How Gwyneth helped bring down Harvey Weinstein
LAST WEEK, AN EXPLOSIVE new book chronicling the downfall of Harvey Weinstein revealed that the greatest weapon in breaking the story was none other than Gwyneth Paltrow. She Said, written by New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, explains how Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers, was instrumental in the early days of Gwyneth’s career. He was behind her star-making role in 1996’s Emma, and produced Shakespeare In Love in 1999, for which she won an Oscar. So, when the actress got in touch, Jodi and Megan were surprised.
‘She wasn’t even on our list of people to call, because she’s one of the biggest stars,’ Jodi tells Grazia over the phone from New York. ‘It was so unlikely that she was one of them [his victims], or that she would even want to speak to us.’ But speak she did. ‘We were connected through an intermediary, who said she wanted to tell us a very disturbing story of harassment and threat.’
Gwyneth told the reporters that Weinstein suggested they give each other massages during a meeting in LA. She refused, and later told then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, who approached Weinstein at a premiere and warned him not to touch her.
Gwyneth wanted to do more than share her story: she contacted other Hollywood actresses to see if they could help, too. ‘She was willing to find out if anyone else would speak to us,’ Jodi explains. However, even she struggled to persuade women to talk openly about Weinstein’s behaviour, at a time when he was still the most powerful man in Hollywood. ‘She had a lot of trouble,’ adds Jodi. ‘People really didn’t want to speak.’ But Gwyneth was resolute, and spoke to the reporters regularly, via text, even calling Jodi from her bathroom after Weinstein turned up unannounced at her home. ‘She panicked and ran for the bathroom,’ Jodi remembers. ‘That was really disconcerting, because he was trying to demand information about whether she was speaking to us.’
Megan and Jodi were also invited to Gwyneth’s Hamptons home to discuss the investigation further. It was here that she told them she didn’t want to be the focal point. ‘Her fear was that this was going to turn into a tabloid celebrity sex scandal,’ Jodi explains. Later, she would open up her home again as a safe haven for other sources and victims to come together.
‘We were very grateful to Gwyneth that she allowed us use her space,’ Jodi tells us. ‘We [needed] a private setting in which women could allow themselves to open up,’ continues Megan.
There was a little bit of bewilderment. ‘We were meeting at Gwyneth’s house for privacy, but one of the attendees worked at Mcdonald’s,’ adds Jodi.
It was at one of these meetings that Gwyneth divulged an uncomfortable discovery: she learnt that Weinstein had spoken of her success when trying to convince other women to sleep with him, implying that she had done the same.
‘That was a really painful recognition for her, to learn that [she] had been used that way. And it was an example of women being used to hurt other women,’ says Jodi. Gwyneth has since ‘spent a lot of time on the phone with these women... expressing how deeply shaken and upset she was to hear that.’
Since the release of She Said, Weinstein’s lawyers have hit back, and he has denied all previous allegations. ‘Harvey Weinstein is probably going to make a variety of moves to try and undermine this book,’ says Megan. One thing is clear, though: thanks to a thorough investigation, and finding a remarkable ally in Gwyneth, Weinstein’s victims will no longer be silenced.