<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12704445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lucy-hale" source="Orion">Lucy Hale</keyword> and <keyword id="12704446" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="austin-stowell" source="Orion">Austin Stowell</keyword> play workplace rivals in Peter Hutchings' "<keyword id="12704447" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-hating-game" source="Orion">The Hating Game</keyword>."</li><li>Hale's character Lucy tackles Stowell's Joshua to the ground in one of her daydreams.</li></ul><p>In Peter Hutchings' romantic comedy "The Hating Game," one obstacle stands in the way of publishing professional Lucy Hutton's promotion: Joshua Templeman, her uber-uptight coworker.</p><p>Determined to edge her pedigreed rival (Austin Stowell) out of the running, Lucy (Lucy Hale) becomes consumed by her hatred for him and, much to her confusion, her growing attraction to him.</p><p>So, Joshua unwittingly moonlights as the star of both her sex dreams and her fury-driven fantasies, including one in which Lucy imagines tackling him to the office floor and putting him in a headlock.</p><p>Hale and Stowell performed the stunt themselves.</p><p>"Oh, she tackled me," Stowell told Insider ahead of the film's release on Friday. "She was looking forward to it."</p><p>He added: "I was saying 'Bring it on. Let's go.'"</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j3qBGOD4b4A" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>Hale and Stowell worked out the logistics with an on-set stunt coordinator to ensure that sure no one was injured. </p><p>"We're shooting this movie in the middle of the pandemic, so you don't want COVID and you also didn't want a hurt back," Stowell said, continuing, "We're the only two there. So if you lose one of us, it's going to be very difficult to shoot."</p><p>In 2019, <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/05/lucy-hale-robbie-amell-the-hating-game-movie-1202616348/">Deadline</a> announced Hale and Robbie Amell as the leads in "The Hating Game," screenwriter Christina Mengert's adaptation of <keyword id="12704448" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sally-thorne" source="Orion">Sally Thorne</keyword>'s hit 2016 novel of the same name.</p><p>Amell <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSallyThorne/posts/some-movie-news-due-to-scheduling-conflicts-robbie-amell-has-been-replaced-with-/1341831262861929/">exited the project</a> due to scheduling conflicts, and Stowell replaced him as Joshua in November 2020. </p><p>With his addition to the cast, "The Hating Game" became a reunion of sorts; Stowell previously worked with Hale in Blumhouse's "Fantasy Island" (2020). The actors <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adawson/2021/12/07/lucy-hale-and-austin-stowell-connect-in-the-hating-game/?sh=439dbe3551cb">spent several months</a> shooting the horror film in Fiji.  </p><p>"It made it so easy. She was already attached to the movie when I signed on. The first time I read the script, I was able to envision Lucy as Lucy and get to play out the scenes together with her in mind already," Stowell told Insider. </p><p>He continued, "To get to do a romantic comedy with a friend is a dream come true, because a lot of it has to do with chemistry. I knew I already had great chemistry with Lucy."</p><div type="image" title="austin stowell lucy hale" height="900" width="1200" msid="88192635" hostid="261"></div><p>Although the actor recalls subtle "hints at a romance" between his and Hale's "Fantasy Island" characters — Patrick Sullivan and Melanie Cole, respectively — they didn't have an opportunity to form a real connection.</p><p>"We get split off so quickly that we didn't really get to explore that, but on this one we did a ton," Stowell said. "I just couldn't have asked for a better Lucy."</p><p><em>"The Hating Game" premieres on-demand and in select theaters on December 10.</em></p>

'The Hating Game' star Austin Stowell jokes that his costar Lucy Hale was 'looking forward' to tackling him on-screen

