this is "nightline." >> tonight, over the line. the growing backlash after an nfl star was signed days after his arrest for domestic violence. >> i was shocked. >> his ex-girlfriend breaking her silence. >> he dragged me down the stairs, he purged me in my face, pulled me by my hair, kicked me, spit on me. >> now claiming a relationship of repeated abuse. plus, uncanny nanny. >> as i live and breathe. >> mary poppins landing again. >> for two and a half hours you're back in childhood again. >> with practically perfect performances from lin-manuel miranda and emily blunt. >> close your mouth, please, michael, we are still not a codfish. >> she's completely eccentric and so rude. deliciously rude. >> behind the scenes with the

stars just nominated for golden globes. but first here are the "nightline 5." alexa, open the espn app. >> got some space, what can he do with this? the shot's away -- yes! >> alexa, volume down. dude, we should go to the next game. >> yes. alexa, how long's the flight to rome, italy? >> from here 12 hours. >> maybe not. >> check this out. alexa, find roma's pizzeria. >> oh, good call. >> oh, this is going to be just as good. >> alexa, resume espn. >> i didn't mean actual italy, little italy's fine. >> number one is coming up in

good evening. we begin here with harrowing allegations from the ex-girlfriend of a prominent nfl player. as you des

a pattern of horrific attacks. so why then did the washington redskins just sign reuben foster to their team? here's abc's linsey davis. >> what was your reaction when rueben got signed to the redskins? when he got signed, i was, i can't believe somebody picked him up. we had an incident in october. i couldn't believe somebody picked him up in less than how many hours? i was shocked. >> reporter: elisa ennis, the former girlfriend of nfl star reuben foster, now speaking out for the first time since foster was signed to the washington redskins. >> they're tone deaf. >> the issue of domestic violence is so serious. >> reporter: sparking fresh debate over domestic violence and the nfl. >> you could assault somebody, you know, the nfl will let you in. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview with abc news, ennis details what she says was a history of abuse, going public a

week after foster was cut by the san francisco 49ers. >> your ex-boyfriend did what? >> took my phone and broke it and slapped me in my face. >> reporter: last month ennis called 911 from the san francisco 49ers team hotel before their game against the tampa bay buccaneers. what happened last month that caused him to get arrested on november 24th? >> he invited me to come see him in florida. and i came. and he took one of my phones, and he slapped me and pushed me. >> how did you respond? >> i was like, i can't believe you've been doing this. because we were seeing a therapist and stuff, trying to work on our relationship. >> reporter: after the incident foster was arrested and placed on the nfl commissioner's excel list, making him ineligible to practice or play until the league completes its own investigation. >> we decided to make the move. and we'll deal with the outcry. >> reporter: the washington redskins decided to pick him up days later. >> we accept, obviously, the

questions. but we want to let the process play out and see what happens and get to the bottom of it. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the washington redskins told us the team conducted their own investigation. law enforcement needs to hear both sides of the story and the team will see how this plays out. >> so many times, especially when you talk about domestic violence as it intersects with sports, victims' claims aren't heard loud enough until you actually see what has happened and hear their voices. >> reporter: but the decision is raising questions about just how seriously the nfl takes accusations of assault and domestic abuse. >> the question for the nfl, what are you doing to find out the full story? because if you're not finding out the full story, you're going to have a situation like this where miss ennis comes forward and shares something publicly that shows, i think in many people's eyes, that victims aren't being put first. >> reporter: earlier this year in february, ennis accused foster of battery, but later recanted her story and dropped the allegations. today she's asserting there was, in fact, a history of abuse.

>> what happened in february, rueben threw my clothes off the balcony, threw my stuff out of the house, he dragged me down the stairs two, three times. he punched me in my face two, three times. pulled me by my hair, kicked me, spit on me. >> you go to court, and then you recant your story? >> yes, ma'am. >> why did you do that? >> because i loved him. and love will have you doing things that's not in your best interests. >> reporter: foster is the latest in a long line of nfl players accused of domestic violence. the most notorious, ray rice of the baltimore ravens. this 2014 video obtained by tmz sports showed rice dragging his then-fiancee's limp body out of an elevator. he was indicted on aggravated assault charges. the very next day he and palmer married. >> i failed miserably but i wouldn't call myself a failure because i'm working my way back up. >> reporter: the nfl initially gave rice what many considered a

