Harvey Weinstein was kicked out of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Saturday. The Academy had issued a statement last week, as the accusations were pouring out, that Weinstein’s behavior was disgusting and appalling and that the Board of Governors would be called to an emergency meeting this weekend to discuss whether or not Weinstein should be allowed to keep his membership. There was a crazy amount of hand-wringing about this, honestly. It seems that there were more than a few Academy members who were like “Academy membership has nothing to do criminal and/or gross behavior,” perhaps thinking rightly of all of the perverts, rapists and abusers who are dues-paying Academy members. But at the end of the day, the AMPAS did kick him out, saying that they want to “send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over.” Sure.
As for the larger repercussions to The Weinstein Company, I couldn’t give a sh-t. But Harvey’s brother Bob Weinstein gives a sh-t. Bob is the new CEO, and he’s now in charge of the sinking ship that is TWC, which will likely be renamed and rebranded. Bob sat down for a lengthy, tricky interview with The Hollywood Reporter – you can read the full piece here. There’s a ton of stuff in here plus a lot of denial, and a lot of refusing to talk specifics about what was known and when. Some highlights:
He’s a father of daughters, peeps: “I find myself in a waking nightmare. My brother has caused unconscionable suffering. As a father of three girls I say this with every bone in my body — I am heartbroken for the women that he has harmed. I’m a fighter. For my entire adult life, I fought for the films I want to see the light of day. I have fought for my employees, who have dedicated their lives to achieving the vision of this company that me and my brother founded. But I cannot fight what is indefensible.
He didn’t know the extent of it: “The members of the board, including myself, did not know the extent of my brother’s actions. I know him on a personal level better than anyone. It’s hard to describe how I feel that he took out the emptiness inside of him in so many sick and depraved ways. It’s a sickness but not a sickness that is excusable. It’s a sickness that’s inexcusable. And I, as a brother, understood and was aware as a family member, that my brother needed help and that something was wrong. I was also the object of a lot of his verbal abuse — at one time physical abuse. And I am not looking for one bit of sympathy from anyone. I do not put myself in the category at all of those women that he hurt. But it’s a complicated situation when it’s your brother doing the abusing to you as well. I saw it and I asked him to get help for many years. And that’s the truth. He avoided getting the help. We begged him.
Harvey is without remorse: “This hurts, but I don’t feel an ounce of remorse coming from him, and that kills me too. When I heard his written, lame excuse… Not an excuse. When I heard his admission of feeling remorse for the victims and then him cavalierly, almost crazily saying he was going to go out and take on the NRA, it was so disturbing to me. It was utter insanity. My daughters all felt sick hearing this because we understood he felt nothing. I don’t feel he feels anything to this day. I don’t.
He barely even spoke to Harvey: “First of all, let me tell you something that people don’t know. For the last five years, I’ve probably talked to my brother ten times on any personal level. That’s the fracture that’s gone on… I actually was quite aware that Harvey was philandering with every woman he could meet. I was sick and disgusted by his actions. But that’s the extent of what [I knew]. I said, “Harvey, you’re just cheating. Why do you constantly cheat?” I could see it. But I wasn’t in the room with him. For me, I thought he was literally just going out there cheating in a pervasive way. It wasn’t like he even had a mistress. It was one after another and that I was aware of. But as far as being in a room and hearing the description in The New York Times? No way. No F-in way was I aware that that was the type of predator that he was. And the way he convinced people to do things? I thought they were all consensual situations.
He knew Harvey was a bully: “I’ll tell you what I did know. Harvey was a bully, Harvey was arrogant, he treated people like sh-t all the time. That I knew. And I had to clean up for so many of his employee messes. People that came in crying to my office: “Your brother said this, that and the other.” And I’d feel sick about it…. I would often counsel people and say, “You know what, you have a choice here. Leave. Leave, please leave.” I don’t know why some of them stayed. So I would just try to mend a broken fence. There is no mending this. This is not a broken fence. [But] I will not quit and leave the business that I built, rightfully so, and leave the films and filmmakers that I was involved in.
He didn’t leak the info: “That’s totally untrue. I could take a lie detector test on that. I didn’t and, you know, Harvey is suspicious of everybody. People that are liars — lying to his wife, to his children, to everyone — well, they have to turn around and say, “Who stabbed me?” It’s unbelievable that even to this moment he is more concerned with who sold him out. I don’t hear concern or contrition for the victims. And I want them to hear that. Harvey has no remorse whatsoever. I have spoken to him two times [since news broke], hoping to hear “Oh my God, what have I done?” I didn’t hear that. I heard a guy who still was fighting to get back and I was disgusted by it. Do you know how disgusted I am? I divorced my brother five years ago. Literally. And those that know me personally in this company understood how I could not take being around him on any level.”
Bob also says that Harvey assaulted him once and Bob didn’t go to the police, which he now regrets. I believe Bob about some things, like the idea that he “divorced” Harvey and that they had separate fiefdoms set up within TWC. I believe Bob knew all too well that Harvey was and is a bully and a womanizer. However, I think Bob also had some idea (if not a very good idea) that Harvey was abusing and harassing women for years. So, we’ll see.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Genuine question: How could Harvey have settled all those complaints without his brother knowing? Wasn’t there eight of them?
And, come on, if Ben Affleck knew that Harvey had raped Rose McGowan, then how is it possible that his brother didn’t know Harvey had crossed the line from being a bully and a cheater into criminal behaviour?
This is the issue for me. One complaint, let’s just settle to keep it quiet. Two, maybe someone is taking advantage, but EIGHT? No f*cking way his wife and others, at least on the business side, didn’t know.
My husband does not know about my day-to-day business dealings or what I say to my company or what exactly I say to our accountant or lawyer unless I chose to tell him myself. And vice versa. I can see Chapman having plausible deniability (barely) but not so his company. At all.
Brother, not wife. The brother who is a partner in the company and on the board.
I think that it can be argued that his wife did not know the extent of his behavior, even though I personally think she did know. His brother had to have known due to the settlements.
Bridget, LadyT is responding to the second part of the comment by FHMom that says: “No f*cking way his wife and others, at least on the business side, didn’t know…”
So LadyT is saying that she’s sure people in the company did know, and doesn’t think the wife did know. I tend to agree with her. Especially considering how much control Harvey had over Georgina’s career – I’m sure she didn’t dare ask about his side of the finances.
So, nobody would tell their spouse or SO if they were being accused of sexual harassment? I don’t doubt he kept his finances from her, but that? He probably twisted the truth and laughed about it.
