Harvey Weinstein, Continued

I've been delaying this because there's a lot of stuff coming out and I had wanted to put it into some kind of coherent narrative.

But I can't think of a coherent narrative, and I need to put this up, so I'm just going to link stuff.

The Allegations

Ashley Judd in 2015 complained of a major studio exec making various "grooming" attempts on her and then asking her if she would watch him shower.

This article dates from before any public accusations were made against Weinstein.

The ultimate thing when I was weaseling out of everything else was, "Will you watch me take a shower?" And all the other women, sitting around this table with me, said, "Oh my god--that's what he said to me too."

The New York Times says several women complained of similar maneuverings:

In interviews, eight women described varying behavior by Mr. Weinstein: appearing nearly or fully naked in front of them, requiring them to be present while he bathed or repeatedly asking for a massage or initiating one himself. The women, typically in their early or middle 20s and hoping to get a toehold in the film industry, said he could switch course quickly -- meetings and clipboards one moment, intimate comments the next. One woman advised a peer to wear a parka when summoned for duty as a layer of protection against unwelcome advances.

Rose McGowan reached an out-of-court settlement with Weinstein for $100,000. She declined to comment for the Times story. I imagine the settlement requires silence on her part.

Today, though, she tweeted this:

The Media Cover-Up and Liberal Bias

From the New York Times piece, Weinstein was untouchable partly because of his Nice Guy Greg liberal posturing:

During that time, after being confronted with allegations including sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact, Mr. Weinstein has reached at least eight settlements with women, according to two company officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Among the recipients, The Times found, were a young assistant in New York in 1990, an actress in 1997, an assistant in London in 1998, an Italian model in 2015 and Ms. O’Connor shortly after, according to records and those familiar with the agreements....

In 2015, the year Ms. O'Connor wrote her memo [describing a "toxic atmosphere" for women in the company[, his company distributed “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary about campus sexual assault. A longtime Democratic donor, he hosted a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton in his Manhattan home last year. He employed Malia Obama, the oldest daughter of former President Barack Obama, as an intern this year, and recently helped endow a faculty chair at Rutgers University in Gloria Steinem’s name. During the Sundance Film Festival in January, when Park City, Utah, held its version of nationwide women’s marches, Mr. Weinstein joined the parade.

Didn't people in the media know, given that Weinstein was, you know, a notorious figure in the media?

CNN really rakes him over the coals by declaring... "it's complicated"??!!

And let's not forget -- this is being described as an ages-old "open secret" that everyone knew about.

So what's with all the Democrats sucking him off for donations?

Remember Lisa Bloom? Well, she was shootin'-mad about Trump's pussy-grabbing comments and the various accusers who suddenly accused him in peak election cycle.

So I guess it's no surprise that she's representing some of Harvey Weinstein's accusers.

Wait a minute -- I mean she's representing Harvey Weinstein himself and defending him, offering up the same "dinosaur in an age of mammals" bullshit he did.

See, she talked with him. Had a real good "rap session" with him, as the kids said back in 1994:

I wonder if this has anything to do with anything else:

The Possiblity of Collateral Damage:

Did Harvey Weinstein do this while his company was owned by Disney? And will they now be on the hook for additional lawsuits?

The unsubstantiated rumors of Weinstein pawing women have swirled for decades. What will be worth watching now is whether this story starts an avalanche of other women telling similar stories after long swallowing shameful approaches. That is what happened in the cases of Ailes, Bill Cosby, O’Reilly and most recently the geek film blogger Harry Knowles. All were banished. Since the sexual harassment allegations listed by The New York Times go back decades, that covers the period when Miramax was owned by Disney under Michael Eisner. There might also be scrutiny of what that corporation did, whether Disney was aware of this pattern of behavior and how it was handled.

The Denial, the Defense, the Lawsuits, and the PR Pushback

Harvey Weinstein plays the Liberal in Good Standing Card, aka The Joss Whedon Chewbacca Defense, and says that he's stepping aside from his company, but will appease liberals by working full-time against The Real Villains Here, the NRA:

Well, he won't quite be working full-time against the NRA -- he'll also be suing the New York Times. But don't worry, he's playing the Nice Guy Greg Defense there too -- he says that should he prevail in his lawsuit, he'll donate all monies awarded to "women's organizations."

He's suing for $50 million, according to "sources."

Weinstein has hired Charles J. Harder — the LA attorney who brought down Gawker after winning a $140 million verdict for Hulk Hogan after the site posted a sex tape — to go after the Times, which posted its blistering exposé on the Oscar-winning Hollywood mogul Thursday.

Harder said in a statement on behalf of Weinstein, exclusively given to Page Six, “The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein. It relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by 9 different eyewitnesses. We sent the Times the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish. We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to women’s organizations.”

$50 million buys almost 100 Hillary Clinton speeches, so that's real money.

posted by Ace at 06:30 PM

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