Sex

Anthony Bourdain would've gladly helped women who were allegedly sexually harassed or abused by Mario Batali ... if they'd shared the allegations with him.

Bourdain's been taking some heat for his reaction to the Batali claims because he hinted he knew about some of the inappropriate behavior. Now, he wants to make it clear he stands "unhesitatingly and unwaveringly with the women."

He says his past admiration for Batali and famed restaurateur Ken Friedman -- who's also been accused -- doesn't matter. He says he's "ashamed that I was clearly not the kind of person that women friends who knew -- and had stories to tell -- felt comfortable confiding in."

Bourdain's girlfriend, Asia Argento, is one of numerous Harvey Weinstein accusers who claims he sexually assaulted her, and Anthony says their relationship helped open his eyes to the plight of women. He even apologized "to the extent which my work in 'Kitchen Confidential' celebrated or prolonged a culture that allowed the kind of grotesque behaviors we're hearing about."

Giada De Laurentiis says she's very sad over the allegations against fellow celeb chef Mario Batali ... but doesn't really seem too surprised.

We got the star TV chef at LAX Tuesday and asked about Batali stepping away from his restaurant empire amid claims he sexually harassed 5 women. It was clear she's sad, but says it had to happen and hopes it makes everyone feel better.

As she puts it ... "It's a time of cleansing."

Also, very interesting -- Giada's reaction when we asked if she's shocked by the accusations. You've gotta see it ... she says a lot without using a word.

Marshall Faulk -- along with NFL legends like Warren Sapp, Donovan McNabb and others -- are named in a lawsuit by a former NFL Network employee who says she was aggressively sexually harassed by talent and execs.

The accuser is Jami Cantor, who was hired by NFL Network in 2006 as a wardrobe stylist.

During her employment, Cantor says she was "subjected to ongoing and continuing sexual harassment by current and former on-air talent."

Here's the list of allegations:

Marshall Faulk (current on-air talent) -- asked invasive questions about sex, "such as favorite sex position, whether she liked oral sex, and whether she dated black men."

"As time went on, Mr. Faulk became more aggressive, such as inviting Plaintiff to his hotel room, stroking and pulling out his genitals in front of her, pointing to his crotch and asking Plaintiff, 'when are you gonna get on this already?' He also pinned Plaintiff against a wall, demanding oral sex while he pulled his pants down."

Ike Taylor (current on-air talent) -- sent Plaintiff sexually inappropriate pictures of himself, and a nude video while masturbating in the shower.

Warren Sapp (former on-air talent) -- came into restroom while plaintiff was preparing clothes and urinated in front of her.

When she screamed at him to get out, Sapp said, "Sorry mama, but your office shouldn't be our sh*tter."

Sapp is also accused of giving the woman sex toys for Christmas 3 years in a row.

Donovan McNabb (former on-air talent) -- sent text messages to plaintiff asking if "she was a squirter" and telling her she "looked like the kind of girl that squirted when getting f*cked."

Heath Evans (current on-air talent) -- sent nude pics of himself to plaintiff

Eric Davis (former on-air talent) -- groped, grabbed and made sexually charged comments to plaintiff.

Eric Weinberger (former Exec Producer of NFL Network) -- sent nude pics and graphic text messages including telling plaintiff she should be "getting f*cked every day."

Cantor claims she complained but "nothing was done." Instead, the 51-year-old says she was fired in 2016 and replaced with a 30-year-old.

Three women accusing President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct are demanding Congress investigate their claims.

Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Cooks held a press conference in L.A. Monday -- detailing their alleged experiences with Trump -- and asked Congress take a closer look into their claims.

Among the allegations -- Cooks says Trump forcibly kissed her in 2005, and Leeds claims Trump grabbed her breasts and tried putting his hand up her skirt during a flight to NYC more than 3 decades ago.

The news conference comes one day after U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said anyone claiming they're victims of sexual misconduct should be heard.

Mario Batali is accused of "inappropriate touching" by 4 women -- 3 of them former employees -- and the allegation is forcing the celebrity chef to step away from his restaurant empire.

One of Batali's accusers called him "creepy" and said he gave "me this provocative, icky feeling." Other claims are he groped a woman's breasts, grabbed someone from behind and compelled her to straddle him.

The allegations, spanning at least two decades, surfaced in an Eater NY article published Monday. Batali responded to the article, saying he's stepping away from day-to-day operations of his business. ABC has also asked "The Chew" co-host to step away from the show while it reviews the allegations.

