Everyone knew that this would happen, so the only surprise might be that it happened relatively quickly. As soon as the New York Times dropped their bombshell report about Harvey Weinstein last Thursday, Harvey announced he was taking a leave of absence from The Weinstein Company. TWC would be run by Bob Weinstein, and the board met on Friday to discuss Harvey’s future at the company. They decided to hire a law firm to investigate their company and Harvey’s history, and they began the process of disentangling Harvey from TWC, which was reportedly going to be difficult because of his contract. Well, I guess it wasn’t that hard after all:
On Sunday, Harvey Weinstein was removed from his powerhouse film studio The Weinstein Company after being accused of decades of sexual misconduct in a New York Times report, according to Variety.
“In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,” the Weinstein Company said in a statement on Sunday.
What’s interesting to me is that it really did feel like TWC – as a corporation – was waiting to see if more women were going to come forward in the first few days. Like, they were giving Harvey a chance, to see if he could still successfully shut down the damaging information. But women kept coming out over the weekend. I wrote about journalist Lauren Sivan yesterday, and here are some other stories which have come out:
Liza Campbell. British aristocrat, artist and writer Liza Campbell has a horrifying story from about 20 years ago, where she says Harvey hired her as a script reader, only to find herself alone in his hotel room. He told her she should take a bath with him. She found he had locked her in the hotel suite, but she finally found a way out.
Hayley Atwell. This story has been around for several years, and Hayley Atwell has told the story in interviews without name-checking Harvey specifically. When Atwell was working on Brideshead Revisited, Harvey (who was negotiating distribution for the film) came to the set and began flirting with her. She was just 24 years old and this was 2007. Then, at lunch on the set, “Weinstein sat with the cast and crew, and told Atwell to watch what she was eating, explaining that he had just come from watching that morning’s filming and he didn’t like what he saw… ‘You look like a fat pig on screen…Stop eating so much.’” Atwell was upset and she told Emma Thompson, who was playing her mother in the film. Emma reportedly “flipped” and went to Harvey and threatened to quit if he forced Atwell to go on a diet. A source says, “Emma called Harvey out for being a misogynist and a bully and really gave him a hard time.”
Nathan Lane. Lane says that in 2000, at Hillary Clinton’s birthday party, Harvey Weinstein threw Lane against a wall after Lane made some jokes about Rudy Giuliani’s combover. Weinstein reportedly said, “This is my f–king show, we don’t need you.” Lane replied, “You can’t hurt me, I don’t have a film career.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
God bless Emma Thompson.
Hear, hear, love her and it’s nice to hear someone standing up to him.
Yes, it made me very happy she stood up to him like that. She is one badass woman!
And Nathan Lane is hilarious, what a quip lol
LOVE Nathan Lane!
Was so happy to read that she did that, she put a lot at risk doing what she did.
Go Emma!
Yes, she’s still the best.
Yeah, she signed the Polanski petition, and only asked to be taken off after the backlash. Only then, did she “reconsider”. While I’d loved her since her very early variety show days, she was cancelled for me after that.
No, a fan actually tracked her down and talked to her about it. After listening, Emma took her name off the petition. Se isn’t infallible and I respect that she can change her mind.
Even if Emma had left her name on the Polanski petition, she could have grown since that time to understand how wrong sexual harassment and assault are.
Give everyone a chance to grow and change. Not everyone is born into a progressive enlightened family. Not everyone is raised in an enlightened society even if they are born and raised in United States.
As a child of two very prejudiced, mentally abusive parents who did all they could to turn their child into a Mini Me, I am glad none of my views as a teen and young adult were set in stone somewhere on the internet or in the media to be thrown back in my face twenty years later.
I had a lot to learn and overcome no thanks to my parents. I can appreciate anyone else going through that process of self-discovery and enlightenment.
As a teacher I have taught in parts of the United States where based on the ideas coming out of kids’ mouths you would think civil rights and the women’s movement hadn’t happened. Let’s face it America can be a jaw dropping place in the bad way. I applaud anyone who was raised in the mental muck and rises above it.
@Helen Smith: This is a great comment and I hope everyone reads it! Thank you.
Welcome Lorelai. 🙂
I remember hearing this story but not being able to guess who or when. Now it all makes sense and I love more than ever (if possible). Can we please give Emma her own production studio already?
RIght?! That was definitely my take-away from this article. She’s amazing.
