How Weinstein Used Threats And Hollywood Alliances To Silence His Victims
Harvey Weinstein, the man who started it all Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman December 6, 2017
An exhaustive new report in the New York Times details how Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood executive, used friends, business partners and members of the media as shields to keep his lifestyle of serial sexual assault and misconduct a secret.
At his professional apex, Weinstein’s power over the Hollywood landscape was so vast that even people who confronted him would feel forced to do business with him later.
“Sometimes he was the only game in town,” said Nick Wechsler, a talent manager who confronted Weinstein about his treatment of Rose McGowan.
Weinstein boasted ceaselessly about his connections — to the head of American Media, Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer and Us Weekly, and to the president of the United States.
“I’m Harvey Weinstein,” he would say. “You know what I can do.”
Just minutes before New York Times published its damning October report on the accusations against Weinstein, he threatened the Times reporters who had been working on the story.
”I am a man who has great resources,” he reportedly said.
The report describes how Weinstein used top talent agencies to encourage silence from women he assaulted or harassed, reinforcing the power structures in the male-dominated world of corporate Hollywood. Often his brother, Bob Weinstein, was his accomplice in soliciting silence from both actresses and executives.
“It all came down to money,” said Lisa Grode, an agent. “It speaks to why he was protected as opposed to the actors.“
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