I don’t believe they didn’t know. Apparently his contract excused abuse if he paid.
And from a story I read on US the other day the wife was not shocked by the stories. So again everyone turned a blind eye while they benefited.
No one gets applause for the pile on NOW
It must be extremely hard to send your brother to jail.
I think in Bob’s view he did everything he could to fix his brother. If he couldn’t stop it then he chose not to deal with Harvey for 5 years.
Of course knew. The real question is if that was your brother would you turn him in.
It’s easy for us to say he was complicit but he was losing either way. Culturally he was never going to be the one to send his brother to jail… I doubt that is how he was raised.
I think he did know he was harassing those women (which isn’t a felony in the eyes of the court). However it is debatable whether he knew that he actually raped some of these women (which is a felony).
I agree with some of the posters here. Out of familial loyalty he tried to clean up the mess but after so many years he got tired of it so he distanced himself for the past 5 years.
Harvey is a monster. Other than going to the press, Ben was powerless to stop Harvey. Ben did what he had to do to protect himself and his company. It wasn’t the noble thing, but not everyone has the courage to do what is right.
He chose to keep working with him! He profited off of Harvey.
A higher bar for basic human decency, please.
Hell yes, Natalie! That’s what it comes down to, I don’t blame all of the people that didn’t come forward. And let me make this clear, practically everybody who came out and said they didn’t know is full of it in my opinion. I don’t blame them for Harvey’s behavior, but people need to do more. It’s human decency. And it may be hard, or inconvenient, or scary. But it’s the right thing to do. And it’s not a grey area in my opinion.
I do not think for one sec that the brother is all that innocent. More like he made a deal.
Harvey IS a monster. Powerful monster. Why is he in rehab? He needs to be locked up. In jail. Among other sexual predators.
I am sure that most people knew. And most weren’t able to say a thing cos he is that powerful. But he has Woody defending him…sort of… just when you think it cannot get any worse…
Looks like there’s a power struggle going on in that company, and Bob’s behind it. That’s my take. And Bob’s got dirty hands but not filthy ones.
Yeah, this is all a heaping steaming load of BS. Bob and every single executive at that company knew everything. They witnessed it with their own eyes. FFS, they had a shuttle system in place to ferry fresh meat to Harvey like some kind of nightmare underground rape railroad. They created an environment to work AROUND the psychopath in their midst because that psychopath was their gravy train.
Pathetic damage control to avoid losing their shirts.
Things are different if your family was messed up. I hardly connect with my siblings. If I picked up the paper and read that my brother, who I last spoke to 9 months ago, was a serial murder, I would pretty much be finding out the details with everyone else, as well.
If I read that about my brother, I wouldn’t even be surprised.
Oh my. That is scary. Yikes.
THATS TRUE
An ex-employee of Harvey Weinstein, who dated Bob Weinstein, has written about this. She says that when she brought up the subject of Harvey’s creepiness, Bob would get incredibly angry and refuse to have the conversation. So he managed to not know by refusing to listen to anyone who tried to tell him.
Damn, he threw his brother right under the bus there. Which is, granted, the only truly moral thing you can do here, but still. Not often we see people willing to say, “No, family member _____ is an unrepentant piece of shit, sorry to say.”
I really wish men would stop using their daughters and wives as life rafts in the bay of morality, though. If you need female family members to remind you that women are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, you’re not a good person.
The Washington Post has a great artical about Matt Damon (and other celebrities) and the “I have a daughter so…” is the new “i have a black friend, so…” (insert excuse here)
Very interesting. Apologies for my grammar, I just woke up.
I read that piece and laughed in recognition.
Honestly, ‘ I have female relatives’ is so eyeroll worthy at this point.
So, if you didn’t have female relatives you wouldn’t have empathy? What about your mother idjit?!
Does one need to know X to empathise? So you can’t have empathy or extra empathy if you have no personal connection to the situation.
Gee I don’t own slaves, but I know it’s wrong and abhorrent.
I’ve never assaulted anyone and it’s never occurred to me to do so. Ditto the reverse. Just because no one has assaulted me doesn’t mean I can’t feel empathy for those who have.
All these I have X therefore I can’t be guilty of X can eff right off.
@Lak
“All these I have X therefore I can’t be guilty of X can eff right off.”
YES! I’m stealing that line.lol
There’s a Twitter from a woman saying, “Sorry guys, I have no sons so I can’t see men as human beings.”
Read it and I hollered. And then I felt sad. Such a bullsh-t statement for all the reasons so eloquently expressed.
There’s a Twitter from a woman saying, “Sorry guys, I have no sons so I can’t see men as human beings.” Lol.
Everyone already has a mom, so I’ve never been sure how the addition of a wife or child opens them up the wide world of women existing.
EXACTLY. It’s not only the stupidest answer, but necessarily flawed. Everyone single person has had one specific deep relationship with a woman. Even if one had never met their mother at all, you must be aware of her existence.
Well said, Veronica.
Veronica, totally agree.
The men who say that are usually the most subtly sexist men I’ve met & they avoid facing that truth by saying, ‘I know a lady with lady parts & she’s great (and so am I)…nothing to examine here. Nothing to change.’
These men are also in my family. They have mansplained feminism to me. They are idiots. But (happily?) clueless about it.
The more (imaginary) feminist men think they are, the more annoying their (real) sexism is!
At least with the old fashioned open male chauvinist, you both know what you’re arguing about!
“I really wish men would stop using their daughters and wives as life rafts in the bay of morality, though. If you need female family members to remind you that women are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, you’re not a good person.”
I have never seen anyone explain this better. Bravo.
I’m memorizing it as we speak. I have the feeling I’ll be quoting Veronica every other day for probably the rest of my life. Thank you for your eloquence, Veronica.
I Immediately wrote it down in my Book of Mic Drops. I’ll be dropping that one later today.
That entire interview read as nothing more than sibling rivalry on an epic scale to me. Big brother was mean to him, etc. etc. I don’t think he gives a damn about the women or anything else, really. But they’re a great vehicle to annihilate his brother.
Ditto
If Harvey were my brother, I would want to throw him under an actual bus.
Lol. I can imagine a dark street, no one looking and a speeding bus is coming and just kicking Harvey’s scuzzy ass right in front it.
If Harvey were my brother, I would DRIVE the freaking bus.
Seriously, right under the bus. That’s what struck me the whole time I was reading.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this statement. It comes across as very raw & mostly honest & yet I do think he’s desperately motivated to make sure that his business & personal reputation stay clean by thoroughly distancing himself as far as possible from a brother he obviously couldn’t stand before this whole mess erupted.
