party remained under the eaves of the Eden Roc, a small space that’s hard to keep heated.

Mixed, Early Buzz from Cannes for Quentin Tarantino’s First Movie Without Harvey Weinstein to Temper Him

Roger Friedman
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Mixed, Early Buzz from Cannes for Quentin Tarantino’s First Movie Without Harvey Weinstein to Temper Him

There’s mixed early buzz from Cannes right now for Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.” It’s his first movie without Harvey Weinstein. I can’t publish spoilers, but I’m hearing that what I wrote yesterday may be close to what happens. What’s interesting is that I’m hearing there’s a lot of concentrated violence, a la “Pulp Fiction.” Weinstein was always able to reason with Tarantino to get very good results (except with “Hateful Eight”). So it will be interesting to see if anyone was able to counterbalance Tarantino’s extremes.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety: “By the end, Tarantino has done something that’s quintessentially Tarantino, but that no longer feels even vaguely revolutionary. He has reduced the story he’s telling to pulp.”

Reviewers are being careful. Eric Kohn of IndieWire Tweeted: “ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is a meandering Tarantino hangout movie, plays w/history, celebrates the art of the TV western & the creative thrill of performance. DiCaprio & Pitt are better than ever. Lots of nostalgic Easter eggs. It’s fun! But manage expectations.”

One reviewer from Europe told me: ” The film is really long, sometimes fun but also so disengaging. Like a collage of ideas that are poorly glued together.”

Stuart Oldham, from Variety: ““Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is a surprisingly sweet, almost melancholic love letter to 1960s and 70s Hollywood. I loved it”

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair: “There were stretches during my screening when I was a little bored, even as I was tickled by Tarantino’s offbeat cadence, his commitment to specificity and idiosyncrasy. But it also felt like the movie wasn’t getting anywhere, amounting to a collection of shapeless set-pieces that verge on the indulgent. In Hollywood, the lack of real connective tissue is often more frustrating than it is charming.”

Of course, I love Tarantino and like everyone else, I’m stoked to see this movie. The studio took a gamble unveiling it two months before its release.

Right now, I’m that the main players– Tarantino, Pitt, Robbie, DiCaprio, Fanning– plus their agents are having an intimate dinner for just 20 people. Then a party will take off on the rooftop of the JW Marriott, at Club Albane, for the select few who could score an invite. Sony/Columbia is indeed managing expectations. They only brought four cast members, and didn’t even include Fanning on the red carpet.

 

 

New Trailer for Tarantino’s “Hollywood” Shows Pitt, DiCaprio, Robbie and a Nod to “Inglorious Basterds”

Roger Friedman
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New Trailer for Tarantino’s “Hollywood” Shows Pitt, DiCaprio, Robbie and a Nod to “Inglorious Basterds”

Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” is unspooling right now in Cannes.

Meantime, there’s a new trailer for the movie set in 1969. Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie are all featured.

Among other things, the clip shows that there’s a riff on the Hitler killing scene from “Inglorious Basterds.”

We wait for word from our spies in Cannes.

“Game of Thrones” Finale Crushes All with 13.6 Mil Viewers, 19 Mil Across All HBO Channels, Number 1 Cable and TV

Roger Friedman
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“Game of Thrones” Finale Crushes All with 13.6 Mil Viewers, 19 Mil Across All HBO Channels, Number 1 Cable and TV

Bran Stark might be able to eke out a smile over this. On Sunday night “Game of Thrones” scored 13.6 million viewers on HBO and another 6 million on HBO Go and HBO Now. The total, nearly 20 million on Sunday alone, set records for the cable service.

“Thrones” beat everything on cable and everything on broadcast TV.  The “American Idol” finale didn’t come close with 7.8 million.

“Thrones” brought so many people to HBO in this short six episode season, the cost of it will be paid off quickly. And we still don’t have delayed viewing this week. A lot of people are still catching up to the final events.

Some wags suggested this wasn’t such a big deal since “Big Bang Theory” had 18 million on CBS this past week for its finale. But that was on a broadcast network, and it was free. There is no comparison.

So now we watch as the Emmy campaign unfolds. “Thrones” should win everything including Best Actor for Peter Dinklage (put him in lede, please) and Maisie Williams for Supporting Actress.

