Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo/sexual misconduct scandals

p to the e · 07-10-2017 1:39pm #1

No thread on this here. Thought it would be relevant in the film board. There's a thread on After Hours but I'm not going near that place.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html

Is this just something that's par for the course within the film industry? Is this the next Saville case (not Weinstein specifically) whereby everyone knew about it but did nothing just because it was just the way things were/are? Is there more to come from this?

The Black Oil · 08-10-2017 8:07pm

Guy behind Honest Trailers allegedly involved in this sort of crap too. https://www.avclub.com/honest-trailers-creator-suspended-over-accusations-of-s-1819233301

Hande hoche! · 08-10-2017 8:36pm

Harry Knowles from Aint it cool News is too allegedly. 2017 seems to be the year stories emerge as regards creeps in cinema.

brevity · 08-10-2017 9:47pm

Tip of the iceberg IMO

youngblood · 08-10-2017 9:56pm

How has this taken so long to come out is my question!?!

conorhal · 09-10-2017 12:37am

youngblood wrote: »

How has this taken so long to come out is my question!?!

Because he's out of Miramax and the Weinstein Co has little pull in Hollywood these days so he no longer makes or breaks careers.

The reality is that Hollywood is a cess pool and always has been, and it operates a code of omerta that makes the mafia seem loose lipped.
If you slide into irrelevance however (and that goes for his accusers as much as Weinstein) and there's some cash or publicity to garnered then it's fair game because there's nothing to loose.
The truth is that everybody probably knew what was going on, still know what's going on with a lot of power players still, but nobody's going to blow the whistle and risk getting blacklisted by Hollywood because they're all at it, so opening your gob makes you an unemployable liability.
The movie business, like banking is one of the few industries where bad behaviour is the norm.

I'm actually re-reading Peter Biskind's 'Down and Dirty Pictures' at the moment. It's a great book about the rise of 90's indie cinema, which is to say it's a great book about Miramax and thus, about Harvey Weinstein.

He starts out saying that he can't tell half the stories about that company that he wished he could because nobody would go on record. The stories he does tell however paint a picture of Weinstein as a sociopathic, manipulative, hyper-agressive bully with an explosive temper who reacts like a five year old when called out, with complete denial, even when caught with his hand still in the cookie jar.
He seemed to take a particular pleasure in humiliating people and controlling them and women weren't excepted from that.

09-10-2017 7:07am

conorhal wrote: »

Because he's out of Miramax and the Weinstein Co has little pull in Hollywood these days so he no longer makes or breaks careers.

The reality is that Hollywood is a cess pool and always has been, .

Very much so. America as a whole is like an episode of south park these days. All of Hollywood on their moral perch yet had been singing the praises of predators like Weinstein. They would have heard the rumors and the stories about him.
Meryl Streep even called him God! :pac:

__..__ · 09-10-2017 7:14am

My sister worked with Martine McCutheon and told me some of the stories she told her about that fella. Some really sick stories. No doubt t they will surface soon now.

conorhal · 09-10-2017 8:37am

Deleted User wrote: »

Very much so. America as a whole is like an episode of south park these days. All of Hollywood on their moral perch yet had been singing the praises of predators like Weinstein. They would have heard the rumors and the stories about him.
Meryl Streep even called him God! :pac:

The whole episode of Polanski getting arrested in Switzerland a few years ago was quite revealing, it was amazing to see Hollywood rally around one of their own and sign a petition to release a man that anally raped a 13yr old girl after filling her full of drugs. Streep being one of the ring leaders.

The funniest thing about the neurotic levels of autistic screeching about Trump, 'grab 'em by the pussy' and the hypersensitive promotion of identity politics in Hollywood over the last few years is the fact that they don't seem to realise that the're building the scaffold for their own hanging. If you crack Hollywoods code of silence and you are up to your neck in filth you're undoing the system that protects you. Of course some imagine they can virtue signal and yet remain untouchable, but that's only true as long as you're powerful or your victims still have a career left to ruin.

Weinstein is a friend and fundraiser for the Clintons and was very much on board with the progressive agenda and the witch hunts and firings for 'wrong think' that it persues. I'd say it probably came as a huge surprise to him that the progressive twitter mobs came for him, an 'ally' after all, but when you enable witchfinder generals he really shouldn't have been surprised.

