Hollywood Katzenberg: Weinstein ‘a monster' in a wolf pack

LAGUNA BEACH, United States: Hollywood titan Jeffrey Katzenberg branded fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein “a monster” who was far from alone in sexually preying on actresses. “Make no mistake about it, he is a monster,” Katzenberg said of Weinstein during an on- stage interview late Monday at the Wall Street Journal D.Live conference in Laguna Beach, California. “The problem is there is a pack of wolves; he is not a lone actor in this. That is what we really need to find a way to deal with.” More than two dozen actresses including marquee stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Mira Sorvino have come forward saying they were sexually harassed by the producer. Since the allegations emerged th i s month , Hollywood has largely turned

Make no mistake about it, he is a monster. The problem is there is a pack of wolves; he is not a lone actor in this. That is what we really need to find a way to deal with. I am a hundred per cent certain Harvey Weinstein was not alone in this. Jeffrey Katzenberg, film producer

its back on Weinstein.

“I am a hundred per cent certain Harvey Weinstein was not alone in this,” said Katzenberg, who was chairman of Walt Disney Studios for a decade until 1994. He was even Weinstein’s boss for a while after Disney bought the Weinstein brothers’ Miramax production company in 1993.

Katzenberg said he did “a lot of soul-searching” regarding how he could have missed any clues that Weinstein had abused his position when it came to actresses getting roles in films.

“There are two Harvey’s,” Katzenberg said.

“Somehow or other, this behaviour was masked from me by him.”

He credited the courage of women who have spoken out, and said that “anyone in a leadership position in Hollywood today” is thinking about how to address the problem the situation has spotlighted. — AFP