The irony of HW calling someone a fat pig…..
I know!!!! I want to throw up when I see his hideous form
What a repellent man, through and through.
His wife has known about his affairs for awhile, according to what I’ve read. How could she NOT have known?! And her business was dependent on designing clothing for her husband’s victims. How twisted is that?
Harvey calling a woman fat reminds me of Trump putting down Ms. Machado when Trump wears boxy suits to hide his fat. I don’t know why powerful overweight men feel entitled to criticize women for their weight. Projection maybe? They aren’t satisfied with their looks so it is the first thing that they criticize in someone else? Sexism? Women in our society aren’t allowed to be human and have fluctuations in weight? Bullying? These women are seen as subordinate so Trump and Weinsten feel free to criticize? I have a lot of thoughts in my head. Might be a bit of all of the above.
@Minx that’s exactly what I said in another post! The arrogance and lack of self-awareness of this man…
@Helen, it’s because they see women as objects whose purpose is to be pleasing to powerful men. They don’t worry about whether their own physical form is pleasing to the women they harass any more than you would worry about whether your dog thinks your pajamas are cute.
Before we sanctify Emma Thompson, let’s remember that she supports Roman Polanski and signed that letter of support and only removed it after being petitioned by students who confronted her about it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/thompson-talked-out-of-support-for-polanski-by-19-year-old-student-1816553.html
& this bums me out, I didn’t know this.
She withdraw her name. And that’s important.
The main difference here is that polanski did get sentenced. He got to trial. What about the rest of them? How are their crimes not worth the trials?
Polanskis career did suffer and world knows who he is. Hw and allen and others, they never get to see the courtroom. So everything you and i say is just pointless. Where’s the law?
They all deserve trials but if we wait for the court systems to get justice for women then we will be waiting too long. The law is built by the patriarchy & is not a great tool for us- we need to start using different ones, gaining power & widdling those old tools into things we can use. Currently, truth, justice & who gets the law’s slap on the wrist are all different things. But that’s by design. The lack of using a misogynistic system while trying to heal & not be re-victimized should not be questioned (as I know you the comments above are not but it got me thinking). The law is built by, financed by & wants to protect the Harvey’s of this country. We should demand differently & point out the discrepancies- all.the.time.
She doesn’t support him if she withdrew her name. I mean it probably would have been easier to not listen and double down but she admitted being wrong and changed her mind.
@Natalie, ITA. I love the fact that she publicly admitted she was wrong — people are capable of sincerely changing their minds. It is the people who will never, ever admit they’re wrong (POTUS) about anything ever who are so difficult to deal with.
I appreciate that she listened to the fan who spoke to her, took it to heart, and removed her name.
Seriously! This just made me love her even more. I can just picture her getting pissed off & really letting him have it.
She has always seems very badass.
He’s a monster.
CB should do a post on how Lisa Bloom is trying to spin her decision to represent this monster (for money) as some sort of public service to women, that she was going to “rehabilitate” Weinstein. For some reason Amber Rose is coming to Lisa’s defense which I find so amazing since Amber holds her “Slut Walk” every year to raise awareness AGAINST sexual predators and harassment against women.
Amber is forgiving and doesn’t beat women down if they make a poor decision and then correct themselves. It is one of her biggest strengths. She is in it to make changes and does not expect women to be perfect from jump street and instead tries to educate them.
Amber Rose is dating a dude (in a relationship that stinks to high heaven of STUNT) who calls women bitches and hoes in his lyrics, who even went so far as to say he doesn’t want a hoe that’s been with everybody. And she brought him to the damn Slutwalk. I really do love her and what she stands for, and maybe she’s trying to get him do better, but I’ve lost respect for her.
*slow claps* would TWC like a cookie? Because there’s no way they didn’t know even half these stories. I knew a lot more posted here as do many people NOT in the business.
You don’t get a prize for Monday morning QBing. On sexual assault. You were super happy when he was buying y’all oscars and bringing in talent (which is creeping me out just saying that). Just like the GOP doesn’t get applause for condemning trump on certain things while allowing him in the WH. It rings so hollow.
At the risk of being cut again..this was the worst kept secret in Hollywood..they already settled with 8 women in the past
My thoughts exactly. Too little, too late.
