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Tag: Harpo Studios

  • Josh Duggar: ’19 Kids and Counting’ Star Cited in Police Report for Allegedly Molesting Minors

    Josh Duggar, the eldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar of 19 Kids and Counting fame, is cited in a police report from back in 2006 for having allegedly molested five underage girls when he was around 14 years old.

    A copy of the 2006 report from the Springdale Police Department shows that Josh Duggar was accused of “forcible fondling” five different girls when he was as young as 14 years old. The victims identities have not been released due to their age. Josh Duggar is married to Anna Duggar. The father of three has a fourth child on the way.

    The police report reportedly reveals the following details about Josh Duggar:

    1.The crime/incident listed is “forcible fondling.”

    2. Two witnesses are listed, although their information has been made private.

    3. Five different victims are listed, although their information has also been made private.

    4. 12 “other persons” are listed, including Josh’s parents Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar.

    5. The report was filed after a “caller” informed them of the alleged incident.

    6. It also states that Michelle & Jim Bob told them the incident allegedly happened 3.5 years before the report was filed.

    7. The first incident listed allegedly occurred in March 2002.

    8. The victims allegedly told Michelle & Jim Bob that Josh had been “fondling” their “breast and vaginas” while they were sleeping.

    9. The report claims Jim Bob allegedly told a State Trooper about the fondling but that no report was ever filed.

    10. Josh Duggar was allegedly sent to a “rehab” in Little Rock for 3 months, but it was not for sex offenders.

    Hollywood Life reports that the alleged molestations came to light in a letter written by one of the unidentified victims. That letter was placed inside of a book that was loaned to a member of the church Josh Duggar and his family attended at the time.

    When the letter was discovered, its recipient sent it to the police and to Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios because the 19 Kids and Counting family was reportedly in Chicago, Ill. filming an interview for her talk show at the time. Then, once Harpo was alerted of the alleged sexual misconduct, they sent what they had received to the Department of Human Services.

    In Touch reports that Jim Bob Duggar didn’t report his son’s crimes for more than a year.

    Another report says the minor females Josh Duggar molested were his own sisters.

    Do you think there’s more behind this police report alleging that Josh Duggar molested young girls when he was a teenager? Is this really a deep, dark secret the 19 Kids and Counting family–most especially Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar–has kept for years? Or is there an explanation for this police report?

    Things don’t sound so good right now for Josh Duggar or the 19 Kids and Counting family–do they?

  • Oprah Winfrey Plans to Sell Harpo Studios for $32 Million

    Oprah Winfrey plans to officially leave Chicago behind in a game-changing move.

    Winfrey will sell Harpo Studios to the highest bidder, Sterling Bay Cos, a Chicago-based real estate investment and development company. The deal is expected to total about $32 million. Ownership rights to Harpo lead to a bidding war that caught the attention of companies all over the globe.

    Harpo Studios began in Chicago in 1990, with Winfrey leaving it in 2011 when her long-running The Oprah Winfrey Show ended. With the end of the series, she relocated to Los Angeles to run the Oprah Winfrey network (OWN). Her decision to sell the company represents her final transition from Chicago to LA. Harpo Studios has four buildings, over 200 employees, and sits on a 3.5-acre campus.

    A spokeswoman for Harpo made the announcement by saying:

    “We have entered into a purchasing agreement with Sterling Bay for the four-building Harpo Studios campus in Chicago’s West Loop. We expect the transaction to be closed in 30 days. The property will be leased back to Harpo for two years and the studio will continue to produce programming for OWN.”

    Originally Winfrey hoped to lease the building for three years instead of two.

    Though Winfrey no longer has business ties to Chicago, she still owns a condominium in Water Tower Place, which she is currently trying to sell for $7.75 million.

    According to Crain’s Chicago Business, “the eventual redevelopment could include some combination of office, restaurant, retail, apartment and hotel elements…Portions of the property could maintain their current use as TV studios and editing rooms.”

    Winfrey first came to Chicago in 1984 to WLS-TV’s morning talk show, which was entitled A.M Chicago. The show quickly became the number one in its market. It was renamed to The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1985. Winfrey is credited with transforming the neighborhood surrounding Harpo Studios into a thriving location, with popular restaurants and a family friendly environment.

    Image via Oprah Winfrey, Twitter

  • Harpo Studios, Home of Oprah’s Show, To Be Sold

    On the West Side of Chicago sits Harpo Studios, home of The Oprah Winfrey Show until 2011. When Oprah first moved her morning talk show to the location in the meatpacking district in 1990, the neighborhood was transformed from gritty to trendy in a few short years.

    However, it was recently announced that Oprah will be selling the 3.5 acre campus to a Chicago developer.

    “We have entered into a purchasing agreement with Sterling Bay for the four-building Harpo Studios campus in Chicago’s West Loop,” a spokeswoman for Harpo confirmed in a statement. “We expect the transaction to be closed in 30 days. The property will be leased back to Harpo for two years and the studio will continue to produce programming for OWN.”

    In the past, Sterling Bay has also purchased other properties in the area, including a 10-story storage building two blocks from Harpo Studios, now commited to Google Inc.

    “If [Sterling Bay] is going to work their strategy to its obvious conclusion, which is really controlling that part of the West Loop, it required owning those pieces,” said Harry Huzenis, principal at Chicago-based JRG Capital Partners, about the purchase of Harpo Studios.

    Huzenis’ company also bid on the property, but lost out to Sterling Bay.

    Approximately 200 people currently work on the campus, which includes 170,000 square feet of office and production space. Two digital sports networks, 120 Sports and Campus Insiders, still currently have office and studio space on the property. It is not known if they will be able to continue leasing their space after the end of the two-year period.

    Oprah still owns a 9,625-square-foot condominium in Water Tower Place, which is on the market to be sold for $7.75 million. When sold, she will no longer control any property in the windy city.

    Currently, Oprah runs her cable network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, from Los Angeles. The network, which replaced The Discovery Health Channel, includes shows such as The Gayle King Show, In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman, and Enough Already! with Peter Walsh.


    Imaga via Wikimedia Commons