Jail showbiz sex predators, says angry Clooney
GEORGE Clooney said yesterday that he hoped the scandal of sexual harassment allegations against entertainment industry figures would be a “watershed moment for society”.
The film star and director, 56, called for an environment of accountability, “where men who are committing these crimes, these violations, don’t feel safe… maybe even go to jail for it.
“If we can get to that point, then we’ve succeeded.”
In a candid interview, he also said his wife Amal, 39, had encountered sexual harassment in her role as a human rights lawyer.
The film industry has been rocked by allegations against high-profile figures, including top producer Harvey Weinstein, Amazon Studios boss Roy Price and director James Toback.
It also emerged over the weekend that US network Fox News renewed a contract with former commentator Bill O’Reilly after he paid out a multimillion dollar settlement for sexual harassment.
Clooney, whose new film Suburbicon premiered in Hollywood on Sunday, warned that others in the film industry had been “complicit” in taking actresses to predatory producers.
“There were people who took young actresses to Harvey Weinstein’s hotel room and then left,” he said.
“Harvey would talk to me about women he had affairs with but I didn’t believe it.”
Speaking of Amal, Clooney said: “I talked with my wife about this and she can find in her line of work, there have been plenty of instances where some guy has tried to make his move.”
Referring to the Fox News disclosure, Clooney said: “What we hope is that this is a watershed moment for us as a society, where women feel safe to talk… feel believed.”
About 50 women claim they were abused by mogul Weinstein, 65, who faces police investigations in Britain and America into allegations of rape going back to the 1980s.
He denies all allegations sex. of nonconsensual