IT’S got more twists and turns than the movie scripts he produced, and Hollywood’s latest sex scandal continues to unfold.

Decades of Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein

By JODI KANTOR and MEGAN TWOHEY

The entertainment producer Harvey Weinstein arriving on the red carpet at the Academy Awards last year.

Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting. Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower, she recalled in an interview.

“How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” Ms. Judd said she remembers thinking.

An investigation by The New York Times found previously undisclosed allegations against Mr. Weinstein stretching over nearly three decades, documented through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers, as well as legal records, emails and internal documents from the businesses he has run, Miramax and the Weinstein Company.

During that time, after being confronted with allegations including sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact, Mr. Weinstein has reached at least eight settlements with women, according to two company officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Among the recipients, The Times found, were a young assistant in New York in 1990, an actress in 1997, an assistant in London in 1998, an Italian model in 2015 and Ms. O’Connor shortly after, according to records and those familiar with the agreements.

In a statement to The Times on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Weinstein said: “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”

He added that he was working with therapists and planning to take a leave of absence to “deal with this issue head on.”

Harvey Weinstein: Inside one of the most bizarre Hollywood sex scandals yet

ACTRESS Ashley Judd says she stands by her story after a Hollywood mega-producer claimed he “never laid a hand on her” and that she is “going through a tough time” after she made sexual allegations against him.
The sex scandal involving Harvey Weinstein — accused by “dozens” of current and former employees of inappropriate sexual behaviour — is barging through Tinseltown like a train derailing; an out of control mess of twisted stories and blame games.
As the chips start to fall for the once legendary mega-producer, the most powerful of the glitterati are banding together in what is fast becoming one of the biggest scandals in recent Hollywood history.
In just hours, the story has already seen twists and turns that could be ripped straight out of a movie script.
Weinstein is the co-chairman of The Weinstein Company and co-founder of Miramax Films. The companies produced favourites including My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams, the Scream franchise, Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love.
He’s scooped six best-picture Oscars while and his career has spanned from movies to television; Project Runway is his most popular reality-hit.
His public life includes humanitarian work with a range of charities, he’s supported Hillary Clinton and employed Malia Obama as an intern. He even marched in a women’s march at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
But with actor Ashley Judd leading the battle along with a line-up of other famous faces and former employees, it has forced the Oscar-winner to take a leave of absence from his own company just hours after the New York Times published its salacious expose.
Though Ms. O’Connor had been writing only about a two-year period, her memo echoed other women’s complaints. Mr. Weinstein required her to have casting discussions with aspiring actresses after they had private appointments in his hotel room, she said, her description matching those of other former employees. She suspected that she and other female Weinstein employees, she wrote, were being used to facilitate liaisons with “vulnerable women who hope he will get them work.”
The allegations piled up even as Mr. Weinstein helped define popular culture. He has collected six best-picture Oscars and turned out a number of touchstones, from the films “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hu nting” to the television show “Project Runway.” In public, he presents himself as a liberal lion, a champion of women and a winner of not just artistic but humanitarian awards.
In 2015, the same year Ms. O’Connor wrote her memo, his company distributed “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary about campus sexual assault. A longtime Democratic donor, he hosted a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton in his Manhattan home last year. He employed Malia Obama, the oldest daughter of former President Barack Obama, as an intern this year, and recently helped endow a faculty chair at Rutgers University in Gloria Steinem’s name. During the Sundance Film Festival in January, when Park City, Utah, held its version of the nationwide women’s marches, Mr. Weinstein joined the parade.

‘Coercive Bargaining’

For actors, a meeting with Mr. Weinstein could yield dazzling rewards: scripts, parts, award campaigns, magazine coverage, influence on lucrative endorsement deals. He knew how to blast small films to box office success, and deliver polished dramas like “The King’s Speech” and popular attractions like the “Scary Movie” franchise. Mr. Weinstein’s films helped define femininity, sex and romance, from Catherine Zeta-Jones in “Chicago” to Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

The actress Ashley Judd in the 1997 film “Kiss the Girls.” Ms. Judd said that Mr. Weinstein sexually harassed her two decades ago in his room at the Peninsula.

But movies were also his private leverage. When Mr. Weinstein invited Ms. Judd to breakfast in Beverly Hills, she had been shooting the thriller “Kiss the Girls” all night, but the meeting seemed too important to miss. After arriving at the hotel lobby, she was surprised to learn that they would be talking in his suite; she decided to order cereal, she said, so the food would come quickly and she could leave.

Mr. Weinstein soon issued invitation after invitation, she said. Could he give her a massage? When she refused, he suggested a shoulder rub. She rejected that too, she recalled. He steered her toward a closet, asking her to help pick out his clothing for the day, and then toward the bathroom. Would she watch him take a shower? she remembered him saying.