09-10-2017 9:49am

Looks like Hollywood is getting the same treatment as the BBC. Prepare for a lot of people to go under - some you'll never suspect, like Rolf Harris.

brevity · 09-10-2017 10:45am

He's been sacked

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/09/harvey-weinstein-sacked-in-wake-of-sexual-harassment-scandal

God only knows what's gonna happen next. I wonder will he start naming names himself.

09-10-2017 11:02am

brevity wrote: »

He's been sacked

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/09/harvey-weinstein-sacked-in-wake-of-sexual-harassment-scandal

God only knows what's gonna happen next. I wonder will he start naming names himself.

Doubt it, he's gonna spend the next decade fighting lawsuits i'd imagine. The vulture lawyers will be circling now

Agent Coulson · 09-10-2017 11:11am

The women of Hollywood were very quick to rightfully and loudly come out and condemn Trump but their silence on this issue is very sad and hurtful and harmful to women.

p to the e · 09-10-2017 11:13am

youngblood wrote: »

How has this taken so long to come out is my question!?!

My view on this is that those who reported got settlements in exchange for a non disclosure agreement. Those that didn't report got oscars.

As someone said above this is only the tip of the iceberg and I'd say there's a few nervous folk thinking that Weinstein will take them down with him.

Four Winds · 09-10-2017 11:18am

conorhal wrote: »

The stories he does tell however paint a picture of Weinstein as a sociopathic, manipulative, hyper-agressive bully with an explosive temper who reacts like a five year old when called out, with complete denial, even when caught with his hand still in the cookie jar.
He seemed to take a particular pleasure in humiliating people and controlling them and women weren't excepted from that.

Sounds like Entourage were on the money with this guy's character who was called 'Harvey Weingard' in the show.

09-10-2017 11:18am

youngblood wrote: »

How has this taken so long to come out is my question!?!

TBH it took about 20 - 30 years for all of the allegations against Jimmy Saville to fully come to light.

Amalgam · 09-10-2017 11:20am

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The women of Hollywood were very quick to rightfully and loudly come out and condemn Trump but their silence on this issue is very sad and hurtful and harmful to women.

..because those women want to keep working, one person, the name escapes me, started off on Weinstein a decade ago and she's been stuck doing bit parts and indie, even though she had been tipped for bigger things.

You'll get blacklisted by the 'entire' industry. You'll never see the naked mechanism of that out in the open though..

HandsomeBob · 09-10-2017 11:21am

I don't think there's a low enough depth for how ugly this might get. In particular for those who may have taken hush money or allowed themselves to be bribed with plumb opportunities while allowing Weinstein to continue his deviant ways.

It's always awful to see people you respected or who were revered unmasked for what they truly are.

Hopefully this is just the beginning and the likes of Rose McGowan and Corey Haim will have justice done in their name.

Agent Coulson · 09-10-2017 11:36am

Amalgam wrote: »

..because those women want to keep working, one person, the name escapes me, started off on Weinstein a decade ago and she's been stuck doing bit parts and indie, even though she had been tipped for bigger things.

You'll get blacklisted by the 'entire' industry. You'll never see the naked mechanism of that out in the open though..

That was Rose Mcgovern I think

Of course that played huge and scarily understandable part over the years wanting to be able to keep working in the industry they dreamed all their life to work in.

I'm talking about this week and today and right now where are they it's still only the same handful of women that have been talking about it for years talking now.

Why aren't the women of Hollywood right now out on the streets protesting and saying stop and outing others as there is others.

p to the e · 09-10-2017 11:40am

Just to show stuff like this is closer to home than you think.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-40673389

Hector Savage · 09-10-2017 1:41pm

I remember talking to a girl in the USA that was trying to break into the movie industry - as a writer.
She told me the *only* way to succeed was to sleep with execs, she was in tears as she wasn't willing to go down that route.

Beechwoodspark · 09-10-2017 1:44pm

Weinstein's attorney left him high and dry yesterday so there's probably even worse stories to come out.

HandsomeBob · 09-10-2017 4:51pm

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Weinstein's attorney left him high and dry yesterday so there's probably even worse stories to come out.

From what I've read in the run up to her resigning, staying on would have been career suicide. Unbelievable pressure on her even without further stuff to come about Weinstein.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 09-10-2017 4:56pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The women of Hollywood were very quick to rightfully and loudly come out and condemn Trump but their silence on this issue is very sad and hurtful and harmful to women.

