HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charlotte Anne Laws (Born May 11, 1960) is an American author, talk show host,
animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sam ...
advocate, anti-revenge porn activist, former Los Angeles politician, and actress (under the stage name Missy Laws). Laws is a former BBC News contributor and was a weekly commentator on
KNBC-TV KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, o ...
's ''The Filter with
Fred Roggin Frederick Jay Roggin (born May 6, 1957) is the American sports anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, California, and afternoon show co-host at KLAC. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Roggin was also a sports talk radio host at KMPC in Los Angeles and previ ...
'' from 2009 to 2013. She was also a co-host on the Internet show ''Every Way Woman'' from 2008 - 2013 and hosted a local television show called ''Uncommon Sense'' from October 2007 to September 2010. Laws is a former member of the Greater Valley Glen Council in the neighborhood of
Valley Glen, Los Angeles Valley Glen is a neighborhood in southeastern section of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. Once part of Van Nuys and North Hollywood, it became a separate neighborhood in 1998. Valley Glen is home to Los Angeles Valley College an ...
, California. She was termed out of office in 2012, after serving four two-year terms. In May 2006, Laws was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to serve on the city's 912 Commission, also known as the Neighborhood Council Review Commission. Laws is the founder and president of two organizations: the Directors of Animal Welfare (DAW) and the League for Earth and Animal Protection (LEAP). In 2006, Laws was the recipient of the Los Angeles Animal Humanitarian Award. Laws is a
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
and an advocate of the vegan diet.


Biography


Acting and writing career

Laws studied acting at the Academy Theatre of Atlanta, Joe Bernard's Acting Studio in Las Vegas and the
Estelle Harman Estelle Harman (September 11, 1922 – April 30, 1995) was an American acting coach in Los Angeles. Biography Harman began as an acting instructor at UCLA in the 1950s, then was hired by Universal Studios as Head of Talent to groom their st ...
Actors Workshop in Los Angeles. She worked as a model and actress in movies and television until her late 20s. She has performed as a stand-up comic at
The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...
in Los Angeles. In 1988, Laws authored the book ''Meet the Stars'', which details how the average person can succeed in the entertainment industry. She promoted the book on '' Larry King Live'', '' Oprah Winfrey'', ''The Late Show''. From 1997 to 2000, Laws wrote for the British magazine ''Mad Dogs and Englishmen.'' Her articles on news, current events, philosophy and social issues have been published in the '' Los Angeles Daily News'', ''E the Environmental Magazine'', '' Philosophy Now'','' The Huffington Post'', ''Opinion Editorials'', '' Los Angeles Times'', '' Jezebel'', ''
Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...
'', '' Newsweek'', '' Salon'', the '' New York Daily News'', and '' The Washington Post''. On April 11, 2015, Laws' memoir titled ''Rebel in High Heels'' was released. The book details her fight against revenge porn and the first 22 years of her life. Her book ''Devil in the Basement'' was released on March 14, 2018. This nonfiction novel is about Laws' grandfather, who devil worshipper Ernie Yost murdered in 1948. The book also spotlights the rampant prejudice directed at Italian-Americans in the early twentieth century and delves into the real-life romance between Laws’ great aunt Rose and Vito Giacalone, a former Detroit mobster and prime suspect in the death of labor union leader,
Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975; declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971. F ...
. On August 15, 2019, Laws's second memoir, "''Undercover Debutante: The Search for My Birth Parents and a Bald Husband,''" was published. The book won a Publishers Weekly book award and covers Laws' life from age 22 until 39. The book explains how the author tracked down her birth family and found a husband after a number of disastrous boyfriends. It also includes some of the author's celebrity escapades. Laws plays Human #46 on the 2020 Netflix series '' 100 Humans'' and stars in the Netflix documentary The Most Hated Man on the Internet