I’m not into movies but had heard the rumours all the way down here for years. The reason he was fired is not because he’s a sexual predator, but because the world now knows he’s a sexual predator. And he isn’t the only one. This kind of behaviour is everywhere, in every industry. If anyone complains, the big men close ranks. Others, men and women, tacitly support them because they want/need to keep their jobs, and they don’t want to be subjected to the treatment the victim will endure for complaining. Only when everybody stands up and speaks up like Emma Thompson will things start to change.
I live in a tiny town in France and even before to have a movie journalist as neighbor,I knew some rumors about his casting couch habit and his aggressive behavior because I always was interested by movies and movie biz.
yep. i learned more once i had a few friends get into hollywood (management and public relations companies). I have a friend who basically said she would never want her kids to work in the business (she has a young child now).
You’re right as he was only fired because WE know without a doubt.
I have wondered if one of the reasons more people didn’t speak out is because this kind of behaviour is much, much more endemic than we could possibly imagine or be allowed to know, very sadly.
Psychopathic ‘high achievers’ rise to the top of all organisations; their very personality makes it more likely for them to be successful because without empathy they don’t care who they trample over to get to where they want to be.
So I wonder if a lot of Hollywood insiders just consider it to be part and parcel of the way Hollywood is. Insiders are motivated to keep it secret because if Joe Public knew, it affects profits and, at the end of the day, that’s the bottom line in Hollywood. Hence, action against such vile behaviour is only taken when it leaks into the public domain.
Not even because of that, but because his movies aren’t making money anymore.
Yep.
They absolutely knew. Typically, the board of directors would have to approve the money spent on litigating and settling claims against the company. And I’m sure that the victims would not only have sued HW personally but also TWC/Miramax.
Wonder if his wife will stand by him now. What a horrible human being.
But she must have known when she was marrying him??? Why would she marry someone like that? and you are attending parties, being photographed and everyone knows what your husband is and does. I can’t get my head around that.
So many people care more about their own career and money than about others.
I think for some women (Georgina Chapman, Melania Trump, etc.), they like the power and prestige that comes with being Mrs. whoever. Maybe in their minds they think, “I have to have sex with him a couple of times a week and in exchange I get this fabulous lifestyle.”
Think about how much traveling Harvey has been doing over the years. How much time was he really home with Georgina? She gets her dream business with Harvey pressuring every starlet to wear her clothes on the red carpet, she gets showcased on Project Runway, she has millions of dollars at her disposal and the clout of being the wife of (at one time) the most powerful man in Hollywood.
It’s not a life I would choose, but there are many women who would.
Well said, Sherry. There are women who marry horrible men for much, much less. Georgina, Melania, and other women who make the decision to marry horrible wealthy men know what they are getting themselves into. For many of them, they will not even experience a public fallout. They just need to play nice, let their husbands go on business trips and do their thing with other women without asking any questions, and in return they and their children gain immense amounts of money and social standing. It’s a glamorous world that a lot of women who don’t have much else to offer than their beauty would not be able to refuse.
I’ve been wondering about her, too. I’ve only seen/heard from her when she was on Project Runway but she always struck me as so sweet and lovely…and I could never understand what she was doing with him.
Doors and dollars m’dear…
Harvey is a monster. Remember this is about him. I don’t understand the focused attack on his wife. Maybe she’s a horrible human being but maybe…Lots and lots and lots of people danced with the Devil to gain an advantage. Knowing his brutality and legal clout, leaving that arrangement would be anything but easy.
but she got into the arrangement with his behavior already known. Its about him but i’m not giving passes to people who “dance with the devil” for some quid pro quo BS. Sorry. I have enough disdain to go around
Just to clarify my earlier comment he’s a horrible human being, not his wife. I know nothing really about her but if she was aware of his revolting behaviour she’s a pretty low life to stay with him just for the $$
She’s not going anywhere, remember she already stood by him when he paid off 8 other woman.
She stayed with him because he was able to pay off those women. Now that he has been publicly exposed and his power taken away from him, she has more reason to leave.
His wife will divorce him, this is her ticket out.
He asked CAA and WME to get petitions of support going and they said no.
Anyways, can we have a conversation about how this whole Harvey situation has turned into an opportunity for some folks to slut shame and blame actresses they don’t like about what happened. I knew this would happen to. People would use this situation to further spread their hatred of actresses on the industry all the while ignoring everyone on top who actually had the power to stop this. Ignoring actors who also worked with Harvey or who could have stopped him.
