A major Clinton donor and friend, and co-founder of the Miramax entertainment company, Harvey Weinstein has fallen off the casting couch with his pants around his ankles. The creative genius with a knack for salvaging independent film scripts and turning them into blockbusters such as Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, and The King’s Speech, stands accused of sexual harassment, forcing sexual contact, and rape.
Miramax fired Weinstein after the abrupt resignation of four members of his all-male board in the wake of a nine-month investigation by the New York Times. In a recent interview, Weinstein tepidly stated, “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.”
Did that sound like an act of contrition?
30 Years of Staying Silent for $$
Weinstein’s accusers range from up and coming wannabe starlets to women who rake in millions per each film:
When Gwyneth Paltrow was 22 years old, she got a role that would take her from actress to star: The film producer Harvey Weinstein hired her for the lead in the Jane Austen adaptation “Emma.” Before shooting began, he summoned her to his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting that began uneventfully.
It ended with Mr. Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages, she said. “He was my Uncle Harvey.”
Here’s a big problem Gwyneth (and not because you named your kid Apple for Pete’s sake); your mother and father were powerhouses in the industry. Why didn't you confide in them and tell Weinstein, "Hey, thanks for the offer of old-man-icky sex, but if you don't hire me without strings, I’ll tell my parents.” You had options. Gywnnie, you are complicit in the rape of several young women by your silence.
And then we have our favorite pro-woman, pro-Hollywood money equality, and pink-cat-hat wearing Trump hater, Ashley Judd:
Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting. Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower, she recalled in an interview.
“How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” Ms. Judd said she remembers thinking.
It seems she waited long enough to star in several more blockbuster, high payday movies for Weinstein.
The list goes on and on, and seemingly endless as former friends of Weinstein now see the writing on the wall. Time to fess up, blame the transgressions on being young and afraid, while continuing to make $10 million a film and collect Oscars (where you all love to bash the current administration for being misogynist). Hey, thanks for thinking about all the other young girls with stars in their eyes preparing to board the train at the Weinstein tunnel of love.
The accounts are sickening, and if you have the stomach for reading about the debauchery of a dirty old man, you can read the New York Times in-depth article here.
And the Hits Keep Coming
And then there is Hillary Rodham Clinton. A feminist married to Bill Clinton for 42 years. She has supported him, stood up for him and, likely, has done things unimaginable to most, to keep her husband and rayon pant-suited self in power. You can imagine what lengths she will go to protect her assets. It took her five long days and badgering from reporters for her to issue this lame statement:
"I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."
Her former running mate, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), blustered his condemnation, "Any leader should condemn this. These allegations are low-life behavior."
Well, if that is, in fact, a truism, what does that say about the last two Democrat presidents?
Even Clinton’s staunchest supporter and public relations entity, CNN, printed this:
“Five days after the New York Times broke the news that Weinstein, the head of Miramax and a major Democratic donor, faced a series of allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women over a several-decade span, neither Bill or Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama has said a single word about the incidents.
There are other men who are complicit as well; close Hollywood friends who knew and turned a blind eye, whom Weinstein asked to support him as allegations swirled around his paunchy waist and double-chinned self. Ben Affleck, made a statement against the antics of Uncle Harvey, and for his trouble, has now been labeled by Hilary Burton, as a hypocrite; he groped her breast during MTV’s Total Request Live. Although none of this is amusing, it is karmic. And if you are so inclined, read the Twitter feed that slams Uncle Harvey Junior here.
But it's early in the scandal and rest assured, there will be more to follow in this three-decade-long reality show, Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
Maybe Mark Gill, former president of Miramax LA, sums it up better than anyone possibly could, as he stated, “From the outside, it seemed golden — the Oscars, the success, the remarkable cultural impact. But behind the scenes, it was a mess, and this was the biggest mess of all.”
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