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Susan Sarandon was sexually exploited as young actress

Susan Sarandon was sexually exploited as young actress

She’s been an actress for more than 43 years, but it hasn’t been an easy road for Susan Sarandon.

The 66-year-old Oscar winner has opened up about her “disgusting” first casting-couch experience where she experienced sexual exploitation.

“It was not successful — for either of us,” she told the November issue of Elle magazine.

“I just went into a room, and a guy practically threw me on the desk. It was my early days in New York, and it was really disgusting. It wasn’t like I gave it a second thought, it was so badly done.”

The veteran actress opened up after being asked if someone had ever tried to take advantage of her in the early years of her career.

Susan also defended her romance with her 31-years-younger boyfriend, ping-pong entrepreneur Jonathan Bricklin.

“People make him out to be much younger than he is – and me older,” Susan said, clarifying he is 35, not 33 as has been widely reported.

Back in March Susan told People magazine that the pair had been involved since 2010 and that “dating is such a stupid word”.

“You can say … we are collaborating in a lot of different areas,” she said.

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There’s a new princess in the house

There's a new princess in the house

Mia Akiki had her fairytale wedding…now baby Bella is the icing on the cake.

Once upon a time, young Mia Akiki dreamed she would grow up, find a handsome prince and have a fairytale wedding. Well, this modern-day princess’s dreams came true way beyond her expectations. Not only did she find a doting prince in the form of hubby Simon, she got her fairytale wedding – possibly Australia’s most over the top nuptials, where the bride arrived in a pumpkin coach, in a gown made from 150 metres of silk and wearing a 4kg jewelled crown.

“I’d found my Prince Charming and I wanted to marry him in the most lavish and extravagant style,” Mia told Woman’s Day at the time. And now Mia and Simon’s happy-ever-after story continues, with the arrival of their own princess – the adorable Bella Donna Monroe Akiki. “I now have two princesses to look after,” says Simon, 27, who’s been with Mia since he was 17.

He and Mia are creating a fairytale world for Bella Donna at their eastern Sydney home. “We wanted Bella’s nursery to be fit for a princess,” says proud mum Mia. Mother and daughter wear matching crowns, matching designer dresses, and each has enough pairs of shoes to make Imelda Marcos feel like an also-ran. The doting parents are already preparing for Bella’s first birthday.

“We want to give her a massive party,” says Mia, who is envisaging something along the lines of her wedding. “We want to try to teach her to like the best things and get her the best things. We want her to be a little princess. She really is a princess – just so special.” Mia, 26, also hopes baby Bella will grow up to inherit her unique sense of style. “Then I can give her everything of mine,” she says. “Hopefully one day she can wear my wedding dress at her wedding. I have a feeling one day Bella will be famous. She already has a famous sounding name.

Read more Mia and her adorable baby Bella Donna in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 15, 2012.

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Women of Inspiration

Women of Inspiration

Deborah Thomas and Ita Buttrose will host the exclusive Women of Inspiration events

Want to be inspired?

Triumph invites you to the very exclusive Women of Inspiration Event.

Former Australian Women’s Weekly editors Deborah Thomas and Ita Buttrose, as well as the lovely Jesinta Campbell will host the exclusive events in Melbourne and Sydney.

There are strictly 30 places available so to reserve your spot email [email protected]

Sydney event

Myer Sydney City Store

MYER One Room (Level 2)

436 George St

Sydney

Melbourne event

Myer Melbourne City Store

Myer One Room (Level 7)

314-336 Bourke St

Melbourne

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Russell Crowe splits from Danielle Spencer

Russell Crowe splits from Danielle Spencer

Russell Crowe and his wife of nine years Danielle Spencer have separated.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the 48-year-old Oscar winner and singer Danielle, 43, have “amicably” split and now their concern is for the wellbeing of their young sons Charles, 8, and Tennyson, 6.

Although neither has spoken publicly, it has been reported that Russell’s busy work schedule may have contributed to the marriage breakdown.

Russell has been away from his family for most of the year, working back to back on projects including The Man With The Iron Fist, Les Miserables, Broken City, Man Of Steel, and Noah.

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Princess Mary’s nude photo horror

Princess Mary's nude photo horror

Mary has unwittingly become embroiled in the Duchess of Cambridge nude photo scandal.

A Danish magazine’s controversial decision to publish nude photos of the Duchess of Cambridge has left Crown Princess Mary reeling. The “bottomless” photos, shot with a long-range lens and showing Kate changing out of her swimmers on a balcony in France, were run over 16 pages in Se Og Hor, despite Kensington Palace threatening to take legal action.

