Tag: President

‘Sound of Freedom’ Producer Eduardo Verástegui Offers Mexico a Presidential Choice

In Mexico, Eduardo Verástegui is a household name. He’s a musical entertainer and telenovelas superstar.

His career blossomed in the United States as well as in Mexico, with his celebrity status rising as he worked with high-profile industry figures, such as Calvin Klein, Jennifer Lopez, and Sofia Vergara, to name a few.

Over the years he acquired a number of movies and television shows under his belt, which include “Chasing Papi,” “Bella,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” “CSI: Miami,” and “Charmed.”

Most recently, he played the roles of lead producer and cast member for the international film phenom “The Sound of Freedom,” which has now reached a level close to $200 million in global box-office.

In his latest project, he has chosen to enter the political arena, and he’s going for a top-tier spot. The necessary paperwork has already filed for his run as an independent presidential candidate in Mexico’s June 2024 election.

Verástegui’s motivation to have a role with a purpose in the public square may relate to the time period in which he experienced one of his big Hollywood acting breakthroughs.

After being cast in the comedy “Chasing Papi,” he sought voice coaching lessons to up his English pronunciation skills. As providence would have it, his language tutor was a committed Catholic Christian named Jasmine. Evidently, she affected his thought processes far beyond mere diction lessons.

Over the course of a six-month tutoring period, he re-discovered his faith and resolved to turn away from any involvement in films that would conflict with his Christian beliefs.

To this end, with fellow founders and partners Sean Wolfington, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, and Leo Severino, Verástegui co-founded a production company called Metanoia Films, the purpose of which was to create media that contained edifying content.

In his recent Mexican presidential candidate announcement, he emphasized life and freedom as the key driving principles in his decision.

“After a period of discernment, I made the most important decision of my life: I have just registered with the INE [National Electoral Institute] my intention as an aspiring independent candidate for the presidency of the Mexican Republic for the elections on June 2, 2024,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

“My fight is for life. My fight is for freedom. It is time to remove the same old people from power. Our country needs a new way of doing politics, to eradicate corruption and impunity,” he stated.

In the past, he campaigned for pro-life causes and even conducted prayers on social media. In addition, he put his faith into action, establishing Manto de Guadalupe, a pro-life organization based in Los Angeles, which includes a crisis pregnancy center.

His announcement of a presidential run comes after the Mexico Supreme Court issued an unthinkable landmark decision that legalizes abortion in a once-fervently faith-filled country; a decision that paves the way for a massive increase in the killing of pre-born infants.

Prior to the Supreme Court decision, only 12 Mexican states and the Federal District had legalized abortion. However, this current decision allows abortions to take place across all of Mexico.

In his independent run for Mexico’s presidency, Verástegui faces quite a difficult path. As an independent, he is challenging both of the nation’s established political parties, each of which has already selected its candidate.

Verástegui is portraying himself as a new kind of leader. This may be advantageous for him because he is able to stand in stark contrast to the established parties, which the public, in large part, distrusts.

The Pan, Mexico’s purported right-of-center party, is likely to be targeted by Eduardo’s presidential campaign in a manner reminiscent of U.S. candidates that have run against Republicans of the establishment kind.

Last year Verástegui enhanced his bona fides by hosting the Conservative Political Action Conference in Mexico, an international forum for populist conservative leaders from around the globe.

Should he succeed in gaining a place on the ballot, he will be able to offer voters in Mexico an alternative to two left-of-center establishment candidates, Pan candidate Mexico Senator Xóchitl Gálvez and the governing left-wing Morena candidate, former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.

To win a place on the June 2024 ballot, he has until January 2024 to obtain signatures of support from 1% of voters, which are distributed across 17 states.

An amazing arc of success surrounds Verástegui’s life. A providential win of the presidency could be forthcoming.

If this happens, positive changes will surely be in store for our neighboring country South of the Border.

And the world will get to see a glimmering example of how celebrity power can work for the good.

Sexual Harassment Allegations Surface against the President of the Motion Picture Academy

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The last thing Hollywood needs is another high-profile scandal. Unfortunately, this is exactly what recently landed at the doorstep of a once respected institution.

The president of the Motion Picture Academy, who was at the organization’s helm in the midst of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct disclosures, is himself now the subject of an investigation involving multiple accusations of sexual harassment.

According to Variety, John Bailey, the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, is under investigation for sexual harassment allegations. The probe was launched after the Academy received three separate claims of impropriety.

For months the entertainment industry has been in deep distress as a result of the numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, which were revealed in reports in outlets such as the New York Times and the New Yorker.

As a means of responding, Hollywood set up a sexual harassment commission and embraced the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.

The revelation involving the head of the Academy comes right on the heels of the immensely unentertaining 90th Academy Awards ceremony, which is now infamous for garnering the most disastrous ratings in the show’s history.

Bailey, a cinematographer and film director, is best known for collaborating with big-name film directors including Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Apted. His list of film credits includes “The Big Chill,” “Ordinary People,” “American Gigolo,” “As Good As It Gets,” and “Groundhog Day.” In 2015 he was awarded the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award.

The longtime Academy member was elected to the post of Academy president in August 2017 and had previously been president of the Cinematographers branch. During Bailey’s tenure, the Academy voted to revoke Weinstein’s membership just days after the first reports of sexual misconduct surfaced.

The choice of Bailey raised the eyebrows of some high-profile liberals in the entertainment industry, particularly because vociferous Academy members had been pushing for, among other things, a more inclusive Oscar organization.

Consequently, the then-newly elected 75-year-old Caucasian male president received a substantial degree of disapproval over his age as well as his skin color.

At the time Bailey told Variety, “What you just said is [expletive],” adding, “I was born a white man, and I can’t help it that I’m 75 years old. Is this some sort of limiting factor?”

Under Bailey’s leadership, the Academy established a new code of conduct, which provides for disciplining or expelling members over abuse, harassment, or discrimination and also sets up procedures by which such accusations can be adjudicated administratively.

Such claims are to be forwarded by the Membership Department to the Academy’s Membership and Administration Committee, a committee currently led by David Rubin.

If the allegations are deemed to be credible and serious, the matter is sent to the Board of Governors, which then determines whether to suspend or expel the member, in this case, Bailey.

One of the members of the Board of Governors happens to be Bailey’s wife, Carol Littleton, who presumably would have to recuse herself from the proceedings.

If Bailey were ultimately suspended or removed due to the investigation and adjudication, he would be replaced by Academy first vice president and makeup artist Lois Burwell.

A couple of weeks ago Bailey told the annual luncheon for Oscar nominees that the “fossilized bedrock” of Hollywood would be “jack-hammered into oblivion.”

The claims against the Academy president, the subsequent investigation, and adjudication are occurring at a most inopportune time, especially when one factors in the omnipresence of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.

Any due process Bailey might receive is jeopardized by the profound embarrassment that plagues Hollywood elites over their roles in the ongoing scandal.