BTW “Thrones” did so well it pulled “Barry” to 2.2 million viewers. Bill Hader must be dancing around his house. Henry Winkler, too. Before “Thrones,” Barry had a 450K average.

 

 

Trump Loudly Booed and Hissed at On Screen Twice at Apollo Theater Premiere of Central Park Five Mini Series

Roger Friedman
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Trump Loudly Booed and Hissed at On Screen Twice at Apollo Theater Premiere of Central Park Five Mini Series

Monday night’s premiere of “When They See Us,” Ava Duvernay’s searing four part mini-series about New York’s famous Central Park Five trial, was notable for many reasons.

Oprah was in the house. So was Rev. Al Sharpton. Before the red carpet showing at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, there was mayhem as scores of people turned up wanting tickets.

Duvernay, director of “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time,” has become an overnight star herself. She has a devoted following also from her documentary, “13th.”

The director made a few introductory comments, we met the cast– including Michael K. Williams and Vera Farmiga. And then the show rolled.

In New York, the case of the five teenagers railroaded into confessing to the rape of the Central Park Jogger became front page tabloid news in 1989. This was the case that created the term ‘Wilding.’ Even when the teens went on trial and denied the rape, and no evidence was actually found tying them to it, a jury found them guilty. The boys served six to 14 years before the actual rapist confessed, and the boys were released. A jury awarded them $41 million in damages after they sued the city. It wasn’t enough.

But back then, one man was certain the boys — who were between 14 and 16– were guilty without a trial was Donald Trump. He took out an infamous full page ad in the New York Times for $185,000 demanding they be put to death. He gave endless interviews saying the same thing.

When those clips, and the story of the ad, appeared on the Apollo screen last night, the entire audience booed, hissed, and jeered. The sound was deafening. And it happened twice. If Donald Trump thinks he’s popular with black people, he is really in Denial with a capital D.

“When They See Us” hits Netflix on May 31st. Last night we saw the first two parts. I’m hopeful Netflix will send me a link to the concluding two parts. I will say that at the end of the first hours, people were in tears. It’s an absolutely frightening story of racism and police corruption that must not be forgotten. Every single rule was broken to force those 5 boys into convictions. You wouldn’t think it was possible in the USA, and particularly in “sophisticated” Manhattan.

Farmiga, Williams, Aunjunue Ellis, and Niecy Nash are among the cast who give stellar performances. Blair Underwood — always underrated– blossoms in a court scene. The story also heavily rests on the misguided zealotry of then famed Sex Crimes Unit chief Linda Fairstein. She’s played by Felicity Huffman, who does herself no favors considering her current real life situation. Fairstein really comes off as the Villain of all time. Huffman plays it that way, too. Let’s pray this isn’t the last time we see her on screen. (PS The Apollo audience  didn’t seem to know who she was at all.)

When I see Part 2, I’ll write more. In the meantime, this is appointment-TV.

Fox Searchlight, In First Big Disney Purchase, Takes a $13 Million Gamble on A Film With No Stars, And Partly In German: Terrence Malick’s World War II Meditation “A Hidden Life”

Roger Friedman
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Fox Searchlight, In First Big Disney Purchase, Takes a $13 Million Gamble on A Film With No Stars, And Partly In German: Terrence Malick’s World War II Meditation “A Hidden Life”

Fox Searchlight has rolled the dice on its first big purchase under the Disney umbrella.

For $13 million, they’ve bought Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” a World War II film without any stars, spoken partly in German and mostly without dialogue.

FS is hoping that “A Hidden Life” will be received the same way as “Tree of Life,” which was a critics’ delight from Cannes several years ago but made only $13 million in the US. Worldwide it took in $54 million in 2011.

I slept through “Tree of Life” twice. It was an utter bore despite Jessica Chastain’s great performance.

Malick, who was a genius in the 70s, followed it up with several more colossally sleep inducing films that made no money. On top of that, he refuses to appear in person at events or promote his films.

This one should prove an uphill battle. All the actors are German or European, they are unknown to anyone in America. Plus, it’s described as a meditation on faith. Ask Martin Scorsese how “Silence” went, and he had two stars, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.

Malick’s great movies were “Days of Heaven” and “Badlands” in the 1970s. After that, he became a cult figure for Pauline Kael-trained movie critics. At film festivals, his movies are celebrated. In theaters, they insufferable.

