Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker story on Harvey Weinstein just dropped

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Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker story on Harvey Weinstein is out. Do what I’m doing, which is this: sit down, take a moment to prepare yourself for how bad it is about to get, and also acknowledge to yourself that you might not be able to make it through the article in one sitting. I made it about two pages in before I had to walk away. I will try again after I calm down. You can read the full New Yorker article here. Here are some pieces from what I could get through:

Asia Argento, an Italian film actress and director, told me that she did not speak out until now––Weinstein, she told me, forcibly performed oral sex on her—because she feared that Weinstein would “crush” her. “I know he has crushed a lot of people before,” Argento said. “That’s why this story—in my case, it’s twenty years old, some of them are older—has never come out.”

The story, however, is more complex, and there is more to know and to understand. In the course of a ten-month investigation, I was told by thirteen women that, between the nineteen-nineties and 2015, Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them, allegations that corroborate and overlap with the Times’s revelations, and also include far more serious claims.

Three women––among them Argento and a former aspiring actress named Lucia Evans—told me that Weinstein raped them, allegations that include Weinstein forcibly performing or receiving oral sex and forcing vaginal sex. Four women said that they experienced unwanted touching that could be classified as an assault. In an audio recording captured during a New York Police Department sting operation in 2015 and made public here for the first time, Weinstein admits to groping a Filipina-Italian model named Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, describing it as behavior he is “used to.” Four of the women I interviewed cited encounters in which Weinstein exposed himself or masturbated in front of them.

Sixteen former and current executives and assistants at Weinstein’s companies told me that they witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances and touching at events associated with Weinstein’s films and in the workplace. They and others describe a pattern of professional meetings that were little more than thin pretexts for sexual advances on young actresses and models. All sixteen said that the behavior was widely known within both Miramax and the Weinstein Company. Messages sent by Irwin Reiter, a senior company executive, to Emily Nestor, one of the women who alleged that she was harassed at the company, described the “mistreatment of women” as a serial problem that the Weinstein Company was struggling with in recent years. Other employees described what was, in essence, a culture of complicity at Weinstein’s places of business, with numerous people throughout the companies fully aware of his behavior but either abetting it or looking the other way. Some employees said that they were enlisted in subterfuge to make the victims feel safe. A female executive with the company described how Weinstein assistants and others served as a “honeypot”—they would initially join a meeting, but then Weinstein would dismiss them, leaving him alone with the woman.

Virtually all of the people I spoke with told me that they were frightened of retaliation. “If Harvey were to discover my identity, I’m worried that he could ruin my life,” one former employee told me. Many said that they had seen Weinstein’s associates confront and intimidate those who crossed him, and feared that they would be similarly targeted. Four actresses, including Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette, told me they suspected that, after they rejected Weinstein’s advances or complained about them to company representatives, Weinstein had them removed from projects or dissuaded people from hiring them. Multiple sources said that Weinstein frequently bragged about planting items in media outlets about those who spoke against him; these sources feared that they might be similarly targeted. Several pointed to Gutierrez’s case, in 2015: after she went to the police, negative items discussing her sexual history and impugning her credibility began rapidly appearing in New York gossip pages. (In the taped conversation with Gutierrez, Weinstein asks her to join him for “five minutes,” and warns, “Don’t ruin your friendship with me for five minutes.”)

Several former employees told me that they were speaking about Weinstein’s alleged behavior now because they hoped to protect women in the future. “This wasn’t a one-off. This wasn’t a period of time,” an executive who worked for Weinstein for many years told me. “This was ongoing predatory behavior towards women—whether they consented or not.”

[From The New Yorker]

What else is there to say? Here it is in The New Yorker, what was long rumored. The whispers were right. The rumors were true. Sexual predator, pervert, rapist, assailant, sociopath. Everything you want to call him, go ahead. And everyone at The Weinstein Company knew. I suspect that because they knew, that’s why we’re finding out about it now, when his power has been diminished. Ugh. All I can say is… stop blaming the women around him. They’ve had to deal with enough bullsh-t.

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227 Responses to “Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker story on Harvey Weinstein just dropped”

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  1. DiligentDiva says:

    Everyone in Hollywood who covered up for him should be ashamed of themselves. Unfortunately, their is more than just this. There are many Harvey Weinsteins in Hollywood. He’s just one of many.

    • Rachel says:

      That’s the worst part. People will come out and denounce him and his actions. Talk about how horrible it is. But it will continue to happen. Some other producer. Some other director. And people will continue to turn a blind eye until it reaches Cosby-Weinstein level proportions.

    • Megan says:

      I’m sure Ronan heard other names while researching this article. I wonder if there will be more exposes from him.

    • SM says:

      You are absolutelly right. I was thinking the same thing to myself today because I just could not shake off this story. This is a tip of the iceberg. There are so may of them in Hollywood. On every level. Some of them I am sure feel superior to any female film star only because they are men. The current dictator in the White House won’t help the matters too.
      However this article in the New Yorker raised the matters to the next level, I mean rape and non-consensual sex. My dear God…

    • Sherry says:

      Exactly! I had something similar happen to me when I was pursuing an acting career all the way back in 1989 – 1991. This producer was not as well known, he invited me to a nice restaurant, a film event at the DGA and gave me a script he said I was “perfect” for. The day after he gave me the script, he called me and asked me to meet him at his office at Paramount at 9:30 that night and to “look beautiful, dress sexy and wear some nice perfume.”

      I immediately went to the woman who introduced us, told her what he said and her response was, “I thought he had stopped doing that stuff, but yes, if you show up, he’s expecting sex.”

      I called a messenger service and had them deliver his script back to him that day. Two hours later I received a very angry phone call with him screaming at me. “How dare you! Who do you think you are? Do you know how many women in this town would line up around the block for an opportunity like this? I will make sure you NEVER get work in this town!”

      And the sad part is, he was right. There were and are women who would line up around the block and do whatever it takes to get their break.

      I have another friend who graduated with me and moved out to LA the same time I did. She was approached by a man who told her he wanted to be her manager and agent and “would make sure she only slept with the men who would help her career.”

      I moved back home two months after this happened, because I realized I was not willing to do whatever it took to make it in Hollywood. I hoped progress was made in that department; however, I see that there has been no advancement.

      Harvey is just one of many who utilize their power in this disgusting way.

      • Helen Smith says:

        Amen to you for walking away with your dignity. A lot of women wouldn’t have been so strong.

        I never had a situation like that one living and working in Los Angeles. I haven’t had a boss sexually harass me. I imagine I would’ve been a deer in the headlights if I ever found myself in that situation. Once I unglued myself from the floor I think I would’ve joined Goop in running out the door.

        Not the same thing but I have lived in and around Los Angeles my entire life. Dating in Los Angeles I felt like men expected women to be sexually available after a couple of dates or they would walk because so many other women would have sex with them. My lack of having sex with men quickly ended many potential romantic relationships which left me disheartened and cynical in the love department.

        I wasn’t an actress and the men I dated weren’t in the entertainment industry but there is just a culture in Los Angeles that isn’t healthy for people who want to take their time and have a platonic dating relationship before jumping into bed. Call me crazy (my exes would use words like cold fish) but I like to get to know someone well before I make myself vulnerable to them by inviting them to my bedroom.

        Again, different situation but this is the closest I can come to relating to your situation and the situation for women who met Weinstein. I have to imagine how that would’ve felt and what I would’ve done.

      • Helen Smith says:

        The event that finally turned me off to dating was being sexually assaulted by a boyfriend. I already had had sex with him but then, he wanted something kinky that I was unwilling to do. When I declined, he took the sex that he wanted by force.

        So I guess I can relate to workplace sexual assault through its kissing cousin which is romantic partner sexuala assault.

        I only told a couple of people I trusted one of which broke my trust and told someone who told a lot of people which made me feel violated at a time when I already was emotionally fragile. She and I don’t speak any longer and I had to alter my life not to see all of the people who heard about my dating sexual assault through her. They saw me as defiled and impure and blamed me because I invited my assailant home. None of those critics were virgins so I don’t know where they got off looking down their noses at me. They could’ve trusted a romantic partner and had their trust violated in the same way. They were lucky not have to rolled snake eyes like me. That doesn’t make them morally superior. That makes them fortunate.

        Kissing cousin is a figure of speech which means related.

        I wanted to revise my comment above but it had posted so this comment is a short addendum.

      • TheOtherSam says:

        Good grief @Helen Smith that’s horrible. Not many come here late to read comments (I do) so don’t be disheartened if there are few replies to your brave posts. And they are brave – thank you for coming forward to share. Truly hope you’ve been able to heal from that traumatic experience and those that judged you have gotten some sense of shame in the intervening timeframe.

        This whole Harvey story is bone-chilling on so many levels. Thoughts for everyone who’s been hurt – by him or by others. And justice for the perps.

      • Helen Smith says:

        @ theothersam

        Thank you. Your words mean a lot to me. I don’t tell a lot of people in my offline life after my negative experiences so I still speak with the expectation of being criticized. It meant a lot to me that you were supportive.

    • AnnaKist says:

      Ok. It’s 4:30am here. I have my three-bag mug of tea, and am finally going to attempt to read Ronan Farrow’s exposé. Hollywood needs tearing down.

      • Helen Smith says:

        I hope Weinstein is the beginning. There are so many other Hollywood swamp creatures that need to be flushed out.

        We haven’t even gotten to the ones who touch children. I wonder if Corey Feldman will speak up about his friend Corey Haim. Feldman has all but named the person who molested Haim as a child.

    • AN says:

      Paltrow and Jolie just stated he harassed them too. So I guess everyone that said Paltrow wouldn’t speak up (and that none of the women in his circle would admit it) were wrong

    • Nancy says:

      I just walked into a room with the television on where an obviously frightened out of her wits woman with an accent kept saying no as he tried to make her come into a hotel room with him. I won’t go verbatim, but he was saying don’t make a scene, and she said in broken English, no, I don’t want you to touch me again….and he wouldn’t stop….but bravo for her she got away. It was SO DISTURBING. Sickens me. He is “caught with his pants down,” this powerful man who many have spoken so well of. God forgive me, but there would not be one iota of surprise in me if he were to take his life. That was the thought in my mind. No escape, no way out.

