Sex harassment story: Weinstein to sue NY Times

LOS ANGELES: Top Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein is preparing to sue the New York Times after the paper published an article detailing decades of sexual harassment allegations against him, according to his lawyer.

“The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein,” Charles J Harder said.

Harder said that the article relied on “hearsay” accounts and “a faulty report” but the paper said it was “confident in the accuracy of its reporting”.

“Mr Weinstein was aware and able to respond to specific allegations in our story before publication. In fact, we published his response in full,” spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said.

Weinstein had earlier told the paper he realised “some time ago that he needed to be a better person” and that “my interactions with the people I work with have changed”.

The New York Times story says the Miramax co-founder sexually harassed female employees, including actress Ashley Judd, in a pattern of behaviour stretching back nearly three decades.

The paper said it had documented the allegations through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers as well as legal records and other documents, and that settlements with at least eight women had been reached.

The recipients included a young assistant in New York in 1990, an actress in 1997, an assistant in London in 1998 and an Italian model in 2015, the paper said.

Judd told the newspaper she was invited to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel about 20 years ago for a business breakfast meeting where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage.

Weinstein’s films, which include Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, and The Crying Game, have won six best picture Oscars.

Without directly addressing the allegations in the earlier statement to the Times, Weinstein also said he was having therapy to “deal with this issue head on” and that he planned to take leave of absence. “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it,” he said. “My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons.

“I respect all women and regret what happened.”

Harder said any proceeds of the lawsuit would be donated to women’s organisations. – dpa