I see people blaming Jennifer Lawrence, Paltrow, Blake Lively (who all 3 could also be victims of this monster but have yet to say anything for fear of what he would do to them) etc for not doing/saying anything but I don’t see these people also blaming Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ryan Gosling etc for working with this man and doing nothing.
Even when women are the victims, the women get blamed. While the men are never held accountable for anything.
This.
Affleck and Damon, in particular, owe their careers to him in a very public way, and have vouched for him in the past when newspapers have threatened to out him.
Nevermind the women, how about the men who publicly defended him.
Matt Damon is the worst! Did you read The Wrap story? In 2004 him and Russel Crow helped Weinstein, to cover up a New York Times article. Between this and Casey Affleck and his attitude towards a black woman director, he’s on my shit list.
Yes Rachel! Damon is such a piece of sh!t wus. Any movie he makes from here on out is going to bomb, mark my words. And don’t forget the cultural appropriation with The Wall! This guy is so done, it’s actually comical.
Yup, Damon is proving himself to be a real snake.
I don’t see any male actors, directors etc.. speaking out against him and his behaviour. Guess they have skeletons in their closet they don’t want ole Harvey chucking out.
Mark Ruffalo, has. Also Seth Rogan.
Mark Ruffalo, Seth Rogan, Judd Apatow, and James Gunn (director of Guarians of the Galaxy) have spoken out the twitter. Rob Reiner did in an interview. Good for them but that’s an odd group and not ones I particularly associate with Weinstein.
Not everyone is on social media and I don’t expect everyone in Hollywood to issue a press release instantaneously; they may have never had an real contact with him personally or professionally. But the ones who worked with him repeatedly (and “owe” him) need to disavow, condemn, and pledge to do better. Although reading that Wrap article and how Crowe and Damon were enlisted to vouch for him? My guess is some of them are staying quiet because their hands are far from clean.
Lots of influential comedians did or at least retweeted stuff that supported the victims.
The only men I’ve seen voice anything was Anthony Bourdain, Nathan Lane (who says was threatened and pushed), and Mark Ruffalo.
The whole town knew, I mean gossip followers have been aware forever, people directly working with him would have known his violent temper, sexual coercion and abuse of power. It’s not just the women’s responsibility to speak up. It’s the system that needs to change and not allow this. Why did Miramax allow him to accumulate his power with these allegations (some went to HR)? He didn’t start in this industry on top. The system in place allowed him, and many others, to get away with it.
@Miles, we must be reading different sites because I’ve seen nothing but condemnation of Harvey.
And there seem to be plenty of people criticizing (rightfully so) Matt Damon.
Well gee. I’m glad folks are rightfully blaming the nasty monster that is Harvey. But that’s not what I’m talking about.
Matt Damon didn’t get called out until The Wrap published the story about him. No one was mentioning the male actors. Go look at the original post or go look at social media where the majority of folks went after any actress that had contact with him but just chose to ignore all the male actors who have also worked with him.
But I’m not surprised. It’s always women who get held accountable even when the details aren’t presented.
Disgusting! 🤢
Cosby, Weinstein. . .
How many more operating in the dark?
I have the deepest respect of all the women
coming forward!
Emma Thompson, MFing queen.
She’s the first person in all this mess who I’ve heard has stood up to him. Stood up to him, for someone else.
And the lady who wrote the memo, who has my undying respect.
There’s some irony here. Where men are positioned as our protectors, as the people who seek revenge after we are hurt (gag male character growth hinging on rape), where are the mens in this?
The mens are busy hiding their dirty hands, sadly. Emma is wonderful and brave. Queen.
Truth! We are told to be vulnerable in order to attract men, while the common wisdom is that women are vicious and hate one another. That could not be more true, often we women have one another’s backs and protect the other from predatory men.
Emma Thompson is everything.
Dying to see who Ronan Farrow manages to get on the record for the New Yorker.
His story is going to be explosive. Honestly I’m convinced he’s been working this story for ages. And he said heads will roll. Which means names. I’m sure the complicity goes deep
It’s going to be a field day and I trust Ronan to drop it. He handled Hollywood turning his back on his sister so well (and I mean with dignity I would’ve lost it). He’s constantly kept up the pressure with holding people accountable.
He (Ronan) has apparently been working on it for the better part of a year.
good.
