His last leading lady
This p.r. big has job to defend Harvey
There’s at least one woman in America still willing to star in a Harvey Weinstein production.
Public-relations specialist Sallie Hofmeister, a former journalist once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, is unwavering in her role as the public face of the embattled Hollywood producer.
Friends who described Hofmeister as a staunch feminist, generous friend and promoter of young professional women, say they are disappointed that she has become the public “apologist” for Weinstein.
“All I can say is how much are they paying her to be Harvey’s mouthpiece?” said a Hollywood insider who has known Hofmeister for more than 20 years. “I hope she’s making a fortune because this is really embarrassing.”
Hofmeister would not disclose her salary to The Post. “That’s confidential, of course,” she said in an e-mail.
Hofmeister, 60, a senior executive for powerhouse p.r. firm Sitrick & Company, is part of an elite coterie of spin doctors and legal muscle that Weinstein has assembled to defend himself against a deluge of abuse allegations, including possible criminal charges that he raped “Boardwalk Empire” star Paz de la Huerta in 2010.
Michael Sitrick, who founded the high-powered firm that hired Hofmeister in 2013, told The Post that Weinstein’s lawyers contacted him Oct. 7, but that he wasn’t able to take the account personally because he was dealing with “a serious family-illness issue when the call came in.”
Sitrick, once called “the Ninja Master of the Dark Art of Spin” by Gawker, immediately called Hofmeister, whom he described as “highly principled and highly ethical.”
He said his decision to assign her the Weinstein account had nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman. She was simply the first person who came to mind, he said.
Sitrick added that all statements on the Weinstein matter are cleared by Weinstein’s elite team of lawyers before they are issued to the press.
He repeated Weinstein’s assertions that “any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied.”