8 Of The Most Alarming Harvey Weinstein Sexual Assault Details And Allegations
This just gets worse and worse.
New York Times Over a 10-month investigation, Ronan Farrow interviewed 13 women who claim that film executive Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between the 1990s and 2015.
His story for The New Yorker published October 10, 2017 revealed detailed accounts of decades of assault that Farrow claims has been an “open secret to many in Hollywood and beyond.”
“Previous attempts by many publications, including The New Yorker, to investigate and publish the story over the years fell short of the demands of journalistic evidence,” Farrow writes."Too few people were willing to speak, much less allow a reporter to use their names, and Weinstein and his associates used nondisclosure agreements, monetary payoffs, and legal threats to suppress these myriad stories.”
One of those suppressions was rumored to have been made by none other than Matt Damon and Russell Crowe, who reportedly called Sharon Waxman before her story about Weinstein’s sexual-harassment allegations ran in The New York Times.
Waxman, who went on to found the Hollywood-focused website The Wrap, claims The New York Times gutted an article she wrote in 2004 after receiving pressure from Hollywood A-listers and Weinstein, whose company was one of the paper’s big advertisers.
The Times’ Executive Editor Dean Banquet denied Waxman’s claim and said the story was edited because it was largely an “off-the-record account from one woman.”
Farrow, who is the son of actress Mia Farrow and director Woody Allen, published his article following The New York Times report that came out last week saying Weinstein had settled sexual harassment lawsuits with at least 8 women.
Before that story ran, Weinstein apparently sent an email to top Hollywood CEOs and entrepreneurs for their support right before he was fired from his film studio.
A media strategist for The Hollywood Reporter Billboard Media Group posted the email on Twitter.
“My board is thinking of firing me,” he wrote. "All I’m asking is let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling. Whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance. A lot of the allegations are false as you know but given therapy and counseling as other people have done, I think I’d be able to get there. I could really use your support or just your honesty if you can’t support me.”
Here are 8 of the most disturbing allegations of Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault and abuse (so far):
1. Gwenyth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie claim Weinstein harassed them too.
New York Times
The New York Times reported that when Gwyneth Paltrow was 22 years old — and up for a role that would eventually launch her career — Weinstein put his hands on her during a meeting and suggested they go into the bedroom for a massage.
She refused, and told her boyfriend at the time, Brad Pitt, what happened. He called Weinstein and confronted him, and soon after, Weinstein warned her not to tell anyone else about the incident.
"I thought he was going to fire me," she said.
Angelina Jolie said in the late 1990s he made unwanted advances on her in her hotel room, which she rejected.
“I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,” Ms. Jolie said in an email. “This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.”
2. He admitted on tape to groping a model.
Farrow found audio evidence of Weinstein that was captured during a sting operation by the New York Police Department in 2015. In it, he admits to groping Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, a Filipina-Italian model.
He also described it as behavior he’s “used to” doing. Gutierrez told police Weinstein lunged at her, groped her breast and went to put his hand up her skirt though she protested. He finally backed off and said his assistant would give her tickets to "Finding Neverland."
3. Actress and director Asia Aregento claimed he forcibly performed oral sex on her.
People
Asia Aregento, an actress and director, said Weinstein “forcibly performed oral sex” on her after she agreed to give him a massage. "He pulled her skirt up, forced her legs apart, and performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop,” Farrow writes. "Weinstein 'terrified me, and he was so big,' she said. 'It wouldn’t stop. It was a nightmare.’”
4. Many of his colleagues knew of his behavior.
Sixteen former and current executives and assistants at his companies told Farrow they were aware of Weinstein’s unwanted sexual advances. A few had even witnessed it.
5. Four actresses who rejected Weinstein faced career obstacles.
Page Six
Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette and others said that after they said no to his advances or complained about his behavior, they were pulled off projects.
6. Lucia Evans claimed Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him.
The Wrap
During a meeting where he told her she’d be great on ‘Project Runway’ if she lost some weight, he pulled out his penis and pulled her head down to it. “I said, over and over, ‘I don’t want to do this, stop, don’t,’” she said. “I tried to get away, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. I didn’t want to kick him or fight him.”
“He’s a big guy. He overpowered me.” At a certain point, she said, “I just sort of gave up. That’s the most horrible part of it, and that’s why he’s been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like it’s their fault.”
7. One of Weinstein’s former assistants described a meeting with him as “the most excruciating and uncomfortable hour of my life.”
Emily Nestor said Weinstein asked her to be his girlfriend, and when she said no, he replied: "Oh, the girls always say ‘no.’ You know, ‘No, no.’ And then they have a beer or two and then they’re throwing themselves at me.”
He also said he “never had to do anything like Bill Cosby.”
8. He exposed himself to a French actress.
French actress Emma de Caunes said when she was on the phone, Weinstein turned on the shower, and then came out naked and with an erection.
He demanded she lie on the bed and told her other women had done so before.
9. He used female employees to make other women feel safe being alone with him.
One female executive said: “It almost felt like the executive or assistant was made to be a honeypot to lure these women in, to make them feel safe."
"Then he would dismiss the executive or the assistant, and then these women were alone with him. And that did not feel like it was appropriate behavior or safe behavior.”