Many asking ‘Why now?’ after bombshell Weinstein revelations

NEW YORK—Why now? That was the first question many were asking this weekend after explosive revelations came to light about Harvey Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s most powerful men, and decades of alleged sexual harassment on his part.

First, it was a question about Hollywood, where tales about Weinstein and his behavior with women had circulated for years. But it also fed into a broader question, one that touched on the recent fates of Bill Cosby, the late Roger Ailes, and Bill O’Reilly. What factors had enabled all those stories to emerge?

In the view of former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, whose accusations led to the downfall last year of former Fox CEO Ailes, the key dynamic was women giving each other courage—spurring each other to tell their stories despite the risk of retaliation.

In an expose that rocked Hollywood, the Times reported that Weinstein had reached at least eight legal settlements with women over alleged harassment.

Weinstein, 65, apologized in a rambling statement that didn’t address any specific incident, and said he was taking a leave of absence. The Weinstein Co.’s remaining board of directors said Friday that his leave would be indefinite.

Many thought it could be the beginning of the end for a man whose influence had been so great. And virtually everyone was stunned. “I think people just can’t believe their eyes, that a story so many people have whispered about for so long has finally made it to publication,” said longtime Hollywood chronicler Janice Min, former editor of the Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly. Many in Hollywood were likely “crying tears of joy,” she added, and that included both women and men: “Schadenfreude is gender

For Min, who said she had been trying unsuccessfully to nail down the Weinstein story during her entire 7-year tenure at The Hollywood Reporter, several factors were at play in the recent cascade of allegations about Weinstein, and about Cosby, Ailes and O’Reilly before him. Perhaps most obviously, she said, was the idea of safety in numbers. “One woman’s story begets another,” she said. “It changes this whole culture of silence.”

That view was echoed by Gloria Allred, the attorney who has represented countless victims of alleged sexual harassment over four decades, including dozens of Bill Cosby accusers. “Many women are not willing to suffer in silence anymore,” Allred said in an interview. “They’ve reached their tipping point. And then one comes out, and then two, and it does encourage others—they feel safer in numbers.”