“I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask,” Ms. Judd said. “It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining.”

To get out of the room, she said, she quipped that if Mr. Weinstein wanted to touch her, she would first have to win an Oscar in one of his movies. She recalled feeling “panicky, trapped,” she said in the interview. “There’s a lot on the line, the cachet that came with Miramax.”

Not long afterward, she related what happened to her mother, the singer Naomi Judd, who confirmed their conversation to a Times reporter. Years later, Ashley Judd appeared in two Weinstein films without incident, she said. In 2015, she shared an account of the episode in the hotel room with “Variety” without naming the man involved.

In 1997, Mr. Weinstein reached a settlement with the actor Rose McGowan after an episode in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival. She had just appeared in the movie “Scream,” above.

In 1997, Mr. Weinstein reached a previously undisclosed settlement with Rose McGowan, then a 23-year-old-actress, after an episode in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival. The $100,000 settlement was “not to be construed as an admission” by Mr. Weinstein, but intended to “avoid litigation and buy peace,” according to the legal document, which was reviewed by The Times. Ms. McGowan had just appeared in the slasher film “Scream” and would later star in the television show “Charmed.” She declined to comment.

Increased Scrutiny

Just months before Ms. O’Connor wrote her memo, a young female employee quit after complaining of being forced to arrange what she believed to be assignations for Mr. Weinstein, according to two people familiar with her departure. The woman, who asked not to be identified to protect her privacy, said a nondisclosure agreement prevented her from commenting.

Soon, complaints about Mr. Weinstein’s behavior prompted the board of his company to take notice.

In March 2015, Mr. Weinstein had invited Ambra Battilana, an Italian model and aspiring actress, to his TriBeCa office on a Friday evening to discuss her career. Within hours, she called the police. Ms. Battilana told them that Mr. Weinstein had grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt, the police report says.

The claims were taken up by the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Squad and splashed across the pages of tabloids, along with reports that the woman had worked with investigators to secretly record a confession from Mr. Weinstein. The Manhattan district attorney’s office later declined to bring charges.

But Mr. Weinstein made a payment to Ms. Battilana, according to people familiar with the settlement, speaking on the condition of anonymity about the confidential agreement.

The public nature of the episode concerned some executives and board members of the Weinstein Company. (Harvey and Bob Weinstein together own 42 percent of the privately held business.) When several board members pressed Mr. Weinstein about it, he insisted that the woman had set him up, colleagues recalled.

Ms. Battilina had testified in court proceedings against associates of former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi who are accused of procuring women for alleged sex parties, and the Italian news media also reported that, years ago, Ms. Battilana accused a septuagenarian boyfriend of sexual harassment, a complaint that was apparently dismissed. Ms. Battilana did not respond to requests for comment. Her lawyer, Mauro Rufini, could not be reached for comment.

After the episode, Lance Maerov, a board member, said he successfully pushed for a code of behavior for the company that included detailed language about sexual harassment.

Then Ms. O’Connor’s memo hit, with page after page of detailed accusations. In describing the experiences of women at the company she had heard about, including her own, she wrote: “The balance of power is me: 0, Harvey Weinstein: 10.”

She was a valued employee — Mr. Weinstein described her as “fantastic,” “a great person,” “a brilliant executive” — so the complaint rattled top executives, including Bob Weinstein. When the board was notified of it by email, Mr. Maerov insisted that an outside lawyer determine whether the allegations were true, he said in an interview.

Mr. Weinstein in 1999 with the winners of the best-picture Oscar for “Shakespeare in Love.”

But the inquiry never happened. Mr. Weinstein had reached a settlement with Ms. O’Connor, she had withdrawn her complaint and there was no longer anything to investigate.

“Because this matter has been resolved and no further action is required, I withdraw my complaint,” Ms. O’Connor wrote in an email to the head of human resources six days after sending her memo. She also wrote a letter to Mr. Weinstein thanking him for the opportunity to learn about the entertainment industry.

Harvey Weinstein and Hillary Clinton in 2012. Mr. Weinstein held a fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton at his Manhattan home last year.

“From the outside, it seemed golden — the Oscars, the success, the remarkable cultural impact,” said Mark Gill, former president of Miramax Los Angeles, which was then owned by Disney. “But behind the scenes, it was a mess, and this was the biggest mess of all,” he added, referring to Mr. Weinstein’s treatment of women.

Dozens of Mr. Weinstein’s former and current employees, from assistants to top executives, said they knew of inappropriate conduct while they worked for him. Only a handful said they ever confronted him.