Are they the same women? Or are you painting them all with the same brush?

super_furry · 09-10-2017 4:57pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Why aren't the women of Hollywood right now out on the streets protesting and saying stop and outing others as there is others.

Or you know, maybe it takes someone to ask them a question before they can actually answer it. Like Meryl Streep today.

Harry Palmr · 09-10-2017 6:44pm

Had to laugh at Trump's comment.

p to the e · 10-10-2017 11:18am

HandsomeBob wrote: »

From what I've read in the run up to her resigning, staying on would have been career suicide. Unbelievable pressure on her even without further stuff to come about Weinstein.

Also from what I've read there's a couple of reasons including disagreements of how she was handling the allegations to her mother being a famed women's rights lawyer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/business/lisa-bloom-weinstein-attorney.html

AustinLostin · 10-10-2017 11:29am

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The women of Hollywood were very quick to rightfully and loudly come out and condemn Trump but their silence on this issue is very sad and hurtful and harmful to women.

Yes the women are at fault here.

Brief_Lives · 10-10-2017 3:24pm

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Had to laugh at Trump's comment.

You just know Trump will probably make him Secretary for Global Women's Issues...

johnny_ultimate · 10-10-2017 5:03pm

Series of even more serious sexual assault allegations made in a New Yorker piece by Ronan Farrow today, including from Asia Argento: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories?mbid=social_twitter Some stomach churning claims and revelations in it.

Also contains audio of one encounter, and significantly deepens and complicates many of the allegations made against him (including his own apparent claims of 'planting' media stories).

Four actresses, including Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette, told me they suspected that, after they rejected Weinstein’s advances or complained about them to company representatives, Weinstein had them removed from projects or dissuaded people from hiring them.

The Black Oil · 10-10-2017 10:31pm

I read all of the piece and just heard the audio of the police tape played on the BBC. Chilling.

Rjd2 · 10-10-2017 11:03pm

Heather Graham accusing Weinstein now.

https://twitter.com/Variety/status/917855822587207680/photo/1

pinkypinky · 10-10-2017 11:38pm

NYT now reporting that Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie have also revealed Weinstein harassed them.

It's absolutely revolting and I'm sure there's more to come. I only got half way through Ronan Farrow's expose and had to give up.
The worst of it is, his board and company must have known about this for years. He's only been fired because he's been caught.

johnny_ultimate · 11-10-2017 12:36am

Before he was fired, Harvey Weinstein asked film insiders to defend him - whar a ****ing miserable mail this is:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/business/media/before-firing-harvey-weinstein-asked-film-insiders-to-defend-him.html

4068ac1elhodqr · 11-10-2017 12:59am

Deleted User wrote: »

TBH it took about 20 - 30 years for all of the allegations against Jimmy Saville to fully come to light.

Think 'Icke' was publishing stuff on that fella for decades, Heath also mentioned, whom randomly appeared beside Jimmy on one of his 'fix it' tv shows. Back then it was all quickly regarded as 'tin-foil hat'.

Meanwhile, Sloth Weinstein is boarding a private jet Tuesday night, bound for a 'rehab' in Europe.

Tony EH · 11-10-2017 1:34am

I must be the only who isn't shocked by this. People think the "casting couch" is a thing of the past. But it really isn't. TBH, I reckon there's many more who abuse their position in such a manner.

Hollywood is a deep, deep, cesspool.

darkdubh · 11-10-2017 8:07am

Deleted User wrote: »

TBH it took about 20 - 30 years for all of the allegations against Jimmy Saville to fully come to light.

Longer, more like 50 years and more.

Brief_Lives · 11-10-2017 8:08am

todays reading contains some stomach churning stuff...

https://twitter.com/terrycrews

Ben Affleck, whose career began when he and Matt Damon made Miramax’s Good Will Hunting in 1997, has released a statement addressing news of over a dozen allegations of sexual harassment and assault by former Weinstein Company boss Harvey Weinstein. “I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades,” he wrote. “The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick.”

rose mcgowan‏Verified account @rosemcgowan

@benaffleck “GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT” you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.

11-10-2017 8:31am

Rose McGowan's anger, while justified is a little hard to take seriously given that she had no problem starring in a film directed by convicted child abuser Victor Salva in 2011.

