The 61st New York Film Festival will kick off with Todd Haynes’ “May December,” a juicy drama starring Natalie Portman as an actor preparing for a film about a years-ago tabloid scandal.

Mary Kay Letourneau, the former Washington schoolteacher who made headlines for her sexual relationship with an underage student in 1997, has died, according to multiple reports. Letourneau was battling stage 4 colon cancer, and spent the past month in hospice care, TMZ reports. In 1997, Letourneau pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape for her sexual relationship with a 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. Letourneau illegally continued her relationship with Fualaau, giving birth to two children with the minor by the time he was 15. RELATED CONTENT:Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau Legally Separate More Than 20 Years After Teacher-Student AffairMary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau Introduce Their Two Teenage Daughters on '20/20'Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau Discuss Their 10th Wedding Anniversary on '20/20'

SEATTLE Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who married her former sixth-grade student after she was convicted of raping him in a case that drew international headlines, has died. Letourneau, then 34, initially told officers the boy was 18, raising suspicions that something sexual was going on. Letourneau and Fualaau married on May 20, 2005, in Woodinville, Washington, after she finished serving time in prison. Bremner visited Letourneau in prison and would meet her for lunch after her release. Bremner said of Letourneau and Fualauus relationship: Everyone said it wouldnt last, but it did, at least for 20 years.