Activism against revenge porn

In January 2012, after an unreleased topless photo of Laws' daughter, Kayla, was posted on the revenge porn website
Is Anyone Up? Is Anyone Up? was an online pornographic website based on stolen and hacked photos that ceased operation in 2012. It allowed users to submit photographs or videos anonymously, mainly nude, erotic, and sexually explicit images. The site was close ...
, Laws began an investigation of
Hunter Moore Hunter Edward Moore (born March 1986) is an American convicted criminal from Sacramento, California. ''Rolling Stone'' called him "the most hated man on the Internet." In 2010, he created the revenge porn website Is Anyone Up? which allowed us ...
, who ran the site. She contacted the FBI who launched their own investigation of Moore and his website. Laws determined a large number of the photos on the site had been hacked. She contacted dozens of victims and became known as the "Erin Brockovich of revenge porn." Laws detailed her revenge porn battle in an article published on Jezebel. Her experiences were further detailed in her book, ''Rebel in High Heels'', which was released in April 2015. Moore removed his website in the midst of the FBI investigation, but announced on November 28, 2012, that he would start a new site that would include address information. This prompted Laws to make Moore's home address public on Twitter and Moore threatened to ruin her life. She soon received death threats, computer viruses, and a stalker appearing at her home. Internet hackers professing to be affiliated with
Anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anony ...
came to her aid, hacking into his servers and posting his personal information on the Internet. The FBI arrested Hunter Moore and his hacker, Charles Evens of Studio City, California, who went under the alias of "Gary Jones", on January 23, 2014. On February 18, 2015, it was announced that Moore would plead guilty to federal computer hacking and identity theft charges. He faced up to 7 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. He received two and a half years in federal prison. With no plea deal in place and facing 42 years in prison, Moore's hacker, Charlie Evens, confessed his crimes to CNN on tape at Laws' house during an interview that CNN was filming with Laws. The taped confession aired on April 27, 2015. Evens received 26 months in federal prison. On June 4, 2013, Laws gave testimony before the California State Senate in favor of SB 255, a law designed to protect victims from revenge porn or "cyber rape," a term Laws coined. The bill was sponsored by State Senator
Anthony Cannella Anthony Joseph Cannella (born March 22, 1969) is an American politician who previously served in the California State Senate. A Republican, he represented the 12th Senate District, which encompasses all of both Merced and San Benito counties ...
of Modesto, CA and was signed into law on October 1, 2013, making California the second state to pass a law designed to help victims of non-consensual pornography. Until 2018, Laws was a board member of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), an organization dedicated to helping victims of online harassment. Since 2012, Laws has been meeting with state and federal legislators, urging them to pass laws to protect victims. In 2017, Speier and several other legislators, introduced the Ending Non-consensual Online User Graphic Harassment (ENOUGH) Act., A federal bill called The SHIELD Act (Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution) was later introduced in 2019. In addition to pushing for a federal anti-revenge porn law, Laws has recently been tackling the problem of
deep fake Deepfakes (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the act of creating fake content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerful ...
pornography and
sextortion Sextortion (a portmanteau of ''sex'' and '' extortion'') employs non-physical forms of coercion to extort sexual favors from the victim. Sextortion refers to the broad category of sexual exploitation in which abuse of power is the means of coerci ...
. She claims to have assisted over 500 victims of non-consensual pornography, morphed porn (or deep fakes), and sextortion since the inception of her activism in 2012. Laws stars in the Netflix docuseries, '' The Most Hated Man on the Internet'', produced by Raw TV. It began streaming on July 27, 2022. Laws has discussed her battle against revenge porn on various television shows and podcasts including Tamron Hall, The Adam Carolla Show, Ask Dr. Drew, Good Day LA, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, Banfield, Lorraine and News Desk with Tom Newton Dunn.


Political commentator

Charlotte Laws is a political analyst and has worked as a BBC News contributor since 2015. She has also made appearances on the
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera M ...
network, and participated in a Reddit AMA in September 2015 with Rick Wilson (political consultant). Laws was the first person to publicly discuss “hidden Trump supporters” and to call Trump a feminist and a pacifist. Some of her controversial articles about Trump and politics have appeared in The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller. In 2019, she stated she was supporting
Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. s ...
and
Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fir ...
for the 2020 election.


Bill Cosby scandal

On November 30, 2014, Laws spoke out about her "34-year-old
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
secret." In a Salon article, she detailed her experiences with Cosby and a friend she calls "Sandy". Laws claims that "Sandy" was already in a long term sexual relationship with Cosby before he drugged "Sandy" in 1981 before they had sex. Laws was interviewed on the ''
Dr. Drew On Call ''Dr. Drew On Call'', previously titled ''Dr. Drew'', was an American current affairs program hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky that aired Monday through Thursday nights on HLN. The program premiered on Monday, April 4, 2011, and aired Monday through Th ...
'' in December 2014 about this issue, suggesting a few days later, in a Fox News interview, that Cosby has
somnophilia Somnophilia (from Latin ''somnus'' "sleep" and Greek φιλία, ''-philia'' "friendship") is a paraphilia in which an individual becomes sexually aroused by someone who is unconscious.Flora 2001, p. 92. ''The Dictionary of Psychology'' categor ...
.


Gay rights activism

In March 2015, Laws came to defend the
LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
communities when a Southern California attorney proposed a statewide ballot initiative that permitted the execution of gays by "bullets to the head or any other convenient method." The initiative was called the Sodomite Suppression Act. In response to what was seen as a vicious and repugnant attack on LGBTQ people, Laws registered a rebuttal initiative with the Attorney General's office, titled "The Intolerant Jackass Act". Laws’ proposal called for sensitivity training and a steep fine for anyone submitting a state initiative related to the killing of gays. In June 2015, the initiative was cleared to move forward, but Laws said that she did not plan to gather signatures, adding "I'm glad my proposal made an impact. My intent was to send a message and support gay rights. he proposalhas served its purpose."