Im also wondering. There will be more stories like the ones that surfaced but maybe Ronans story is even bigger.
I know right? He is so unbelievably talented in his writing. And you know he’s got the dirt. He’s probably seen it all being around his mom on film sets! Continue with the takedown Ronan!
I hope Ronan Farrow has been doing some heavy investigative work, talking to Corey Haim et al. Those secrets desperately needs exposing.
This. Feldman’s book was heartbreaking. Hopefully Farrow tries to take down Bryan Singer too. All these slimeballs need to go down.
I believe Ronan’s story is one of the reasons HW is toast and I think Harvey has some powerful enemies who are going to use this as long awaited revenge. I wonder who it is. That would be a juicy story.
Maybe the other angle on this would be Weinstein’s abusive violence and also his similar treatment of male actors?
A predator is a predator–he wasn’t running a male ‘casting couch’ for himself but him pressuring actors into that for his connected friends was the gossip for years.
I read it and it is a great article!
Emma Thompson is queen.
Someone on yesterday’s threads said that brother Bob is the worst of the two. I’ve never heard rumours on Bob but can someone fill me in?
Me neither. I only heard about Harvey and in the last days someone mentioning Bob and Rose Mcgowan tweeted “What about Bob?”
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/917169404038615040
I guess Bob flew mostly under the radar. Harvey was the loud guy looking for the spotlight. As I said I do not know anything about Bob Weinstein but given that Harvey was the loud mouth and all the focus on him its not too surprising.
There have been rumblings about bob being just as bad. Also bob being used as an “in” to his brother. Ie casting couch prelim to the real one (not to be crass or anything).
It doesn’t shock me because this would not be the first brother to have girl sleep with the less famous one to get to the famous brother.
There are rumours that Bob is just as abhorrent a human as his brother. Various people who have had the misfortune of working with the pair of them were apparently surprised that nothing was mentioned about the pair of them, as opposed to just Harvey, when the NYT article dropped. It is thought that some articles in the pipeline dig into those allegations. Although, considering the lead he’s taken (Bob), it makes you wonder if they’re both psychopath narcissists who refuse grasp the concept that in the end, no one is untouchable.
I was talking to my husband about this the yesterday. Wouldn’t Bob carry some of the same traits as his brother? He was a Harvey wingman. And I bet you there are more men out there who acted as an “in” to Harvey through sexual favors.
Its actually funny to me that the Weinstein company thinks they can continue with THAT name. Um, no. Any movie coming out backed by a studio with the name Weinstein’s is going to bomb. Guaranteed.
Yeah, my first thought was, “Like brother, like brother,” And is HW really out of the company, or is this just a way of placating everyone? Will he be sent away to let this die down, and then be allowed to slowly and quietly worm his way back in? These filthy mongrels are everywhere. Everywhere. I’m always surprised when I hear a woman say this has never happened to her, privately or professionally. I hope that now that this can of festering worms has finally been opened, there’ll be a big cleanup, or at least, a huge wake-up.
He and HW have had a very volatile relationship with long periods of not speaking to each other, but Bob isn’t as social or as schmoozy or in your face. He always acknowledged his brother was a pain in the ass but didn’t honestly try to drop him until after their mother died.
I am not saying he is a good person just a history of why he probably waited to turn on him entirely.
There is an article about Matt damon calling some reporter to persuade her that Harvey’s then head Miramax Italy wasn’t really just there to help Harvey procure women. This was for the times many years back, and HW got the times to can the piece (written by a female journalist). I hold Matt damon, so called feminist, COMPLICIT. I have lost all respect for these men who claim to be for women but support Harvey, Roman, woody and casey.
Please don’t threadjack.
There’s a lot of information coming out all at once and I’m doing my best to stay on top of it. The Wrap’s story will be published in a bit.
I posted this before seeing the article you posted Kaiser, I read about the wrap from another source.
Moon@ I see that know you’ve finished slut shaming women, you can actually talk about men.
I have always been consistent with my views, no thank you to you for bashing me. I mentioned that rumours will hurt actresses close to Harvey but I see jlaw coming out of it strong, and for that I am slut shaming? Stop twisting my words.
I will move with my comment to the article where it belongs.
The best headline I read today: “Harvey Weinstein fired, company’s potted plants rejoice”.
Ha, gross.
