K-pop star held on drug charges in latest scandal

SEOUL, South Korea - K-pop and drama star Park Yoo-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around 5 times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park's contract with his management agency had been cancelled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park's management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes, and secret chat about rape led at least 4 other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

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New R. Kelly sex abuse tape discovered: lawyer

NEW YORK - One of the lawyers representing women who claim they were abused by R&B star R. Kelly said Sunday a new video tape had emerged which showed the singer "sexually abusing children."

Kelly is currently on bail after being accused of sexually abusing four women, including three teenagers, between May 1998 and January 2010.

The latest discovery was announced by lawyer Gloria Allred at a press conference where she told journalists it was found by couple Gary and Sallie Dennis in a box of old VHS cassettes at their home.

Neither Allred nor Dennis elaborated on how the tape came to be in the couple's possession.

"Prior to learning that such a tape was in their possession, Sallie had viewed the Lifetime documentary called 'Surviving R. Kelly,'" said Allred.

"She was emotionally very disturbed by what the women in the documentary alleged had happened.

"Sometime after that, Sallie and her husband discovered to their surprise that they had a VHS tape that could be helpful in learning what had happened to these young girls who had come into contact with R. Kelly."

Allred said that while she had not viewed a previous tape that had been widely reported in the media, she did not believe it was of the same act.

She said it showed "what appeared to be R. Kelly sexually abusing children" but declined to go into further detail.

But she urged others who possess such tapes but may be reluctant to admit that they have them to come forward to her or to law enforcement.

Gary Dennis said he had made the discovery while going through old sports tapes and trying to decide which ones to keep and which to throw out.

"He was telling them what to do and what to say, and it appeared that he was controlling the camera," said Denis.

Dennis said that as a father to two daughters himself, he reacted in horror and his first instinct was to throw the tape out, but after discussing the matter with his wife contacted Allred.

The tape is the third to purportedly show Kelly engaging in such acts. The first two have been reported by Michael Avenatti, a lawyer representing other women involved in the case.

Multiple women have come forward since the airing of the six-part documentary in January to say the 52-year-old singer had sexual relations with girls under the age of 16 and kept sex slaves.

The details of the current criminal case echo previous accusations of sexual misconduct that have dogged the artist for the last two decades.

In 2002, he was criminally charged for allegedly filming himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl. He was tried in that case and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008.

A 2017 BuzzFeed report later alleged he had kept women as virtual sex slaves at homes he owns in Chicago and Atlanta.

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Kirk Cameron, Cameron Diaz take Razzie awards

LOS ANGELES -- "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas," a film which promises to "put Christ back into Christmas" and actress Cameron Diaz triumphed Saturday at the Razzies anti-award show, Hollywood's hall of shame.

On the eve of the Oscars, the movie -- of which one critic said "even devout born-again Christians will find this hard to stomach" -- took the worst picture, as well as worst actor, worst screenplay and worst screen combo.

The film has the dubious honor of a straight zero rating on the Rotten Tomatoes movie ranking website, where the LA Times critics said of it: "Virtually everything about this production feels thrown together."

Blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay, meanwhile, was named worst director for "Transformers: Age of Extinction" at the ceremony, formally called the Golden Raspberries, which celebrated Tinseltown's worst output of 2014.

Diaz was named worst actress for "The Other Woman" and "Sex Tape," while worst supporting actress went to Megan Fox for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

In the anti-awards show hosted in a downtown Hollywood theater, the worst supporting actor accolade was won by Kelsey Grammer for performances including in "The Expendables 3" and "Transformers."

Big-screen musical adaptation "Annie," starring Jamie Foxx and Oscar-nominated child star Quvenzhane Wallis, was named the worst remake, sequel or rip-off.

The Razzies were created in 1980 as an antidote to Hollywood's star-studded, back-slapping annual awards season, which climaxes on February 22 this year with the 87th Oscars.

All but one of the Razzie categories are chosen by the 800 or so members of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, who earn voting rights by paying a $40 membership fee, with a $25 annual renewal.

Nominees very rarely attend the Razzies. Sandra Bullock turned up to accept worst actress in 2010 for "All About Steve," a day before winning best actress Oscar for "The Blind Side."

The Oscars will be held Sunday at the Dolby Theater in downtown Hollywood.

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