Ex-Weinstein assistant slams gag order
• Harvey Weinstein’s former British assistant said Wednesday that a gag order she had to sign when she left his film company was “morally lacking in every way” and failed to stop the movie producer’s harassment and abuse of women.
Zelda Perkins quit Weinstein’s firm Miramax in 1998 along with a colleague who accused the movie mogul of trying to rape her. Each received a 125,000-pound (US$177,000) settlement and signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Perkins told a committee of British lawmakers that she felt “defrauded” by the agreement, which contained clauses intended to stop Weinstein from sexually harassing or abusing staff. The agreement committed Weinstein to attend therapy and required the company to act if he made any more payouts over alleged wrongdoing. Perkins said she has no evidence that these actions were carried out.
Multiple women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault over many years. He denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex.
“I believed we had done the best we could in terms of stopping his behaviour,” Perkins told Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee. “Essentially we were defrauded.”
The committee is investigating sexual harassment and the use of non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs. NDAs are common in the corporate world, but Perkins said her experience shows they can be used to let perpetrators get away with wrongdoing while silencing their victims. “The problem is they are used abusively ... and there isn’t enough regulation and there isn’t a framework to protect the victims of the situation,” she said.
The agreement Perkins signed kept her quiet about Weinstein’s behaviour for almost 20 years. He continued to be one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers until last year, when women — including Hollywood stars — publicly accused him of groping, exposing himself to them or forcing them into unwanted sex. Weinstein has since been fired by the company he co-founded and expelled by Hollywood’s film academy. Police in the U.S. and Britain are investigating multiple claims of sexual assault.