I can’t wait for a Camille Paglia article to come out explaining that poor ol’ Harv is misunderstood — he’s just living the dream!
Heh. Yup. It’s all because he’s “from a different time” you see, sort of like Trump, and all the women who are suddenly coming out of the woodwork about his abuse are just man haters who should be nicer!
He is such a pig. (Now I feel bad for animal pigs for the comparison. Sry pigs).
I think it’s good that more women came out and I hope those working in the industry are being protected, but it also makes me feel nauseatic how long he got covered and the reason why he’s now exposed seems to have more to do with a loss of money and success, not his behaviour. Lisa Campbells story is absolutly scary – what if the third door hadn’t been open? How could all this people leave any woman ever alone with him? Shouldn’t the pattern that he casusally arranged meetings with other people and then seperated the women by sending away the staffers also lead to investigations against the company?
I hope this can be looked into as well! He assaulted a young woman in 2015, maybe that can be revisited? It would seem that quit a few people have walked away from legal trouble thanks to the Manhattan DA. I really want that DA looked into as well, deals for contributions? Hmmm
I don’t even get the Nathan Lane thing…was Harvey upset that Lane made a joke that other people laughed at? WTF?
Its not like Harvey comes across like a well adjusted human being.
Poetic justice would be… when a musical is made about this whole debacle, Nathan Lane plays Harvey. Wins a Tony award.
And then an Oscar in the film version.
Rightfully the sexual abuse allegations are taking precedent, but there have also been more than a few stories about him being violent with the aim of intimidating men who he felt insulted him, did something he didn’t like, breathed wrong, you get the idea. Verbal and physical intimidation, sometimes in relation to something as stupid as an Oscar campaign. Seriously I know people are worried he can recover but there are soooooo many Hollywood people happy to see him gone.
It is looking more likely he won’t recover after all because there is some genuine power behind the hate for him.
I also think the climate around sexual harassment has changed since 45 was elected. Some people didn’t understand what it looked like to have a man in power who hated women and now they do. That tape about grabbing a woman in the genitals woke up a few men I know because they had never heard anyone talk like that and how vulgar it is. They would never treat women like that but now have a better understanding what we go through.
My nephew called my sister very upset thinking his mother might have been assaulted by men and she was honest with him. She works in a high powered male dominated business and as tough as she is, she didn’t escape unscathed either. Hopefully, this story has this same effect, and more men and women have epiphanies and conversations about this.
As younger people and women get more power positions, I was told there are some efforts in some quarters to shut men like him down. The tolerance for it is not what it used to be. I hope it is true.
for clarification, i’m not defending harvey on the lane thing (or anything for that matter). I just don’t get why what lane said upset harvey…the whole “its my show” statement is weird considering it sounds like lane was just making fun of rudy. was harvey friends with rudy? or is he just THAT insecure? (probably the latter).
He is crazy and I wonder if a little nasal candy isn’t part of his problem too.
Stealing the attention?
Yeah I didn’t know why he was pissed at Nathan Lane.
I now like Emma Thompson even more.
And I am now disappointed at Meryl, Cate and Winslet. At least Goopy didn’t give us a woke front.
Seeing women being collectively put on trial and demonized for the abusive and predatory behavior of a powerful male is about as disturbing as it is predictible at this point. There’s a lot of sexism and some binary thinking going on, and as usual, the people trashing victims and carelessly accusing select people of harlotry are blind to the role they’re playing in rape culture. People really need to grow the fuck up, see beyond their negative perceptions of these women, and stop and think about the messages their own responses to Harvey Weinstein’s behavior are sending. Is the take-down of an annoying “pretty, spoiled little rich girl” or two really enough to make people comfortable with doing the patriarchy’s work? Is the need to prove that the “Have Nots” are better off and more virtuous than the (female) “Haves” so strong that people don’t mind a little bit of complicity?
