Hollywood’s warped morality
TO PRESENT YOURSELF AS A CRUSADER FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS WHILE YOU TERRORISE DOZENS OF FEMALES OVER MORE THAN THREE DECADES TAKES REAL CHUTZPAH
HOLLYWOOD’S elite likes to portray themselves as morally superior progressive crusaders.
Anyone who caught the preachy performances at the Oscars and Emmys could attest to their Trumpobsessed self-righteousness. But the reality behind the holier-than-thou grandstanding is toxic.
The Harvey Weinstein scandal has revealed the ugly underbelly. The Oscar-winning producer and Miramax co-founder, behind such films such as Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting and The King’s Speech has been exposed as a sex pest who preyed on a succession of women including actors Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd.
He would expose himself to unwilling women during “business meetings” and ask for massages or sexual favours, or request that they watch him bathe.
TV host Lauren Sivan revealed that, after rejecting Weinstein’s advances, he trapped her in a club hallway and masturbated in front of her.
To present yourself as a crusader for women’s rights while you terrorise dozens of females over more than three decades takes real chutzpah.
The man who was lauded by US presidents as a campaigner for progressive values was, in fact, a grubby sexual predator and everybody knew it. It seems if you are successful and publicly advocate all the fashionable Leftie causes, then you’re given a free pass to carry on like an entitled pig.
By turning a blind eye to Weinstein’s antics, the industry tacitly approved predatory behaviour.
Last Friday, the New York Times published details of Weinstein’s conduct, including his habit of exposing himself, using female staff to “facilitate liaisons” with “vulnerable women”, and the existence of at least eight financial settlements with aggrieved women.
Weinstein’s response to the story was bizarre. He apologised and expressed regret for “what happened” before quoting rapper Jay Z and boasting about funding scholarships for women.
If his statement was meant to show contrition, then it failed miserably.
It’s worth remembering Weinstein was more than a film heavyweight: he was feted by the Clinton and Obama administrations and hosted Hillary Clinton at his New York home.
In 2013 Michelle Obama called him a “wonderful human being” and a “good friend”. Her daughter, Malia, interned for Weinstein this year.
One has some insight into just how untouchable Weinstein believed he was when he penned a column in 2009 advocating for director Roman Polanski, who drugged and raped a 13-year-old and then fled justice.
“Whatever you think about the socalled crime, Polanski has served his time,” Weinstein wrote.
Reading that now still makes my skin crawl.
Weinstein is the type of male feminist that can reconcile leaving a junior staffer in tears after insisting she massage his naked body with taking to the streets in the Women’s March and contributing funds for a feminist studies program.
It’s been disappointing to see that, even after the NYT blew the whistle on Weinstein, and more women came forward to detail their individual horror stories, most Hollywood celebrities, normally keen to opine about societal ills, have been silent.
Actor Kirstie Alley, a rare Hollywood non-liberal who received “thousands of hate tweets” for her brief support of Trump, was one of the few who acknowledged the scandal without attempting to minimise it.
She tweeted: “Funny how celebs are staying quiet about elephant in the room. Maybe fear they won’t work again … crickets on sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.”
McGowan, best known for the TV series, Charmed, has been scathing of the industry, and labelled anyone who did business with Weinstein “complicit”.
She tweeted: “Ladies of Hollywood, your silence is deafening” and “Agents, managers, directors, casting agents, producers, distributors, SAG (Screen Actors Guild), DGA (Directors Guild of America), PGA (Producers Guild of America), studio heads, network = 30 years of cover-up.”
McGowan received a $100,000 settlement from Weinstein in 1997 after “an episode in a hotel room”.
It seems incredible that it took another 20 years for Weinstein to be publicly shamed.