Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jolie, Paltrow join Weinstein accusers
3 others accuse Weinstein of rape as scandal widens
Actresses’ claims intensify sex scandal involving disgraced Hollywood movie mogul.
NEW YORK — An avalanche of allegations poured out Tuesday against Harvey Weinstein in onthe-record reports that detailed claims of sexual abuse and included testimonies from actresses Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, further intensifying the already explosive collapse of the disgraced movie mogul.
Three women accused Weinstein of raping them in a story published online by The New Yorker, including Italian actress Asia Argento and a woman who was an aspiring actress in college when she caught Weinstein’s eye. A representative for the mogul denied the allegations in a statement to the magazine.
The New York Times also reported Tuesday that other actresses have in recent days added to the chorus of accusations surrounding Weinstein.
Paltrow described Weinstein’s attempt to lure her, then 22, into giving him a massage in a hotel room. The incident prompted her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt to confront Weinstein at a film premiere.
Both reports ratcheted up the unfolding scandal surrounding Weinstein, who was fired Sunday from the Weinstein Co. They not only describe a mounting number of alleged incidents, but document the systematic harassment, abuse and intimidation of women.
Lucia Evans, then a senior at Middlebury College, said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 at the Miramax offices in New York City. She had been brought in for a casting meeting with Weinstein.
Argento, an actress and director, said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. A third woman spoke anonymously.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, say they are “disgusted” by the accusations leveled at Weinstein.
Weinstein has been a major Democratic Party donor for years. He and family have given more than $1.4 million in political contributions since the 1992 election cycle.
Attorneys for Weinstein did not return messages Tuesday. The New Yorker quoted Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister responding that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
“Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual,” Hofmeister said. “Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.”
The New Yorker story, written and researched by the NBC correspondent Ronan Farrow, claimed that 13 women have said Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between 1990 and 2015. The incidents described range from unwanted groping to forced sex. Some of those incidents overlap with the eight allegations of sexual harassment previously reported by The New York Times, all of which resulted in financial settlements.
In the article, actresses Rosanna Arquette and Mira Sorvino are among those who claim Weinstein sexually harassed them. Arquette described a 1990s incident at a Beverly Hills hotel in which Weinstein tried to make her give him a massage and then attempted to lead her hand to his penis.
Jolie also told the Times that she has “a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth.” Since, she said, she has refused to work with him and “warn others when they did.”
Meanwhile, Weinstein’s wife, Georgina Chapman, said she is leaving her husband, according to People magazine. She said her heart breaks for all the women who have suffered because of Weinstein’s “unforgivable” actions and pleaded for privacy for herself and her two young children. The couple married in 2007.