Action movie star Steven Seagal and comedian Louis CK have become the latest celebrities to be embroiled in mounting allegations of sexual misconduct in the US entertainment industry following the downfall of film producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey.
Portia de Rossi, the Arrested Development actress and wife of chat show queen Ellen DeGeneres, accused Seagal of making a lewd advance during an audition in his office.
"He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants," the Australian-born actress tweeted late Wednesday.
"I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, 'well, I didn't know if he was your type'."
De Rossi did not say when the incident took place.
DeGeneres retweeted the post to her more than 75 million followers saying: "I'm proud of my wife."
Seagal's representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Actress Jenny McCarthy, who first accused Seagal in 1998, on Thursday revisited her encounter with the actor when auditioning for his 1995 movie Under Siege 2, when he allegedly asked her twice to lower her dress.
After telling him she had been told there was no nudity, Seagal allegedly replied "there is off-camera nudity". After refusing and running to her car, McCarthy said he followed her outside and told her not to tell anyone "or else".
Seagal's fame peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s with films such as Under Siege and Above the Law, although he remains popular in eastern Europe.
He was last year accorded Russian and Serbian citizenship, personally collecting his Russian passport from president Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
In a New York Times expose published on Thursday, five women accused comedian Louis CK of masturbating or asking to masturbate in front of them or doing so on the telephone in separate incidents dating from the late 1990s to 2005.
The premiere of CK's film I Love You, Daddy was abruptly cancelled after the report was published, and he pulled out of an appearance on CBS comedy chat show The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the Times reported.
CK's publicist, Lewis Kay, told the paper "Louis is not going to answer any questions".
His accusers told the paper that his behaviour was abusive.
"I think the line gets crossed when you take all your clothes off and start masturbating," said Julia Wolov, one half of the Chicago comedy duo Dana and Julia with Dana Min Goodman, who also accused him of misappropriate behaviour in his hotel room after their late-night show.
The other women to accuse CK in the Times report were comedians Abby Schachner and Rebecca Corry, while the fifth woman was not identified.
Hollywood's growing sexual harassment scandal prompted the Los Angeles County district attorney Jackie Lacey to announce the setting up of a task force to handle criminal complaints.
Also on Thursday, the industry group Women in Film announced Thursday that it planned to launch a helpline and panel of pro bono legal professionals to provide counselling, referrals and legal advice to harassment victims. The free service is expected to be available from December 1.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok
UAE fixtures Mon Nov 20, v China; Tue Nov 21, v Thailand; Thu Nov 23, v Nepal; Fri Nov 24, v Hong Kong; Sun Nov 26, v Malaysia; Mon Nov 27, Final
(The winners will progress to the Global Qualifier)
