The Weinstein case gets personal
Celebrity, social media have driven story home
Cabot Lee Petoia, a 23- year- old public relations associate in Washington, D. C., had never heard of Harvey Weinstein until her boss sent her a link to The
New York Times exposé about decades of sexual harrassment allegations against him.
“Initially, I didn’t have much of a reaction because I thought he was just another creepy old dude,” Petoia says. But as the news began to grow and # Me Too began to take over social media, Petoia took more notice. She says that in the aftermath, she felt “empowered to tell my stories to some of my friends for the first time in my life.” In the weeks since the Times and
The New Yorker published the first allegations against Weinstein, the story has become nearly unavoidable. The number of women who have accused him of sexual harassment, misconduct or assault has passed 60. Director James Toback has been accused of harassment by more than 300 women. Kevin Spacey has been accused of sexually harassing actor Anthony Rapp when Rapp was 14 years old.
The scandal and the ensuing conversation about sexual violence have reached far beyond Hollywood as allegations against figures from celebrity chef John Besh to journalist Mark Halperin to former president George H. W. Bush have come to light.
But why have the allegations against Weinstein, a powerful name in Hollywood and media circles but not a household one, caused a conversation that has been more pervasive than those after allegations against Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Bill O’Reilly, R. Kelly or even President Trump?
What Weinstein allegedly did and whom he allegedly did it to may be more important to average Americans than the man himself, experts say.
The number of A- list celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Lupita Nyong’o, speaking up is unprecedented.
“The prominence of the accusers ... lends enormous credence and power to the allegations,” says University of Maryland broadcast journalism professor and media expert Mark Feldstein.
Their high profile “gives a lot more oxygen to the story.”
Tarana Burke, a sexual assault survivors advocate who started the Me Too Movement a decade ago, says Americans’ obsession with pop culture may explain why everyday people are taking notice.