Batali added, "I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt. Although the identities of most of the individuals mentioned in these stories have not been revealed to me, much of the behavior described does, in fact match up with ways I have acted."

Anthony Bourdain hinted Monday morning he knew about Batali and claims he knew of firsthand stories.

Harvey Weinstein is under investigation for allegedly raping Paz de la Huerta on 2 occasions, but law enforcement sources tell TMZ a prosecution is highly unlikely.

De la Huerta says in November 2010, Weinstein went to her apartment, pushed her on the bed, lifted her skirt and raped her. She says in late December, Weinstein showed up again in her hotel lobby, she asked him to leave but he ended up in her apartment and he raped her again.

Law enforcement sources tell us there are problems with the case. The fact that it's more than 7 years old creates issues, including memory of events.

Our sources say the case is made even more difficult by the fact that the actress had repeated interactions with Weinstein between the first and second alleged rape.

De la Huerta has said she told her therapist about the rapes, but our law enforcement sources say it's not as clear as that. Law enforcement is aware of a correspondence in which the therapist recollects the 2010 session this way:

"I recall you reporting to me a sexual encounter with Harvey Weinstein involving intercourse in your apartment in 2010 that resulted in you feeling victimized. I recall you telling me that it felt coercive to you and that you didn't want to have sex with him, but felt you had to as he was a man of power and rank and you couldn't say no to his sexual advances."

Our law enforcement sources say the therapist's recollections do not show a lack of consent sufficient to prove rape.

Most people demand bottles of Ciroc on their riders, but not Farrah Abraham, who's gonna be busy bedazzling her lady parts in her green room.

Farrah's hosting a XXXMas party at the Las Vegas stripper institution Crazy Horse III Thursday and her rider is about what you'd expect from a porn star ... neon panties and a vajazzle kit.

The former "Teen Mom" also gets very specific when it comes to hygiene, requesting "a pre-planned appointment with an affluent med-spa for service of 2 syringes of Sculpta facial filler," plus a 24k gold collagen breast firming gel mask.

The caring mom wants to care for the strippers ... demanding $3k in Crazy Horse III Diamond Dollars to tip performers.

Not much when it comes to food and beverage though, just one California sushi roll. It's how she ... rolls.

6:45 PM PT -- Charlie tells TMZ, "In my nearly 35 years as a celebrated entertainer, I have been nothing shy of a forthright, noble and valiant courier of the truth. Consistently admitting and owning a laundry list of shortcomings, wrongdoings and indiscretions this traveler hath traveled -- however, every man has a breaking point."

Charlie goes on ... "These radically groundless and unfounded allegations end now. I now take a passionate stand against those who wish to even entertain the sick and twisted lies against me. GAME OVER."

Charlie Sheen is suing the National Enquirer for an article it published claiming he raped a then 13-year-old Corey Haim.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Sheen says the Enquirer article that ran on Nov. 8 claimed Sheen sodomized Haim while they were filming the movie "Lucas" back in the 1980s. Sheen was 19 at the time.

The article claimed Charlie and Corey smoked pot and had anal sex. The article blames Sheen for putting Haim on a path of drug abuse, which sent him to an early grave.

Charlie has publicly denied the story, and in the lawsuit he points out Corey's own mother has also denied it.

Charlie says Enquirer exec Dylan Howard has a vendetta against him. Charlie believes Howard is pissed because his publication didn't break the story that Charlie has HIV.

Jerry Sandusky's 42-year-old son is following in his father's shameful footsteps -- he was ALSO just sentenced to serve time in prison after pleading guilty in his child sex abuse case.

Officials say Jeffrey Sandusky requested nude and sexually explicit photos from underage girls -- 2 sisters.

Cops say Jeffrey asked one of the underage girls to send a pic of her "taking a piss."

Sandusky eventually pled guilty to 14 criminal counts including solicitation of child porn -- and Friday, he was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in state prison. He was facing up to 8 years.

He's also required to register as a Tier 3 sex offender -- which is the highest level in Pennsylvania.

One of Roy Moore's accusers says she has evidence proving the Republican U.S. Senate candidate knew her before he allegedly sexually assaulted her.

Beverly Young Nelson was flanked by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, at a news conference in Atlanta Friday and distributed a report from an expert which concludes the signature in Nelson's yearbook is that of Moore.

As we reported ... Nelson alleges Moore flirted with her when she was a waitress and signed her yearbook. She then alleges Moore offered her a ride home after one of her shifts but instead drove her to the back of the restaurant and attempted to force her to perform oral sex.

Moore has denied Nelson's allegations and went as far as to say he doesn't know her.