This isn’t about women being blind stans or naive. An eagerness to scarlet-letter the first women whose names pop up in one’s doesn’t make a person some deep, all-knowing, truth-telling realist. And in a patriarchy, that REALLY can’t be spun as some revolutionary or feminist response to hearing about powerful male sex offenders/abusers. Too many people are acting like the only way the abuse and harassment allegations against Weinstein can be true is if EVERY SINGLE woman who’s ever worked with or come in contact with him can be called one of his victims or a manipulative prostitute paid for her silence. That’s a problem, (one that abusers and their apologists consistently use to their advantage) and it really isn’t that different from the way celebrities assume that because a person was friendly with them, abuse allegations against that person must be ‘tabloid fodder’. Weinstein, Trump, Chris Brown, Depp, Cosby, Woody Allen, etc. can all still be guilty without having targeted every single woman they’ve come across. Slut-shaming fuels rape culture, and that’s exactly what people are doing when they accuse women they have a problem with of having sex they didn’t have. Let’s not throw logic, compassion, and feminism right out the window just because some of us have been salivating for a chance to call Alicia Vikander, Zendaya, Jennifer Lawrence, Goop, etc. “Guilty Whores” for whatever creepy, pathetic reasons. The tone-deaf attacks on any victims who haven’t yet come forward or ‘waited too long’ are also a problem and add fuel to the fire of rape culture. Rose Mcgowan, Ashley Judd, and the others coming forward are definitely brave for it. But our society consistenly treats women and abuse survivors poorly, and victims aren’t always believed or able to prove what happened. Some of these people are going to be afraid.
Yes!!! Harvey Weinstein is a monster, but odds are he isn’t like that 100% of the time and with every woman or man he met and works with. Odds are he also helped some women achieve some power in Hollywood too, without sexually harassing them. If a sexual predator was really that easy to spot, life would be easier for all of us. We need to stop making it seem like it is easy to stand up say no and perhaps lose your career, fight, or even just spot these guys and avoid them, it’s not. These women who come forward are brave. Vilifying the silent women isn’t helping we need to encourage them to say their story. Even if it is like Meryl -not her experience, but I stand by the other women. The backlash on women who worked with him is really disheartening, as you don’t know their story. One- the woman may have been harassed and now too embarrassed or scared to share. Two -maybe they even succumbed to his sexual advances and really don’t want to share now. Three- it may not have been their experience with him, and they don’t want to say anything to take the publicity off of the brave women who did come forward. Some may also be afraid of backlash or told not too because of it. One reason sexual harassment keeps going on is because people aren’t comfortable talking about it. You don’t make people more comfortable by bashing other people who could be victims themselves. We just assume because these people are successful now that they must have known. Sure there was gossip, but you don’t know for sure until people actually speak up, but they are afraid because people don’t believe them and they are thrust into a publicity they may not want. See the problem. These are very public people with public identities we think we know them, but we don’t really know them. I think we need to encourage them to speak out not bash them if they don’t. This includes the men.
The good news is, I don’t think it is just the fact that Harvey may have less influence now than in the early 2000, but the fact that times have changed. Now if we can save our anger for the accusers.
We also don’t know what they may or may not have done behind the scenes. I know from experience how older women who had more power would tell me to stay away from some men and then I would tell others. Many times there is a silent network behind the scenes with information but what someone chooses or can do with it depends on them. I don’t believe any woman who dealt with him professionally was responsible for him or should get punished at all no matter why or what happened.
I’m surprised Georgina Chapman hasn’t filed for divorce yet.
Ironclad prenup.
I am sure a lot of men in hollywood call women fat pigs. I feel like in this case however it is a way to divert the attention that he is a sexual preditor. It is one to say something insulting it is entirely different to actually assault someone as he did over and over again. I feel like in this case it also is a very possitive sign he got fired because now no one has the right to come out and defend him and use that usual eye roll enducing “I know nothing” that is used talking about sexual predators, which Kate Winslet used just recently with Woody Allen. It is also interesting how this plays out in the near future. Now that he is out of his empire and it is so public I am sure all the young starlets will be asked about their relationship with Harvey. I am sure so many of them also had not such pleasant interactions with him.
I also thought about Jennifer Lawrence and her twisted relationship with the Artist Darren Aranofsky. It sort of shows that women, even the ones having a lot of star power, are systematically abused on some level – verbal or physical and they feel like it is somehow part of their lives and part of the normal everyday life for them. I mean of you are looked down on systematically, in the end you accept that it is fine to be in a relationship with a douch. It all is so disturbing.
I mean, can you imagine being cornered by this grossness? My body goes into an involuntary protective cringe, shoulders slumped, eyes darting, whenever I read about this.
if the brother gets the lead position at the company now, and most celebs act like nothing has happened/changed, it probably says a lot more about that brother than the celebrities imo
Harvey and Bob are cut from the same cloth
The guy who appears to be 11 months pregnant told someone else she looked like a fat pig?