    • FLORC says:

      I hold firm this was all still within the realm of damage control if those higher ups wanted him to stay. These things were accumulating and buried continuously…! And now it’s all seeing the light of day… now swift action has been taken against him by those that went along with it for ages.
      They wanted him out at TWC. But if they wanted him to stay… this would be a blip. So, how many more are out there raping and abusing power like this? Unnoticed. What other names are told to young actresses and models as the ones you should stay away from? When does those lists come out?

    • Unicorn_Realist says:

      2001: 1 track teammate and producer cornered and isolated me during a test shoot in an abandoned staircase or closed building. 2002: boyfriends Dad made sexual advances to me while my boyfriend was at store running a quick errand. He blocked the door.
      2006: photographer on major shoot unzipped his pants, pulled out his penis and masturbated at the table. I was initially finishing looking at thr last few shots he took to see what changes i needed to make before breaking for lunch.
      2006: Agents assistant that later became a trusted friend sexually assaulted me… i was too sleepy to drive the 1.5 hours home and crashed at his place on the floor. Woke up to him moving my panties to the side and trying to stick his finger in. Left the business and breached my modeling contract to move away.
      2008: friend raped me at his house. Been friends for years. Never was sexually interested and our friendship was platonic. He always liked me and was attracted but I trusted him.
      2009: at a work birthday celebration for Owners 90 year old mother. 2 of my guests(girl friends 25) were propositioned by my 58 year old coworker. He was suspended with pay and still works there till this day.
      2015: While working at financial firm..out with crew for happy hour in local watering hole, Coworker got so drunk and beligerant he was grabbing on me and pulling at my breast and cornered me and squeezed my butt. Nobody did anything. Bar full of people.
      2017: ex fiance 240lb man(I weigh 135lb) almost smashed my face in. called me cruel names and spit on me. Throughout time prior this alcholic would rage at me and then 30min later paw and grope me for sex. I lived with him. Was/IS scared of him. Trying to get out now safely. He has been known to hurt people. Found this out now. Not before the engagement. People knew and wouldnt tell me what a monster he is.

      #menneedtodobetter #seesomethingsaysomething #theyareeverywhere #everyindustry #notmyfault

      • sg says:

        Wow, I’m so sorry that you’ve gone through all of this and I sincerely hope that you are able to cope with it. I know SO many women who can make timelines like this (myself included), it just sickens me to no end.

      • Snowflake says:

        Omg, that’s terrible!

      • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

        I’m so sorry so much has happened to you.
        I have been assaulted twice- once on the sidewalk in a residential neighborhood in daylight/ afternoon. If my friend hadn’t been with me and pulled him off me so I could get up, who knows what would have happened? I was 14.

        The second time, I was about 22. A surgical resident shoved his hand into my ass and crotch in the charting room at the hospital where I worked. I complained to the head nurse, who brought in the chief resident of the service and NOTHING was done. His word against mine. Just a staff nurse. HR was useless 25 years ago.

        My daughter was, at 16, assaulted by her boyfriend while watching tv at his house. In the afternoon. With his parents there ( in an adjacent area).

        Some men are such effing sub- humans.
        It. Is. Sickening.

      • Margo S. says:

        Unicorn, I’ve had these things happening to me from 11 until now (I’m 31). I love the #seesomethingsaysomething. That is what I’m going to be aware of and start watching out for. Look at each other, get their eye, and see if they are ok. You are going to be ok. You need to do right by you. And I’ll tell you, it’s not your fault. You can dress how you want, look how you want, it doesn’t give anyone the right to touch you, or me or any of us.

    • Unicorn_Realist says:

      I used to live in southern california. Worked in entertainment. Hollywood is filled with gross people. Its the who you know game and the “pay to play” game. Dont fall in either category, you are left to fend for yourself amongst the wolves. People need to stop looking the other way. Also, there is power in numbers. I too, have been scared into silence by men and women with resources, influenve and reach. Manipulation and intimidation is rampant. People hold your job, loved ones jobs, opportunities you work so hard for over your head. There is also the fear of being falsly labeled.. names. Victims always have to defend themselves and come with mountain of proof. We are never given benefit of the doubt like the predators.

      • Unicorn_Realist says:

        Sadly it is woman as well as men that victimize others. Fiances Mom for instance….complicit. knows of her Sons mental health issues and past transgressions of previous wife but has done nothing to protect me. She is under the guise of being kind and smothering. Always sent gift cards and cash etc. Thought she was just overly generous and wished us total happiness. Now I feel like its more of guilt money. Money to keep her son happy and money and gifts to keep me around. Told her what he has done from 1st incident.. provided pictures. “Im praying for you both”.. sent me bible verses on forgiveness etc. To be strong. Like NO..it is not okay. Women that know and are involved or turn a blind eye… deserve the anger thrown back at them as well. They are not as bad as the predators, however as woman I EXPECT MORE from a woman. We should help protect each other. Or warn or something rather than look away. Rather than throw money at an aweful situation. I have been through a lot over the last 17 years, but I refuse to quit. I refuse to be conquered. Im a fierce protector of my friends and people I know that need someone to be strong for them because i didnt have anyone to be strong for me.

    • isabelle says:

      Looking at you Bryan Singer!

    • Lahdidahbaby says:

      I know I will never buy Donna Karan or DKNY again after she blamed the accusers yesterday for having *dressed provocatively*! Seriously? In 2017 that old hackneyed blame-the-victim excuse would be dragged out…by a WOMAN?

      She is so over. Done. Shame on her.

    • Natalia says:

      After reading what Mira Sorvino said, it explained to me why she kind of disappeared from the scene. I really like her and would have liked to see more of her all these years. She and Lisa Kudrow totally won me over in Romy and Michelle, and other movies. Like Mira said, “there may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out.”

      • Don't kill me I am French says:

        One of the other reasons why Sorvino disappeared is she dated several French guys who lived in France so she lived in Paris .She still is the owner of a huge penthouse at Paris.

  2. Mia4s says:

    I have no words.

    I don’t care who issues statements anymore (they’ll condemn him, of course they will). That’s not nearly enough. The vast majority of the Hollywood system needs to burn. Including gossip outlets who took his smear stories. All of those journalists too. Burn it all down.

    Oh and if this guy is king of the Oscars and Oscar campaigning then the Oscars are nothing. Their legacy utterly devastated.

    • DiligentDiva says:

      Hollywood needs to be cleaned out, too long we’ve put up with a system where vulnerable young actors (mainly women and children, but the casting couch applies to men as well) have to sell their bodies in order to work. It’s not right.

      • Megan says:

        True, but, right now, Georgina needs to get her kids and get out. He is a dangerous person. She needs to protect her family.

    • Madly says:

      Gossip blogs are just trying to protect their access so are letting off actors for saying they didn’t know.

    • frisbee says:

      You’re right, the place is little more up than a cess pit. A cousin of mine wanted to be an actress, this was in the mid 90’s even then, in a provincial city in the UK her parents knew enough to talk her out of it, right now she’s thankful she listened but it makes you wonder how many lives have been ruined/blighted by the ‘wonderful’ world of showbiz…

    • Artemis says:

      Hollywood will never die. They had a somewhat revolutionary period when actors were released from studio contracts which was also an abusive practice, especially for aging women, but the predatory behaviour was never addressed.
      Rich and powerful people always controlled every cog in their machine (actors, assistants, journalists, directors etc) and the subsequent narrative if anything bad was about to leak in the press. Usually this meant throwing the interchangeable actors under the bus.

      Hollywood is a fixture in American culture (just like guns are). It’s a symbol of the ‘American Dream’ where if one reaches for the stars and eventually becomes one, they too can be a tangible goal for the unlucky ones who keep trying to get there too. Hollywood can only disappear when there is no want for it or if the rewards are on an equal level as other jobs. And in reality, Hollywood is necessary for other people to aspire to something and aspiration has never been bigger since social media and reality TV with it’s easy access to ‘fame’. It’s also necessary as a social commentary: ‘look they might be rich but still miserable’ while we judge from the outside in but still enjoying the lives of these poor rich people and consuming whatever garbage gets shoved in our face. With necessary I mean we do want to consume it whether we like to admit it or not.

      What is sad is that this want is ruining people’s lives because it upholds a structure of deep vanity, selfishness (under the guise of ‘individualism’) and materialism. More than enough people are willing to pay the price to stop looking from the outside and go inside the cesspool of depravity that is Hollywood. People love power imbalances when they think they will be the ones to have power (meaning not to be poor and unloved!), they do not realise that the true power is at the very top where most people cannot reach and those top people are nothing more than sociopaths.

      • Ksenia says:

        Artemis–Very good comment. I might add that, as long as human nature craves escape–which will be always–there will be entertainment out there, in the form of show business. No other medium quite captures the public need for escapism and nurtures the desire to peek into “other people’s lives”–in this case, the lives of the rich and famous…”stars” whose faces we see only on film and whose off screen lives and antics so many people enjoy reading and speculating about. Hollywood, and all that it stems from, still works b/c it is understands and plays to an immutable, universal part of human nature.
        Wanted to say: I just read in the Hollywood Reporter that Gretchen Moll has written a response to the Weinstein exposure. She says she was never personally harassed or sexually approached by him, but knew of rumors of people who were. It’s very well written, and I think it’s something she has wanted to address for a long time.

    • Natalia says:

      Holy sh– I just read that Paul Sorvino, Mira’s father, supports TRUMP. WTF.

  3. Jenns says:

    What’s so heartbreaking is how the women still blame themselves. I’m just in a rage over this. How many men with power get away with treating the world as their own sexual playground?

    Also, Jake Tapper made a good point on Twitter that it’s interesting that Ronan works for NBC, but he wrote this story for the New Yorker.

    • Helen Smith says:

      +1

      I’ve been blamed for what happened to me with a boyfriend. You already feel dirty thanks to being raised in a society that blames women and then, even your loved ones blame you to your face.

      I told one of my relatives that I’m not telepathic. I didn’t know my boyfriend would assault me. How was I supposed to know? It didn’t work. That was a big moment for me because it made me start facing how toxic my family was.

      This blame game needs to end.

  4. OhDear says:

    I’m hoping this means criminal charges against him at some point, (though this will depend on the statutes of limitations for sexual assault/rape where these events took place).

    • HeidiM says:

      He’s the type of coward that would kill himself instead of face justice.