And wow on the
“Life rafts in the bay of morality” thoughts…excellently said.
Brilliantly stated.
Sounds like Harvey is a sick sociopath.
It sounds like he has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In his mind, he is entitled to do what he wants, take what he wants and hurt who he wants. He has zero empathy for his victims. That’s classic NPD and unfortunately for his family members, no amount of “rehab” or counseling is going to change him.
I dare say Georgina has been the brunt of some horrid verbal and emotional abuse over the years. According to many who have met her, she is a sweet and charming person. She’s probably co-dependent and believed for many years she could “fix” him. She probably wanted to leave for a long time, yet felt her business, finances and kids would suffer if she did. Remember, Harvey is vindictive (another trait of NPD). They set out to destroy those who disappoint/hurt/cause injury to them.
He could have destroyed Georgina and Marchesa as easily as he built them up.
As someone who is married to a man with NPD. I feel for her.
Her family is wealthy, and she personally is worth about $20 million, not including anything she might get from the divorce settlement.
He could have tried to kill her brand (all he’d really have had to do is stop strong-arming people into wearing and stocking it), but even so, finances would not have been an issue for her.
That is a massive, massive leap as an armchair psychologist. It’s dangerous to disgnose people you don’t know.
@Julianna – Her family is not that wealthy. Georgina has employees (including family members) working for her brand. If Harvey destroyed it, she’s not the only one who would have suffered.
@Bridget – I’m not a doctor, so I cannot diagnose. What I do know is that over the last several years, I have done extensive research into the disorder so that I can survive being married to someone who has it and not lose my mind. All of the descriptions of Harvey Weinstein’s behavior over the years hits every box on that scale.
If he does in fact have this disorder, the only person he cares about is himself and that’s not going to change.
It’s not dangerous for an anonymous Internet comment to say the behavior of X matches the signs of Y. Same was said of comments about Donald Trump. None of the people saying “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck” are at the Bethesda Naval Hospital issuing a written diagnosis and treatment plan, or in the US Congress brandishing the 25th Amendment.
These are character disorders we’re talking about, which don’t make people vulnerable to the kinds of stigma heaped upon people with other, disabling disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, spectrum and developmental differences, etc. We’re talking about people who are basically pieces of shit who are functioning just fine and are rewarded for their misdeeds.
With all due respect saying someone with a personality disorder won’t be able to change despite counseling imo is a really damaging mentally. I have a personality disorder and I’ve been told so many times I’ll never get better, people like me don’t change, etc. Well I am better, I have changed and a huge part of that is due to counseling and working my butt off.
I’m not saying HW isn’t a terrible dumpster fire of a person and really what Im pointing out is seperate from his specific story. I just think writing someone off who has a personality disorder regardless of there terrible life choices is damaging. People with mental illness/personality disorders
can 100% change with help and hard work.
Sherry, ITA. Vindictive behavior, lack of remorse, these are classic personlity disorder traits. One needn’t be close to HW or DT to see them for what they are.
Sherry, I’m sorry to read that you are married to someone with this disorder. I’ve known people like this and life is unpleasant around them so I avoid them. May I ask why you stay?
I don’t necessarily think it’s inherently wrong to be an armchair psychologist. Sherry, I am so very sorry to hear that you’ve been subjected to abuse of any kind. Your comment is very compassionate towards Georgina, which is incredibly important in cases like these where we don’t have more emotional and interpersonal context. But I am somewhat worried with the rise in causal personality disorder diagnoses in general. In my mind they pose two problems. One, they focus on individual pathology rather than rotten systems. Hollywood and patriarchal power allowed for HW and wove webs of secrecy (or semi-secrecy) around his behaviour. This also allows the perpetrator a version of an ‘insanity plea’ (hence HW’s ‘I need help’ to pave way for ‘a second chance’), and allows the system to replicate itself without real reform after weeding out the ‘bad apple.’ Second, this kind of rhetoric also stigmatizes people with personality disorders (to echo MeowuiRose’s point). I see so many comments about people with NPD not having real human feelings, being monsters, not being capable of change. This is dangerous and dehumanizing. My mother was abused and subsequently abandoned as a child, verbally abused me when I was little, and has been diagnosed with BPD. She has done so much valuable work with herself in the past 35 years without which we would not have the supportive relationship we have today. It’s possible! That’s not to say that I advocate ‘sticking it out’ for everyone:
emotional and physical safety is always paramount. (Sorry for lengthy rant.)
Other Renee
I can’t answer for Sherry, but I can try to explain my reasons for keeping my NPD mother in my life for as long as I did. It’s quite simple: you want to believe. You want, and need, to believe they will change, it will get better, they will love and respect you for who you are, that they will stop lying about you, raging at you, gaslighting and manipulating you. Coming to terms with the fact that it will never, ever happen, is devastating. That nothing you do will ever be good enough, you can kill yourself trying and it still won’t be enough. It takes some people longer to understand that it IS better once you remove them from your life.
Not that they go. They don’t. They stay around, try to get you back. Make more promises, give false hopes. Try to keep that gaslight going. And it’s so hard to stay strong. My mother sent me a belated birthday card this week. It renewed all the feelings, so I had to cope with them all over again. And still, that part of me wanted to trust her lies and promises. I am so fortunate that my family sees though it without the years of abuse, so I was able to shake myself out of the gaslight and remember all the reasons she is not in my life.
Also, for those who remember my story of being accused of elderly abuse because of money? yeah, my mother actually sent me a cheque in her card. I laughed, and ripped it up. I can’t return it, any response from me and she’d be at my door, banging on it like she used to.
I can’t fathom being married to that. To not being able to trust my husband, to know he lies but feeling like maybe this will be the day he will realize I am valuable. My heart breaks for her. I hope one day, she can see that it is possible to break the abuse and lead a life for her (and god, if they have kids together 🙁 )
Worse- the trump is everything my mother is, and we, the whole world, are caught in his abuse. he won’t go, now that he’s got it. He’d rather destroy us all than give up the high he gets from abusing people. But we always try.
@ MeowuiRose I did not say all personality disorders couldn’t be helped. NPD is an entirely different beast. The thing with NPD is that they will never admit they have a disorder. Everything is always everyone else’s fault, therefore there is no reason for them to seek help. My daughter has bipolar disorder (something my husband also has). She is able to lead a normal life due to help from her psychiatrist, her meds and her service dog. Her psychiatrist also knows my husband personally and concurs with our assessment of him. His advice to me was, “You will never ever get what you need from him. Build a life for yourself that has absolutely nothing to do with him.” That is what I am doing.
