Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a Passover gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
The Schmooze

The Secret Group Where People Recover From The Trauma Of Working For Harvey Weinstein

It’s no secret that Harvey Weinstein was not a great boss. Even if his employees managed to escape from their tenure without receiving a personal invite to Weinstein’s hotel room, it would seem that almost none of them were left without just a little bit of special Weinstein brand post-traumatic stress.

Luckily, there is a recovery group for that. Vulture tells the story of a group called Mir-Anon, the place former Weinstein employees go to “recover” from working in such a toxic environment. Several interviewees, almost all of whom requested anonymity, described a workplace that was entirely subject to Weinstein’s adult temper tantrums and total inability to process literally anything without appearing to lose control of himself.

Vulture reports:

“Six former Miramax and TWC executives who have participated in Mir-Anon gatherings talked about the experience to Vulture, describing themselves as closely bonded by a shared “trench warfare” experience. That is, the experience of working at a mini-major studio where daily humiliation, screaming tantrums, and relentless pressure from the Weinstein brothers could be counterbalanced by the glamour and prestige of the Oscar benediction the brothers courted so assiduously.”

Most ex-employees interviewed said that there wasn’t much discussion regarding Weinstein’s history of sexual assault and harassment — instead, most stories seem to revolve around Weinstein throwing various objects at employees. The former employees really painted a vivid portrait of a man who loved throwing things at people.

The group has evolved into a Facebook group with over 400 members that goes by the name the Miramax Alumni Association.

So the next time your boss emails you a passive-aggressive admonishment that sends a shiver down your spine, thank your lucky stars you’re not in therapy for work-induced depression.

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

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. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

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.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.