      • CooCoo Catchoo says:

        I made the same comment about him in a conversation this morning. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who could weather such a public fall from grace.

    • Radley says:

      I was just thinking, now that we have accounts of assaults and rapes, is anybody willing to press charges? Is it still possible for anyone to press charges? Justice would be locking this guy up. I hope there’s a way. This guy is a monster.

      • FLORC says:

        Depending where the assaults happened and when decides that. Time to file. Time for charges to be brought. Longer it goes less hard evidence there is… public opinion is more damaging to a monster like him imo. A good lawyer to get you out of charges, but this tainted association he has now is a greater punishment.

      • lucy2 says:

        Similar to the Cosby case, it’s going to depend when and where.

      • Lady D says:

        It shouldn’t be hard to find victims. Whether they are willing to testify is another matter. His abuse has been constant for 20+ years. I really doubt he has paused his behaviour even once.

      • magnoliarose says:

        I hope so. The more bad stuff that can happen the more it will scare the others to stop preying on people

  5. HH says:

    I’m just of the mindset that enough people knew or heard. Whether they took those rumors to heart is different. We’re talking about a rumor that made its way around Hollywood to standard gossip circles, so I have a hard time believing any celebrity or Hollywood insider that tries to claim otherwise. Now, as the Clooney article implies, some people may have downplayed it from predator to a sleazy womanizer, but plenty of people knew something.

    ETA: I’m getting the same disgusting feeling in the pit of my stomach that I did with Cosby. All of these people coming out of the woodwork to say that knew something wasn’t right, yet the behavior continued for decades. Sickening. Just Sickening. I understand how these women felt powerless.

    • lara says:

      The problem is, how should you react to rumors? If you have not witnessed any offensive behaviour or have a Person directly confide in you, your Hands are tied. You can not go to the police or press with a secondhand rumor.
      And I belive that it was nothing more for a lot of A-Listers.
      The People to blame for enabling are those who helped paying women of and to stop stories. Those who really knew what was going on, and not only rumors.

  6. Urs says:

    He needs to face criminal charges!

    That hasn’t even entered the narrative on any of the articles I’ve read about him.

  7. Megan says:

    I wonder why Guiterrez’s case never went anywhere. The police obviously though there was enough evidence to peruse a sting operation.

  8. PPP says:

    Can we take a moment to appreciate the bravery and candor of the women involved? Asia Argento fucking knows that she will be called a whore. But what happened to her probably happened to dozens of other women, and it’s so instructive. Women are smeared for sleeping with men to get a position, but it’s so much more complicated than that. Rape, followed by coercion. Ambra Gutierrez IS BREAKING HER NDA. Also, let’s note she did everything people say you should do. She left, she reported it to the police, she actively worked on an investigation. She risked her career for what she KNEW would be three months jail max. Let’s remember that when we ask why Hollywood women remained silent. Seriously, people think women should have come forward with RUMORS when women who had real evidence, who were assaulted, had their careers ruined? Both Argento and Sorvino, I have heard people straight up say nothing bad likely happened to them because they’re daughters of famous men. But their famous fathers didn’t protect them. We have so much to learn from these women, and so much gratefulness is owed to them.

    • CynicalAnn says:

      As a mother of a 19 year old daughter, I cried reading this article. There are no words to describe the anger/horror I feel towards Weinstein and the anger I feel towards the people who have covered him up for years. Asia Argento and Ambra Gutierrez are so brave.

    • Kitten says:

      “Let’s remember that when we ask why Hollywood women remained silent. Seriously, people think women should have come forward with RUMORS when women who had real evidence, who were assaulted, had their careers ruined?”

      THANK YOU.

      • paranormalgirl says:

        Absolutely agree, Kitten. HW had the ability to not only damage their careers, he could RUIN them… financially, psychologically, etc.

      • frisbee says:

        Yup bullying and sexual violence, they didn’t stand an effing chance in that power structure and that’s what needs questioning, the structure itself and how it catastrophically favours those who abuse their power.

      • Erinn says:

        And not only that – look how long it’s taken so many women to get the courage to say anything. Dude threatened them into silence. I don’t imagine they were telling anyone who would listen about what happened when they feared him ruining them. I’m sure some people knew how deep the problem went (HR types, CEOs, etc) and ignored it because it was in their best interest to keep it quiet and continue to profit. But I’m not willing to buy that every actress ever knew exactly what was happening and had concrete proof to back it up – because I seriously doubt the women who had this happen to them just openly discussed it. When it comes down to rumors or seeing people get hit on (but not actually assaulted) only so much can be done. And the way the JLaw post went – I can 100% see why someone who had an inkling of what was going on would want to stay quiet and not look further into it. It doesn’t make it ‘right’ per se but in their industry there’s a lot of self preservation that takes place.

      • emma33 says:

        YES! People are blaming women for not speaking up, but what on earth could they do?! All they could do was to protect themselves and warn other women.

        Gwyneth got Brad to help her, Angelina said she never worked with him again and warned other women, and Jessica Chastain said the same thing. Those woman had almost no power in that situation, so they did what they could at the time.

        If I hold anyone to account beside HW, it is his brother and other high-level executives at his companies who went along for the ride.

      • noway says:

        I know the bashing of the women, especially by other women has been awful. These celebrities may be the most famous, but they didn’t really have the power to speak up. They were scared.

        Another scary part is Harvey’s a New Yorker, and the Weinstein company is based in NYC. Trump was part of that New Yorker social scene too. My guess is they may have talked about it. The grabbing the women part, and the bathrobe stuff sounds too much like Trump. Trump was suspiciously quiet. he just said he wasn’t surprised. Granted Don Jr. was talking, but he is dumb as a box of rocks. I’m sure Trump has been and is just as bad as Weinstein, and we just elected him President even though all these women said he assaulted them. Wonder why anyone is talking about anything. We don’t give them a warm environment to share.

      • I Choose Me says:

        Yes! This bears repeating. Again and again.

    • returningvisitor says:

      Another residual result of this slug’s slime trail: actresses who were assaulted/coerced, but didn’t (and still don’t) want to speak out, because of what ’embarrassing, humiliating’ thing that may ‘say’ about even their careers, their reputation, and how they got the roles they’ve done.

      Of course we’re going to hear some successful actresses say they knew nothing, he did nothing. And because of the accepted industry wink-wink-nudge-nudge, plenty of side-eyes will be cast upon them and their statements + careers – no matter if they are lying or telling the truth.

  9. perplexed says:

    Yikes.

  10. Shambles says:

    At this point, it seems, all we can do is throw our current Hollywood in the trash, go the Apple Store, and by a new one. It’s all so f*cked. This is horrifying and legitimately triggering.

    But I said it over on another thread and I’ll say it again: this is Harvey Weinstein’s problem. This is a patriarchy problem. The boys club, men (and yes, powerful women, too, but it comes back to men) refusing to call out the bad behavior of other men, and toxic masculinity are to blame for this. None of the actresses that worked with HW are responsible for policing his behavior, nor do they owe us any information about whether or not they were victimized. It is not on women to dismantle the patriarchy. Men must do that.

    I’ll end with the question that’s been scorching my soul for the last couple days: If Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, et. al were fired from their jobs for this abhorrent behavior, why haven’t we removed the chief executive of the COUNTRY for the exact same reason? This is painful. It’s all really painful.

    • PPP says:

      This happens everywhere where you can stand to make a name for yourself. My discipline has the exact same problem. I know the men not to be alone with. I also know that my career would be ruined speaking out against them.

      • AnnaKist says:

        I’m so glad you mentioned that, PPP. My daughter was highly respected in her industry, a real asset to her company, a mentor and supporter to her colleagues, especially the younger ones, and a favourite with the clients – until she discovered fraud being committed by her superior. As is required by law, she reported it to the CEO. She hasn’t been able to get a job for two years, is embroiled in a court case to have her industry license reinstated, and is a pariah in her industry. This is why people don’t speak up.

      • Artemis says:

        Yup, I work in a small crappy charity and the 1 man who is’ working’ there, I use that term loosely as he’s terrible at it and negligent to the point he can cause a serious accident!, gets away with everything but they can fire women when they are causing too much trouble (meaning: using their voice to speak out about mismanagement). It’s ridiculous and transparent but I learnt a while ago it’s a bleak world for women and I don’t blame them for not speaking out. Everybody has bills to pay and if you want to move up, there is a lot of crap along the way.

        Women trying to have a career (or just trying to exist in a society) will always encounter sleazebags, they exist on every level and it’s exhausting enough to just do your job, who can blame a woman not wanting to battle it out with these men in courts (courts that prefer to either sweep it under the rug or let the guy off)???

        The alternative is to stay home but I and many women be damned are going to rely on a man to take care of us. So we take the crap and we’re still winning and fighting every day.

      • Christin says:

        The reality of retribution, not being believed or just ignored, is the reality in a lot of professions. I hope the young women entering the workforce have it better, but I’m not sure it will ever completely go away.

      • CynicalAnn says:

        @AnnaKist: ugh for your daughter. I have a friend who had something similar happen. She ended up having to leave her industry and start over. She was pretty much blackballed-despite being in the right and exposing something illegal/immoral.

      • magnoliarose says:

        My sister told me when she wanted to work a side job in grad school at a restaurant as a hostess; the owner said she had to sleep with him to get the job. She didn’t sleep with him, and he still hired her only to harass her, so she quit. Afterward, she heard it was known all over town that he was a pervert, and the women who worked there were considered sluts. It didn’t matter if they didn’t sleep with him, they were ALL sluts because they worked there, and they got what they deserved if he was aggressive.

        She didn’t want to ask our parents for money because she wanted to be independent, but she had to for a while because jobs that fit her schedule were scarce. That guy knew jobs were hard to come by, so he preyed on women, and I imagine the ones that had no fall back were forced to do something they didn’t want to for a nothing restaurant job so that they could get their education. Predators take a woman’s choices away, and they know it. Sickening.

        My mother told me that a professor targeted her and made her life miserable because she refused to sleep with him in college. She said it was a nightmare, and she considered transferring to get away from him. Every time she had to sit in his class, she felt shame, and it was part of what put her on the path to becoming a feminist.

        This story is making so many women talk, and it is a good thing even though it is painful. Men are also getting a much needed education about how pervasive this is and to call out men they think are doing this.