It's awful what happened her and others and I imagine much worse will come out, but Hollywood will continue to protect its own. It's a place where no one cares what awful things you do as long as you make money. The allegations against Casey Affleck, largely ignored as he's on a roll.

Jessica Chastain and Brie Larson are about the only two actually standing up for victims but even then they are largely ignored. As Corey Feldman says, if he was to name his abusers he'd be facing a massive lawsuit and spend years tied up defending himself as t would be a he said, they said situation.

p to the e · 11-10-2017 10:10am

Tony EH wrote: »

I must be the only who isn't shocked by this. People think the "casting couch" is a thing of the past. But it really isn't. TBH, I reckon there's many more who abuse their position in such a manner.

Hollywood is a deep, deep, cesspool.

As I said before, I doubt it's limited to just Hollywood.

As an aside, one of Weinstein's recent pushes was Cork's Sarah Greene. Has she made any statement?

Brief_Lives · 11-10-2017 10:24am

Tony EH · 11-10-2017 10:50am

p to the e wrote: »

As I said before, I doubt it's limited to just Hollywood.

Oh, I have no doubt whatsoever that it's not limited to Hollywood. This kind of "winner" takes all mentality is rife in that kind of uber rich/powerful sphere, be it Hollywood, business or politics. These sociopaths, literally, think that they are untouchable, that they can do anything they want to "little" people, and they can buy everybody off...which it seems Weinstein was actually able to do for decades, apparently.

JP Liz V1 · 11-10-2017 12:14pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Rose McGowan's anger, while justified is a little hard to take seriously given that she had no problem starring in a film directed by convicted child abuser Victor Salva in 2011.

It's awful what happened her and others and I imagine much worse will come out, but Hollywood will continue to protect its own. It's a place where no one cares what awful things you do as long as you make money. The allegations against Casey Affleck, largely ignored as he's on a roll.

Jessica Chastain and Brie Larson are about the only two actually standing up for victims but even then they are largely ignored. As Corey Feldman says, if he was to name his abusers he'd be facing a massive lawsuit and spend years tied up defending himself as t would be a he said, they said situation.

Did McGowan receive a settlement out of court from Weinstein?

Also did Casey Affleck also settle his case out of court too?

Whomever is hosting next year's Oscars wonder will some jokes be made about it

Some sick reading, vile pig

pixelburp · 11-10-2017 12:34pm

Yeah, the only surprise in all this is that there IS any surprise; given all the recent discussion of representation, racism, sexism etc. in Hollywood, it was obvious reading between the lines that much of the more sordid goings on was indeed still going on. It was only a matter of time before a big name was outed and the dam burst.

No more than the Jimmy Saville situation on this side of the pond, one thing that's also going to cause a lot of awkward questions and ruin careers will be the questions directed towards those who KNEW, yet never spoke up or did anything. Those (predominantly male) people who either knew, heard or saw these things going on and just said 'welp, that's Hollywood'. The victims should never be blamed for feeling they should stay silent, but those who were on the sidelines are pretty close to being as culpable as Weinstin in my eyes.

Unlike the Saville case though, Hollywood is a remorseless, insular & incestuous entity, and I suspect the outcome in all this won't be a proper investigation, but a circling of wagons while a sacrificial lamb is thrown to the media to appease everyone.

S.M.B. · 11-10-2017 1:47pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Yeah, the only surprise in all this is that there IS any surprise; given all the recent discussion of representation, racism, sexism etc. in Hollywood, it was obvious reading between the lines that much of the more sordid goings on was indeed still going on. It was only a matter of time before a big name was outed and the dam burst.

No more than the Jimmy Saville situation on this side of the pond, one thing that's also going to cause a lot of awkward questions and ruin careers will be the questions directed towards those who KNEW, yet never spoke up or did anything. Those (predominantly male) people who either knew, heard or saw these things going on and just said 'welp, that's Hollywood'. The victims should never be blamed for feeling they should stay silent, but those who were on the sidelines are pretty close to being as culpable as Weinstin in my eyes.

Unlike the Saville case though, Hollywood is a remorseless, insular & incestuous entity, and I suspect the outcome in all this won't be a proper investigation, but a circling of wagons while a sacrificial lamb is thrown to the media to appease everyone.

That could be half of Hollywood. McGowan seems to think that Affleck was well aware of it and he's nothing more than a fringe player.