@OtherRenee – I will be honest and tell you it is for the children. If it were just me, I would have left him long ago. I was having this discussion the other day on a thread about Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck. I do not want my kids to have to deal with divorce. My life is not hell all the time. I have to weigh the pros and cons of staying with him. And I have. When I realized my husband had this disorder, I cried for three days straight, because I recognized the marriage and relationship I thought I had, never existed. There would never be any “fixing” him.
When my husband tells me he loves me, I believe he loves me as best as he can love anyone. But does he love me the way I love him? Does he love the children the way that I love them? No. Absolutely not. I can’t tell you the number of times over the last 21 years I have said to myself, “I could die tomorrow and he wouldn’t shed a tear.” I have been married to this man for over 21 years and have NEVER seen him cry. Not even when his parents died. No emotion.
When I confronted him, I told him it didn’t matter to me whether or not he admitted it, whether he sought help for it or whether he denied it. I KNEW and that was a game changer in our relationship.
I took the advice of my daughter’s doctor. I’m pursuing my own career. Building my own friendships. The kids and I are talking about moving to California within the next year. He hates California (because he’s a far right conservative). We have agreed that he can live in DC during the week and will be with us in California on the weekends. That kind of arrangement may not work for most people, but I think it could work for us.
I see my husband as having a mental illness, because he does have a mental illness. I would not leave him if he had cancer or MS or anything else.
About a week ago he had an episode and I just looked at him and said, “This is part of your NPD, I’m not a psychiatrist, I can’t help you and I choose not to participate” and I walked away. I am much healthier and happier than I was five years ago, because I don’t participate and feed his mental illness anymore.
Without treating him or being involved in diagnostics for him, I would say, off the cuff, that HW, IF he has a personalty disorder, would have Narcissistic Personality Disorder (he definitely externally meets enough criteria) or Antisocial Personality Disorder. If I were to diagnose him from the descriptions of his behavior, I would say he actually qualities for BOTH.
Sherry, I’m so sorry. I pray that you get as far away from him as soon possible and that you find safety and peace. You are strong. Don’t doubt that and don’t let his darkness make you second guess yourself. Xoxo
He sounds similar to Trump in some ways, especially the part about him being more outraged by the leaks than remorseful about his abhorrent behavior. Trump is also trying to fill the void that exists where most people have a heart and soul.
I think recent research discredited the “bullies are empty and insecure” hypothesis and confirmed instead that bullies think very highly of themselves — too highly — rather than too little. They’re not overcompensating. They really do think they’re better, stronger, smarter and more entitled than other people and they act accordingly. This is true for Harvey Weinstein and it’s true for Donald Trump. They do lack heart and soul — but they don’t care.
Interesting, I hadn’t heard that. I wouldn’t argue that they’ve convinced themselves they are better than everyone. But it seems so plausible to me that it’s because they are insecure deep, deep inside. But what do I know? 🙂
Yes, but there is loneliness and emptiness to their behavior. Narcissists are pathologically overcompensating because they have flipped their low self-esteem around so when they feel victimized they believe it. They are effed up beyond belief. They do get empty but then feel sorry for themselves but not like ordinary people do. His behavior veers more into sociopath to me. No remorse. I am talking about actions, but I have no idea if there is a medical term for him.
Incidentally, Harvey lives downtown and is charming and well liked by the people in the haunts he loves. He can be funny and sweet even self-deprecating. His disdain for women seems to more about actresses and women in the entertainment field. It could be because he has no power over a woman who is an investment banker. Some women even say he was kind to them but again not in the entertainment industry. Or maybe he doesn’t want to eff up so close to home?
A guy at a shop I go to is heartbroken about the scandal and feels sorry for him! Seriously the feels like Harvey is unfairly targeted, and everyone knows women use sex to get ahead. He even said it like I was going to commiserate with him! I gave him a sharp tongue-lashing lesson, but my husband hustled me out before I really got going. My husband merely told him that not everyone is what they seem, and women aren’t to blame, but my head was about to explode. I am tired of this narrative.
They think of him as this schlub character who likes the ladies but certainly, means no harm. Reconciling the charming fellow with the rapist monster is weird for people who don’t understand how men like him operate. 45 has that same ability.
He just sort of hung out places and spent a lot of money and told funny stories.
But there may be ugly stories about civilians that just haven’t come out yet.
Sherry, you are so strong. I am engaged to my college sweetheart. We lost touch for 10 years, reconnected and now its hard because he has been diagnosed alchoholic and bi-polar. Neither of which he wants to acknowledge. The “episodes” have been bad. Really bad. I left for a while and got roped back into the maddness. He threatened suicide. We women suffer so much on behalf of men. Not all, but I recon that a lot of us have encountered some horrible situations. At what point does a person get this bad? Children are innocent. How do some grow up to be deviants? What happens along the way? Baffles me to no end. My finace has 2 loving parents that gave him the world. A nice cushie middle to uppeclass upbringing. He is not lacking love. He has everything he needs and still his behavior is deplorable. Im “the dream girl” that he has wanted forever and I am treated the worst. Spit on etc.
People can be very complicit. Family members can look the other way. If you know, why not warn someone? Its sick. So many people knew about my fiances demons and yet everyone kept a smile on and was happy for the enegagement. NOBODY said anything. I moved my whole life out of state with half the facts. Now stuck. Everyone can pile on Georgina, but consider for a moment what she was told. The charm and charisma exuded from Harvey. Perhaps he family sold her out to benefit from the union. We dont know. His family knew and did nothing. Nothing. All we can do is try and have some type of normal and put a smile on our face. Really nobody cares because everyone has their own mess to deal with. Who could have helped Georgina? Who would believe her? Harveys brother turned a blind eye. So who? I believe she is a victim as well.
Save the anger for Harvey, his company, brother and other guilty parties.
I think they are probably both as bad as each other in their own ways. I’ve got no sympathy whatsoever for Bob Weinstein.
I hope this is the occasion for all the child actord who were molested to name names.
Yesterday I watched “An open secret” a documentary about pedophilia in Hollywood. It made me sick,.
I truly wish Buzzfeed hadn’t screwed up that burn book.
It is eye opening, isn’t it?
Very scary and I don’t know why parents would want their children in the industry. The ONLY way to do that is to be a parent with impeccable character, intense love for their child and is fine if the child no longer wants to be an entertainer. If parents are willing to be their child’s constant protectors without becoming enamored with everything or intimidated by people with power, then it may be worth it to try. But the child should be healthy, confident, mature, intelligent and have other interests so that if they don’t make it, they aren’t devastated. They have to be able to take rejection and criticism without internalizing it.