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Christy Holly forced a player into sexual contact when he was an NWSL head coach, a new report says.</li><li>An <a href="https://clicks.ussoccer.com/f/a/liLkrS64W8ERHX4WjQwYgw~~/AAQRxQA~/RgRlHZrjP0RraHR0cHM6Ly93d3cua3NsYXcuY29tL2F0dGFjaG1lbnRzLzAwMC8wMDkvOTMxL29yaWdpbmFsL0tpbmdfX19TcGFsZGluZ18tX0Z1bGxfUmVwb3J0X3RvX1VTU0YucGRmPzE2NjQ4MDkwNDhXA3NwY0IKYzPjFTtjat_CeVIRbWNhc2hAaW5zaWRlci5jb21YBAAAANU~">independent investigation</a> details Holly's misconduct towards Racing Louisville defender Erin Simon.</li></ul><p>A former National Women's Soccer League head coach forced unwanted sexual contact with one of his players during his tenure at the front of the bench, an independent investigation into "systemic abuse" in the NWSL revealed Monday.</p><p>The year-long inquiry — commissioned by US Soccer and led by former United States Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates — found that former Racing Louisville FC head coach Christy Holly initiated and sustained a pressure campaign for a one-sided sexual relationship with Erin Simon, then a defender for the club. When Simon took measures to distance herself from Holly, he retaliated with verbal and emotional abuse that was noticed by others around the franchise.</p><div type="image" title="Christy Holly." height="1666" width="2222" msid="94629640" hostid="261" sizebytes="122050"></div><p>Simon alleges that Holly sent her unwanted text messages with sexually explicit content, groped Simon during film sessions at the club's facilities, and — on at least one occasion — masturbated in her presence without consent and then forced her to touch his penis. Supporting evidence from several witnesses in and around the club seemingly corroborate Simon's claims.</p><p>Leadership at Racing Louisville FC fired Holly "for cause" in 2021 after his conduct towards Simon came to light within the organization. But the club did not release further information publicly regarding the nature of their inaugural head coach's wrongdoing, with the Executive Vice President at the time going so far as to say, "I'll take the attorney line" rather than disclosing details voluntarily.</p><p>Holly was one of three NWSL coaches who were the main subjects of Yates' report. Paul Riley — a coach for the Portland Thorns who later assumed the helm for the North Carolina Courage — was accused of luring players into his bed and forcing them to kiss one another, among other forms of misconduct. Longtime Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames was accused of verbal and emotional abuse, as well as harboring inappropriate relationships with players.</p><div type="image" title="Paul Riley (left) and Rory Dames." height="1666" width="2500" msid="94629642" hostid="261" sizebytes="188496"></div><p>None of the three aforementioned individuals still has a coaching license in the United States, US Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone confirmed after the investigation's findings were released Monday afternoon. But Yates stressed in her report that "Riley, Dames, and Holly are not the only coaches who mistreated players."</p><p>"By the end of the 2021 season, five of the League's 10 teams had separated from their head coaches in the wake of player complaints," the 319-page document reads. "In many cases, some of the misconduct at issue was not behind closed doors — it was on the sidelines at games, videotaped at practices, and, in some cases, already the subject of public reports."</p><p>The culture of abuse in the NWSL is so pervasive, in fact, that Yates told Insider she couldn't look into other coaches or executives credibly accused of misconduct because it was "important that this investigation not go on forever."</p><div type="image" title="Sally Yates." height="1440" width="1920" msid="94629644" hostid="261" sizebytes="54174"></div><p>"We put enough in the report and we investigated enough to be able to demonstrate the systemic nature of the abuse here," Yates said. "It's been almost a year to the day actually since we were retained. And in order for there to be both transparency and accountability and to be able to put in place the changes that need to happen, this investigation needed to end.</p><p>"Because of the breadth and the difficulty of piecing through evidence that's quite old, even with respect to three of these coaches, it was a huge undertaking," she added.</p><p>A separate joint investigation between the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association remains ongoing.</p>

New allegations of disturbing sexual misconduct from former NWSL coach Christy Holly detailed in bombshell report