4068ac1elhodqr · 11-10-2017 3:06pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Those (predominantly male) people who either knew, heard or saw these things going on and just said 'welp, that's Hollywood'. The victims should never be blamed for feeling they should stay silent, but those who were on the sidelines are pretty close to being as culpable as Weinstin in my eyes.

What about his occasional neighbour and receiver of millions in democratic fund donations Mrs H.Clinton - perhaps the one-time most powerful woman in the US, wasn't she even slightly aware of Weinstein?

All a bit reminiscent of her other similar buddy: Weiner, who has been sentenced to 21 months for sexting a junior.

pixelburp · 11-10-2017 3:11pm

Eugene Orange Guppy wrote: »

What about his occasional neighbour and receiver of millions in democratic fund donations Mrs H.Clinton - perhaps the one-time most powerful woman in the US, wasn't she even slightly aware of Weinstein?

All a bit reminiscent of her other similar buddy: Weiner, who has been sentenced to 21 months for sexting a junior.

What about her? Those who knew and did/said nothing should not be immune from criticism or repercussions, and doubtless there were those outside of the film industry as culpable. Whether that includes Clinton, I'm sure the truth will come out, but the immediate reality is that it's shining a light on an industry whose existing reputation was well known, but un-talked of. That will hopefully start to change.

4068ac1elhodqr · 11-10-2017 3:26pm

pixelburp wrote: »

What about her? Those who knew and did/said nothing should not be immune from criticism or repercussions, and doubtless there were those outside of the film industry as culpable. Whether that includes Clinton, I'm sure the truth will come out, but the immediate reality is that it's shining a light on an industry whose existing reputation was well known, but un-talked of. That will hopefully start to change.

You suggested it was mainly males who knew. More likely it was the female victims themselves (but who opted for career progression).

It was also those with greatest power, knowledge and influence that may have been in the know, and these would have been in a better position to deal with the matter with ready access to powerful legal teams.

HC's close association with people such as Epstein, Weiner, Weinstein etc is all rather ugly, is it not?

Tony EH · 11-10-2017 3:44pm

Nice try in an effort to turn this into a Clinton bashing thread, but no dice. Clinton and the Dems made have been on the recieving end of donations from Weinstein, but there is zero evidence or reason to believe that she'd know anything about a man in a business that she dosen't operate in herself.

pixelburp · 11-10-2017 3:51pm

Eugene Orange Guppy wrote: »

You suggested it was mainly males who knew. More likely it was the female victims themselves (but who opted for career progression).

It was also those with greatest power, knowledge and influence that may have been in the know, and these would have been in a better position to deal with the matter with ready access to powerful legal teams.

HC's close association with people such as Epstein, Weiner, Weinstein etc is all rather ugly, is it not?

Obviously the victims knew, but what I said was that in all likelihood, ala the Saville case, there was a 'look the other way' culture where those who circled the same approximate orbit as Weinstein chose to just feign ignorance - or worse, dismiss it as just part of the game, or blame the victims (that part perhaps not applicable to the Saville case). Based on the people coming forward & the testimonies proffered, those silences seem to have tended to be from similarly influential men in Hollywood, being as it is an already lopsided industry to begin with.

It's reductionist to just assume the victims merely got on with it through a pragmatic career decision, when the prevailing culture or mood is that nobody will either take you seriously, or stand up for you. The whole cesspit is practically a textbook example of an abusive environment, be it domestic or professional, which is why it has been resonating so much with people.

HandsomeBob · 11-10-2017 4:48pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Rose McGowan's anger, while justified is a little hard to take seriously given that she had no problem starring in a film directed by convicted child abuser Victor Salva in 2011.

It's awful what happened her and others and I imagine much worse will come out, but Hollywood will continue to protect its own. It's a place where no one cares what awful things you do as long as you make money. The allegations against Casey Affleck, largely ignored as he's on a roll.

Jessica Chastain and Brie Larson are about the only two actually standing up for victims but even then they are largely ignored. As Corey Feldman says, if he was to name his abusers he'd be facing a massive lawsuit and spend years tied up defending himself as t would be a he said, they said situation.

While there's no doubt this is a tough time for Rose McGowan, I think she just needs to take a step back and let proceedings go their natural route.

Repeatedly lashing out at people on Twitter just goes to show how difficult this was for her, but it's not helping the situation. I hope she's getting the right supports to deal with the fall out as right now she doesn't seem to be.

Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo/sexual misconduct scandals

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