Bryan Singer was shockingly candid and patient with our photog, who asked him a wide range of questions, from sexual assault allegations, to getting fired from "Bohemian Rhapsody" to allegations involving an actor he made famous -- Kevin Spacey.

We got Singer Thursday coming out of Mel's Drive-In in WeHo and started the conversation by asking about getting 86'd from the flick about Freddie Mercury and Queen. He says at first the firing had nothing to do with the various sexual assault allegations. He says he never got a straight answer from the studio, but a few minutes later certainly suggests the firing was connected to the allegations, saying the studio wouldn't offer a public explanation because "the reason would be, in my opinion, inaccurate and embarrassing."

As for Kevin Spacey, he says actor Gabriel Byrne is just dead wrong when he says "The Usual Suspects" was shut down for a time because of Spacey's behavior. But, when our photog asked if he'd work with Spacey again, Singer said it was a "loaded question."

Dr. Larry Nassar is probably going to die in prison -- the disgraced former Team USA gymnastics doc just got 60 YEARS in his child porn case.

The 54-year-old was just sentenced by a judge in Michigan -- after being convicted of having more than 37,000 child porn images in his possession.

Prosecutors say they found the images on computer hard drives while investigating the sexual assault claims against him.

Of course, besides the child porn ... Nassar also sexually assaulted more than 100 female athletes while working with Team USA gymnastics and Michigan State University.

His victims include some of the most famous gymnasts in the world -- from McKayla Maroney to Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman.

Nassar will be sentenced in that case in January.

Senator Al Franken is resigning, but still insists some of the allegations against him are not true, and he thinks the Ethics Committee would agree he's done nothing wrong while in the Senate.

In his speech on the Senate floor, Franken said he wanted to be respectful of the women who accused of him of sexual misconduct, but that doesn't mean he was admitting their claims were true. Then he said he would be stepping down in the coming weeks, but also took a huge parting shot at President Trump and Roy Moore.

Franken said, "I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party."

Franken's latest accuser came forward Wednesday -- taking the count to at least 7 -- claiming Franken tried forcibly kissing her in 2006, adding he allegedly said, "It's my right as an entertainer."

Franken denied the latest allegation, but that didn't stop the drumbeat for his resignation. At least 39 Senators called for his exit.

The Franken accusations began with radio host Leeann Tweeden posting a photo showing he groped her and also sexually harassed her during a USO trip in '06.

More accusers came forward, claiming everything from unwanted groping to attempts of forcible kissing. Franken apologized time and again, but that clearly wasn't enough.

The former 'Apprentice' contestant who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault in 2007 is back in court ... showing her defamation suit against the Prez is not going away.

Summer Zervos attended a hearing Tuesday at the Manhattan State Supreme Court ... flanked by her lawyer, Gloria Allred. Trump's lawyers argued for the case to be dismissed, while Zervos' team worked on where and how to get the Prez on the stand.

As we reported ... Zervos sued Trump back in January, claiming he defamed her when he publicly called her a liar and referred to her allegation as "totally made up nonsense."

Summer appeared on season 5 of "The Apprentice," and alleges Trump assaulted her during a meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel about working for him. She claims he open-mouth kissed her, grabbed her breasts and asked her to lay in bed to watch TV.

Zervos and Allred were surrounded by reporters outside the courthouse as they left.

Ex-USC football player Osa Masina was sentenced to 3 years behind bars on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 3 counts of misdemeanor sexual battery ... but will only be locked up for 1 year.

Masina learned his fate at a Salt Lake City courthouse Tuesday afternoon ... after the 19-year-old victim re-told her testimony ... saying she was anally raped by Masina after falling asleep at a party back in 2016.

She also said Masina engaged in oral sex with her while she was asleep.

The ex-USC linebacker was initially charged with rape and two counts of forcible sodomy -- both 1st degree felonies ... but accepted a plea deal on lesser charges in October.

Once Masina gets out, he will spend the next 2 years on probation.

Dustin Hoffman got grilled like a cheeseburger when John Oliver tore apart the actor's response to claims he sexually harassed a crew member on a movie set.

Things got super heated in the middle of a TriBeCa Film panel discussion -- Hoffman started explaining his apology to the woman who claims he repeatedly harassed her 32 years ago on the set of "Death of a Salesman."

Oliver insisted the explanation was total BS, saying, "It's that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off." It was ON from there. Hoffman fired back at the HBO host, asking why he believed all of the woman's allegations ... and questioned why she waited so long to say anything.

It was awkward, contentious, uncomfortable and very entertaining. For the audience, at least.