    • third ginger says:

      Shambles, the Trump point cannot be made often enough and the reminder not to blame women. Hollywood will throw out its own trash ONLY if the reverse means losing money. I’m an old lady and think if Hollywood survived the Black list, it can survive this. However, there will be many predators who will not. Do huge changes have to be made? Will more famous names be exposed? You bet.

    • jugil1 says:

      @ Shambles, I agree with everything you said.

      However, my only point on other threads was that I wanted other women & men in the industry to speak out to support the victims. I’m not suggesting that other women police or feel obligated to confess any personal connection to Weinstein. I just think the victims who do speak out deserve support & to know they are not alone.

    • stephka says:

      “It is not on women to dismantle the patriarchy. Men must do that.”

      Good luck with that.

    • Kitten says:

      So much YES to what you said about Trump, Shamby. It’s all just so heart-wrenching…

  11. Nicole says:

    And this is why I don’t believe the “I didn’t know” crap from anyone.
    Also check Ronan’s twitter there’s audio files as well

    • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

      Exactly what’s pissed me off from the beginning. Bull shit. Everyone knew. And everyone wiped this criminal’s ass with silk and rainbows. I can only hope his future is behind bars.

      • PPP says:

        Yeah but what the fuck could the women do? Seriously, look at what happened to Guttierez. She had plenty of evidence and he ruined her case in the gossip pages. You really expect women to come forward with RUMORS when people with evidence had their careers ruined? When women who simply said no and didn’t tell had their careers stifled?

      • Kitten says:

        @ PPP-It’s not even just about ruining their careers, it’s their entire LIVES in some cases. I mean, planting false stories about their sexuality? Shaming and embarrassing them in such a public manner that their parents/kids/friends/relatives could read fabricated and salacious stories in a grocery store tabloid?

        To me, the expectation that every woman should have come forward is no different than saying that the women who were assaulted by Weinstein are somehow complicit in their own victimization. This was SYSTEMIC, it was a carefully-arranged system in which one man was in an extreme position of power, to the point where he was more than able to ensure the silence of his victims and those that surrounded his victims. It’s diabolical and stomach-turning.

      • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

        I’m not livid with the women…I’m livid with the men. The fact that this entire ordeal is resting on the these women’s shoulders is infuriating to me. And anyone else claiming they didn’t know is a huge huge part of the problem…male or female. It’s time to collectively gang up on sexual predators and shove their existence down their throats. Upon finishing that nauseating article, I couldn’t believe where my brain went…I wondered when this fiasco was going to be made into a movie. I mean…wtf is wrong with me? I think I was channeling that giant mutant’s mind thinking when all is said and done, how he’ll make a killing. I feel like I need a shower.

    • Nicole says:

      Frankly my career is worth it. That’s just how I feel about it. I feel that way about racism now. Ways to keep pushing. But frankly black women do this consistently. They also expect the backlash. I don’t know my personal history with oppressive systems and working against them makes me a little hard to others that don’t do the same.
      I guess I wish they had found the support they needed years ago. Black women always band together for each other. I wish women in Hollywood did the same. This storm could’ve happened earlier

      • PPP says:

        It’s so easy to say your career would be worth it now that we’re seeing backlash and consequences for Weinstein. But two weeks ago, you’d be asking women to sacrifice their careers for an uncertain outcome.

      • Nicole says:

        It’s actually easy for me to say because someone close to me in my life risked her career for something similar. Not everything has to do with Hollywood. Sometimes these things ARE personal.
        I’ve seen two women in my life risk everything and they did not have white privilege or millions to fall back on. THAT is why I think it’s worth it. Because I’ve seen it and I’ve lived it.
        It would be an insult to not look at their sacrifices and not be prepared to do the same

      • PPP says:

        OK, I mean I’m coming from a place where I was pressured into burying my investigation because I knew my career would be over, and I had so far put eight years of my life into getting my career. Also I’ve gone to authorities with sexual assault twice before and it ruined my life and lost me my friends and changed my career path. I had all the white privilege in the world, but it wasn’t enough in those cases and I didn’t think it would be enough in the third case. And I had a good idea that the investigation wouldn’t result in substantial charges. So I buried it and utilized the female grapevine.

        The women in this article are unspeakably brave, as are the women you speak of, as hopefully you will be, if, God forbid, the time comes.

        But I’m not ashamed of the choices I made. I did a cost benefit analysis and I’m not going to judge any woman who does the same. I think it’s way more productive to have empathy for women in that position while putting pressure on the men who do this and the men who are actively complicit in this, like Matt Damon and Russell Crowe.

      • Nicole says:

        PPP not sure if you’ll check this thread again but thanks for sharing that with me. This is a touchy subject and I guess the place I’m coming from makes it hard. Esp when I know the examples I’m thinking of could’ve used the solidarity we are seeing now. Rose could’ve used it. Gretchen. And so I’m thinking of them (and personal people) left out to dry pursuing these injustices.

      • PPP says:

        @ Nicole. Yeah, I checked, and I definitely wish people had started coming out of the woodwork when Rose McGowan started talking about this years ago. I very much notice that Gretchen isn’t talking yet, and I suspect it’s because her story most resembles Asia Argento’s. I also remember the women who didn’t support me when I tried to do the right thing, but those women had faced their own blowback, and I knew that was why they didn’t help me.

        As I see so many people on this thread express their frustration with women who they presume knew what was up, I just keep coming back to Sinead O’Connor. She did the right thing, and the world hated her and killed her career. So I will just always have empathy for the choices women make.

      • magnoliarose says:

        Interesting exchange PPP and Nicole.
        I just don’t think there is anything anyone did wrong when faced with a man with so much power. We don’t know what goes on in people’s private lives that Harvey may have used against them or lied about to smear them. Even the guys could have been punished by planting stories about them and ruining them.

      • ORIGINAL T.C. says:

        “Black women always band together for each other.“ Wait what? On which planet? Your experience does not match statistics. Many, many areas of the Black community are still conservative and will slut shame you in a minute. Black women get sexually harassed just like a White women except for us more times than not it’s older Black men in positions of power, influence, community social status. I’ve experienced this since I was 13 years old. Many other incidents since then but now just keep it to myself. Black women experience the same times from their community the same judgement, shame, isolation and lack of support that White women feel. I mean we just went through the list of Bill Cosby victims who included Black women.

        Read the Black gossip sites to see how those women were called liars, prostitution, asked why didn’t they report it, why they didn’t come forward, everyone knew, blah, blah, blah. What about the young Black women accusing Black celebrities of rape, assault, harassment and being laughed at. Additionally you are called a traitor for making Black men look bad to White people. Because as usual he have the duty of protecting Black men from racism but he have no one to help us when we are victims. The police don’t take your case seriously so rape is more under-reported in POC communities than White.

        Seriously women of every.single.color.race.nationality go through this. It’s a global problem. I’m tired of these actresses being picked apart for not coming forward or being called liars for not taking rumors as truth. Guess what, they too get rumors spread about them which are not true. This bullsht about Harvey’s girls has been proven not to be true. The women gossip sites accused of sleeping with Harvey have all said they didn’t. The ones who have been harassed, propositioned or assaulted are ones the gossip blogs never mentioned. So yeah

    • Bells says:

      @Mabs A’Mabbin, Kitten, PPP: Total agreement from me. You’re all killing it in this thread.

      And Matt Damon can get stuffed with feathers.

      • Ksenia says:

        PPP: Actually, Gretchen Mol spoke out today in the Hollywood Reporter, saying that she herself was NOT sexually harassed/assaulted by Weinstein. She wants to clear that inaccurate and very old, pervasive rumor up. But she did say that she certainly had heard a LOT of talk, esp while in Hollywood, about Weinstein’s abuse of young actresses, and she is utterly disgusted by the man. I don’t know how to link it, I’m sorry, but the story is called “Gretchen Mol breaks Silence” and it’s in the Hollywood Reporter (THR) Want to add that your comments have been brilliant!

  12. Gina says:

    Yeah it’s pretty messed-up that he could threaten these women by simply making a call to whomever. It’s horrible that someone would take that call and do what he asked them to do, most likely without asking why. They just knew they now had a favor they could ask of HW. No one cared that what he was asking was to further victimize a person, which they probably knew.

    Sadly it’s not just in Hwood that this happens. Yes, the whole entertainment industry is a breeding ground for this behavior but it happens all the time. Women are victimized every day, in every industry. It’s a culture change that needs to happen universally.

    • boredblond says:

      Yes it happens everywhere..but there is a certain hypocrisy about an industry who makes $ by ‘exposing’ it in films about abuse in other businesses or the public sector, but looks the other way in their own…aww, shucks, they’re just being ‘dogs’…

  13. littlemissnaughty says:

    Lock him up. He’s a serial rapist. A criminal. He is not ill, he does not need therapy. He needs a cell and I need to seriously re-consider my consumption of movies and TV.

  14. perplexed says:

    It says this in the article: ” “I know that everybody—I mean everybody—in Hollywood knows that it’s happening,” de Caunes said. “He’s not even really hiding. I mean, the way he does it, so many people are involved and see what’s happening. But everyone’s too scared to say anything.”

    • JaneSaid says:

      This sums it up. That is why Meryl’s statement — the initial statement included — everyone bolded twice. A sliding morality scale — easy to be courageous speak out against other abusers/rapists ahem, Donald Trump but not THE rapist in charge of your Oscar Campaign.

      • PPP says:

        OK, so you must also take George Clooney to task, because he says he MERELY knew that Weinstein hit on women, whereas what everyone supposedly knew was a lot worse than that.

      • Madly says:

        @ppp, oh get off your high horse. Some people are calling out the men too. And it is OK for calling a women a liar when she is a liar.

      • PPP says:

        @Madly I will damn well bring Clooney up every time someone drags Meryl, because THEY BOTH SAID they didn’t know. The only difference is Meryl said she didn’t know at all and Clooney said he didn’t know that he did anything other than hit on women. If you drag a woman for being complicit and not men, if you doubt her word but not a man’s, then you’re entrenching the same kind of patterns that leads to this abuse in the first place.

      • Madly says:

        @ppp, then you need to look around better because some people are calling out both. I have been pretty consistent on this.

      • PPP says:

        @madley I saw your comment, and I’m glad you’re doing this, but my reply was directed towards a commenter who mentioned only a woman and no men, not every single commenter. You say I’m on a high horse but my comment is directed at a commenter who is judging a woman who neither assaulted actresses for decades nor actively covered anything up.