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5be4b3cc3815077e3b788c6a-1327/whitaker tub scam company.jpg" border="0" alt="Matt Whitaker" data-mce-source="Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Department of Justice Chief of Staff Matt Whitaker (R) participates in a round table event with the Joint Interagency Task Force - South (JIATF-S) foreign liaison officers at the Department of Justice Kennedy building August 29, 2018 in Washington, DC. Based in Key West, Florida, the JIATF-S is tasked with stopping the flow of illicit drugs with the cooperation of other agencies and international partners, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Honduras, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom." data-link="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/department-of-justice-chief-of-staff-matt-whitaker-news-photo/1025296052" /></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Current and former FBI and DOJ officials expressed shock and frustration at President Donald Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general.</li><li>"Seriously? This guy?" one current FBI agent said to INSIDER. "No words."</li><li>A former DOJ official expressed a similar sentiment, saying department employees have been "in a<span> daze" since Whitaker's appointment "and have been for a while," adding that local assistant US attorneys are also "pretty embarrassed."</span></li><li><span>Whitaker is seen as a staunch Trump loyalist and has publicly mused about gutting the Russia investigation. He is now overseeing the special counsel Robert Mueller.</span></li><li><span>DOJ veterans and constitutional law experts argue that Mueller could challenge Whitaker's appointment on constitutional grounds if he overruled a decision by the special counsel.</span></li></ul><p>President Donald Trump's decision to oust Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week and replace him with acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker sent shockwaves through Washington.</p><p>It also turned heads at the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Whitaker will oversee until Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a permanent replacement.</p><p>One current FBI agent was blunt when asked about Whitaker's appointment.</p><p>"Seriously? This guy?" the agent, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told INSIDER. "No words."</p><p>While he was Sessions' chief of staff, Whitaker reportedly met with Trump in the Oval Office over a dozen times. And according to The Washington Post, whenever Trump complained about the ongoing Russia investigation Whitaker "often smiled knowingly and nodded in assent."</p><p>The Russia investigation, spearheaded by special counsel Robert Mueller, has been a thorn in Trump's side since shortly after he took office. In addition to investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, Mueller is also looking into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor, as well as whether Trump sought to obstruct justice after learning of the investigation's existence last March.</p><p>The special counsel is said to be nearing the end stages of the Russia probe - he has reportedly begun writing his final report - and Whitaker's appointment raises new questions about the fate of the investigation.</p><p>"This decision is unsurprising," another current FBI agent told INSIDER. "POTUS has always wanted to replace Jeff Sessions with someone loyal to him. He values personal loyalty above all else, including rule of law. Another sad day for the country."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5be0160f101142107951dd98-2400/donald trump.jpg" border="0" alt="Donald Trump" data-mce-source="Getty" data-mce-caption="US President Donald Trump." /></div></div></div></p><p>Once described as the West Wing's "eyes and ears" in the DOJ, Whitaker made the rounds on right-wing media over the last two years claiming without evidence, that there was "no collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia.</p><p><span>He also said in a CNN op-ed last year that Mueller had overstepped his mandate by digging into the Trump Organization's finances.</span></p><p><span>And late Thursday, audio footage <a href="https://twitter.com/funder/status/1060411616192327680" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resurfaced</a> of Whitaker claiming the "left is trying to sow this theory that essentially Russians interfered with the US election, which has been proven false. They did not have any impact in the election."</span></p><p><span>The US intelligence community concluded last year that Russia mounted an elaborate campaign to meddle in the 2016 election to elevate Trump to the presidency. The assessment did not reach a conclusion about whether Russia's meddling had an impact on the results.</span><span></span></p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robert-mueller-drafting-final-russia-investigation-report-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Mueller has reportedly begun drafting his final report in the Russia probe</a></em></p><p><span>"Main Justice people are in a daze" since Whitaker's appointment "and have been for a while," one former DOJ official - who requested anonymity to freely discuss the mood within the department, - told INSIDER. "Local [assistant US attorneys] are keeping their heads down and just doing their work but are pretty embarrassed, particularly in New York and Chicago."</span></p><p><span>The Post reported that despite Whitaker's controversial remarks about Mueller and the Russia probe, the acting attorney general has no plans to recuse himself, even if DOJ ethics officials urge him to do so. Sources also told The Post that Whitaker would likely oppose a request from Mueller to subpoena the president if it came down to it.</span></p><p><span>Another former senior DOJ official, who worked closely with Mueller when he was FBI director, told INSIDER that although the special counsel is "as by-the-books as it gets, he likely won't take it lying down if he thinks the integrity of his investigation has been compromised."</span></p><h2>Is Whitaker's appointment constitutional?</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5be34ea43815075d2f6aa53a-2400/robert-mueller-2.jpg" border="0" alt="robert mueller" data-mce-source="Ann Heisenfelt/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Robert Mueller testifies at a Senate Judiciary Hearing focusing on the attempted bombing incident on Northwest Flight 253 January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. The committee's goal is to improve the effectiveness of anti-terrorism tools and inter-agency communication in an attempt to increase airline safety after the attempted Christmas bombing of the flight." /></div></div></div></p><p>The myriad questions surrounding Whitaker's independence prompted DOJ veterans and constitutional law experts to begin laying the groundwork to argue that Mueller could challenge Whitaker's appointment if he overruled a decision by Mueller.</p><p>Attorneys Neal Katyal and George Conway wrote in a<span> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/opinion/trump-attorney-general-sessions-unconstitutional.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times op-ed</a><span> </span>that because a "principal officer" of the US must be confirmed by the Senate, "President Trump's installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of [former Attorney General] Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It's illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid."</p><p>The argument has also gained steam in some conservative-leaning circles.</p><p>"<span>Just to be clear, you can have an acting Attorney General," tweeted conservative commentator and Trump critic Erick Erickson. "See e.g. Sally Yates. But you cannot have an acting AG who had not been through a confirmation process for an AG position. Yates was confirmed as a Deputy AG. Whitaker has not."</span></p><p><span>But there isn't unanimous consensus among experts on the issue.</span></p><p><span>Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/opinion/trump-attorney-general-constitutional.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Times op-ed</a> that Trump's designation of Whitaker as acting attorney general is constitutional, as long as it is temporary.</span></p><p><span>Ultimately, legal scholars say, the issue may end up being decided by the Supreme Court.</span></p>

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'The Hating Game' star Austin Stowell jokes that his costar Lucy Hale was 'looking forward' to tackling him on-screen

Claudia Willen

New allegations of disturbing sexual misconduct from former NWSL coach Christy Holly detailed in bombshell report

Meredith Cash

'Seriously? This guy?': Matthew Whitaker's appointment has FBI and DOJ officials in a 'daze'

Sonam Sheth