Supergirl's Melissa Benoist opens up about 'abusive relationship' - BBC News

Supergirl star Melissa Benoist has spoken out about being in an abusive relationship - saying at one point she had to learn to lock herself in a room.

In a video on Instagram, the actress says she "never thought" she'd be sharing a story like this.

She then gives details of how the "violence escalated" and how she "had to get out".

"I hope telling my story might help prevent more stories like mine happening," she says.

WARNING: This article contains details which some people may find upsetting

In the video, which is captioned Life Isn't Always What It Seems, the actress never names the alleged perpetrator or suggests when the relationship took place or how long it lasted.

Melissa says "the abuse was not violent at first" but was more manipulative.

"Work in general was a touchy subject," she says.

"He didn't want me ever kissing or even having flirtatious scenes with men..."

She says she turned down auditions and job offers because she "didn't want to hurt him" and now sees that behaviour as a "red flag" for what was to come.

The 31-year-old says the violence started with "a smoothie being thrown in my face" before escalating to the point where she was "pinned down, slapped and repeatedly punched".

"I learned to lock myself in rooms but quickly stopped because the door was inevitably broken down," she says.

In the video, she says her "most vivid memories" are from when the arguments would end when "a wave of guilt would wash over him", he'd "carry me to an empty bath" before crying and giving what she calls "the typical abuser's apology speech".

Melissa says she would "just plain lie" to her closest friends to cover up what was going on until one day one of them confronted her about it.

"Unbeknownst to me, many people in my life suspected and feared exactly what was happening.

"It was the first moment I spoke about the abuse to anyone and I can't describe the amount of relief I felt.

"She held me and she said, 'You know what you have to do now, don't you?'"

'You deserve a violence-free life'

The actress says "leaving was not a walk in the park" but that the more people she "let in" the more she was "bolstered".

She closes the video by addressing anyone who might be going through something similar.

"What I went through caused a tectonic shift in my outlook on life. I will be healing from this for the rest of my life. And that's OK.

"If you are enduring what I went through and you see this... at least you might begin to think of your freedom.

"You can and deserve to live a violence-free life."

Since the video was released, hundreds of people have responded to the post and the hashtag #IStandWithMelissa was trending on Twitter.

One fan called the story "absolutely heartbreaking" saying the actress is "so strong" while another thanks her "for being yet another voice to say it's OK to say no".

Other celebrities have also supported her.

Riverdale actress Lini Reinhart said she was "so moved by her bravery" on Instagram' while writer Natasha Rothwell tweeted: "Check on your strong friends. Check on your quiet friends... Check on each other."

If you, or anyone you know, are affected by this story you can find more links to help on the BBC Advice pages or contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline.

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2019-11-28 13:27:20Z
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Madonna cancels shows amid 'overwhelming pain' - BBC News

Madonna has cancelled three dates of her Madame X tour dates in Boston, saying she was experiencing "overwhelming" pain.

"Please forgive this unexpected turn of events," she told fans on Facebook.

"Doing my show every night brings me so much joy and to cancel is a kind of punishment... But the pain I'm in right now is overwhelming, and I must rest and follow doctor's orders."

The star did not specify the cause of her injury.

However, earlier this month, she told fans in San Francisco she was suffering from a "torn ligament" and "a bad knee".

After her most recent tour date in Los Angeles, an Instagram video showed her taking "my usual ice bath for multiple injuries". In an earlier video, she displayed a painful bruise on her right thigh.

Madonna is notoriously reluctant to cancel shows, abandoning only a handful of dates over the course of her 37-year career.

When she was inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008, Justin Timberlake even recalled how the star had given him vitamin B12 injections to stop him succumbing to illness while she was working with him.

"She gave me a shot in my ass and looks at me and says, 'Nice top shelf,'" he said "That was one of the greatest days of my life."

However, the Boston shows are not the first setback on Madonna's Madame X Tour.

Refunds issued

She postponed the opening dates in New York in September due to production delays. Then, after several dates at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in New York, she had to call off a show due to injury. The opening night of her LA residency was also cancelled.

Tour promoter Live Nation said the scrapped shows will not be rescheduled "due to the tight scheduling through the balance of the year". Refunds will be automatically issued to credit card holders.

The Madame X tour, which sees Madonna trading sports arenas for intimate theatre venues, is due to come to the UK in January 2020, with a 15-night residency in the London Palladium.

Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

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2019-11-28 12:01:22Z
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The Pussycat Dolls Announce Their Reunion Tour! | MTV Music - MTV International

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2019-11-28 09:56:38Z
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Pussycat Dolls Announce Reunion Tour -- Reveal Battles with Bulimia, Alcoholism Tore Them Apart - TooFab

First it was the Spice Girls and now it looks like the Pussycat Dolls are heading down reunion road, announcing a huge tour and coming clean about the secret battles with bulimia and alcoholism that tore them apart in the first place.

They have also promised a more inclusive Pussycat Dolls experience, which is a stark contrast from the Nicole Scherzinger-dominated feel of the group at its peak in the 1990s. In fact, Nicole effectively confirmed to The Sun that she used to sing 95 percent of the vocals and even went so far as to travel separately from the group's other members, though not as a statement of pride.

"I hope it's different because WE are different," Nicole told the outlet. "It is ten years on now. We all bring our own unique gifts to the group. I am so excited and we have grown so much."

"We are here to see each other shine," the "Masked Singer" judge continued. "I think we are going to push each other." And that's vastly different from how things used to be, when Nicole didn't even feel comfortable sharing one of her deepest struggles.

The singer confessed that she was suffering with bulimia and didn't feel able to open up to her bandmates about it, blaming this disconnect on much of the tension that would ultimately tear the band bitterly apart and leave them not talking to one another for years.

"I hid it from the world; I was extremely ashamed," she said. "When you're battling your own demons and insecurities, it's not something you want to share with other people."

Meanwhile, Jessica Sutta was dealing with the crushing pressure in another way, revealing that she was in the throes of alcoholism while on tour. "The lifestyle is not normal," she said. "You're drinking champagne in the morning on these private jets. You get really unhealthy habits which, for an alcoholic, is the worst thing that could ever happen to you."

It was Nicole finding her own health and happiness that led to her ultimately publicly apologizing to Jessica, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Melody Thornton, and Kimberly Watts. And it was that apology that began them on the road to healing that would culminate in this reunion tour.

That and the fact that these women were now in control of how they choose to present themselves and the Pussycat Dolls, which Nicole sees as more of a group effort than it's ever been before. In other words, no more "glorified backing dancers," as one of her bandmates described the experience. This time it's a genuine group effort, which is what this kind of experience is supposed to be about.

And no more "anorexic aliens," as Kimberly indicated they were pressured to look like by their record company. It was this tremendous pressure, among others, that put so many of the young women into an unhealthy mental state, as evidenced by Nicole's secret struggle with an eating disorder to fulfill those expectations.

But it's not water under the bridge for all of the members, apparently, as Melody has not signed on to the project, though founder Robin Antin says the door "was and is always open."

She added that "it wasn't right" for Melody "at this time," indicating there might still be some emotional concerns that need to be acknowledged and/or addressed.

"Like any family, it's a relationship and you work it out," Nicole added, seeming confident they can get there. "It's natural people are going to disagree and argue. But we always had so much respect for each other."

Now, the women see this reunion as an opportunity to put out a stronger message and be an inspiration for other women, describing the current #MeToo climate as "a beacon of light for women empowerment."

The Dolls reunion kicks off in the UK, where Nicole is a judge on "The X Factor," with a performance of their greatest hits on that show's season finale. Then, a 2020 tour kicking off in the UK in April. Then?

"Well, we've been working on some new music but right now we're just focusing on brushing off the old limbs," Nicole said. But that means they are singing and recording so don't count out a new album at some point.

Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.

View Photos Getty Charlize, Ava and Yara Among Honorees at Glamour Women of the Year Awards

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2019-11-28 05:26:00Z
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'Supergirl' Star Melissa Benoist Reveals She's A Survivor Of Domestic Violence - HuffPost

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2019-11-28 04:50:00Z
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Taiwanese-Canadian actor Godfrey Gao collapses and dies while shooting reality show in China - South China Morning Post

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2019-11-27 13:37:16Z
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Will 'The Irishman's' Netflix Debut Ding the Thanksgiving Box Office? - Hollywood Reporter

Martin Scorsese's high-profile mob pic may have been a boon to movie exhibitors if it had been given a traditional wide theatrical release.

In late 2013, Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street debuted to $34.2 million at the U.S. box office over the five-day Christmas Day holiday on its way to grossing $392 million globally and landing numerous top Oscar nominations.

