Harvey Weinstein Talks Bar Mitzvah And Quotes Jay-Z In Rambling Pseudo-Apology
Image by Getty Images
Oscar-winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein on Thursday responded to bombshell allegations of sexual harassment by mentioning his bar mitzvah, blasting the gun lobby and President Trump — and quoting rapper Jay-Z in a rambling statement.
He later threatened to sue the New York Times over the report.
“I am going to need a place to channel that anger, so I’ve decided that I’m going to give the NRA my full attention,” he said, adding that he planned to host a retirement party for National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre “at the same (place) I had my Bar Mitzvah.”
He quoted Jay-Z as saying “I’m not the man I thought I was, and I better be that man for my children,” but the excerpt from Jay-Z’s “4:44” isn’t actually a Jay-Z quote.
He also apologized, vowed to step back from his business, seek therapy and take advice from high-profile lawyer Lisa Bloom.
The Times said Weinstein has reached confidential settlements with at least eight women, including actress Rose McGowan. A former Weinstein Co. employee, Lauren O’Connor, detailed some of the allegations over a two-year period in a memo cited by the Times report.
Weinstein’s attorney Charles J. Harder later put out a statement saying the newspaper’s story was defamatory because it relied on “mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
