Gene Williams, host of the Branson-based, but nationally broadcast Gene Williams Country Television Show has been charged with sexual harassment by country singer Rebecca Lindsey, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Ms. Lindsey claims she was invited to appear on a show which would be taped April 30. "Defendant Williams informed plaintiff that they would be sharing the same room." She said that was not going to happen.
Williams made airline reservations for Miss Lindsey to fly from Florida to Little Rock, the lawsuit said. He picked her up at the Little Rock airport in a limousine. "Within 10 minutes of being in the limousine, Gene Williams smacked plaintiff on her backside. Plaintiff informed Williams never to touch her like that again."
Later that day, the lawsuit claims, Williams began introducing Miss Lindsey to people as his wife and "asked a grocer if he would like to see plaintiff and defendant get married on the Gene Williams show on Sunday, April 30, 2006." Miss Williams says she quickly corrected Lindsey's statements.
During the limousine ride, the lawsuit claims Williams tried to ply Miss Lindsey with alcohol, but she refused. He "further informed plaintiff of affairs he has had."
Later that day, according to the lawsuit, Williams told her "unless (she) had sex with him he would not pay for her album," a promise he had allegedly made earlier.
He also told her unless she slept with him, he "was going to leave her in Branson and not return her to the airport in Little Rock."
The next day, he tried to kiss her, the lawsuit said. She later received a call from one of Williams' friends saying Williams was buying an engagement ring for Miss Lindsey. Later, he "ordered plaintiff to put on the ring or he would not let her sing on the show," and he "further informed (her) that if she did not wear the ring he would not take her back to Little Rock."
She made other arrangements to get back to Little Rock, the lawsuit said.
She is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, the lawsuit said, on each of five counts, including assault, battery, breach of contract and fraud, with the fraud charge related to his alleged promise to pay for her album.
39 comments:
She was asking for it.
The picture posted of her is really sexual.
I so thought that was a picture of Jenna Jameson.
http://www.rebeccalindsey.net/photos/
Plenty more where that came from, and yes, they all look like bad porn.
Gene could have saved himself a lot of trouble by just ordering the pillow with her face on it for only $25.99.
Now that's classy.
http://www.cafepress.com/rebeccalindsey.65503156
Sounds like the guy is a bore but is he really guilty of "harrassement" worthy of $75,000?
Or is it just an easy way to get your name in the news and have a nice payday?
She isn't a child, she isn't his employee, per se. At the most she's a business partner.
Wow, between the guy who harassed her and the people here (hereafter refered to as You) basically insulting her/defending him, I'm not sure who to be more disgusted at. I will say this though (because I feel it is the most appropriate way to respond):
I hope you all get raped in a fire and die.
That is all.
I saw the photos and all I can say is DAAAAAAMMMMMMNNNNN!
I'd hit it. With my fist.
Come on people! Just because people thinks she looks sexy and she helps sell herself as sexy doesn't mean that she is going to do something or even should be "required" to do something. That is just stupid ways of thinking!
If you look like a dog does that mean we can all expect you to bark?
Does she have to look and dress a certain way to sell her music? Whatever happened to good lyrics and a great voice to sell your music?
I hope the response to this post explains why the Joplin Globe doesn't just cover Joplin. This crystallizes the rationale for focusing on stories outside the borders of the city for any media outlet.
What to hear something funny, I live a few miles from Branson, and work there, and if it had not been for the Turner Report I would have never know of this "incident". I have not seen it in a local paper. But thats not unusual. If it looks embarassing to the towns image, it sometimes falls through the cracks. If it boils to the top, then they might put it in the local fish wrapper.
Drust
Wow, get someone to hit on you and sue them for 75 grand.
I repeat: The woman's an adult. If she didn't like the way she was being treated she should have called the police.
I wouldn't expect her to reciprocate the guy's emotions but, again, he wasn't her boss. So, at best, he hit on her and she didn't like it.
The world has more important things to worry about--like GENUINE cases of harassment.
I'll be interested in seeing how this turns out.
She has a decent voice, but nothing that sets her apart from the scads of other female country music performers. Whoever produced that CD ought to be gutted. The vocals are overpowering the instruments to the point it sounds like she's singing karaoke in a bowling alley.
I don't understand what publicist let her go to Little Rock and Branson by herself. If she's with BMI, she's got to have representation. It seems all a little too fishy.
I find it interesting that everyone is focusing on her and nobody is talking about HIS ACTIONS.
Do they sound like the actions of a BUSINESS MAN????
It's not that she "asked" for it, but that he acted like a pig.
Think about it this way...if it had been your little sister or best gal friend, would you be blaming her?
Just some thoughts.
More like the actions of an old geezer pervert.
Any news with this subject? Anybody know when the trial begins? I'm guessing Gene will settle before that, in order to avoid the bad publicity, that sly old fox!
Has the lawsuit been dropped? Haven't heard a bit more about it?
It's a picture of her back. Didn't know a back could be "really sexual". You must live under a rock.
You need glasses or your not very bright. It could also be a combination of all of the above. Gene Williams probably wrote this.