        I have, here and elsewhere, seen more dragging of Meryl than Clooney. Maybe not by you, but certainly all over this website. I have seen her name brought up in tons of these articles, but I haven’t seen anyone bring up Matt Damon or Russell Crowe outside of their article. I have seen Clooney be praised because he half-truthed on what he did or didn’t know in a skillful manner. On this page I see Ronan Farrow praised for his bravery everywhere while the women in the article, Asia Argento, Lucia Stoller, Mira Sorvino, Ambra Gutierrez, Emily Nestor, Emma de Caunes, and Rosanna Arquette get vague praise despite the fact that they risked so very much in telling their stories. I have seen more mentions of fucking Meryl Streep than specific praise for these women.

        I think that, given the nature of what is coming to light, it is ENTIRELY appropriate for me to point out the gender dynamics in this community in response to this information.

  15. H says:

    I read Farrow’s article through tears. All of these brave women finally speaking out. Weinstein is a monster.

  16. minx says:

    Stomach-turning. He should be arrested.

  17. Lorelai says:

    That audio clip toward the beginning of the article is so telling. This man was an epic bully. Jesus.

  18. Madly says:

    I don’t believe anyone who says they didn’t know. They knew and were silent, which helped this to continue. I am calling out George Clooney as a fraud alongside Meryl Streep for saying they didn’t know among others. They had the power to collectively stand up to this guy and they didn’t.

  19. furn says:

    He’s been systematically doing this for a very long time,” the former employee who had been made to act as a “honeypot” told me. She said that she often thinks of something Weinstein whispered—to himself, as far as she could tell—after one of his many shouting sprees at the office. It so unnerved her that she pulled out her iPhone and tapped it into a memo, word for word: “There are things I’ve done that nobody knows.”

    I am SHIVERING.

  20. happyoften says:

    It was normal, for so many people. Young, beautiful women being assaulted was business as usual.

    What is shocking is the number of people he used to enable his abuse, all while threatening their jobs too. It wasn’t just the women he made sure were his victims, he had an entire g*damn system under his thumb, and he got off on using them as well.

    The ubiquity of it is staggering. TWC should be done. The entire place needs fumigating.

  21. Donna says:

    This whole Weinstein story is such a trigger for me. Just reading the synopsis of Fartow’s article makes me physically ill. I went to Archbishop Keough in Baltimore, where girls were abused for years by priests, cops, and politicians. One priest – one! – was the ringleader for years of horror. Many I knew were raped and abused. A nun was murdered. To this day the Archdiocese of Baltimore lies about their knowledge of the abuse. (The Keepers on Netflix is about my high school.) I don’t expect much to change in Hollywood, either. There will be a huge outcry for awhile, then things will be back to status quo. There will always be abusers. Hollywood is nothing but a glitzy cesspool.

    • third ginger says:

      Donna, has there been any progress on the case? I was heartbroken by THE KEEPERS. I am a lapsed RC and the same age as the fearless women in the documentary. My best to you.

      • Donna says:

        Thank you. No, there has been no progress in solving Sister Cathy’s murder, nor will the Archdiocese release any info they have on file about Maskell’s abuse. The Catholic Church is even more corrupt than the perverts in Hollywood, and their coffers hold far more money.

    • Kitten says:

      NO. Oh my god how can you stand to read any of this?

      I saw The Keepers a little while back and it forever changed me. And keep in mind, I’m from Boston and I know people who were abused by priests/Boston Archdiocese.
      Horrifying, disgusting, stomach-churning stuff. Those women who came forward and were featured in the documentary are my heroes. I don’t think I could ever be brave enough to discuss the horrors they endured–and on camera, too.

    • Cee says:

      Oh, Donna, I’m so sorry. This is one of the reasons why I left the Church. I am sick of the hypocrisy and this Pope is nothing but the same kind of shit with a different name.

    • Moon Beam says:

      Donna, my mom went to Seaton in the 1960s. She is disgusted by the archdiocese of Baltimore as well. She cannot believe how many people turned a blind eye.

      • Donna says:

        Kitten, Cee, and Moon Beam – I still haven’t been able to read Farrow’s article. When I started school there, the upperclassmen warned us all to never be alone with Maskell. I don’t want to hijack the thread with a long response, but I can tell you those I knew who were abused tell stories identical to the women who spoke on camera in The Keepers. That’s why this Weinstein story infuriates and sickens me. He’s as big a monster as Maskell was…a narcissistic sociopath who feels absolutely no remorse for any of his actions. He’s only sorry he’s no longer in a position to continue his abuse and likely furious at those he abused for bringing him down. I am sure there are many other women in Hollywood that may never speak out due to what they suffered. I am sure there are many more Maskells in the RC Church. The Pope pays the abuse lip service only; he’s doing nothing else. I sincerely hope that Weinstein’s exposure as a predator may lessen the chances of it occurring as frequently in Hollywood. But I’m not optimistic.

    • Kitten says:

      If The Keepers was covered in this forum, how much do you wanna make a bet that all the nuns who didn’t call out Joseph Maskell would be blamed for his violent predatory sexual behavior, even though the one nun who had the strength to come forward ended up dead?

      • anna says:

        Ha! it hurts because it’s true.

      • noway says:

        We do tend to blame the women who don’t speak up more. When most of these women felt powerless too. Then we wonder why they are afraid to speak out. I think we need to make a more comfortable way for people to report these things.

        Not sure if you live here still but Archbishop Keough is now completely gone including the merged school of Seton Keough. It closed the end of last year. Don’t know if that helps, but I like to know that places where I had pain are gone. Sorry about your suffering. There really aren’t adequate words for the victims.

    • Lindy says:

      I’m so sorry for what you and your schoolmates went through. It’s heartbreaking and soul-destroying. It makes me cry to think about the exploitation of girls, and it happens over and over again, everywhere.

      • Donna says:

        It gives me great comfort that Keough is closed. The day the school is torn down, I will be thrilled. In fact, I will make a point to watch it being razed. While I was not abused personally, Maskell raped a friend of mine. She dragged me into one of his infamous “counseling” sessions to try and prevent another attack. I remember to this day his utter fury that I was there. He got in my face, screaming at me, and I swear I remember nothing but my utter terror. And guilt that there was nothing I could do to help my friend. I tried to tell my parents but they didn’t believe me when I said he was abusing girls. I feel guilty to this day. Thank you for your kind words of support.

  22. JA says:

    How can someone get away with this for so long is what I want to know. Does money and power really make you so untouchable you can rape and assault for 20 yrs but ppl do nothing!!?? I’m not surprised but more disappointed in the world…just so infuriating all of it.

    • Indiana Joanna says:

      Horrifying but excellent article by Farrow. Your can see the despicable, pathetic coward peeking out as Weinstein pleads, threatens, wheedles, rationalizes and persists as he forces his will on others.

      Yes, money and power give you the “license” or sheer temerity to rape and assail young women. We see it in our president, we see it in “America’s Dad” Bill Cosby, we see it in the boardrooms of big companies. For the people who accepted Weinstein’s behavior so that they could profit financially and advance their career, this all was a non-issue.

    • pippi says:

      “Does money and power really make you so untouchable you can rape and assault for 20 yrs but ppl do nothing!!??”
      yes

  23. perplexed says:

    Maybe a lot of celebrities should have waited to put out their statements after this article was printed. After reading it, I’m hesitant to believe that George Clooney or Meryl Streep couldn’t have known what was going on. I don’t know if they could have done anything, but it sounds like everybody did know what was going on. Yikes.

    • SlightlyAnonny says:

      I’m actually super glad that the “softer” (gag) NYT’s piece came out before the New Yorker piece for precisely this reason. All those who commented, thinking “oh well, at least that other stuff didn’t come out” have egg on their faces now. They knew, they all knew, add me to the list of non-Hollywood nobodies who knew about “Harvey’s Girls” for yeaaarrrrsss. I’ve never been in the same building with the man and I knew but somehow, all these people who worked with and for him and partied with him didn’t? Comme des Fucon.

    • Sherry says:

      I think they all knew, but filed it under the “Casting Couch” tab, because it seems to be somehow expected and therefore excusable to them. But the Casting Couch is a problem. No one should be expected to trade sexual favors in exchange for a job.

      Looking at the men who have been brought down this year over their sexual misconduct, they all seem to be “of a certain age.” I can only hope that the generations of men taking their place know better and do better.

  24. FishBeard says:

    I don’t believe anyone who claims to not have known.

    • minx says:

      Same.

    • Natalie S says:

      Yup.

    • Handwoven says:

      Have you even been walking down the street, or on a bus or subway car, and had men shout at you? Like, not just cat-calling (which is also terrible), but harassing and threatening profane language?
      Have you even looked around and noticed that there are plenty of men within earshot who are all of a sudden REALLY interested in the ground in front of them, or the screen of their phone?
      It’s that scaled up. There are men who are bloody grade-A geniuses at someone being oblivious so they don’t have to act.

      • Lindy says:

        Yeah. I hadn’t thought about it in those terms, but that’s pretty spot-on. Being an ally–especially if there’s some risk involved–is a scary thing to contemplate.

  25. lower case lois says:

    I just read the full article and just Wow. It made me sick to my stomach and I usually get that daily from Donald Trump. What’s next? I suggest a trial and prison. Then Dona Karan, Lisa Bloom and Matt Damon can visit their friend there. There seems to be a lot of misogynistic behavior lately with men in powerful positions or is that more women are speaking out?

  26. jugil1 says:

    Again, they (the board) only fired him when WE ALL knew, not when they did!

    I hope someone digs into the story to expose WHO paid the settlements to these women? Of course it was the company. Harvey didn’t personally pay these women from his own pocket. So the entire board (all men of course) needs to go.

    Also, the audio recording, released with the New Yorker article, of the woman, Ambra Gutierrez, with Harvey is sickening. She literally says “No” countless times & that rotten SOB continues to harass & intimidate her.
    The hell he tried creating for his victims is the one I hope he rots in.

  27. manta says:

    It also undermines the usually admitted idea that he would never have targeted women with some kind of connections. Paul Sorvino or Dario Argento, if not super powerful weren’t exactly nobodies. I’m ready to believe that he could target anyone.

