Great article!
We also need to expose the major corporations who FOR YEARS have been concealing their unlawful Employment Racial Discrimination and Retaliation against Blacks by way of job intimidation, non-disclosure agreement (NDA) payoffs AND THEIR LEVERAGE IN THE COURT SYSTEM.
Even judges are complicit as they push victims of unlawful Employment Racial Discrimination and Retaliation perpetrated by major corporations into Court ordered mediation/non-disclosure agreements….even without the victim’s consent. They will also use their authority as judges to punish these victims if the victims refuse to comply with these said Court ordered mediations/NDAs.
Sexual Harassment, Employment Racial Discrimination and Retaliation are unlawful under Title VII.
4
I'm surprised that no one thought to record Weinstein in one of these private moments. That might have ended this sooner.
2
As the mother of a sweet, tender, innocent 18 yo daughter, I thank these reporters and all of the women who came forward. Because of you, my daughter who is majoring in Finance and will go into the business world) will be safe.
I have no respect whatsoever for the women who wrote editorials and attended fundraisers on behalf of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Those women taught hundreds of men that, as long as they outwardly aligned themselves with liberal ideology, they could get off scott free.
10
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill's statement re Lena Dunham's *multiple* warnings to *multiple* Clinton campaign staff is galling and obnoxious:
“Only [Dunham] can answer why she would tell them instead of those who could stop him.”
So... Lena Dunham shouldn't have bothered to warn the Clinton campaign that Harvey Weinstein is a sexual predator and liability?
Did it not occur to Merrill that Clinton's campaign staff aren't the only people Lena Dunham spoke to about Weinstein?
6
Where is writer/director Preston Sturges when we need him?!!
3
How we miss Mr. Carr - that's a fact. It's so disturbing to read this in the article, truly -
"Mr. Carr, a New York Times columnist who died in 2015, heard about Ms. McGowan’s assault allegation and other accusations while reporting a profile for New York magazine in 2001, his editors said.
Several weeks before the article was published, Kroll, a private investigative agency that did work for Mr. Weinstein, provided him with some details of Mr. Carr’s reporting, according to a former Miramax executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Carr wrote in the profile that Mr. Weinstein seemed to have “near-perfect visibility into my notebook,” and told friends that Mr. Weinstein called him before publication to read a line he had written."
7
Disney must have known about the "Mouse House Rapist". The long leash they gave him is nothing but planned plausible deniability. The victims of HW should sue Disney. Or Disney shareholders should sue for such incompetence in managing their resources.
8
Wow, look how far this goes! How high up! It has an overseas intelligence agency!!! An overseas intelligence agency...just to dig up dirt on people, or even make things up? Wew, imagine what these same people are capable of doing when big money, their corporate interests and big careers are involved? It is amazing how much lying, spying, intimidation and distortions are involved.
No wonder capable middle class people cannot run for office, rise in their careers, communicate openly or jokingly and get justice, even for a facial burn, without everything they do or say being spied on, used against them and even distorted.
It is sad that some women involved in this cover up, working with Wienstein or his team to aid him, are now claiming victimhood, They participated in this garbage for their selfish money minded arrogant interests...but are now trying to salvage their reputation as victims by distorting what they did, or by minimizing their role in this,
Reminds me of some of the garbage that goes on in our academe too. The level of impropriety, dishonesty and distortion have probably penetrated that sacred institution too. So, where do honest idealistic people go in this country with these kinds of people? We don't know where their spies work. Maybe in restaurants, on the web, stealing emails, looking at out skype,..inserting stuff and lying about us. How far, how high and how ugly does it go?
And Republicans and Democrats, what's the difference now?
7
The complicity framework has been well known (if not widely publicized) for some time. The foundation is being a political liberal, who's well connected with Hollywood and the Democratic Party.
That was pretty much Bill Clinton's game plan, with the liberal press and its allies in the "women's" movement making it work -- as the defend-Bill-to-the-death crusades of various "feminists" and the Clinton supporters in the press in the late 1990s.
Hence, this reader believes that the NY Times was a key, albeit indirect, part of the Weinstein complicity machine. The current spasm of high dudgeon in these pages seems too little, and much too late.
4
Why is Weinstein's behavior referred to as "inappropriate" and not wrong?
