USA Taekwondo, Eric Schneiderman's replacement: Broadsheet

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Nike is still cleaning house, we meet Eric Schneiderman’s replacement, and another heartbreaking Olympic scandal surfaces. Enjoy your Wednesday.

EVERYONE'S TALKING

• An Olympic-sized tragedy. A federal lawsuit filed by four women who were on Team USA Taekwondo claims the team and the United States Olympic Committee subjected them to sex trafficking by forcing them to train with two brothers accused of sexual abuse. One, Jean Lopez, was a longtime coach of USA Taekwondo. The other, Steven Lopez, is a two-time gold medalist. (Neither brother could be reached for comment by NBC News.)

The women's claims are horrific. They include multiple instances of rape and describe assaults that happened when they were as young as 15.

The case has a number of eerie parallels to that of disgraced former Team USA gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar. Perhaps the most notable: Numerous women made allegations about the brothers that were ignored or disbelieved, with the first complaints dating as far back as 2006. In fact, when one of the plaintiffs, Mandy Meloon, made a formal complaint in the late 2000s, "USA Taekwondo's then-CEO determined her claims weren't credible and sided with Jean Lopez's decision to keep her off the team roster."

It can't be a coincidence that two U.S. national teams would allow young women to be systematically abused for decades. And sadly, I find it hard to believe that these are the only two instances. The United States Olympic Committee has to root out this behavior and the culture that has enabled it. These girls must be protected—and believed. NBC News

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

• Your Hollywood minute. Val stopped by the Bloomberg Business of Equality Summit yesterday and wrote up a couple of interesting moments from a discussion about Hollywood in the wake of #MeToo. Chelsea Handler told the audience that it wasn't the men in the comedy world who tried to hold her back—it was the women. She blamed the behavior on the way women are conditioned to think about the limited number of seats at the table: “We are taught that if one of us succeed, others can’t.” Fellow panelist Ashley Judd talked about the news that Michelle Williams had earned just a fraction of what her co-star Mark Wahlberg was paid for reshoots of the film All the Money in the World. Despite Williams' low public profile at the time, says Judd, she was “shattered” by the incident—though that didn't stop her from fighting to get the pay she deserved.

• Agitation inside Amazon. Amazon is infamous for lagging behind other big tech companies when it comes to the gender and racial diversity of its highest ranks. Now, Recode reports on an internal email thread that suggests that some employees are fed up with the company's unwillingness to take action to on that front—and specifically with "Amazon’s opposition to a shareholder proposal that would require its board to formally consider women and minority candidates when selecting new board members." Recode

• Five more out the door. The shakeup at Nike over concerns about a hostile workplace culture has claimed five more top executives, bringing the total of ousted senior managers to 11. The latest, according to the NYT: Steve Lesnard, the head of running in North America; Helen Kim, who oversaw Eastern North America; Simon Pestridge, a head of marketing for the performance categories; Tommy Kain, director of sports marketing; and Ibrahem Hasan, a senior creative director. New York Times

• Meet the new AG. With Eric Schneiderman out as New York AG after a devastating report accusing him of physically abusing four women, Barbara Underwood is taking up the role of acting attorney general. Underwood is currently State Solicitor General and has, among other accomplishments, argued 20 cases in front of the United States Supreme Court. The Cut

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates has joined King & Spalding as a partner. In her new role, Yates will be spearheading independent investigations for corporations, universities and other organizations with “particularly challenging or vexing issues.” Lauren Nemeth has joined Nextdoor as chief revenue officer.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• R. Kelly's enablers. In addition to telling the stories of numerous women who say they were abused by R. Kelly—some of whom are speaking on the record for the first time—this deeply-reported Washington Post piece exposes numerous music industry figures who continued to work with the R&B star even as the cloud of allegations around him mushroomed: "For more than two decades, the recording industry turned a blind eye to Kelly’s behavior as his career continued to thrive and he was afforded every luxury of a chart-topping superstar." Washington Post

• You could be sued. Donisha Prendergast, a granddaughter of Bob Marley, is suing the Rialto, Calif. police department after officers mistook her and her friends—all of whom are black—for burglars rather than what they actually were: guests staying in a local Airbnb. Fortune

• Amanpour makes it official. Christiane Amanpour, who has already been replacing Charlie Rose on PBS stations on an interim basis, will officially take over Rose's former time slot on a permanent basis starting in July. Her show will expand to an hour and get a new name: Amanpour & Company. CNNMoney

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