Harvey Weinstein with lawyer Ben Braffman Image by Getty Images

In a purported exclusive interview with gossip columnist Taki Theodoracopulos of the conservative magazine The Spectator, Harvey Weinstein pled a personal case:

“You were born rich and privileged and you were handsome. I was born poor, ugly, Jewish and had to fight all my life to get somewhere,” Theodoracopulos says Weinstein told him. “You got lotsa girls, no girl looked at me until I made it big in Hollywood. Yes, I did offer them acting jobs in exchange for sex, but so did and still does everyone. But I never, ever forced myself on a single woman.”

Now a lawyer for Weinstein who was present, Benjamin Brafman, is saying that his client did not discuss “the case” against him and “never said anything about trading movie roles for sexual favors.”

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In an email to the Forward, Juda Engelmayer, the head of the public relations firm that represents Weinstein, claimed that Theodoracopulos, has said this about the article: “After 41 years as a Spectator columnist without a single retraction, I believe that I may have misrepresented Harvey Weinstein’s conversation with me in New York last month. I [sic] was my mistake. We were discussing Hollywood and I may have misunderstood certain things about the methods of that place. I had nothing to do with the headline of my article and I hope I have not damaged his case. it was, after all, a social visit.”

We will update this story as it develops.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

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