    • Sunnydaze says:

      I’m glad you mentioned this – Asia’s father Dario Argento, Paltrow’s connections up to Spielberg, Angela Jolie/John Voight…these are women who would *seem* to have a bit of career protection – or at least connections to people who could have/should have warned them, or do something after the fact at the very least. I’m would be very interested to hear from these male forces in the industry who had family victimized by this disgusting excuse for after person….

      • noway says:

        Spielberg is well known to have hated Weinstein. People thought it was because Shakespeare in Love won an Oscar over Saving Private Ryan, but maybe not. At the HBO Spielberg premier he said he would speak about it later. Maybe he was waiting to talk to some people who were abused. Who knows.

  28. Talie says:

    I had always wondered why Mira Sorvino had such a precipitous drop-off after winning an Oscar at such a young age…seemed bizarre. Like Ashley Judd, I recall gossip items labeling her “difficult to work with”. Well, it looks like we have some answers…20 yrs later.

    Asia Argento’ story is absolutely hair-raising. Devastated for her.

    • perplexed says:

      Me too! I wondered what happened to Mira Sirvino’s career, and this explains everything.

      • DiligentDiva says:

        How many other talent aspiring actresses couldn’t make it in the business because of a refusal to sleep with him. The way “Honeypot” tells it he’s done this to hundreds of women over the years.

      • kibbles says:

        Or Gretchen Mol. I’m sure all of these women have their own stories, and it is their choice to either not say anything, come forward with the truth, or simply issue a statement condemning Weinstein. I get the feeling that nearly all were harassed or assaulted in some way shape or form. And those who did not comply were “crushed” and faded away.

      • Brittney B says:

        They should ALL sue. He doesn’t have as much money as he did back then, but they deserve every penny of it.

      • lucy2 says:

        I do know that Mira took time off to have a family (I think she has a lot of kids) and is working pretty steadily again, but she, and Rosanna Arquette, both said they had some difficulties in their careers after rejecting him.

    • PPP says:

      Difficult to work with=not down to f–k.

  29. Ramy says:

    Ronan Farrow is a hero

    • PPP says:

      Asia Argento is a hero. Lucia Stoller is a hero. Mira Sorvino is a hero. Ambra Gutierrez is a hero. Emily Nestor is a hero. Emma de Caunes is a hero. Rosanna Arquette is a hero. I get what you are saying, but I am very disturbed by the tendency by everyone here to fall over themselves applauding the men for speaking out about this (George Clooney) while dragging women (Meryl and Jennifer Lawrence) and downplaying the role of the men who were actively complicit (Matt Damon and Russell Crowe).

      Ronan Farrow’s great. I don’t mean to dismiss that. But these women are taking an enormous risk compared to him. These women spoke to him before they knew which way the wind would blow. They didn’t know what the public response would be. They could have just as easily seen stars come out in support of Weinstein, or silent, while the story got buried and they got attacked by lawyers. Gutierrez, in particular, is breaking her freaking NDA. Let’s be ready to contribute to her legal fund.

  30. Sam Lewis says:

    When I got to the line about Asia Argento “…feigned enjoyment, because she thought it was the only way the assault would end” I burst into tears. I suddenly understand my own experience and all the guilt and confusion I felt. I have suddenly REALLY stopped blaming myself. I knew that no matter what my actions were after the fact, and no matter what my confusion before, one thing was certain: I did not want that kind of contact, I DID express that I did not want that contact, and what the guy did to me was wrong. But I still felt horrible guilt and shame over my actions. I did what I did because I was afraid of the consequences of HIS inevitable actions. F*ck yes, Asia, f*ck yes.

    I feel so disgusted by how many people have to share their stories, but SO grateful that this is coming to light. These stories are going to help so many people be able to come forward, or be able to stop blaming themselves. F*ck yes Rose McGowan. F*ck yes Romola Garai. F*ck yes.

    • magnoliarose says:

      Sam, you aren’t alone. A lot of us are recalling and finally realizing we were victims. I am glad you could at least get some self forgiveness from this whole thing. The burden isn’t yours to carry, and it never was.

    • Ksenia says:

      Sam: I’m so sorry that this happened to you! I was raped and have felt guilt for years at not having struggled “enough,” at going limp, as if docile, so I wouldn’t enrage my rapist more and risk more physical pain. I too have felt misplaced shame and guilt for many years, for this, and in the way that you mention, this whole thing has been both triggering and cathartic for me. I am glad that you, too, have found the ability to “forgive” yourself for something that was never your fault, but that you have carried with you as though it were. You were violated, not just your body but everything else, including your whole sense of self and self assessment. I hope along with you that these women, in their courage, are going to help others in their healing. My very best to you!

  31. Zondie says:

    When the musical Showboat featured a song called Life Upon the Wicked Stage it nailed a lot of the problems inherent in the acting profession.

  32. Jamie42 says:

    My greatest admiration for Ronan Farrow. I did not particularly like his show on MSNBC and thought of him as a bit of a lightweight. No longer. This is a major, well researched story.

    • PPP says:

      I’m sorry that I am riding this, but we cannot praise Ronan while omitting the names of these incredibly brave women, who faced legal ruin, ruin via the gossip pages, and career ruin to come forward: Asia Argento. Lucia Stoller. Mira Sorvino. Ambra Gutierrez. Emily Nestor. Emma de Caunes. Rosanna Arquette.

  33. Cee says:

    Everyone knew and those in a position of power are COMPLICIT. I don’t care how you paint his behaviour – journos, editors, shareholders, executives, directors, agents, etc are all complicit. Even actors of Streep and Clooney’s tenor are semi-complicit. If one person says “Harvey does this” I can understand how can that be constructed as mere gossip. But if you systematically hear these rumors you can’t then say you had no idea. You did. The whispers were loud enough.

    I am DONE with almost everyone. I’m sorry Celebitchy but today is particularly bad for me as someone who suffered minor sexual coercion at the hands of a partner. This is triggering and shameful and horrible.

  34. Trump Hater says:

    For evil to persist, good men and women need to stand by and do nothing. Harvey is responsible for his disgusting attacks and creating a culture of fear and sexual abuse in Hollywood (he ruled a large part of Hollywood for a long time, so yes, he can be blamed for creating this culture). However, Harvey the criminal couldn’t have continued for as long as he did, if all these people who knew about it, had spoken up earlier. If more powerful execs or actors and actresses (having the status of a Clooney, Damon, Streep) had spoken up or surreptitiously slipped in a story to the media, a lot earlier. I’m curious what happened that these stories are only coming out now, fast and furious like an avalanche? We general public knew about Weinstein and what he did to Gretchen Mol, but how come this level of detail is only coming out now?

    • Eve V says:

      I think it’s only coming out now because his power in Hollywood has greatly diminished from what it used to be. There have also been whispers that his brother, Bob, wanted to push him out and released some of the inside information that was published in the Times article.
      I greatly admire the women who have stepped up in both the Times and New Yorker articles that have stepped up to tell their stories, especially the ones who knew that their stories were complicated and afterwards didn’t act as they “should have” (gag) after being assaulted by HW. I am awed by the bravery and courage of all of these women.

  35. Skylark says:

    Just finished reading the article.

    A massive brava to all those women who came forward with their deeply harrowing and disturbing testimonies, and an equally heartfelt bravo to Ronan Farrow for being a genuine, no-bullshit advocate for justice.

  36. Llvanslyke says:

    I know this is completely irrelevant and I don’t know if anybody else has said it. I think most people here are above insulting anyone’s physical appearance, but I can’t help but think about this whenever I see his disgusting face. All I can think about is that he looks like a face full of pubic hair. This guy is so gross and I feel so bad for all the women whose lives and careers were affected.

    • Wonderbunny says:

      I’ve always thought that his outside matches what’s on the inside. He looks ill.

      I remember seeing photos of him in an article about Prince Harry’s ex trying to seek opportunities in Hollywood. In an event where everyone else was dressed nicely, he had a black t-shirt on with some kind of grease stain. He can afford not to be sloppy, but chooses to dress like that anyway. I honestly think that says something about him. Trying to dress nicely for an occasion shows respect for yourself and for other people. It’s a minor detail in all this, but I do think that it says something about his character.

  37. Returnofthemac says:

    I don’t know if this has been brought up on other threads but wasn’t Tom Cruises’ character in Tropic Thunder based on Weinstein? If that is indeed true doesn’t that mean that Cruise, Stiller, RDJ knew very well what type of guy he is?

    • Radley says:

      That’s quite a leap.

      At this point, the conversation should be about making sure these ladies are ok, reforming the system, educating the public at large about harrassment and sex crimes and exposing/possibly prosecuting Weinstein. It really isn’t about which big name knew what and when. Truth be told, I doubt he was assaulting anyone in a manner that some random celeb could be an eyewitness. A predator is usually more cunning than that.

      • Returnofthemac says:

        I apologize that wasn’t my intent. It’s just starting to dawn on me just how many people had to have known the depth of his depravity and it’s just heartbreaking it was allowed to continue for so long.

      • noway says:

        To all the people saying everyone in the industry knew and should have done something. Other than the movie executives, what do you think they should have done? You hear rumors that a big CEO is raping women, but you don’t know who the woman are and you don’t have proof or you work for a CEO and you know he’s a sexist creep, but no woman has come up and told you they were sexually attacked yes harassed but not attacked. The CEO owns the company and you need the money and job. I’d like to think I would at least quit, but it may depend on how bad I needed the job. It’s awful easy to be judgmental when you are not in that situation. This part of the conversation isn’t going to change anything. We do need to talk about a system where victims feel comfortable speaking out, and they know their career or even life won’t be hurt.

        I worked at both NBC and CBS for years decades ago, and the media and entertainment industry is full of gossip and rumors. Yes you hear the rumors multiple times about the same person, doesn’t mean it is true. I’d say about 1/2 are true. You just don’t know what half. Clooney even said you heard rumors about an actress who slept with him to get this part, but he thought it was just used to belittle the actress. Even the rumors had a tendency to bash the women more.

    • Skylark says:

      @Returnofthemac – No it wasn’t. It was an amalgam of big fat greedy studio heads, and the one most referenced was a Paramount head who had touched a nerve with Cruise. See here from the horses’ mouth:

      http://grantland.com/features/the-making-of-les-grossman-an-oral-history/

      That’s not to say the people you mention didn’t know the reality of Weinstein. At this stage, and particularly after reading Farrow’s no-prisoners take on him, I think they all knew but, like the self-serving Clooneys of this world – ‘I knew his nature but it didn’t impel me to do anything about it because, well, boys will be boys’ – they were all too busy being busy with their own interests to care.