Parents who want to live through their kids or are greedy do despicable things. Some are unaware, but some aren’t. Like Ariel Winter’s mother or Corey’s parents who look at their child as a commodity are more destructive than the skeeves.
It was horrible.
I understand better now, why most of the child-actors we know get drug addictions, and it made me rethink to all the photos I used to see in magazines, the way this boy were posing and all the stuff…creepy as hell.
Corey Feldman is the only one who has been vocal about this problem…he has my utter respect.
I can never quite bring myself to loathe Lindsay Lohan, because her parents taught her her only value was in what someone would pay them for her. It’s not surprising she has grown up as she has – nor that she can’t quite understand why the world is so appalled by Harvey Weinstein.
“the emptiness inside of him”?! Do you mean the place where his soul once lived? Please shut up, Whinestein.
Haha yes that vast empty place where the soul resides along with a conscience.
An old girlfriend of Bob’s has written a piece in the Daily Vile saying that of course he knew about Harvey’s behaviour because she told him.
Bob is trying to save the company!
Exactly! Bro is desperately trying to save and restructure the company. He thinks part of that will be about changing the company name. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. There was a piece in the NYT about it.
Well, seems the W bros share the same priorities: money, financial success, ego building & art.
Someone said this in another post but seems appropriate here too: women are just cogs in their wheelhouse, chattel to be used.
Unless Bob is giving interviews about giving all TWC money away to feminist charities, victims rights groups & the many HW victims he should probably STFU & go away. Not really the time to be “rebranding” yourself, douchebro.
Yeah, I think he had to have known. Like many, sure he probably didn’t know every explicit detail. But I think he knew his brother was a sexual predator doing harm and generally making many people miserable. So he’s engaged in spin here.
I totally believe he distanced himself from his brother and thinks he’s an out of control a-hole. But counseling employees who needed their jobs to just “leave” is cowardly and dismissive and sure as hell didn’t address the core issue. He should have forced Harvey out of the company years ago.
Yeah, I was struck by him saying he told people to leave, too. Sounds like a horrible, harrowing workplace culture.
Exactly.
Maybe they didn’t leave because they had dedicated their lives to this career. Maybe they realized that they couldn’t make a lateral move if they left, and that leaving might mean leaving the profession for good. Maybe they were afraid of being blackballed if they left. Maybe they had massive student loans and little recourse.
That he could relate this story as though it exonerates him is astonishing.
The response “If you feel abused, why don’t you just go? Why stick around for this abuse? Why stay?” is a hard slap in the face to those who already are battered and bruised.
What a jerk.
Bob isn’t some sweetheart, but it does show us how complicity works and how complicated this kind of scandal is when so many levels and people are involved. He is truthful about Harvey being nasty to him; he is the oldest and long stretches of not speaking to each other. But Harvey was the one with the vision and eye for good films, but Bob was more about the money.
The fact that they are siblings complicates everything, but it will be interesting to see what comes out about him. I believe most of his statement, but like many of the other statements, there are some relevant facts left out. *eye roll*
Yes, that was the most chilling part of the article. That bullied and/or verbally abused employees sought help from him. He says his response was “if you don’t like it, you’re free to leave,” but I worked in the industry long enough to guarantee that it was more like “if you can’t take it, you’re free to leave and go find another career path in a less-glamorous industry. Good luck, we’ll escort you out in 5 minutes with nothing but your NDA.”
The “I don’t know why they didn’t leave” part is disgusting (as is the whole thing). Not everyone who worked there was wealthy like him – I’m sure many of them needed the job to support themselves and/or their families. And we all know how well that would go down, leaving and then having him slander their names all over town and making it impossible to get another job.
I’d like to hear from the lawyers about this. Employees came to him, a high-ranking official in the company, about sexual harassment/abuse/etc., and he told them “leave.” He didn’t file the appropriate HR complaints, etc. So, attorneys, has he just admitted to violating the Hostile Work Environment Act? It seems so.
Not buying that Bob didn’t know more than he’s claiming. And these men with their “I have daughters too” BS need to stop using them as an excuse. Regardless of the women in their lives, they still behave like assholes.
And I guess getting Harvey out of the way isn’t quite working out because it doesn’t appear there will be a company left.
The “daughters” thing is really rage-inducing at this point. You know who also has daughters? Harvey Weinstein. Woody Allen. Donald Trump.
This is good:
http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/damon-affleck-father-of-daughters-excuse-harvey-weinstein.html
I posted this link the other day and for everyone (eg, me!) who is by now frothing at the mouth over the wives and daughters thing, it is a funny satire by one of the rare blokes who actually gets it.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2017/10/man-no-daughters-here-are-my-views-feminism
Saw that, it’s so funny. My husband is just dumbfounded at all of this. He has no problem believing stories of abuse and harassment, having led a normal male life complete with mother, daughter, aunts, nieces, cousins, friends, girlfriends, colleagues, me. *It is not an unusual state for men to know women.* He is absolutely gobsmacked at the excuses other men are making for not knowing/not acting and in particular about the way they invoke the Power of Daughter. It is total non-comprehendingness. He is embarrassed for his kind.
I don’t know what paternalistic means, but if it’s good I’m that…
It is so maddening.
Here is another link about a list of questions to ask these “fathers of daughters”
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a12824791/harvey-weinstein-fathers-with-daughters/
Pot Kettle Black – Bob is allegedly just as awful. Both Weinstein’s were known as horrible people to work with and for.
Hollywood has not grown a backbone and decided to strip him of all the awards because they are now woke to doing the right things by all women in the industry but because he is universally loathed and has many many many enemies who are using this opportunity to get their revenge. He screwed over so so so so so many people.
This, I don’t believe Hollywood is regretful, I do believe they don’t want to get caught so are concentrating their ‘anger/disbelief’ on one to distract from the multitude of others who have done the same thing. I don’t believe a word any of them say, they are all just trying to save themselves and the system.
Good point. The industry wants to do just enough to not be lumped in with HW, now that we all know what he did & have condemned it. But it doesn’t seem as they really want to change rape culture.
Yes. Blame Harvey, save the system for the next Harvey.
Yeah, it’s funny how Harvey Weinstein and HollyWood have the same initials. The sickness is systematic.
I agree frisbee. I don’t believe them either. It’s now turned into a bandwagon everyone’s trying to get on.