But who knows? Maybe August Diehl, the star, will become the Jean DuJardin of 2019 and “A Hidden Life” will surprise us. It’s funny: the still I’m using here reminds me of “Days of Heaven.”

Whitney Houston’s Family Finds New Ways to Cash in On Her Death: Hologram Tour with Band Led by Her Brother is Planned

Roger Friedman
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Whitney Houston’s Family Finds New Ways to Cash in On Her Death: Hologram Tour with Band Led by Her Brother is Planned

Is there nothing else Whitney Houston’s family can do to her now that she’s dead?

You think, no, what else could there be? She’s dead, her daughter’s dead, her possible worst secret has been revealed in a documentary sanctioned by the family? What else is there? You wrack your brain.

And then, here is is: a tour, featuring Whitney as a hologram, with a band led by her brother Gary, husband of Pat Houston, Whitney’s executor.

That’s it.

I remember when Joseph Jackson brought a Michael Jackson imitator with him to the BET Awards four days after Michael died in 2009. That seemed to be the bottom of crassness.

But now there’s this. The remaining Houstons have figured out a way to cash in on Whitney and debase her at the same time. Basically, her brother will now be on stage with his sister’s ghost. Is there an audience for this? Who could those people be?

What could stop this folly? Maybe Sony not giving them the rights to the musical recordings. That would be a blessing.  Anything to stop this madness.

 

Quentin Tarantino Posts Open Letter, Asks for Discretion with Spoilers in New Movie: Is It Possible Sharon Tate Lives After Manson Botches Killings?

Roger Friedman
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Quentin Tarantino Posts Open Letter, Asks for Discretion with Spoilers in New Movie: Is It Possible Sharon Tate Lives After Manson Botches Killings?

I have no clue and no spoilers about Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.” But it’s written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, so anything is possible. He’s posted an open letter on Twitter begging fans in Cannes who see the movie– more than two months before its release– not to reveal its secrets.

So this raises a question, since Tarantino’s never done that before: is it possible Sharon Tate lives, and that Charles Manson botches his murders? The movie is set in 1969 and it’s a 50 year flashback to the summer of “Helter Skelter” and the Manson family killings of Tate and the LaBiancas.

Margot Robbie plays Tate. If the movie were historically correct, she’d be dead, a victim of a grisly murder. But that is not what anyone wants to see, and doesn’t sound like Tarantino.

You may recall that in “Inglorious Basterds,” Brad Pitt, Eli Roth and pals actually kill Hitler and bring an end to World War II and the Nazis. It’s a fantasy turn of events, totally unexpected, and a great twist.

It’s possible that Tarantino has decided to rewrite history with “OUT.” Since this is a fable, and not a documentary, he’d have quite a turn in the story if Manson attempted murder but didn’t accomplish it. Imagine how lives would have been changed. Maybe both Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio save her–the reverse of “Basterds.”

Again, I have ZERO info. But it’s just a guess. Imagine Margot Robbie as Tate becoming a big star, as planned, winning an Oscar, etc.

You never know.

“Game of Thones” Finishes with Unhappy Endings, An Inside Joke About George RR Martin, and Jon Snow, Our Hero, Banished to Siberia

Roger Friedman
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“Game of Thones” Finishes with Unhappy Endings, An Inside Joke About George RR Martin, and Jon Snow, Our Hero, Banished to Siberia

And so, it’s over.

“Game of Thrones” has finished up with unhappy endings. Jon Snow killed his crazy lover and was banished to Siberia. He died and was revived for this? At least he pet his dog.

The final episode ended with a meta inside joke about author George RR Martin and his original book, “Song of Fire and Ice.” Very cute, not especially clever. And the author of the fake “Song of Fire and Ice” has written the whole history of Westeros without mentioning Tyrion. Yuck yuck yuck.

Bran, the kid in the wheelchair, becomes King of the South. His sister Sansa is Queen of the North.

The Iron Throne we all worried about? Melted by Drogon the Dragon. No one sits on it.

Arya Stark heads West, past the end of the maps, to see what’s out there. She finds Middle Earth, and a boyfriend named Frodo. (Just kidding.)

Ratings? We’ll see in the morning if regular TV was crushed. We won’t know “GoT” ratings until late tomorrow. They’ll be huge.

But the outrage from fans? Yikes.

And PS, like I said yesterday, the Lannisters were dead.

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