    • Christin says:

      That movie character was a self-absorbed jerk, yet didn’t disparage or or abuse women.

      Side note — Could we have a photo of Ronan instead of the mess known as HW? I was so hoping to scroll down to a second photo being RF’s pleasant face, yet it was Blobby Harrasser Assaulter once again.

      • Returnofthemac says:

        Actually in the movie when Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) is talking to Matt McC’s character and he’s offering him the deal to keep silent about leaving Ben Stillers character to die he offers him a G-8 airplane and access to “all the p&$&” he can handle. That scene is what made me do the correlation today.

    • Aren says:

      @Returnofthemac, I’m sure all big names knew, but nobody wants to hear their favourite actor/actress being called out for it.

  38. vava says:

    Maybe this will prompt an investigation into Donald Trump and his assaults on women.

    • noway says:

      Please someone send Ronan on Trump.

    • Sandy says:

      or maybe an investigation on Hillary Clinton and her child rape allegations. See how that works?

      • lara says:

        The difference is, if Trump is investigated properly, I am pretty sure the will be a lot of results.
        If Clinton would be investigated for child rape allegations, it would most likely without results.
        Not the Investigation is interesting, but the outcome.

  39. Lulu says:

    One of the things that makes me most angry about the Gutierrez case is this: “But the other source said that Gutierrez’s statements about her past complicated the case for the office of the Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr.”

    Her “past” consisted of a previous allegation of sexual assault. It makes me so effing livid that this was seen to “complicate” the case.

    We – by which I mean society and men, because women already know – need to start being honest about how endemic and rampant sexual assault and harassment are.

    It is not unbelievable that a woman could be the victim of multiple assaults and instances of harassment by multiple men. In fact, it is all too believable. That is how common it is.

    Believe women! Listen to women!

  40. Zapp Brannigan says:

    I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and will read this article another day, I just do not have the heart for it right now. To all those who spoke out about him, that is real courage. To those of you celebitches reading, who are also survivors, I hope you have peace and love in your lives, I have no other words right now.

  41. Darla says:

    Angelina Jolie went on record. I am crying right now. I never liked her, I don’t know why. This means so much to me. That Angelina Jolie would go on record.

    I was wrong about her.

    • Brittney B says:

      A lot of people were wrong about her. And I’m willing to bet a lot of money that he had something to do with some of those narratives…

  42. SKF says:

    A good read in this ongoing saga is this account by a former model who was “Harveyed” in Cannes. She goes into detail about how she was tricked into being alone with him and how many people were complicit. It’s a real eye opener:

    https://medium.com/@zoebrock/harvey-weinstein-and-i-at-the-hotel-du-cap-57e5883cde36

  43. vava says:

    Hopefully Georgina Chapman will divorce this SOB.

  44. minxx says:

    I cried reading Asia Argento’s story.. she was only 21. I had to post a message on her IG account, she’s so brave. This guy needs to rot in prison.

  45. alexandria says:

    It makes some sense to me now why Bourdain spoke up the way he did, as he is seeing Asia right now. Frankly I don’t need any more press statements from actors and especially actresses, about whether they knew or not. To be honest, it would be very hard for them to come up against a powerful machine that decides their career, unless they saw an outright harassment and did not do anything on the spot. Anyway, we wouldn’t know. I put the blame solely on Weinstein and the complicity solely on the board and his HR. They put him in that position of power, enabled him to maintain it, and they did not make him accountable. It’s on them.

    Now Hollywood execs, HR, companies and agents should look inward and examine how they can protect their male and female interns, their talents, their staff further to avoid this damning culture. Making Weinstein a pariah is not enough. Jailing him is not enough. He is one of many. Hopefully things change, but I don’t know what to hope for anymore.

  46. ALF-M says:

    Wondering when finally victims of Bryan Singer and other very powerful Hollywood predators will stop being protected like HW and get their victims will finally get justice as well. There have been so many rumors and coverups about Singer it’s appalling, yet he makes blockbuster Super Hero movies for Marvel, etc which makes billions for the studios…

    • Brittney B says:

      There’s so much added stigma there, though. Coming forward would be like outing themselves (of course they could be victimized regardless of sexuality, but there’s not much room for nuance in the media anymore).

      I’d be SHOCKED if any men came forward… though I suspect certain men are coming forward about Harvey precisely because they understand what it’s like to be victimized and manipulated by a powerful producer.

    • H says:

      Men have tried to come forward about Singer and got shut down. If you go to DataLounge there’s lots of men who’ve posted about Singer over the years. Another slimebag.

  47. Greenie says:

    It brought me to tears. Especially Asia’s story, because you know the complicated nature of it will be attacked by simplistic minds who won’t understand the dynamic between a powerful abuser and his victim. I hope she finds happiness with Bourdain.

    • PPP says:

      Thank you for saying this. Asia’s story is one of those stories you never hear when it comes to rape, but I know it happens so very often. I definitely had sex with a guy so he wouldn’t rape me, once. I never said no but he locked the door and looked aggressive and I decided I had the emotional wherewithal to deal with bad sex that wasn’t technically rape but not to deal with rape. I feel like Asia’s story is perhaps the most important one, because we have a very cartoonish idea of what a casting couch situation even looks like. We have a cartoonish idea about rape. I have so much admiration for her in taking the risk and coming forward.

      • Esmerelda says:

        Yes, Asia Argento is brave. And articulate. She has told this complex tangle of criminal predation, trauma, guilt, and inner conflict with great clarity. She has made us able to understand the truth. I hope she gets more opportunities to express herself as an artist, a writer and a director, she clearly has talent and brains.

      • magnoliarose says:

        Yes, it is much more complicated than a B movie situation.

      • Lindy says:

        Yes, yes, yes times a thousand. She is so brave for talking about this in a clear way. It’s why I hate the way so many people talk about some kinds of rape as a “grey area” as if anything other than a stranger in the bushes jumping out at you with a knife at your throat to rape you can’t *really* be rape. How many times have women consented out of fear of something worse, out of a need to just escape the situation as fast as possible, because they knew there were no good options and if they said no he would make them regret it etc. Major heroics involved for these women to talk about this situation.

  48. LAK says:

    ‘Sexual Harrassment’ is the understatement of the year in terms of describing HW’s behaviour.

  49. Anastasia says:

    His head looks like a bloated testicle.

    I know I should say something more insightful, but I’m so sickened by it all.

  50. Really says:

    I think it is a bit cynical that Hollywood actors and journalists are so outrage about Harvey but they are completely ok with Roman Polanski, woody Allen, Mel Gibson, Casey affleck, Arnold, Jonny depp,…. So it is impossible to take their statements seriously when they are ok and complicit with everything else.
    Harvey Weinstein is a abusive sociopath but Hollywood waited until he was fired to show remorse, this is so disappointing.

  51. kb says:

    This is bringing all of my past sexual assaults and harassment I’ve experienced to the front and it’s making me really upset. I am feeling worthless. These women are rich and powerful and many of them were still abused. What hope is there out there for the rest of us. I’m sick of fighting a daily battle with myself. I’ve gained tons of weight and let myself go. I was so sick of being harassed that I have uglied myself up in the hopes of being left be. Sadly even a mask of a fat body and greasy hair hasn’t stopped all the men out there. I give up.

    • Christin says:

      Sending good thoughts to you. Don’t ever give up. Stay strong.

    • lucy2 says:

      You are not worthless.
      I am so sorry you are feeling this way. And I understand about the masking, I’ve done that myself, and I too can pinpoint why it started. You are not alone in this.

    • Ladidah says:

      I have been where you are. And Just know – none if it is your fault. We believe you, we see you, and all bodies – even yours – are worthy of love and respect. Fat bodies, thin bodies, disabled bodies, ill bodies – there is a place of love for all of them. And I repeat – none of this is your fault.

    • kb says:

      Thanks for the encouragement. I guess what this is causing me to feel is how unfair it is that we have had to be the ones to change ourselves to avoid harassment. We are made to pick up the pieces of our own lives. It just feels impossible at times. As time goes on I see more and more of my past clearly. I realize that I wasn’t just raped three times. I was raped three times plus all the things here and there I have ignored and hidden in the back of my brain. I have had relatives profess their lust for my body. I have had boyfriend’s friends come on to me and spread rumors when I turned them down. I’ve had friends of my parents try to get me to sleep with them and not be believed when I told because “they’d never do that”. Coworkers that grazed my butt and breasts when working in close quarters on projects. I’ve had guys walk up to me and start making out with me or reaching into my pants and letting fingers slip into my vagina while dancing at clubs. I am SO SICK OF IT.

      • Lindy says:

        A friend of mine (female) and I started trying to list all the things–from basic street harassment on up–that we’d experienced over the years. You sort of forget about it, because it all just adds up. Until you think back and start tallying up and it’s “that time the guy on the street grabbed my boob” and “that time those 4 guys followed me while I was out running in my neighborhood” and on and on. It’s just… sickening. All of it. My heart goes out to you.

  52. BJ says:

    I thought Ronan worked for NBC I wonder why he didn’t investigate this for the network rather than The New Yorker?

  53. Ana says:

    This article makes very clear to all the people blaming actresses for not speaking up why many couldn’t speak up. I hope everyone reads it.

  54. Josie says:

    The big question now is: who is still too powerful to be exposed? Because I can think of at least three big-name producers and directors with the same “rumor” problems as Harvey Weinstein, only they’re probably still safe for as long as their movies keep making buckets of money.

    Let’s not fool ourselves: Harvey may be done but the misogynistic culture in Hollywood lives on, as strong as ever.

  55. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    I absolutely believe Asia, and I think it’s especially difficult for her to go into that kind of detail publicly, which is very brave. I hope she gets some type of relief or closure eventually. But I will also say (without it in any way affecting her credibility against Weinstein, because I do believe her) that she was one of the Polanski petition supportors. I do not believe Polanski has changed at all, as he has shown no sign of remorse or trying to take responsibility for his rape. I only hope Asia can re-think her support of Polanski. I hate to borrow anything from Trump, but Hollywood needs to drain its own swamp, and I’d like to see many others go, along with Weinstein (and that includes Polanski).