Six years later, Scorsese's The Irishman is bypassing a traditional theatrical release and instead will debut on Netflix on Nov. 27, the start of the lucrative Thanksgiving frame. With its pedigree, will the critically acclaimed mob pic keep consumers otherwise occupied and hurt the overall box office?

It's a complicated question underscored by the fact that — in addition to Netflix's continued rise — several new high-profile streamers, including Disney+ and Apple TV+, have both launched this month armed with enough original programming aimed at attracting a large subscriber base. 

"You have to look at it holistically. I don't think The Irishman will specifically cause people to stay home and away from movie theaters, but I do think it's symbolic of a trend toward great content being available on streaming," says Wall Street analyst Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners.

Others disagree. "It's not an all or nothing proposition," says box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore, noting that families and friends spending Thanksgiving together "need to leave the house" at some point. 

"Going to the movies remains a vital part of our entertainment diet," Dergarabedian notes. "And while a major movie release on a streaming platform will certainly draw loads of viewers, this doesn't spell doom for movie theaters or, for that matter, any other activity outside the home."

The National Association of Theater Owners, the lobbying organization for exhibitors, points to an Ernst & Young study finding that those who stream frequently are also the most frequent moviegoers. Across all demos, the January 2019 survey showed that those who visited a theater once or twice in the preceding 12 months watched an average of seven hours of streaming per week, compared to 11 hours of streaming for those who visited a theater nine or more times.

Netflix is notoriously reticent when it comes to releasing viewership data. Exceptions include El Camino, the streamer's movie sequel to the TV hit Breaking Bad, which was viewed 25.7 million times in its first week from Oct. 11-18, the company claimed.

And, last year, the Sandra Bullock-starrer Bird Box, which turned into a water cooler sensation after debuting on Netflix on Dec. 21. The streamer later reported that 45 million accounts watched the sci-fi thriller over the holidays. Some used that number to suggest that Bird Box could have grossed several hundred million dollars at the global box office.

A Barclays study disputes that assumption, putting the film's potential box office closer to $98 million. The report stated that the vast majority of the audience "was composed of people who watched it because it was on Netflix and would not have gone to a theater." Nor did Bird Box seem to ding the 2018 Christmas box office, which turned in strong returns, even without a Star Wars entry.

Netflix also declines to provide box office grosses for those films that get a select run in indie cinemas during awards season, such as The Irishman. Scorsese's film, similar to the Oscar-nominated Roma last year or this year's Marriage Story, received an exclusive run in a dozens of indie cinemas prior to its debut on the service and by this weekend will be playing in more than 200 locations across the U.S.

The streamer has famously refused to adhere to the theatrical window, focusing instead on making its original programming available to its subscribers as soon as possible. In turn, most cinema chains refuse to carry Netflix titles. Scorsese and Netflix execs tried to reach a compromise with exhibitors, but those talks ultimately broke down.

"The current and growing glut of streaming titles and streaming companies needs to differentiate content for consumers and compete for filmmakers. Theatrical releases with real windows meet both needs," says Patrick Corcoran, vice president of NATO.

“Streaming is disrupting the home entertainment market, not theaters," Corcoran adds. "Transactional home video has declined domestically from $24.7 billion per year in 2004 to $10.3 billion in 2018 — a 58% loss of annual revenue."

Earlier this month, NATO chairman John Fithian said Irishman would have been a boon to theaters had it been given a traditional wide release, judging by the success of Scorsese films such as Wolf of Wall Street.

In terms of the long 2019 Thanksgiving weekend, the outlook is looking bright for holdovers Frozen 2, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Ford v Ferrari and new entries Knives Out and Queen & Slim. The latter two both launch on Nov. 27, the same day that Irishman hits Netflix.

Disney Animation's Frozen 2 could earn as much as $100 million for the Wednesday-Sunday stretch after debuting to a huge $130.2 million domestically last weekend. Rian Johnson's star-studded whodunit Knives Out is looking at a strong five-day gross of $25 million-plus, followed by $10 million or more for Queen & Slim, helmed by acclaimed music video director Melina Matsoukas in her feature directorial debut from a script by Lena Waithe.

The ensemble cast of Lionsgate and MRC's Knives Out includes Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell and Christopher Plummer.

Johnson's mystery pic boasts a stellar 95 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, followed by a fresh 86 percent for Universal and Makeready's Queen & Slim, starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith as an African-American couple on their first date who are forced to go on the run after a traffic stop gone wrong.

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2019-11-27 13:45:00Z
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