Lol "She was asking for it"? Really? Gene probably wrote this.
I think Gene wrote all these to try and help his lawsuit. The photos all look like the typical promotional photos all singers have, just she's actually attractive, and I've seen more skin at the mall or the beach then in her photos. There are also photos on that same link (above) with her at charity events for the national coalition against domestic violence, her on CNN, NBC Daytime, Fox News and opening for Mayor Bloomberg in NYC for our veterans.
I think you meant to say it the sounds like the guy is sick. I read an article that he also was sexually harassing an 18-year-old married woman that same weekend that he did this to this woman. He apparently also did this to every woman that has been on the show. The $75,000 he was being sued for was supposed to be as punishment to deter him from doing this to other women. Evidently his family had many "come to Jesus" talks with him and his sexual harassment has caused the show and his family thousands of dollars over the years. So we can keep blaming the victim(S), or we can put the blame where it should be – on the perpetrator. Whether she was an employee or a business partner, or just a woman walking down the street, no woman deserves to be treated this way. And to whoever wrote the above: what you wrote only shows your ignorance.
I've seen this artist on TV and heard her on the radio and at the store. She didn't need this guy to make her famous, so what are you talking about? What retard wrote this??
You sound ignorant.
I guess you don't like that she's endorsed by the national coalition against domestic violence?…
She has on a pair of jeans and a tank top. And she can sing and her music was written by people who have won Grammys. WTF?
Exactly. So to reply to the comment made earlier - how could this crappy incident, that this artist didn't deserve/ no one deserves to have happen to them, have possibly made this artist famous? I guess Gene & Company didn't want anyone knowing exactly how many women he's done this to.
How do you know she didn't call the police? The state statutes in Missouri state that this is a genuine case of harassment. Perhaps you should take some time to educate yourself. Especially if you live in this state.
Charlie Craig, who was nominated for a Grammy, produced the album. The album was recorded at EMI. EMI owns Capitol Records. The engineer (Chris Latham) for this album was also the engineer for artists like Brad Paisley. Perhaps it sounds "a little too fishy" to you because you were lacking a lot of knowledge.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/chris-latham-mn0000107981/credits
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Craig
Anonymous Anonymous, I have no way of knowing whether Gene Williams wrote any of the earlier anonymous comments, but I am the one who wrote the post above. Gene Williams had nothing to do with it, nor did he select the photo that went with the post. When I posted this 10 years ago, that was the only photo I could find of Rebecca Lindsey. It was not an attempt to make people think that she brought this on herself. Nobody is asking for that kind of attention. This is a news blog. Any time that I use something that is written or said by someone else, I make sure that it is attributed to that person or to the website where the material came from. This particular post came directly from court records. I apologize for letting this lawsuit slip through the cracks and for not following up on it.
PS: You can be with BMI and not be represented. The only thing BMI does is if your a songwriter Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) collects license fees on behalf of its songwriters, composers and music publishers and distributes them as royalties. Period. Feel free to educate yourself.
http://www.bmi.com
Randy,
Certainly you're not in control of what others wrote, but several of the comments that have been allowed to remain on this page, evidently for years, are down and out lewd cyberbullying with no follow-up to anything fact-based.
Also, your article states:
Later that day, the lawsuit claims, Williams began introducing Miss Lindsey to people as his wife and "asked a grocer if he would like to see plaintiff and defendant get married on the Gene Williams show on Sunday, April 30, 2006." Miss Williams says she quickly corrected Lindsey's state...
Did you realize you called the victim in this suit by her perpetrator's last name (Miss Williams) and gave the victim's perp the victim's last name (Lindsey)?
That kind of I naccuracy didn't exactly make the victim's case any easier and your comment just now is sadly the first mention you've ever made that she did not bring this on herself or that nobody is asking for that kind of attention. It would have been nice to read that in your original post and it's a shame you cannot add it to your original post now.
Anonymous. You should be ashamed of what you wrote. There are many glaring examples of the inequality - and, often, ignorance of that inequality - that plagues our country. However, in the United States, there is no such widely acknowledged issue being more maliciously attacked than that of women’s rights and until there is no more sexism, prejudice, racism, (or any other discrimination that is ILLEGAL in any other Industry) in the music business we need to change the culture, not blame the people that are playing the only game that exists. And comparing the victim of a crime - which sexual harassment is a crime - to a dog is disgusting (by the way) and is a mirror reflection of the writer, NOT the victim.
Anonymous, WTH is wrong with you that you would even think of something like that? It's merchandise - that all artists sell btw. I think Gene may have written all these disgusting comments. Clearly, Gene does not like women.
I don’t know what these earlier comments were about regarding her music. I recently heard her on the radio during the fourth of July and I think she sounds really good. I just downloaded several of her songs, many I saw she actually wrote. She’s actually really good and you can find her pretty much everywhere (YouTube, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc.). Check out her music for yourself: https://m.youtube.com/user/rlindsey0308
https://rturner229.blogspot.com/2006/09/branson-tv-host-charged-with-sexual.html?m=1
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