  56. Nikki says:

    What an effing slimeball, and every media outlet who printed his smears, every executive who heeded his suggestion to pass on a qualified actress, AND even every one of his employees who unhappily or not abetted him by slipping away to purposely leave a woman alone with him, they ALL should get called out. Please don’t tell me those employees had to do it or get fired; it’s too reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I was raped as a young, completely innocent girl, and it changed my entire life. It took me years and years to get over it. I am SO GLAD some women were brave enough to accuse him. They are my heroes!

  57. MJ says:

    As a woman coming up in the 70’s, 80s, maturing in the 90s and 2000s until this very moment…this is still no surprise. The only really stunning fact is that for centuries this has pervaded society as a whole and that nothing — NOTHING — seems to stop it from happening. Women are afraid of men and their power. It disgraceful and immoral, but aside from BOTH women and men standing up and repelling it AS ONE, and shouting NO MORE, will it ever end. It is not our fate and it IS destructible.

  58. serena says:

    Holy sh*t. The man needs jail, firing him is not enough.

  59. Em says:

    This is beyond terrifying, disgusting, and disturbing. It isn’t a stretch at this point to consider that he could have harmed his children as well. The man is a relentless sexual predator.

  60. Bliss 51 says:

    @BJ a certain reality star worked at NBC for a while. He got into politics.

  61. Tulsi 2020 says:

    This is just the tip of the iceberg. I wonder how many more high profile predators be they in Hollywood or elsewhere are going to be outed?

    Easy sex with multiple partners has always been touted as one of the perks of being a rich celeb. Hopefully this scandal marks the beginning of the end for this sense of entitlement.

  62. Lindy says:

    I have so many swirling thoughts after reading Farrow’s piece. I don’t even know how to organize them all. I actually moved, left my first career as a professor, completely changed industries (after a 2-year struggle of un and under-employment trying to find work in a new field) and still mourn the person I was–all because of the incredible, misogynistic verbal and sexual harassment I experienced. I was a junior professor–not yet tenured but on the tenure track–at a very prestigious, top-20 ranked university (think flagship Catholic university with both academic and football reputations). I was successful, gave tons of papers at conferences, was publishing… But the sexism was incredible, and I saw several of my women undergrads destroyed by the double standards (if students were caught in the dorm of the opposite sex after curfew, both were supposed to have a discipline mark but usually it was only the girl who got called up to the discipline committee and raked over the coals for leading the boys into temptation. After all, what’s a boy supposed to do with a pretty girl in his room, right?).

    Anyhow… another junior professor in my dept who worked on similar research but was a few years further on the tenure track was a conservative Catholic dude. Long story short, he decided he was threatened by my success (he struggled to publish, and wasn’t going to get tenure the following year because the university had super high tenure standards). He went out of his way to undermine me. Some things that happened:

    * He shoved conservative Catholic propaganda under my office door–stuff that talked about women’s bodies desecrating the holiness of the body and blood of Christ, women being the source of evil, original sin, temptation etc.
    * He used the office master key (kept in a central office, honor system to sign it out in case you locked yourself out of your office) to break into my office when he knew I was in class teaching. He was caught doing this on camera (in the hallway). He systematically pulled anything off my bookshelf that he thought looked like “feminist evil” and dumped about 150 books of mine into the recycling dumpster. One of the (female) custodians helped me dig them all out after hours while I cried. He was reprimanded by our department chair. I was told to have coffee with him to try and “find common ground.”
    * We both submitted a grant proposal to the same funding body. Blind review–no names or titles attached. I was awarded the grant and he was not. I didn’t even know he’d applied for it. When he found out, he stormed into my office and screamed in my face, demanding to know whom I had fucked to get the money. I can still remember the fear I felt backed up against my desk with his spit flying into my face. A female colleague down the hall heard him, called security, and came in to try to get him to back away. Security escorted him out, still yelling. Another reprimand for him.
    * One of my grad students–a 23-year-old PhD student–came to my office hours shaken and crying after a meeting with him where he had told her that if she continued to pursue research on feminist propaganda he would see to it she never made it out of the doctoral program. I went to my dept. chair about it–she was too scared–and was told that doctoral students needed to be able to work with all the profs in the dept because that was how academia worked.
    * I filed an ethics complaint with the provost’s office. Supposed to be confidential but somehow my dept. chair found out. I was pressured to drop the complaint. It took 7 months to be “investigated.” At the end he was found “in violation of the university’s mission, vision and values” and was asked to resign. When 3 other (older white conservative male) profs in my department found out, they spent 2 months pressuring me to withdraw my complaint, telling me that I was a feminazi, even going so far as to come up to me in the grocery store and at the library in public to lecture me. They warned me that “someone like me” would have a hard time getting tenure in the department and that troublemakers didn’t make for good tenure cases.
    * He resigned (after sending me a 20-page manifesto/threat), and the old-boys’ network promptly found him a new position at another fairly prestigious Catholic university. By this time, I was an emotional wreck with a failing marriage and a newborn and was so traumatized that I didn’t think I could summon the energy to keep charging ahead. Even if I managed to get tenure there, how could I stay in a department for years or even decades with such hostility? So I left my much-loved career that had taken me a decade of grad school to get into.
    * Found out via former colleagues that he was arrested and removed from his position at the other university because of some kind of over-the-top rage incident that involved physical violence. By then he had been awarded tenure, though, so they couldn’t fire him without a lawsuit (which he threatened). So… there he sits. On the payroll. Rewarded for his years of misogyny, sexism, and hostility.

    I don’t even know why I wrote all that out. I never talk about it anymore. But reading Farrow’s piece, I just felt so viscerally the fear and self-loathing and profound anxiety and wretchedness of those women. Knowing how hard you worked to get where you are, knowing that it doesn’t matter, because this man’s power to humiliate you is the currency that really holds value. It’s so depressing.

    I guess, on a note of hope…. I found out this week that the baby I’m having in April (a much-wanted second child in a happy second marriage) is a boy. I have an 8-year-old son as well. He has such a kind heart and a streak of empathy and compassion for the underdog. I am trying so hard to raise him–and soon, to raise this new little boy–as feminists, as allies for those who are marginalized, as men who will stand up and speak out when they see racism, or sexism, or homophobia. I don’t know exactly how you do that in this culture. I only know that I have to do my best.

    Also–Kaiser and all you CB’ers–I find myself coming here more often these days, because I know I can count on a bunch of intelligent, thoughtful comments from a smart bunch of folks. Thanks for writing about these things with passion and righteous rage and continued focus. Sorry this is so long.

    • H says:

      Lindy, thank you writing this. You are loved and worthy.

      I hope that guy dies in a fire.

      • Lindy says:

        Thanks, H. I appreciate that so much. It’s crazy reading all the comments here and realizing that pretty much every single woman has a story like this, or a list of all the threats, harassment, assaults etc. Hard to feel hopeful when you realize how pervasive it really is, and how hard it is to be heard.

    • Helen Smith says:

      Hugs Lindy. I was a PhD student for two years and I saw how much power professors have over students. It was frightening really. I worked with one once who had a complaint file several inches thick going back thirty years before he finally was told to retire by the dean. Other professors in the department feared him because the department chair position was on a rotating basis throughout the department. If you made this professor angry he would make your life hell when it was his turn to be chair.

      I was told by my advisor that I shouldn’t have complained about this professor and I always wondered if my complaint had anything to do with my advisor’s decision not to work with me anymore. I couldn’t ask him because he submitted the paperwork to not work with me any longer and then flew to Georgia (the country) for a research trip without talking to me.

      My professional life has turned out well without the PhD, so I don’t regret not obtaining it but still I always wondered.

      I don’t miss being in such a vulnerable position as I was as a PhD student. I don’t miss it at all.

  63. geneva says:

    Ever since I saw a film called Finding Debra Winger or some name like that ..I wondered about this in kind of thing in Hollywood and it saddens me how this derailed, undermined, hurt, scared off and damaged so many young actresses. Although Weinstein is/was the most powerful and peverted..one has to wonder if he didn’t set the standard. In the movie Finding Debra Winger, they all talk about “the fu$*-ability factor” and how so often producers, studio heads etc. determined if they were f*(-able. what does that say but it was condoned and widespread in the industry and weinstien is just the sickest and got away with it for the longest time in and had the most power.

  64. Margo S. says:

    Kaiser, you are so right. It took me from 3pm-8pm (est) to read this. I’m reading it and I realize “wait, there’s more?!”

    It was difficult and made me scared, angry, sad that these women had to go through this, and knowing full well that there are thousands of women that he did this too. Then realizing that there are millions of women that this happens to in all industries every day. Myself included.

    I used to think that this was just the way I should be treated, because I have a curvy body and I like to wear tight clothes. It’s not though. Ive realized it’s not ok for anyone to treat me that way. It’s scary when its happening to us and it’s not fair.

  65. I cried buckets of tears as I read this piece. Several things hit me. I am a working actress, (mostly voiceover work – not Hollywood quality) and I respect the bright stars – women of integrity – who would never allow their achievements to be marred by this disgraceful behaviour. That is why I am shocked that this has been kept secret for so long. The pain and humiliation these women must have been put through is unforgiveable. I couldn’t finish the piece because I was too upset by the rape/not rape argument so many men have used to get away with feeling up women they want to control. On the other hand, as the wife of a film director, I can say for a fact, men and women offer themselves to be my husband’s sexual pets, partly because the prestige of “milking a director” is an aphrodisiac. The other part, the part I fear, is that these people want to have something to say about him in the tabloid press or in tell-all books when he gets famous. It’s an insurance policy to gain publicity for themselves. Maybe that is why Georgina (God bless her) took so long to leave her husband. Wives always know what their husbands are doing. (We only pretend to sleep when you’re pillow texting a new fling). I believe each of these women. I hate that there was a grey area where they felt they were to be blamed. However, there is a part of me that senses opportunists are going to come crawling out of the woodwork.

  66. Anna says:

    WHEN IS MICHAEL BAY GOING DOWN???

  67. Nibbi says:

    whoaaaaaaaaa
    gotta admit i didn’t think it was gonna get ***this**** bad
    actual rape !?!
    not only is he a monster but the system and maybe the whole society are sick sick sik to have let this go on for so long