Party crashing

Laws was voted the fourth most notorious party crasher in the world, beating
Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...
,
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
,
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
, Lady Gaga, and the Salahis. She says gate crashing began as a hobby when she was a teenager but later became a creative way to get face time with business leaders, politicians, and A-list celebrities in order to lobby for legislation, get exclusive interviews, and obtain business partners. She has crashed the Secret Service four times. Laws’ 1988 how-to book, ''Meet the Stars'', is believed to be the first party crashing book ever written. Laws also includes some of her gatecrashing techniques in her memoirs ''Rebel in High Heels'' (2015) and ''Undercover Debutante'' (2019).


Personal life

Laws, a former Atlanta debutante, was adopted at birth. Her adoptive father was abusive, her adoptive mother committed suicide and her little brother died in a car accident. She tracked down her birthparents in her late twenties. Laws has said that she has never had a glass of alcohol or tried illegal drugs or a cigarette. Prior to acting and writing, Laws was employed in a number of other jobs. She was a cab driver, private investigator, bodyguard, backup singer for an
Elvis impersonator An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the world as ent ...
, nurse, fashion designer, aerobics instructor, antiques shop owner, and president of a mid-size legal corporation. Laws was a lecturer for the FBI in Quantico, Virginia in 2006 and has also been a licensed realtor since 1987. In April 2015, Laws went public about her three-year romance with singer
Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
in her memoir, ''Rebel in High Heels.'' She says he was her first boyfriend and that she dated him from age 18 until age 21. She married English barrister and California attorney Charles Parselle in the 1990s and has a daughter named Kayla Laws, who is an actress. She calls herself a Jewish
Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
. Laws’ father-in-law, Thomas Parselle, was captured by the Nazis during World War II, transported to a German POW camp and witness to the notorious break-out attempt as depicted in the movie, '' The Great Escape''. In 2012, Laws' chicken, Mae Poulet, was a write-in vice presidential candidate. A dog selected her from Tennessee to be his running mate on the Bully ticket. Mae Poulet was also involved in a 2011 fundraiser with actress Natalie Portman and actor
Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series ''Sei ...
to raise money for poultry in need. In March 2013, Mae Poulet was inducted into the National Museum of Animals and Society. Laws' grandfather, Tucker Moroose (a lawyer and aspiring U.S. Senator), was murdered by a devil worshipper in Fairmont, West Virginia in 1948. The story is detailed in Laws' book, ''Devil in the Basement''. In July 2019, Laws admitted in an article that she committed a crime which may have violated the
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) of 2006 is a United States federal law (; ) that prohibits any person from engaging in certain conduct "for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise." The statut ...
when she conspired to rescue pigeons.


Bibliography

* Laws, Missy. ''Meet the Stars''. Ross Books, 1988, . * Laws, Charlotte. "Jains, the ALF, and the ELF: Antagonists or Allies?" ''Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of Mother Earth'', edited by Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella. AK Press, 2006. . * Laws, Charlotte. ''ARMed for Ideological Warfare.'' * Laws, Charlotte. "The Jain Center of Southern California" ''A Call to Compassion: Religious Perspectives on Animal Advocacy'', edited by Anthony J. Nocella and Lisa Kemmerer. Lantern Books, March 2011. . * Laws, Charlotte. "Omniocracy" ''Uncaged: Top Activists Share Their Wisdom on Effective Farm Animal Advocacy'', edited by Ben Davidow. Davidow Press, March 2013. ASIN: B00C0NF36G. * Laws, Charlotte. "Recipe for Cooperation: Omniocracy and the Definitional Good." ''Animals and the Environment: Advocacy, activism and the quest for common ground'', edited by Lisa Kemmerer. Routledge, April 28, 2015. . * Laws, Charlotte. ''"Rebel in High Heels: True story about the fearless mom who battled—and defeated—the kingpin of revenge porn and the dangerous forces of conformity."'' Stroud House Publishing, 2015, . * Laws, Charlotte. ''"Devil in the Basement: White Supremacy, Satanic Ritual, and My Family"'' Stroud House Publishing, 2018 * Laws, Charlotte. ''"Undercover Debutante: The Search for my Birth Parents and a Bald Husband"'' Stroud House Publishing, August 2019.


See also

*
List of animal rights advocates Advocates of animal rights support the philosophy of animal rights. They believe that many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as in avoiding suffe ...
*
Party for the Animals The Party for the Animals ( nl, Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. Since 2019, the PvdD's political leader is Esther Ouwehand. With 3.8% of the votes ...
*
Marianne Thieme Marianne Louise Thieme (, born 6 March 1972) is a Dutch politician, author and animal rights activist. A jurist by education, she served as the Party for the Animals' political leader from 2002 to 2019 and a member of the House of Representatives ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laws, Charlotte 1960 births American bloggers American Jains Living people California State University, Northridge alumni University of Southern California alumni California city council members University of Florida alumni American women bloggers Converts to Jainism Women city councillors in California Activists from California The Lovett School alumni 21st-century American women