And it seems that if Mary were snapped in such a state, she could face the same fate. According to Woman’s Day’s Danish sources, the magazine’s editor, Kim Henningsen, has said if he were offered similar pictures of Mary – though it’s believed nothing of the sort exists – he might publish them after “very careful consideration”. But Kim believes Mary is far more careful than her British counterpart.

“Mary knows what to do as a royal. She would never be in pictures like this,” he claims. Still, it’s no wonder Mary has her guard up now more than ever. “Mary has been paranoid for years about such photos being taken of her,” veteran Danish royal photographer Steffen Sorren tells Woman’s Day exclusively. “She is extra mindful when she is close to water and sun [after being] snapped in a bikini some years ago.”

Luckily for Mary, those photos, taken while she was on a yacht off the Sardinian coast in 2009, caused a sensation for all the right reasons, revealing the princess was in super-fit shape. “She has since been vigilant and always looks after herself and keeps herself decent in these situations,” Steffen says.

Read more about the extra precautions Mary takes in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 15, 2012.

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Modern Family Feud!

Modern Family Feud!

The claws are out between Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, causing tension on the hit show.

It’s the hilarious sitcom that has viewers in fits. But we can reveal that behind the scenes on Modern Family, a vicious catfight has broken out between two fan favourites – and it’s no laughing matter. Sources have revealed to Woman’s Day that Julie Bowen, 42, who plays mum Claire Dunphy, is fighting a no-holds-barred war of words with her Latina co-star Sofia Vergara, 40, who plays Claire’s stepmum Gloria Pritchett.

In what appears to be a brutal clash of egos, our insider says what started as petty jealousy has escalated, and is threatening to tear the hit show apart as cast members take sides. “Things have become mega-bitchy between them,” a set source tells us exclusively. “They really hate each other now. It started when they dissed each other on TV a while ago, but things have gotten worse and worse since then.”

In October 2009, Sofia went on US talk show Chelsea Lately, hosted by Jennifer Aniston’s best pal Chelsea Handler. She accused Chelsea of being “jealous of my accent”, adding, “You’re like Julie Roland, the girl that works in my series.” Chelsea pointed out that Julie’s last name was Bowen, but Sofia simply waved it off. When Julie paid a visit to the same show a month later, she was asked how Sofia could forget her name despite them working together for almost a year.

Julie retorted, “I have never had the chance to fly Sofia [in a] private [jet] and give her jewellery, so my name has no resonance for her.” She also referred to Sofia, who was born in Colombia, as “Cholo Barbie” – “cholo” being a derogatory term for Hispanic. Their war of words has intensified behind the scenes. According to our source, Julie makes fun of Sofia with insulting “impressions on set while Sofia constantly snipes, even going so far as to call Julie’s post-baby body ‘disgusting’”.

Read more about the pair’s feud in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 15, 2012.

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Hey Ange…This is a ring!

Hey Ange...This is a ring!

Jen debuts a huge engagement sparkler that dwarfs her love rival’s.

It’s the engagement ring the world has been waiting to see. And now that beaming bride-to-be Jennifer Aniston has at last revealed the sparkler presented to her by fiance Justin Theroux, all we can say is it’s been well worth the wait!

Two months after the laid-back scriptwriter/actor proposed to an ecstatic Jen on his 41st birthday, the 43-year-old actress is proudly displaying the monster rock that sealed the deal.

Set on a thin gold band, the blinding diamond solitaire – estimated at eight or nine carats and said to be worth around $500,000 – was hard to miss as a loved-up Jen put her hand to Justin’s face during a romantic catch-up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “It’s a huge, emerald-cut diamond… It’s beautiful,” an insider told Life & Style magazine shortly after the pair announced their engagement.

US magazine Time also gushes over the rock, but points out, “The gigantic ring seems to take up nearly a third of her ring finger.” Others aren’t quite so generous in their praise of the super-sized design – including Jen’s love rival, Angelina Jolie. A source close to Ange reveals to Woman’s Day, “Angelina has seen the pictures and she thinks it looks like it belongs on a Christmas tree.”

Read more on what Ange thinks of Jen’s ring in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 15, 2012.

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Brad and Ange: The wedding is off!

Brad and Ange: The wedding is off!

Much to her fiance’s dismay, Angelina is pulling away from her walk down the aisle.

The Hollywood extravaganza we’ve all been waiting for – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s blockbuster wedding – seems to be over before it even began. Since their engagement in April, the A-list pair have juggled so many work commitments they’ve barely seen each other.

Now Woman’s Day can reveal that when the two happen to be at home at the same time, it’s hardly a joyous reunion, with some speculating that tension over their wedding is tearing them apart. “Angelina just wants to focus on work,” says a source. “It’s her number-one priority. She would happily work constantly.” Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Brad, who was desperately trying to match their schedules to set a date before the year is out.