THIS! “Hollywood “doesn’t give a rat’s ass about doing anything but trying to cover its collective behind. If not, why haven’t they revoked Polanski? Hers a CONVICTED pedo who fled the country, yet they laud HIM with open arms. All disgusting hypocrites.
I imagine the drama at the AMPAS meeting was around whose next and whether or not they will have any big donors left if they kick out all the serial abusers.
@Shambles-
I have noticed the same and have been using them interchangeably when silently reading. 😑
Now here is someone who knew what was going on and had the power to stop it. Here is someone that deserves the blame before any of the actresses involved. I believe him that he suffered abuse and he probably was in denial about how awful HW was but he also must have known about the lawsuits and the negotiations to make HW unifiable for sexual harassment. He is the definition of complicit and he deserves to lose his company for not standing up to his brother.
This all day long.
+10000000
It was part of Harvey’s 2015 contract that he had to reimburse the company for any further settlements against him, in addition to an escalating fine. How can you play dumb with that stipulation written in black and white? The stipulation was not cease sexually harassing people, it was a fine next time you do it. (Source-TMZ)
Problem is Bob knew about the settlements in 2015 when Harveys contract was renegotiated. The entire board did. I understand he’s fighting for employees & his company but to sit there and say he didn’t know is a lie. He already knew his brother was an abusive bully, admitted that he had issues with anger himself and sought help. If he truly feels disgusted by Harvey & feels for the women Harvey harmed, then he needs to dissolve the Weinstein Company entirely & help bring Harvey to justice. Then focus on starting over with his own company, without this hanging over his head. I’m sorry but if he’s truly who he says he is & not like Harvey, he will do what’s right.
Yes, the CONTRACT makes it abundantly clear Bob knew. So sick of all the BS CYA spin!
Absolutely, purplehaze. Tired of the aholes paying lip service. Walk that walk, jerks.
Yeah blow that thing up and start on his own. He isn’t a nice guy, but that hasn’t stopped anyone in any field from working. He needs to concentrate on improving his own behavior and mending fences.
So his brother was a sick, violent bully and yet all those women were turned on enough to voluntarily have sex with him? Sure.
This is exactly what I take from his comments. He knew him as an arrogant, vile behaving person, who he knew had multiple affairs?
How about putting two and two together, Bob. He’s not exactly a gleaming magnet to the ladies, unless something is being offered and/or forced. And the multiple payments made through their small, independent company.
Yup – a regular Warren Beatty in Shampoo.
If there were any justice, a group of Hollywood’s more powerful/wealthier women would team up to buy out TWC and back quality films that hire women at all levels and don’t degrade them on screen. They don’t even have to change the monogram – just call it The Women’s Company.
I worked for brothers like this. No way Bob is innocent here. In my case, brother 1 was a complete idiot and terrible bully. Brother 2 kept the ship afloat, managing fallout when someone came to him about Bro 1. But Bro 2 was just as bad at times, just more strategic about his bullying. It was infuriating. Make no mistake- if Bob were a good person, Harvey would have been gone long ago.
Variety has a Woody Allen comment that’s about as revealing as it could be. It has all the self-justifying cliches an old perv could want.
No awareness whatsoever. He needs to be shut down along with Polanski. At least get the known pervs out of town as a show of seriousness.
I KNOW!! Couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the Allen comments. Talk about showing your true colours!!
I can’t believe he had the gall to comment on all this. Then again, he too feels entitled to everything. I hope they all rot.
No.
Here’s Bob trying to say he was upset about cheating? Then he was upset because Dog the elder was mean to him? Such a cop out. Weird how it’s never about how he’s sorry he didn’t believe the women who came to him. That he’s sorry they didn’t remove Wankstain after 2015.
I end up feeling like men would prefer to excuse their friends/familys bad behaviour,even when it crosses the line, because it preserves their own narrative that they are friends with good men. That they themselves being good men, only hang out with good men. To save themselves from having to find news friends, but also to admit you’ve been hanging out with a problem , you’ve enabled it, that’s much harder than saying – so blind, never knew.
It also means that you’ve learned nothing.
Bobs talking the talk, I do not believe he has ever walked the walk. Otherwise Dog the elder would have been removed after the 2015 memo from OConner.
Yes. Preserve the good ole boys’ club at all costs!
Yes. Admitting that they enabled a predator is admitting to themselves that they are no better than the predator.
Well, that’s too true. If the “fathers of daughters” could go that deep, K., maybe they’d be motivated to actually change rape culture
Seth Rogan is the rockstar and the one to follow. His interview at the round table at THR shows no man was forced to work with Harvey.
I do know men who don’t engage with men like Harvey or even tolerate them, but they aren’t the ones who get noticed because they simply aren’t part of the picture. I am not saying there are a majority of men like that, but there are some, and I am glad.
Another good watch is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHz1HTweqSA
A letter by a guy to Harvey.
Remember one week ago when Harvey made a joke dismissing the first accusation, saying he would like to buy the rights for the story ?
The smug sob thought he would get away with it like he had so many times before.
Disgusting little man
The brother probably knew on some level but I cannot imagine what it’s like to have a close family member who’s a sexual predator. Maybe he was in denial or perhaps he couldn’t go through with making formal accusations against his brother, not thinking that he had enough tangible proof.
I guess it depends on what his relationship was with his family. It could be that he simply could not find the courage to throw his brother under the bus. Maybe he was afraid of being judged. Even commenters on this board are accusing him of betraying his brother.
I have a close relative who called police on another one about 2 decades ago for domestic violence. She had been violent and abusive for years and finally went to jail. Yet, my whistle blower relative is the one who got kicked out of the family and he now regrets pressing charges.
So, when it comes to family, it’s complicated and it’s easy to say that Bob should have come forward a long time ago. I think Bob should have handled this situation very differently from the moment employees came crying to his office. But, again, that’s very easy to say.
I am glad Bob leaked the story – I really think he’s the one who did. This was probably the only way he could stop that predator.
It’s a shame yr relative has regrets about doing the right thing. His actions saved others from abuse and were just. Being ostracized is painful and can be lonely but socializing with people who allow or enable abuse is not healthy or enjoyable either. It’s the family’s loss not his.
@park and Rec
Bob knew his ex-girlfriend who was one of Harvey’s victims just came out and said she told Bob.
Not to mention Bob has his own history.
Were these brothers raised by wolves?
Once again, could we stop blaming the people who raised them. While good parents do their best, lovely people can have awful offspring. And vice versa.
@SKY
I didn’t know Bob was also accused.
By no means did I mean to excuse his enabling – I was just trying to understand it.
Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, but the brother probably knows a lot more and if this goes to trial, he will surely have to start being honest. They worked together, ran in the same circles. Bob is being overly defensive right now. Something is off.
If Bob-o leaked, he only did so to oust Pervy and save the company. As always, morals are discarded for dollars.
Serious question and I don’t mean to threadjack but how come Polanksi hasn’t been thrown out of the Academy?
Because he had a lot of A-list celebrities coming to his defense.
The above, but also it’s not like he can attend every year and remind everyone he’s still in the club. Apart from in 2003, when he won, he’s been a non-factor, so for almost 15 years there’s been no push to kick him out (now would be a great time to start one).
Weinstein on the other hand has been a fixture at the Oscars for decades, and is totally the type of person who’d try and remain publicly involved despite everything, so they’re getting rid of him before he causes them problems.
Got it. Thanks both.
Not to mention, Polanski leveraged his tragic history to garner sympathy and try to cover for his crimes. By the time of his 2003 win, people had forgotten the specifics of his crime and only knew that the victim had requested that the whole thing be dropped (which we now know is because she didn’t want her assault constantly brought up and for it to be the defining event in her life).
Hmmm so there’s an entire subgenre of pr0n about the casting couch, but you didn’t know this was happening at your own company? Despite all the lawsuits? Mmmhmmm…
Yeah, not buying it.
BIGGEST HYPOCRITE EVER.
Just read on FB that Woody Allen has spoken out about HW. And one of the comments was pure gold: What, Roman Polanski wasn’t available for comment?
I am so tired of the “I didn’t know!” or “It didn’t happen to me, personally!” defense. It’s so self serving, and transfers all the blame right back on to the victims. Like they did something to make HW abuse them. just, no.
ETA: I hope this opens the floodgates, and I hope the Bryan Singer is first in line to be exposed. I think he is right up there alongside HW for predatory, abusive behaviour.
Eau de butthurt: the scent of emasculation.
hahahaha
If only all serial harassers wore the same cologne? It’d be so much easier to know who to avoid.
in addition to the payouts, tmz has video of courtney love saying dont go to a hotel room with hw in like 05. and CAA retaliated on is behalf.
bob and CAA, they deserve so much more ire and speculation than all the actresses we’ve been talking about
Bob’s statement is amazing in its utter lack of responsibility (and if you read the whole thing, he declines comment on Harvey’s employment contract, where literally the board had to give him financial penalties for every settlement).
It doesn’t matter that Harvey was mean to Bob too. He says right there that he didn’t care that Harvey was serially leveraging his company’s power and assets in order to get young women to sleep with him. Apparently that just makes you a “serial philanderer” not a sexual harasser. Not to mention, if you read one of the original accounts (I think it was in the NYT) doesn’t it reference her email going to Bob? BOTH Weinstein brothers have a terrible reputation, well earned. That entire company had a culture that perpetuated the victimization of women. Bob can talk about his daughters all he wants, but he’s still responsible.
He knew. They the board all knew and profited from it. What about the clause in Harveys contract for 1st, 2nd and 3rd offense etc? Rebranding the company isnt going to fix their part in it. Cant rub the stink off this one fellas. #menneedtodobetter
Didn’t he have a clause written into his contract, that his brother surely would have known about, that he could get sued for sexual harassment and other things as long as he paid for the settlements with his own money and didn’t cost the company anything? According to TMZ, anyway. That clause wouldn’t have needed to be in the contract if it wasn’t already a clear issue. That’s why Harvey is suing for wrongful termination, although it’s clearly a sinking ship.
These two are both disgusting, vile wastes of space. Just look at them – evil and bad intentions visibly oozing from every pore. They’re almost like cartoon villains.
In the full interview, he refused to say anything about the contract. It’s BS. He knew.
He doesn’t know why some people his brother bullied/harassed would stay and not “leave?” Um, because it’s very hard to get a job, moron! Of course he knew how serious this was!
Tired of looking at this fat piece of shits face
So sick of seeing on social media, that a lot of shame should be put on Gwyneth and Angelina for not speaking up years ago when they started to have power in the industry. If everyone in the business was afraid of the man, why should it be left to them to speak out & lose everything.
1. You are even more blamable because you have daughters.
2. You are even more culpable because you “knew him on a personal level better than anyone” and did nothing to stop him while there was profit to be made.
3. You are even more complicit because you have always known he has no remorse about any of his abuse.
4. The “I barely spoke to him” response is so packed with ordure I don’t even know where to start.
5. You knew Harvey was a bully, and that women, not people, say it with me: women, came crying to you with abuse stories. Your nonresponse makes you complicit.
6. It’s too bad you didn’t leak the information. You’d be my hero, if you did it twenty years ago. Before you made blood millions.
You like trite, how’s this: If you aren’t part of the solution, you are the precipitate. Guess what Hollywood, good people know how to make money for you also. Go out and find some.
This kind of abuse happens all the time in work places. What is being done to protect the women who are not famous? This just pisses me off. Everyday women go to jobs and must deal with sexual harassment. Who will stand up for them?
Ah, just makes me angrier and I am just a mess worrying about all the other horrors going on with the orange white supremacist in charge and eff it. I am going to go eat a donut.
This is not a defense of HW in anyway, but I gotta say we should all be alarmed about calls to take away his Oscars, and remove his name from already completed projects; and here is why.
It’s good that they revoked his AMPAS membership but that really means nothing when you look at who is still a member: Cosby, Polanski, Singer, Gibson — they’ve asked Allen multiple times and he always says no.
But what is happening here is more than just punishment it’s erasing. They are trying to erase HW and not for any good reason. They are trying to erase him so that in a few years, everyone will forget this happened and they can pat themselves on the back and say they did something when in fact they aren’t doing much at all to address the problem. At this point, HW is just a sacrificial lamb being used to “show” that things have changed. But the reality is, they are more concerned with appearances than actually making real change. It’s really disgusting and it’s disturbing that people are actually falling for this.
Instead of erasing HW, put a big asterisk by his name as a reminder to all of what he was allowed to get away with. Of what Hollywood allowed him to get away with. A reminder of all of the other disgusting people who continue to do this and worse. This didn’t start with HW and it’s not going to end with him either unless they are committed to real change and they aren’t.
I’ll stand up and applaud when the many other disgusting men and women are called to task. But I’d imagine they are all working even harder to cover up the even seedier nastier stuff that’s going on as we speak. Because the truly horrific thing is that HW is not even the worst of the bunch, not even close.