slap on the wrist, a two-game suspension. then, later, a second video emerged, also obtained by tmz sports, showing rice punching palmer in the face in that elevator. the ravens terminated their running back's contract and the nfl suspended him indefinitely. >> i got it wrong in the handling of the ray rice matter. and i'm sorry for that. >> reporter: rice entered an intervention program for first-time offenders and his charges were dismissed. the case sparked a national outcry and ushered in sweeping changes to the nfl's policy, including independent investigative powers and a minimum six-game suspension for first-time domestic violence offenders. >> we thought that the nfl had very serious issue of domestic in f o that the ay rice. nfl is not doing nearly enough. >> reporter: another recent incident of violence off the field, nfl star kareem hunt. >> the headline that has the nfl back in the spotlight -- >> reporter: he was released

from the kansas city chiefs after tmz sports released video of an incident that happened evidently they are year at a cleveland hotel. hunt is seeing arguing with a woman, then shoving her. she hits hunt. later hunt is seen kicking her. hunt and friends say they first met the woman, abigail, that night. witnesses told police she called the group a racial slur after she was asked to leave. >> i was assaulted by a player on the 23rd floor. he shoved me, he pushed me -- >> reporter: the former kansas city chiefs running back sat down exclusively with espn to apologize once the video surfaced. >> it don't really matter what happened. i was in the wrong. >> reporter: local police were called to the scene but did not file charges or make any arrests. the nfl claimed they began their own investigation into the incident immediately, but hunt says they never spoke to him. >> has the nfl ever questioned you about that? >> no, they have not. >> clearly whatever the nfl is doing is not working. you've got two horrible incidents back to back.

and this has been just a double-barrel shot at the nfl that really calls into question everything they have done. >> reporter: in coming forward with her story, some have questioned the credibility of ennis' claims. >> i did what i had to do for the person i love. i thought that he would change. anybody in my position, they would have done the same thing, you know, if they shared a family with this person. i thought we were a family. like i trusted him. like i believed in him. like i supported him. he's crying, telling me he didn't have anybody. if somebody that you love said they didn't have anybody, you'd do the same thing too. like that's why i did what i did, because i loved him. >> do you still love him? >> i've been getting help and stuff like that. this is not love. nobody would do you like that. it's not love. so no. i've been getting help but it's not love. >> the tears right now are because the relationship is

over? or because of what you've had to endure? >> it's what i encountered from dealing with him. like everything i thought was love is really not love. >> reporter: it's a reality facing many families across america. >> i was very much struck and also moved when miss ennis said, i've been getting a lot of help and i realize, this isn't love. sometimes it can take reaching out for help to realize that the situation that you're in isn't the situation that you have to be in. >> if you could do it again? what would you change? >> i would have listened to my mom and my brother and my friends. they told me, don't do it. >> don't do what? >> don't recant. they knew what i was going through. they knew everything. so i would have never done it. >> reporter: for "nightline," linsey davis in new york. >> our thanks to linsey for that report. next, we'll switch gears

entirely, take you behind the scenes with emily blunt and lin-manuel miranda, talking about the performances that earned them both golden globe nominations in the upcoming "mary poppins returns." ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas

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the golden globe nominations were announced today and several of the nominees are from a movie that hasn't even hit the theaters yet. the all-original sequel to the disney classic "mary poppins." abc's chris connelly popped in on the stars.

>> reporter: it's a movie sequel more than a half century in the making. >> mary -- >> poppins! >> close your mouth, please, michael, we are still not a codfish. >> someone said to me, i didn't realize how much i needed her to come back until you came out of the clouds. it's just so hopeful and so joyful. >> reporter: 54 years after the debut of the disney classic with julie andrews -- >> mary poppins, practically perfect in every way. >> reporter: mary poppins returns comes to theaters this december 19th. an all-new story of the nanny and her fantastical adventures starring emily blunt, lin-manuel miranda, and more of the mary poppins magic that's long uplifted audiences. you have one of the great entrances in recent cinema and you're part of it as well. >> as i live and breathe. >> i had the best part because i got to stay on the ground.

