How Hollywood shunned Harvey
As more women come forward with shocking tales of abuse and rape, the world turns its back on a disgraced Harvey Weinstein
HIS life unravelled so swiftly and so dramatically it was almost like watching one of the blockbusters he bankrolled onto the silver screen.
Harvey Weinstein, the man who helped make stars of everyone from Meryl Streep to Jennifer Lawrence, commanded an empire worth billions of dollars and had the Midas touch when it came to spotting a winning movie.
But, as the world has been discovering in staggering detail, he also took advantage of his power – and the subsequent fallout has exposed the ugly underbelly of the movie industry and ruined a guy once regarded as close to a god in Hollywood.
Weinstein (65), a bear of man with a giant ego and unquenchable confidence, is the embodiment of the cliché: he promised wannabe stars big things in exchange for sexual favours.
For decades he got away with his lecherous modus operandi. Yes, there was talk. Be careful of dirty old Harvey and his wandering hands, actresses were warned. But nothing toppled him from his throne – until one actress after the other came forward recently to expose him as an alleged sex pest and serial abuser. And the king has now become an outcast in his own hometown. His company has fired him, his wife has left him and the industry is turning its back on him.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences voted unanimously to kick him out with immediate effect, “breaking with 90 years of precedent and turning one of the biggest Oscar players in history into a hall-of-fame pariah”, the New York Times said.
He’s been suspended from the British film academy and UK politicians have called for him to be stripped of his honorary CBE, awarded to him by Buckingham Palace in 2004 for services to the entertainment industry.
And French president Emmanuel Macron wants to revoke Weinstein’s Legion of Honour award, France’s highest civilian distinction.
Weinstein’s estranged younger brother, Bob, has also lashed out at him, calling him “a crazy liar” with “an inexcusable sickness”.
Weinstein is now holed up at the exclusive Meadows rehab facility in Arizona undergoing treatment for sex addiction but few have sympathy for him – especially Bob.
He told The Hollywood Reporter he’d spoken to his brother twice since the news exploded and: “Harvey has no remorse whatsoever. I was hoping to hear, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ I didn’t hear that. I don’t think he feels anything to this day. I don’t.” British actress Emma Thompson calls the sex addiction claim “a cop-out”.
“I don’t think you can describe him as a sex addict,” she declared. “He’s an actual predator, he’s dangerous. What he’s done and what he’s doing is criminal.”
Police in America and the UK are investigating allegations against Weinstein and speculation has mounted about whether he could go to jail.
Yet the question remains: how was he allowed to get away with so much for so long?
‘He’s an actual predator, he’s dangerous’