No honey, the “sacrificial lambs” in this instance are the countless women raped, assaulted, harassed, bullied, tormented and even blacklisted by this monster and the entire industry he represents. Strip him of EVERYTHING. An asterisk isn’t going to change anything. He took everything he possibly could from these innocent women – it’s time he had the exact same done to him. We’ll take what we can get and go forward from there.
Yeah. Don’t call me honey, it’s comdescending. Trying to erase HW equates to trying to erase what he did and that benefits no one. There’s a huge difference between punishment and trying to erase what actually happened. Simple fact is HW was allowed to continue to create films, make money, etc because people were willing to look the other way. Leave his name so people can be reminded of that every time one of his movies is played or discussed. Trying to rewrite history is just an easy way for the powers that be to wash their hands of it and not actually have to address the very serious problems in the industry.
Yes. I found people can very principled when it doesn’t cost them any money. But once there’s money involved hypocrisy is rife. I’ve always side eyed Hollywood Democrats. They’re great at virtue signalling when it comes to equality and the environment but a lot of them are just as thirsty for money and power as any Wall Street fat cat.
Patty, I totally agree (hence my comment about the Coreys’ abusers). This will be used just to give the appearance that Hollywood has cleaned up its act. And I know what you meant by calling Harvey a “sacrificial lamb”, and that you were NOT dismissing any of his victims.
If we erase his name from everything, it will make it easier for Hollywood to pretend they never had such problems in the first place.
@PATTY
There was the same debate in Quebec after it was revealed that Claude Jutra, a renowned filmmaker, had molested children. His award show was renamed. He had made great movies but was a predator, and a lot of people felt that renaming the award show was going too far.
So I don’t know. I don’t think Weinstein and Jutra should be honored the way they were before. Their movies will be remembered for a long time whether or not any monuments remain in their names. These were such betrayals – so-called progressives doing the unthinkable – I don’t think people forget something so awful.
But, the saddest part in all this, Weinstein and Jutra will forever have fans because their works are separate entities that are so well-regarded.
But the victims have lost so much in this, their dignity, their bodies, their lives… It’s absolutely heart-breaking
And shame on tabloids for being complicit, by the way, and dragging Ambra Gutierrez through the mud after she came forward with her own assault. A lot of people enabled Weinstein, including members of the press.
Another question is, who is still protecting the Coreys’ abusers and why? This can’t be blamed on JUST “the patriarchy”, “white privilege”, and/or “misogyny”; it’s a system that is just pure evil to do what thou wilt and screw everyone else.
Also, why aren’t child rapists permanently locked up in some kind of penal colony? They never change.
I agree. Drain the swamp!
Please. Eight company settlements say he’s full of it. At what point would there be enough signals to start to show concern for his targets? When it affected business, that’s when.
The brother has knowledge, is complicit and is going down with Harvey. What may be the more interesting thing is whether The Disney Company has legal liability from the time after they bought Miramax and the brothers Weinstein had employment contracts with Disney. I don’t work in that business but would bet that there is a team of Disney lawyers working on that very question this weekend.
Yeah, whatever Bob. He’s just as much a sociopath as his brother. Paid off his brother’s assault victims for years and now happily throws him under the bus. Saying that Harvey has no remorse (even though its clearly obvious) is only going to hurt his victims more. It’s purely self serving of Bob and he’s clearly trying to distance himself from his ”abusive” brother and make himself out as a victim. Not buying any of it. He’s his brother but plenty of us have asshole family members and we don’t go into business with them and assist them in assaulting women. Hopefully one day they will share a cell!
Indeed. I don’t have a lot respect for the men who are motivated by self interest to pile on. Where were they before? I hope a courageous female filmmaker makes a documentary about Weinstein and the misogyny in Hollywood and it goes on to win an Oscar for Best Documentary.
It’d be great if this brought about a cultural shift in Hollywood that saw people in Hollywood there to make good films out of a genuine love of the craft, rather than having scumbags hanging around the scene to use their influence in the industry to leverage sex. This would result in a safer workplace and much better films getting produced. But I won’t hold my breath.
I think that Harvey Winegard character from Mark Wahlberg’s show, is exactly telling who HW really is.
Disdain for women????
Are you kidding me?
He is a PREDATOR.
HARVEY belongs in JAIL
There is NO ONE else who had the power and the time to ruin so many lives for 3 decades.
And what about the AGENTS???
What about all those MEN who dropped these TEENAGERS!! off at Ciprianis, Hotel du Cap, Tribeca Grand, the Pennisula, Miramax!
The AGENTS. THey knew. Of course they knew.
My question is: HW has been successfully stifling his victim’s stories for years. His contract makes it clear that his brother knew, the Board knew. So I’m wondering why it got traction this time.
Harvey hasn’t been making money or awards for years, mommy dearest died so Bob could finally throw Harvey under the bus without parental guilt hanging over him.
This whole thing just shows the need for more diversity all the way up the chain. The men in charge just cannot see the casting couch phenomenon as nonconsensual if it doesn’t involve physically holding a screaming victim down. The cycle perpetuates itself – women are in movies just as eye candy. Therefore they are totally disposable and don’t “deserve” their roles or careers. They are “given” them by powerful men. I am sure we will see more horrifying stories of young male actors being abused as well, but the male actors, no matter their seedy past (how a victim-blamer would characterize it) still I think are seen as having agency in their careers. Women are damned if they do (assumed to have slept their way to the top) and damned if they don’t (uppity to expect they should be judged on their acting merits because obviously they are just a pretty face).
I don’t know if this has been touched on but this quote seemed so out of touch to me.
“I would often counsel people and say, “You know what, you have a choice here. Leave. Leave, please leave.” I don’t know why some of them stayed.”
Has he considered that they needed freaking jobs? Not all people have disposable money like the Weinstein brothers. Perhaps instead of directing them to leave you could have tried harder to provide your employees with a safe work environment. Why is that so hard?
I thought the same thing at first, but then looking at how that and most companies work, I think he wasn’t in a position to fight his brother without the support of the board, which he only got thanks to the very public scandal. And HW wasn’t going to hear what HR told them to do or don’t do. Also in that line he’s talking about Weinstein’s bully methods and bad treatment of employees which isn’t a crime, as sexual harassment and rape are. I think Bob Weinstein is in a very unfortunate position, but the fact that no one has come out to attack him personally or reveal gross stories about his past probably means he was mostly innocent in all this.
Liar.
Best Hollywood/Weinstein/Affleck/wedidntknow
Summary:
“So, congratulations, Hollywood. See you at the next Oscars where – and this is true – Casey Affleck will be presenting Best Actress.”
John Oliver