Director David O. Russell copped a feel—and now the cops are groping around at the evidence to see if they have a case against him.
TMZ got their hands on a police report from Broward County in South Florida. In it, Russell’s 19-year-old transgender niece claims that he “put his hands under [her] top and felt both breasts” after he spotted her doing crunches at a hotel gym.
The biologically male niece and Russell are not related by blood, but that’s still mad awkward. And it just gets worse.
Russell, 53, claims his niece “allowed [him] to feel both of [her] breasts,” just for curiosity’s sake.
How about we take this to the next level?
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For her part, she made unky Dave “pinky swear” he wouldn’t tell anyone about the incident. She told on him herself three days later, pulling a Taylor Ann Hasselhoff and reporting it the popo. As she should have, if it really made her that uncomfortable in the first place.
Russell’s always given us a creepster vibe, and the once-divorced dude isn’t just after the younger lady. At a red carpet event for The Fighter in December 2010, he flirted shamelessly with Brady Bunch matriarch Florence Henderson.
When asked by a reporter what his relationship with the 77-year-old star was, he said “Well, we’re dating. Let the rumors start here.” Florence did him one better and said, “We’re dating, and may get engaged.”
When he got down the press line to us, he paid more attention to his Blackberry than our questions. What’s that they say about karma being a bitch?
UPDATE [Jan. 9, 8am]: The police have decided to drop the charges against Russell. This article has a picture of the transgender niece, as well as her name.
Photo via David Shankbone
Marie Cohn
Clooney punched him out on a movie set, and went on the record talking about Russell’s Total Assholishness. And he’s not exactly besties with Lily Tomlin, either.
rhenaiya
by adding “the biologically male neice” you show a degree of insensitivity towards the efforts trans people put into correcting their gender. kind of an uncalled for statement that really has less to do with the story itself and implies that because trans women are “biologically male”, that perhaps this is somehow a lesser case of sexual assault than it would be if she was “biologically female”. this happens almost consistantly in reports about trans people. How are trans people supposed to start a positive new life after transitioning if all their efforts are diminished with statements that bring up a painful part of their past they would rather not be reminded of or divulge? I think it would suffice to say the individual is transexual and leave it at that, if it’s even relative to the story that is. In this case I doubt her transexual status has anything to do with her being assaulted except for perhaps the complete lack of respect for her he had. It’s kind of like when race is included in a story when it isn’t pertinent, sort of fucks with the integrity of the entire group.
Esculapio Mitiríades Torquemada de la Cueva
@rhenaiya: I’m sure I’m stepping into some sort of minefield of offensiveness here, saying things that I probably shouldn’t, but: Doesn’t the “trans” in “trans woman” mean the same thing as “biologically male”? Or are there male-to-female transsexuals are there who aren’t “biologically male”? (Or female-to-male ones who aren’t “biologically female”?)
alan brickman
Most Guys are curious about fake breast…someone sounds like a golddiggaz….
Riker
@rhenaiya: It is necessary to clarify that she is biologically male, to make the reader aware that this is an mtf who has transitioned, and not an ftm who has not yet transitioned. Be offended at it if you wish, but when giving news about trans people, you have to say what sort of trans person the subject is. Its just common sense.
Esculapio Mitiríades Torquemada de la Cueva
@Marie Cohn: I heart I Heart Huckabees. The man can be a gaping asshole, he’ll still be in the black on my book.
Cinesnatch
I love how Queerty extenuates his ill repute by throwing in his marriage record. If Queerty’s red carpet questioning are as obnoxious as some of their posts, I’d be on my blackberry instead too.
Ginasf
If you’ve ever seen the YouTube video of Russell going psychotic with Lily Tomlin, then you know he’s not a very stable guy and that him doing this to his niece wouldn’t surprise me one bit. He’s loathed by a large number of actors and crew who’ve worked for him and has been accused of inappropriate behavior in the past including fights, grabbing women without consent and verbal abuse. That the cops didn’t want to press charges against him for this has more to do with a trans girl making the complaint (and how cops typically react to rape or assaults against trans women) than it does with anything positive about him.
Esculapio Mitiríades Torquemada de la Cueva
@Ginasf: “That the cops didn’t want to press charges against him for this has more to do with a trans girl making the complaint (and how cops typically react to rape or assaults against trans women) than it does with anything positive about him.”
Those are awfully big assumptions you’re making. Any sources to back up that statement?
Jason
@rhenaiya: Actually, being trans, I was kind of glad they mentioned she was biologically male. Before that point, I was worried that they were calling a transman a girl—that’s what’s truly offensive. For them to let us know which direction she’s going is perfectly okay. She’s not less of a woman just because she use to have a male body. That’s not in any way implied, in my mind. What would be making her less of a woman is if they called her his transgender nephew, or insisted on using male pronouns to refer to her, in spite of calling her his niece. So, while I thank you for trying to protect us and our rights, I have to say you’re being a bit over-sensitive. It actually is relevant that she’s MTF, because that’s what shows that they actually are sensitive to being accurate about her gender.
R.A.
The piano was invented in the 1700s.
The 1920s saw the invention of electric pianos which became so popular in the 70s, that men and women who had “played piano” all their lives were suddenly told they were playing “acoustic piano.”
Meanwhile, synthesizers became so improved and inexpensive, that masses of people now are simply “keyboard players,” and if you say you “play piano,” most people assume you mean something like a Steinway and not a Rhodes.
This, too, shall pass.
Brag
@Riker: It’s *NOT* necessary to refer to her as trans or born male (not “biologically male,” as she’s taken hormones and is biologically female. If we’re talking chromosomes, cis men and women can have the chromosomes of the opposite sex and never know. She’s not a “synthetic female” or whatever else), because it has no effect on the story other than to make it seem stranger or more tawdry or “perverse” in the eyes of the average reader to get more page views. I don’t blame Queerty for that, because they aren’t the first to break the story and they focus on LGBT things so it would make sense. No, I blame those who broke the story first and decided to make that a big deal and out her publicly and open her up to shaming and the disgust of your average joe ignorant bigot.
R.A.
There is no one to be “blamed” for anything.
Russell’s defense was that his former nephew invited him to feel his new breasts, and the police believed him.
There is no way to tell THAT story without providing the details.
Fitz
Thanksgiving is going to be SO awkward this year. I can tell already.