Street Artist Plastic Jesus Creates Harvey Weinstein’s ‘Casting Couch’ Sculpture

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Harvey Weinstein won’t be going to Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, but the film producer’s presence is still being felt in Hollywood.
Los Angeles-based street artist Plastic Jesus on Thursday unveiled a statue called “Casting Couch,” depicting a life-size Weinstein, clothed in a bathrobe, sitting on a golden colored couch and holding an Oscar. It was installed near the Hollywood venue where the Academy Awards ceremony will be held.
More than 70 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including rape. Weinstein has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone.
His representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the installation.
The accusations against Weinstein triggered a flood of allegations of sexual impropriety by other celebrities that have rocked Hollywood and dominated this year’s movie awards season.
“Whilst many thought the ‘casting couch’ was a thing of the past it was clearly still a part of the Hollywood culture,” Plastic Jesus said in a statement on his Facebook page.
“Hopefully now in the light of recent allegations against many leading figures in Hollywood the industry will clean up it’s (sic) act,” he said.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
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 Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
