Harvey Weinstein: Hollywood’s dirty secret

“He is a sexual predator of a kind found in all sorts of industries, at all sorts of levels”

“Since the establishment of the first studios, a century ago, there have been few movie executives as dominant, or as domineering, as Harvey Weinstein,” said Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker. As the co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company, he changed the face of movie-making in the 1980s by bringing independent films into the mainstream. Responsible for scores of hits, from My Left Foot, The English Patient and Pulp Fiction to Gangs of New York and The King’s Speech, he has generated 300 Oscar nominations; at the Academy Awards ceremonies, he has been thanked more times than God. In Hollywood, he became known for his ability to spot the most promising actors, film directors and scriptwriters – but with a bullying, even threatening manner, he inspired as much fear as he did gratitude. And for years there were rumours of something far more serious: that Weinstein was a serial sexual predator.

It was the industry’s dirty secret, said The Guardian. Everyone knew, but no one talked – until The New York Times finally aired the allegations on 5 October. Since then, scores of women, including some of cinema’s biggest stars, have come forward to accuse Weinstein of harassment or assault. Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and Rosanna Arquette went public last week. Lysette Anthony has accused Weinstein of raping her in the 1980s (she is one of four women to accuse him of rape), and Kate Beckinsale has claimed that, aged 17, she only escaped his advances, in a room at the Savoy, by telling him she had school the next morning. The mogul – now holed up in a rehab clinic in Arizona – has denied assaulting anyone. However, he is being investigated by police on both sides of the Atlantic; his wife has left him; he has been fired by his own company; and he has been stripped of his place in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts.

The story could have come out two years ago, said Rosa Silverman in The Daily Telegraph. In 2015, Weinstein allegedly lunged at Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez during a meeting in New York. She went straight to the police, who asked her to meet him again wearing a wiretap. She managed to record some incriminating statements – but no charges were brought. Reporters got wind of his activities, said The Washington Examiner, but their investigations were always pulled – because Miramax was such a big advertiser; because they couldn’t get people to go on record; or perhaps because too many journalists and editors were in thrall to his wealth and power. Numerous actors and film-makers have now admitted that they had heard reports of Weinstein’s predations, but had failed to intervene. One or two heard the stories and did speak out – but it didn’t make a difference. On the red carpet in 2005, Courtney Love was asked by a TV reporter if she had any advice for aspiring actresses. “If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party in the Four Seasons [hotel], don’t go,” she replied.

This scandal has exposed the insincerity of Hollywood dogooders like few others, said Toby Young in The Sunday Telegraph. I can understand the silence of Weinstein’s juniors: he was a frightening and vengeful man (he kept a baseball bat in his office). They were scared and wanted to keep their jobs. But what of his equals? Most Hollywood big shots claim to be “passionate” about gender equality. They had a field day denouncing Donald Trump, after a recording of him boasting about groping women was made public; yet for years, they turned a blind eye to Weinstein’s vile behaviour. Even some of the women he allegedly assaulted carried on working with him, attended industry parties with him, and tearfully thanked him when they picked up their Oscars.

There’s nothing very surprising about the silence of his victims, said Laura Bates in The Daily Telegraph. Weinstein is not an anomalous “beast”. He is a sexual predator of a kind found in all sorts of industries, at all sorts of levels. He is the colleague who squeezes up to you in the lift; the supervisor who makes lewd comments about your body; the boss who makes it clear that your promotion depends on your response to his sexual advances. Half of women say they have been sexually harassed at work; a quarter have suffered unwanted touching. Many don’t speak out because they fear dismissal, disbelief, and blame. Others do file complaints, but surveys suggest that in 86% of cases, it does nothing to help. Until that changes, you can hardly blame women for keeping silent. If Weinstein is a monster, there are monsters everywhere. And it’s not up to their victims to stop them.