Film producer Harvey Weinstein, a longtime champion of liberal causes and Hollywood icon, has been exposed by The New York Times as being a serial sexual harasser of women.
An investigation by The New York Times found previously undisclosed allegations against Mr. Weinstein stretching over nearly three decades, documented through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers, as well as legal records, emails and internal documents from the businesses he has run, Miramax and the Weinstein Company.
During that time, after being confronted with allegations including sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact, Mr. Weinstein has reached at least eight settlements with women, according to two company officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Among the recipients, The Times found, were a young assistant in New York in 1990, an actress in 1997, an assistant in London in 1998, an Italian model in 2015 and Ms. O’Connor shortly after, according to records and those familiar with the agreements.
In a statement to The Times on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Weinstein said: “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”
So he’s trying to do better. Bully for him.
Twitter has been buzzing with the news since yesterday when it wasn’t even officially news yet. It’s still buzzing, so we’ll just provide a synopsis for everyone who isn’t in the mood to deal with Tweetdeck today.
1. This has been a thing that the industry has known about for a while
Bravo to the NYT reporters for publishing the story we all tried to get for decades https://t.co/O5E0pPiAtP
— Claudia Eller (@Variety_Claudia) October 5, 2017
2. The Times isn’t shying away from his politics
We've uncovered decades of sexual harassment allegations against Oscar collector and liberal lion Harvey Weinstein. https://t.co/qz4Dyyjoj8
— jodikantor (@jodikantor) October 5, 2017
3. The Oscar for “Best Way to Get a Feminist Attorney on Your Side” goes to…
Lisa Bloom Defends Harvey Weinstein, Who’s Turning Her Book Into A Miniseries https://t.co/8u9hbnkFcl
— My Daily Reporter (@MyDailyReporter) October 5, 2017
4. He takes full responsibility…until he doesn’t
Harvey Weinstein: I feel real bad about all the harassment
Also Harvey Weinstein: I'm suing you for writing about the harassment https://t.co/zuBzkahlq3— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) October 5, 2017
5. Well, we know where he learned that from
Weinstein's reputation was well known by the time this picture was taken. pic.twitter.com/qEWVWvVhgf
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) October 5, 2017
6. When in doubt, bash the NRA
Harvey Weinstein Apologizes After Sexual Misconduct Bombshell; Turns Focus on NRA https://t.co/MXeyXQmXt5 pic.twitter.com/cDsxnRvsnh
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) October 5, 2017
7. Oops…even that doesn’t work anymore
Weinstein's attempt to rally liberals to his side by attacking the NRA is gross and absurd and I hope people don't fall for it.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 5, 2017
8. Fair question
Dems, I'm confused. U support #HarveyWeinstein, #BillClinton, #Islam… So, is denigrating women a good thing or a bad thing? #Feminism
— paulyballgame 🇮🇹 (@paulyballgame) October 5, 2017
9. Wow, even this guy hates you
NEW: Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says he'll give money donated by Harvey Weinstein to charity https://t.co/RTSV7C5pyi pic.twitter.com/PBwzQgf34l
— VICE News (@vicenews) October 5, 2017
Remember, Blumenthal’s claim to infamy is that he lied about having been in combat in Vietnam. Dems elected him anyway.
And finally…
10. The real tragedy here
the only thing that surprised me about the Harvey Weinstein article is how upset I still am that Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture
— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) October 5, 2017
We didn’t even get into the fact that Weinstein blamed the ’60s for why he was harassing women well into the 21st century. Perhaps the most surreal aspect of all of this is that he is the first person in years who has been able to make Ashley Judd appear credible and sane.
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