The 5 Most Disturbing Details About Harvey Weinstein's Sexual Harassment Allegations And His 'Code Of Silence'
This is not looking good for him...
CNN Harvey Weinstein, founder of the Weinstein Company and co-founder of Miramax films, is now set to join the ranks of Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., and many other American men accused of being misogynists, harassers, and sexual molesters after new sexual assault allegations recently published in a report by the New York Times revealed some terribly incriminating evidence against the producer and filmmaker.
Weinstein, now 65, is being taken to court to face accusations of sexual harassment toward women that worked with his company. These accusations go back for decades.
While there are some that believe these allegations are false since it has taken twenty years for them to come to light, the women in question are telling quite a different tale and explaining it simply as a man in a ridiculously powerful position using his role to suppress their claims.
And it looks like these victims may finally get their day in court and have their voices heard now that Weinstein is going to face the charges. But it leaves some wondering if it’s too little, too late and if the movie magnate and film giant will actually pay for his crimes.
It’s no surprise that many people feel that Weinstein’s influence in the film industry was to blame for his ability to sweep accusations under the rug through the years, but there is also the disturbing fact that most, if not all, of the bad press about him in these, or any other situations never came to light.
So what are the most important things to pay attention to in this case? And what should you be focused on while following this trial?
Here is a breakdown of the 5 craziest details about the Harvey Weinstein sexual accusations according to the NY Times bombshell report:
1. A-list actresses like Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan are prominent in this case.
While Ashley Judd has come forward to put her remarks against the producer “on the record,” Rose McGowan has been fairly silent, only tweeting support from her personal account every so often.
Though McGowan hasn’t come forward and publicly made claims, the Times uncovered the fact that Weinstein paid her $100,000 after something “happened” between her and Weinstein in a hotel room. At the time, McGowan was only 23 years old.
Ashley Judd, on the other hand, said that years ago Weinstein invited her to the Peninsula hotel for a “meeting.” While there, she was directed to his room where he “appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or [if] she could watch him shower.” She left as quickly as possible.
According to Judd, “Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.”
2. Weinstein has allegedly paid out settlements to at least eight women since 1990.
In the same report released by the Times, some of the accusations by these women included “sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact.” These allegations come from many women—assistants, colleagues, models—and each of them was paid small sums of what was likely “hush” money to keep their silence, anywhere from $80,000 to about $150,000 apiece.
One of the women, Lauren O’Connor, even wrote a memo regarding the harassment to executives at his company in 2015. Nothing was done.
3. He is apparently known for his ability to keep things under wraps.
Weinstein’s company famously had its employees sign a “code of silence” that legally prevented anyone who worked for him to speak out against him in any manner that would cast an ill-light on the company or its workers. This is one reason that many people think nothing was ever brought up before. Another suggestion, however, is Weinstein’s own influence.
She details an incident that occurred in 2000, when, after an argument in which Weinstein didn’t like her piece and called her an incredibly derogative name, her boyfriend at the time, Andrew Goldman, another reporter, tried to calm the producer down.
Instead of apologizing, Weinstein became enraged and pushed Goldman down a flight of steps inside the Tribeca Grand. In fact, Traister recalls that he pushed Goldman with such force that his tape recorder ended up hitting another woman in the head and causing a long-term injury.
He then dragged Goldman into Sixth Avenue, into the oncoming rush of cameras, in a headlock.
And to this day, not a single photo of the event has ever surfaced. Weinstein’s ability to “spin or suppress” just about anything was well-known in the industry, and, with a number of reporters in his pocket (since they worked as consultants on movie projects or for his magazine), it was literally just the victim’s word against Weinstein’s, and he basically owned everything.
4. Known sexual harassment victims’ lawyer Lisa Bloom is his attorney.
He is being represented, quite shockingly, by Lisa Bloom—a litigator famous for her representation of sexual harassment victims and oppressed women. This news came as a surprise to many, including Bloom’s own mother, attorney Gloria Allred. Allred, a prominent feminist attorney known for her work as a victims’ rights advocate who is well known for representing many of Bill Cosby’s accusers, said that she would not have chosen to work for Weinstein in light of his charges.
Something important to note, however, is that Weinstein recently optioned the rights to Bloom’s book about Trayvon Martin, Suspicion Nation, in March of 2017. Many people believe that this is the reason that the woman most famous for representing people like Blac Chyna, Mischa Barton, and even many of the women from the Bill O’Reilly harassment case chose to represent a man who clearly has a significant history with sexually harassing women. After Bill O’Reilly was fired in April, Bloom had famously tweeted, “When women speak our truth the old order shatters. We slayed the dragon.”
5. Weinstein claims that he “knew” he needed to treat women better.
Most bizarre of all the facts in this case of those that come from Weinstein himself. He has admitted that yes, he’s treated women poorly, and believes that he needed to change. Lisa Bloom has stated that Weinstein denies “some” of the accusations and that he is simply “an old dinosaur learning new ways,” but to many, this is still not an excuse.
While women’s rights have frequently come under fire and women are more often than not attacked when they bring allegations against a powerful man for sexual harassment or molestation, we cannot simply accept that men “didn’t know any better.”
In fact, in Weinstein’s weird statement to the Times, he apologized for his behavior and claimed that things were “different in the 60s and 70s” and he understands now that it was the culture then, but it isn’t an excuse. However, many of Weinstein’s allegations continue as recently as 2015, when an Italian model received one of his infamous settlements after he harassed her. This isn’t about teaching an old dog new tricks. This is about having the decency and wherewithal to respect another person and not thrust your sexual desires on them without permission. This isn’t about an old dinosaur learning new ways; it’s about an old man who never learned that no means no and believed that money, power, and influence would make up for his misdeeds.
You know what they say, you either die young or you live to see yourself become the villain. It looks like Weinstein’s years of villainy are finally coming to light.
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