Jeers for Weinstein at actors showcase

HARVEY WEINSTEIN WAS mocked from the stage and jeered by attendees at a New York City actors showcase this week - a rare public appearance for the disgraced movie mogul ahead of his January rape trial.

A comedian at Wednesday’s Actor’s Hour referred to Weinstein during her set as “the elephant in the room,” likened him to horror villain Freddy Krueger and said she “didn’t know we had to bring our own Mace and rape whistles” to the event. An actor tried questioning Weinstein, and another attendee shouted that he was a “monster.” Both people were told to leave the Manhattan bar where the event took place, while comedian Kelly Bachman’s commentary drew boos from some in the audience and one person yelled “shut up.”

Weinstein’s representatives said in a statement that the producer went to Actor’s Hour

with friends, “trying to find some solace in his life that has been turned upside down” and that the outbursts were rude and uncalled for.

Spokesman Juda Englemayer added that Weinstein was “being treated as if he has been convicted.”

“Due process is still the foundation of each and every one of our civil rights in this country,” he said.

The host of Actor’s Hour, Alexandra Laliberte, apologised Friday for how the evening unfolded and said the actor who confronted Weinstein at his table should have been given the microphone to vocalize their feelings, instead of being asked to leave. Laliberte, in a statement posted on the event’s Facebook page, said she chose to let Weinstein stay because no one objected when he arrived. She said she was not prepared to handle what became a “high-energy situation”. “I am deeply saddened that this was not only triggering for attendees, but that they ultimately felt unsafe when a safe environment is what I set out to create,” Laliberte said. Weinstein and his entourage had nothing to do with the