Latest news with #Robinsons
Spectator
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Heaven is Angel Delight
I once heard an American complain that, being married to an Englishwoman, he was regularly baffled by the contents of his kitchen cupboards – salad cream, Ambrosia custard and Robinsons barley water. It was 'like industrial processed food but from the Shire'. It is probably this quality of baffling foreigners that allegedly enabled drug runners to use sachets of Angel Delight – the ultimate English ultra-processed food, surely to be found on many a table in Hobbiton, if only for second dinner – to smuggle cocaine into Indonesia. What could be more natural than an Englishman carrying real artificial flavours in his luggage so he didn't have to make do with nasi goreng and chicken satay? (When I went to Japan for a year, my luggage was filled with proper tea bags.) The Balinese police have, however, got wise to their MO, and three Britons have appeared in court charged with drug smuggling, for which they could face execution by firing squad if found guilty. Angel Delight was invented in 1967 in the research department of Bird's in Banbury – right in the heart of the Shire. The market research showed that there was a demand for a bland, creamy-textured instant pudding; and, of course, the dessert company bosses didn't get where they are today without knowing a good thing when they see one. It hit sales of £2 million in the first year. I'd be lying if I said that it tastes as good as I remember it; but whenever I eat Angel Delight I am taken back to my childhood in the 1970s. It's not the flavour in itself – back then, Bird's experimented with blackcurrant, peach and coffee-and-walnut flavours, which have rightly been consigned to the memory hole – so much as the memory of a midweek treat. No one ever planned to have Angel Delight, so there was never any burden of expectation on it; and we would often be 'allowed' to make it ourselves, which made it taste even sweeter than an Arctic roll from the freezer compartment. Attempts to add to it – I have heard tales of crumbling flakes over the chocolate version, or taking a blowtorch to demerara sugar over butterscotch for Angel Delight brûlée – only take that memory away. (I am not even going to mention the decadence of ready-made pots which I saw in the supermarket last week.) The chef Kirk Haworth, winner of The Great British Menu, says that it is the combination of all these factors that gives Angel Delight its power: from the colour and the 'mainstream' flavours to its being 'very attractive textually on the palate', along with the fact that you don't need to be a chef to make it. And, he says, everyone comes back to the first flavours that entered their palate. Last year, as part of a project to reinvent nostalgic classics, his evolution of Angel Delight was as a drink: 'We aerated the flavours, and then we made the colours with desiccated coconut; it was playful and inner-childish but super light and fluffy, when we put gas into the mixture, almost like air.' Kirk runs Plates London, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Old Street, with his sister Keeley. He has no children, but his sister does; has he introduced them to the delights of Delight? He pauses. 'No.'
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Union County family escapes house fire; community rallies to help rebuild
A Union County family is safe but lost everything in a house fire investigators say started with an air compressor and now, neighbors are stepping in to support them as they start over. ALSO READ: Union County family's home catches fire months after kids hit by truck Channel 9's Erika Jackson spoke with the family as they get support from neighbors along Haden Drive off New Town Road near Waxhaw. The Union County Fire Marshal ruled it an accident. Investigators believe an air compressor was plugged into one car, pumping air into a tire on a pickup truck, which started the fire. Everything the Robinsons own is gone. 'Material things can be replaced but someone's life can't,' said Veronica Robinson. Robinson sees beyond the damage. 'All I can think about is my mom,' she said. 'All I can think about is her. What if I lost her?' Robinson said she was in her bathroom Monday morning when she heard a visiting family member banging on the door. 'I saw that the flames were starting to jump onto the house,' Robinson said. 'And when I [had] seen that, I immediately ran back in the house, ran to that room right there, and got my mom out.' Robinson said her daughter-in-law helped her oxygen-dependent father escape. He's recovering in a hospital as her family works to figure out what's next. 'I'd be completely lost if it wasn't for the community coming together and just helping any way they can anyway,' Robinson said. She credits her neighbor, Kristen Marcum, for calling 911 and coordinating donations through a GoFundMe account. Robinson said she was reminded of what she does have. 'This has really taught me what paying it forward means and just taught me to slow down and smell the roses,' she said. The Red Cross is helping them with temporary housing. She's waiting for her renters and car insurance to come through. GoFundMe for the Robinsons VIDEO: Dilworth fire that led to explosion set intentionally
San Francisco Chronicle
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Smokey Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused him of rape and prompted a police investigation. Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, filed the counterclaim Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were 'fabricated in an extortionate scheme.' The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women's May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its Special Victims Bureau is 'actively investigating criminal allegations' against Robinson. The Robinsons also filed a motion to strike the women's lawsuit. The women are seeking at least $50 million, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace. The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including 'Tears of a Clown' and 'The Tracks of My Tears," established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s. The filing says the women 'stayed with the Robinsons year after year,' vacationed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and 'even a car.' The filing — which includes photos from the vacations and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple's generosity, the women 'secretly harbored resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons' wealth.' 'Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs' avarice and greed know no bounds,' the counterclaim says. 'During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.' John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation lawsuit 'is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson's sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.' The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons' lawsuit thrown out by invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue. The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times. The Robinsons' other legal filing seeks to strike the women's lawsuit as invalid, saying they have no right to hide their identities in it, especially after they 'chose to make a very public spectacle of themselves' when they appeared at a news conference the day they sued, their faces covered with masks and sunglasses. Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Japan Today
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
FILE - Smokey Robinson attends the screening for "The Apollo" during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival on April 24, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) By ANDREW DALTON Smokey Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused him of rape and prompted a police investigation. Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson filed the counterclaim Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were 'fabricated in an extortionate scheme.' The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women's May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its Special Victims Bureau is 'actively investigating criminal allegations' against Robinson. The women are seeking at least $50 million, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace. The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including 'Tears of a Clown' and 'The Tracks of My Tears," established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s. The filing says the women 'stayed with the Robinsons year after year,' vacationed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and 'even a car.' The filing — which includes photos from the vacations and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple's generosity, the women 'secretly harbored resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons' wealth.' 'Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs' avarice and greed know no bounds,' the counterclaim says. 'During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.' John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation suit 'is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson's sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.' The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons' lawsuit thrown out by invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue. The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times. The Sheriff's Department would give no details on its investigation beyond confirming its existence. Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
South Wales Guardian
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson filed the counterclaim on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were 'fabricated in an extortionate scheme'. The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women's May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its Special Victims Bureau is 'actively investigating criminal allegations' against Robinson. The women are seeking at least 50 million dollars, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace. The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including Tears Of A Clown and The Tracks Of My Tears, established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s. The filing says the women 'stayed with the Robinsons year after year', holidayed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and 'even a car'. The filing — which includes photos from the holidays and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple's generosity, the women 'secretly harboured resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons' wealth'. 'Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs' avarice and greed know no bounds,' the counterclaim says. 'During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.' John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation suit 'is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson's sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal manoeuvre designed to re-victimise, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.' The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons' lawsuit thrown out by invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue. The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times. The Sheriff's Department would give no details on its investigation beyond confirming its existence. Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