i got to just reel her in. >> just watch me pretend not to be terrified. 50 feet in the air, dangling from a crane. >> did you ever have one of those moments where you're saying, how did i get here? >> oh, yeah. that was a huge moment where i was like, oh my god, i'm mary poppins. >> reporter: best known for the best picture oscar win jeer chicago," director rob marshall cast emily as the british nanny who's practically perfect in every way. >> how'd she do that? >> do what? >> what happens when you're sitting at your home and you get a call saying, i want you to play mary poppins? >> which happens daily. rob marshall was beautifully ceremonious about it when he called me. it felt like he was sort of proposing to me. >> it was a little bit of a drumroll. i said, i'd love you to play the role of mary poppins. >> he said, you know, disney's most prized possession is mary poppins. >> there was sort of silence for a moment. i heard a big sort of intake. >> i felt my hair blow back with

a combination of panic and joy. and thrill, really. >> we started talking about the character and she goes, oh, and by the way, it's a yes. >> jean banks, still inclined to giggle, i see. >> reporter: for the sequel she made it a point to make mary her own. lt f when you got cast? >> i did the opposite. instead i dove into the book. and she's quite different in the books. she's completely eccentric and so rude. >> my goodness, annabel what have you done to your clothes? you could grow a garden in that much soil. >> deliciously rude and vain. >> don't you remember that? >> reporter: the story is set 25 years after the first film. jane and michael banks are all grown up. michael has three kids of his own and is deep in crisis. >> everything's falling to pieces. >> reporter: everyone on cherry tree lane needs mary pop kins' help again. >> the bank is now demanding that you payback the entire loan

in full. >> the entire loan? >> so to have sort of that central problem for mary poppins to come and help, after 54 years, it needed to be a big deal. >> the one, the only -- mary poppins! >> thank you. thank you very much. very, thank you. >> reporter: as dick van dyke's bird did in the first film. >> all right, i'll do it myself. >> reporter: lin-manuel miranda's jack is a big part of mary's fantastical adventures. ♪ you would just look up >> i like to picture, he apprenticed under burt, he knows how magical mary poppins is. most kids forget, jack's never forgotten. >> good to see you, mary poppins. >> how big a dream would it have to have been to imagine being i? >> audacious. it's the only word for it. you never think there will be another mary poppins film.

>> good heavens, it really is you. you seem hardly to have aged at all. >> really. how incredibly rude. one never discusses a woman's age, michael. >> who is she there to save? >> michael, really. >> what brings you here after all this time? >> same thing that brought me the first time. i've come to look after the banks children. >> us? >> oh, yes, you too. >> i think she comes to look after the banks children, but ultimately i think it's about him. he's a banks child as well, you see. >> reporter: it's the children that get to go on those magical adventures. ♪ some people like to dive right in can you imagine that ♪ >> she very much wants people to rediscover the joy and the hope that children have. >> there's a moment right before she goes into this big underwater adventure that she says, off we go! she's more excited than the kids. >> one of my favorite lines she says is, everything is possible.

even the impossible. >> reporter: impossibly enough, mary poppins returns features a cameo from dick van dyke, now 92 years young. >> there was this really beautiful moment where i was talking to him. he took my hand. he goes -- ♪ it's a jolly holiday with mary ♪ and i was just like, you're going to make me cry! you can't do that to me! >> reporter: the original songs for mary poppins returns written by mark sheaman and scott witman. >> mary poppins returns is our love letter to the original film, the original filmmakers. ♪ >> it's all in there. so i think the audiences can rest assured that when they go see mary poppins returns that they're not going to get cheated out of anything they may want to hear or want to see. then they're going to get a whole lot of new stuff. >> reporter: from wistful nostalgia to childlike wonder, mary poppins returns is looking

to set off waves of emotions. for those who still treasure the first film, and a spoonful of sugar. spoonful of sugar help the medicine go down ♪ >> reporter: and those brand-new to her magical world. >> i knew i couldn't possibly. d flat major. >> when i was a kid i remember the animated sequences. i watched it as an adult with children of my own. i realized, this is about family. kids who see this movie are going to be wowed and amazed by the spectacle of it all. i think adults are going to go, man, our childhoods went like that. and hopefully for two and a half hours you're back in your childhood again. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm chris connelly in los angeles. >> a big thank you to chris and maryoppi retus,ng i december 19

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finally here tonight, off-screen christmas magic from a movie titan. >> thank mr. perry so much. >> tyler perry -- a real blessing. it was a blessing. >> when tyler perry heard on good morning america that the owner of the new orleans saints was paying off the lay-away bills of total strangers for christmas, he wanted to get in on the giving. he paid more than $430,000 for items folks had on lay-away at two walmarts in georgia. spreading the word and christmas cheer on twitter today. >> i'm just really, really grateful to be able to be in a position to do this. so god bless you. go get your stuff. merry christmas. >> the madea mogul bringing joy e. the world in moreay t what y'all going to do about it?

>> awesome story. and there will be muche on "secret santa tyler perry" on gma first thing in the morning. if you're santa this season, you can still catch "nightline" on hulu. that's our show. thank you for watching and good night.