“We actually, truly have no date,” he admitted at the Cannes Film Festival. It appears Brad is the true romantic of the pair, and has been in charge of most of the wedding planning. “I still want to kiss the bride, wear the ring, wear the suit and wake up in the morning and say, ‘Good morning, wife’ ,” he said after his split from Jennifer Aniston, when he’d fallen in love with Ange. But a wedding is the farthest thing from Ange’s mind.

“When the mention of a wedding was brought up recently, Angelina laughed,” an insider close to the couple tells In Touch magazine. “It’s clear she has no intention of marrying Brad anytime soon. She put the kibosh on it.” Another source confirms Ange is almost scornful of such a thing, revealing, “When people bring it up, she rolls her eyes.” Now those who know the pair best say life behind closed doors is extremely tense, with Brad even spending his nights in their converted fisherman’s cottage on their French estate.

Read more about what’s stoping Ange walking down the aisle in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 15, 2012.

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Should child sex offenders be named and shamed?

Should child sex offenders be named and shamed?

Australia's first public sex offenders register has gone live in Western Australia

Australia’s first public sex offenders register has gone live in Western Australia.

State authorities have created a website that provides the public with photographs and information on the state’s worst sexual offenders, and Queensland may follow suit.

Related: What every parent needs to know about online safety

The initiative has been touted as legislation that will ‘protect the community’, but some critics aren’t convinced.

“It is leading Australia in providing parents with what would have been confidential information,” Acting Detective Senior Sargeant Darryl Noye told ABC.

“Previously they would not have been aware potentially that someone is a reportable offender if that person has access to their children.”

The Community Protection Website went live on Monday, publishing the names and faces of about 50 paedophiles, and it also facilitates parents asking police about the criminal history of people who have unsupervised contact with their children.

Though some groups have raised concerns about the website leading to mistaken identity and ‘vigilantism’.

Criminal Lawyers Association of WA president Linda Black said she could not see how the website would help the community, satisfied already with a system whereby anyone working with children needed police clearance, which is in place in the state.

“My primary concern is, once people have this information, what is anticipated they will do other than try and run the bloke out of town?” she said.

While the Queensland government has not considered an online register of sex offenders, the Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said his government would not rule it out.

Mr Bleijie said he also held concerns that publishing details of sex offenders would create “communities of vigilantes”.

Related: A simple guide to keeping safe

Under Queensland’s two-strike policy, people who are convicted of a child sex offence a second time receive a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

WA doesn’t have a two-strike system in place, and critics of the website like Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnson calling for such legislation to be implemented.

“Western Australia needs two strikes legislation just like everybody else does,” she told ABC.

“The human rights of our children have to be placed as a priority over the civil rights of repeat, recidivist sex offenders.”

Your say: Do you think child sex offenders should be named and shamed?

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Danielle Spencer struggled with ‘overwhelming’ marriage to Russell Crowe

Australian entertainment power couple, Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer have separated after nine years of marriage, according to reports.
Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer

Australian entertainment power couple, Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer have separated after nine years of marriage, according to reports.

In what has been described by representatives of the pair as an “amicable parting”, the Oscar-winning actor and his musician wife are believed to have agreed to go their separate ways.

Crowe’s manager told The Weekly the actor had no comment to make at this time.

The actor, currently in the US filming the biblical epic, Noah met his wife on the set of the Aussie film, The Crossing in 1990. They married in March 2003 in a ceremony on Crowe’s property near Coffs Harbour.

Sources report the high-profile couple’s main concern is the welfare of their two sons, Charlie, 8 and Tennyson, 6.

Spencer lives in Sydney with the couple’s two sons. Crowe has spent much of the past year overseas, working on back-to-back films including the upcoming Les Miserables, Man With The Iron Fist and Blue Steel.

The split comes only months after speculation Spencer had become close to her Dancing With The Stars co-star, Damian Whitewood.

In a recent interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, Spencer admitted she had always struggled with her husband’s high-profile, and the attention it garnered.

“I found the whole wedding followed by the baby, all in quick succession, and the accompanying attention kind of disconcerting,” she said of the couple’s 2003 marriage.

“I just didn’t want any attention on me. I wanted to hide away and be a mother for a couple of years. It was overwhelming. I wanted to just fly well and truly under the radar for a while. When Charlie was first born, we had a couple of security issues and I was more or less hotel-bound in Toronto. There was a price on getting a photo of Charlie, which made it very intimidating to even go out for a walk.

“Each time I ventured out, we’d be attacked by a swarm of photographers, which, as a new mother, made my hackles rise and just made life completely claustrophobic. I didn’t like that phase of our lives at all – I couldn’t get out and be normal. And I like to be out and be normal. I like to sit in a cafe and observe people. I don’t want to be observed.”

The couple had just recently bought $10 million mansion in the Sydney suburb of Rose Bay.

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