Actor Michelle Williams

Image result for Taylor Swift, musician Este Haim, actor Jaime King, nude blogspot.com

Taylor Swift, musician Este Haim, actor Jaime King, Harvey Weinstein and recording artist Lorde attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix’s 2015 Golden Globes After Party. Picture: Angela WeissSource:Getty Images

“How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” Judd wrote, explaining her thought process when Mr Weinstein appeared before her in just a bathrobe at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel. He proceeded to ask her if he could give her a massage, or perhaps she could watch him shower.

At the time the young actor was filming the 1997 movie, Kiss the Girls, a thriller which she appeared alongside Morgan Freeman.

The Times uses a memo written by a former staffer, who kept a meticulous account of events. She reports the Peninsula was typically Weinstein’s stomping ground; he invited employees with promises to boost their career. An assistant was once left “crying and very distraught” after Mr Weinstein allegedly “badgered her into giving him a massage while he was naked”.

Ashley Judd (“Olympus Has Fallen”)

“Women have been talking about Harvey among ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly,” Judd said, according to the Times.

Since the story broke overnight, many have tweeted their own claims; it’s old news, there have been rumours swirling around for years, they say. The story has been boiling and bubbling for months yet the rumours have circled for decades before. Judd had previously told Variety in 2015 that she was sexually harassed by a studio executive, but had not mentioned any names.

“A story everyone in media has heard about but most have had trouble nailing,” wrote Buzzfeed reporter Shani Hilton.

“Harvey Weinstein is merely the latest of many, many, many reminders that Hollywood isn’t actually a progressive industry,” tweeted The Washington Post’s Alyssa Rosenberg.

The Times tackled three decades of undisclosed allegations against Weinstein, interviewing current and former employees, film industry insiders and scouring pages upon pages of legal records, emails and internal files from his business, Miramix and the Weinstein company.

The Times notes two anonymous company sources who confirmed Mr Weinstein reached at least eight settlements with various women; assistants, actresses and models. It is believed one of those was with actor Rose McGowan in 1997 when she was 23.

In a statement to The Times he said he was “trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go” and is working with therapists to “deal with this issue head on.”

He told CNNMoney: “I came of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when all the rules about behaviour and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office — or out of it.”

“I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them.”

Yet in a strange twist, a lawyer representing Mr Weinstein, famed women’s rights lawyer Lisa Bloom, told The Times “he denies many of the accusations as patently false.”

In an interview with Page Six he blasted Judd, claiming “I never laid a glove on her”.

“I know Ashley Judd is going through a tough time right now, I read her book [her memoir All That Is Bitter and Sweet], in which she talks about being the victim of sexual abuse and depression as a child. Her life story was brutal, and I have to respect her. In a year from now I am going to reach out to her.”

In an interview with the New York Post after the scandal broke, Mr Weinstein claimed the despite the fact he “bears responsibility” for his reckless behaviour, he confirmed he had hired another lawyer, Charles Harder, who famously fought — and won — Hulk Hogan’s $140 million settlement against Gawker, and planned to sure The Times.

“What I am saying is that I bear responsibility for my actions, but the reason I am suing is because of The Times’ inability to be honest with me, and their reckless reporting. They told me lies. They made assumptions,” Mr Weinstein said.

According to producers inside of Tinseltown, they’re shocked it’s taken so long for the scandal to break. For them, Harvey Weinstein’s sexually charged behaviour was “one of the most open secrets in Hollywood”.
WEINSTEIN’S WIFE POSTS ON INSTAGRAM
As the scandal detailing her famous millionaire husband’s alleged sexually abusive career spanning the last three decades hit the press, Weinstein’s wife hit post on Instagram.
But it wasn’t surrounding the incoming storm that would rain down upon her husband’s reputation.
Instead there she was, at Canoe Studios in Manhattan, launching her own bridal wear collection.
At what The Cut says was “almost the exact same time that The Times hit publish” on its story over her husband of ten years, Georgina Chapman plunged forward.
It didn’t take long for the comments to turn.
“Your husband is disgusting and every single famous woman who has stood by as this happened to others has dirty hands,” one wrote in reply.
“Why is Harvey harassing women?” Another asked.
“Your husband is disgusting and every single famous woman who has stood by as this happened to others has dirty hands,” one wrote in reply.
“Why is Harvey harassing women?” Another asked.
“Really? Selling women on your marriage values? You’re no less a swine than him.”

The Harvey Weinstein Sexual Harassment Scandal

Decades of Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein: Inside one of the most bizarre Hollywood sex scandals yet

‘Coercive Bargaining’

Increased Scrutiny

Ashley Judd (“Olympus Has Fallen”)