Producer tied to Weinstein kills self
Jill Messick, a Hollywood producer and executive who once worked for Miramax under Harvey Weinstein’s leadership and served as actress Rose McGowan’s manager, took her own life this week after a long battle with depression, her family said. She was 50.
Following her death on Wednesday, Messick’s family released a blistering statement condemning Weinstein, McGowan and the media for their portrayals of Messick, who, the family said, “became collateral damage in an already horrific story.”
“Jill was victimized by our new culture of unlimited information sharing and a willingness to accept statement as fact,” the family told the Hollywood Reporter. “The speed of disseminating information has carried mistruths about Jill as a person, which she was unable and unwilling to challenge.”
Messick was McGowan’s manager in January 1997 when, the actress alleges, she was raped by Weinstein.
Messick’s name became entrenched in the Weinstein sexualassault scandal when McGowan told The New York Times in October that Messick arranged the meeting with Weinstein during which she was allegedly raped. McGowan told the Times that she confided in Messick, her manager, about what had happened. “She held me,” McGowan said.
But a few months later, Messick took a job at the Weinstein-led Miramax.
Messick’s name emerged in the news again recently as McGowan promoted her upcoming memoir, which includes stories involving Messick. In response to the media attention, Weinstein’s attorney, Ben Brafman, released a statement calling McGowan’s rape allegations “a bold lie” and attributed a quote to Messick as a witness corroborating his client’s position.
“Seeing her name in headlines again and again, as part of one person’s attempt to gain more attention for her personal cause, along with Harvey’s desperate attempt to vindicate himself, was devastating for her,” the family’s statement read.
The family added that Messick believed in the #MeToo movement and supported the women coming forward to expose “those who had committed previously unspeakable deeds.”
Actress Tina Fey, who worked with Messick in adapting the book “Queen Bees & Wanna Bees” for the movie “Mean Girls,” mourned the executive’s loss in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
“This is very sad news and my heart goes out to her family,” Fey said. “Jill was instrumental in helping Mean Girls get to the screen. She was a fiercely dedicated producer and a kind person.”