I know, right. Weinstein calling anybody a fat pig is like Charles Manson calling somebody a psychopat.
Snort! 11 months pregnant 🙂
Pretty much convinced this whole thing was orchestrated by the quieter brother Bob. He clearly wanted his brother out and figured the easiest way to do it was to feed all the info to the New York Times and unleash this scandal. They seem to have a complicated on-off relationship and he hasn’t made any kind of statement in support or defending his brother. I doubt Bob is some kind of champion of women and he is just as shady as his brother and most likely doesn’t care about any of these women at all. But I guess he deserves some credit for exposing his brother, even if he did this for entirely selfish reasons to force his brother out to keep the business to himself. The story would have come out sooner or later.
I imagine this could be a business decision. Maybe harvey’s numerous settlements were costing the company, maybe Harvey pissed off too many people in the industry, maybe Harvey made the wrong call on some movies. It’s clear to me that these allegations stem back 30 years but Harvey is only feeling the consequences now when he is no longer as wealthy and powerful. This isn’t a win for women until we have systemic change, where wealth and power do not inoculate a man from sexual abuse.
The distinction is that they only fired him when we all knew, not when they did. Who has paid out the settlements to at least 8 women? I guarantee Harvey didn’t pay it out of his own pocket.
Where does this guy get off calling ANYONE a gross pig? Wow.
I remember reading the “blind” about the Emma/Hayley thing when CB first covered it: http://www.celebitchy.com/529529/blind_item_which_actress_was_told_to_lose_weight_on_brideshead_revisted/
One more reason to love Emma Thompson.
Many years ago Daniel Day-Lewis said a few words to HW and it is something that Harvey apparently likes to repeat (from LA Times) ” Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who won his first Oscar for 1990’s “My Left Foot,” told Weinstein, “There’s only one part of you that works — the ability to pick scripts and pick movies. Otherwise, you’re a complete disaster as a person.””
I’d never heard that quote. Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson are amazing. Maybe not perfect, as some mentioned Emma supported some others, but I like that most the time they see and say it like it is. People aren’t perfect and we should encourage more people to stand up for others.
The Nathan Lane story is weird. Not that it didn’t happen but it makes no sense for Harvey to beat Nathan up over Rudi who is a staunch Republican btw. Also Georgina has a charity in India that does work to empower impoverished girls and women. Dame Judi Dench has Harveys name tattooed on her and at one acceptance speech Meryl called Harvey God!…….Oh, my!
Judi Dench has Harvey’s name tattooed on her?! I did not know this bizarre tidbit 😟
Yea, he told the story on Graham Norton show. I believe it is on YouTube. The tatoo is on her butt. Go figure.
Don’t forget Gwenyth Paltrow being silent!
There have been rumours about Jennifer Lawrence for ages.
He’s so creepy. Yuck, disgusting.
GP said in an old interview that he tried to cross boundaries with her, she said she didn’t appreciate it and he backed off. She’s no powerless girl off the bus from nowhere. If he played games with her, it makes me think he played them with every single one of the young female stars in his films.
I have read Ashley Judd’s recounting of this many times over the years. In the older interviews/articles she didn’t come out and name him (or the journalists excluded the name, for fear of libel ?), but she’s always been extremely consistent in her telling of what happened. Fwiw here’s a link to one such interview from 2015.
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/ashley-judd-sexual-harassment-studio-mogul-shower-1201610666/
Sorry, I see Judd’s speaking out about this over the years has already been mentioned in some of the other HW posts here.
Kaiser, there’s another whose story just broke in the Guardian – Romola Garai. She did Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights which was a Miramax production and getting the part involved her having to go to Wankstain’s hotel room and talk to him, with him in a bathrobe.
She’s been vocal for over a decade on how awful that production was and the way they fat-shamed her (daily weighing, female producer talking shit about her body) but only now has she been able to talk about the likelihood that it was Weinstein behind the fat shaming + sexual harassment.
So is this a draining of the swamp or just a changing of the guard in Hollywood?
It’s a shame the story didn’t break just before the Oscars. Would’ve loved the Harvey jokes in the opening bit and I also would’ve been fascinated to see the responses of the various audience members.
For all this to come out now (after decades), he must have done something criminal to tip the scales. Whatever it is, it’s still being kept behind closed doors to protect his wife and children.