6
Yes, he fooled the Clintons, as this story goes at length to describe -- and the Obamas, who trusted Weinstein enough to let their daughter Malia intern at his company. (http://www.newsweek.com/malia-obama-harvey-weinstein-accusations-680950).
Weinstein fooled a lot of good people, and those he didn't fool he threatened. He should be sent to prison sentence for all the agony he caused, both the sexual harassment and sexual assaults. That he says he didn't rape anyone shows that he isn't taking responsibility.
As for those who don't know, as Savannah Guthrie said about her friend Matt Lauer, "How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly?” here is an answer: They didn't "behave badly," they were savages with their power. Clearly, some women still are torn between supporting victims of abuse and their loyalty to abusers.
Let's see how Guthrie and other "heart-broken" friends of abusers report the win or loss of Alabama's Roy Moore for the US Senate seat.
This may be a watershed moment, or a movement, but as long as there are enablers, there will be predators.
10
When my husband and I received/receive compliments regarding our children's character, manners etc. our response has always been the same; we'll take some of the credit the other half is on them.
How ironic Miramax, the company named after after the brother's parents showcase's all failed on most counts.
"All the money in the world"....
6
In the Broadway hit, “Harvey,” the title character is a naughty invisible rabbit. It is said that Weinstein bought the rights and cast himself in the lead. To his recent chagrin, however, no one had the nerve to tell him they could see exactly was he was doing.
1
For what it's worth, I'm at least happy that the response from the Weinstein constituency is ferocious and unforgiving. We (i.e., "cultural elites") are quick to tear down a web of deceit among "our own" when it shows its ugly self beyond the protective veneer of money and power. Those with power are almost always corrupted. But it is "our" constituency for which I am proud. Let the "other side" protect their predators, we've got this. If we have less power at the end of the process, at least we've got integrity.
5
I am glad to see this story, no matter how horrible Weinstein is, because it shows just how disgusting predators can be and because it shows the terrible damage. In fact, so many of the stories that have appeared about incidents in politics and media provide details that all women should know about and share with friends and even their daughters/sisters/etc. But I have yet to see many stories of abuse at more mundane levels of society and the workplace. How effective is #Metoo in getting secretaries, clerks, housekeepers, factory workers, etc. to come out and declare the abuse they have received. I'm not sure we can get anywhere until "little people"--"little women"--find their voices among those of the celebrities.
9
There is a larger story here, beyond one man, of the widespread abuse of power in American life.
While Weinstein certainly went father than most, his brand of fear and intimidation is quite familiar to many of us in the workplace, where anyone who is seen as central to attracting money, prestige, or brand identity is given near carte blanche to jerk everyone else around. The staff grumbles but few are willing to go out on a limb for realistic fear that they will be sunk professionally. Boards, executive directors, and presidents look the other way. HR is useless or worse.
Over the past several days I have been devastated to see men whose public personas I genuinely admired - including John Hockenberry, Leonard Lopate - be unmasked as creeps. Apparently, their behavior was well known and tolerated by the higher-ups for years.
We need a sea change in how we think about and manage celebrity and authority.
7
after my retirement from nearly 46 years of standing around on movie sets, folks used to wonder why i was so cynical. not anymore. thanks, harvey!
i just can't wait for oscar™ season to watch this unsavory group fall over themselves in scripted paroxysms of contrition and smarm.
8
A kindergartener asked me if I believe in monsters.
After reading this, I had to pause.
12
Meanwhile, in the What's Past is Prologue department, I continue to be amazed, as on the Buzzr network I see old episodes from the 1970s of "Family Feud" and "Match Game", at the virtual law of period nature that apparently persuaded producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman that it was a good idea to have Richard Dawson and Gene Rayburn, and more than a few of Rayburn's male celebrity panelists, kissing the lips of "their" lady contestants like they were giving out party favors. Did any of the women then so osculated ever object, whether before, during or after? If so, the footage resulting must have never made it past the cutting-room floor. "You had to be there" as "they" say.
3
In my fantasy universe, Harvey Weinstein lives out his days in prison, with cellmate Donald Trump -- both of them with only each other to bully and assault.
I'm not sure what happens to their enablers and accomplices, but we may be nearing some Good Samaritan-type laws, wherein silence or inaction is tantamount to complicity.
9
I recently read Shakespeare's, "The Taming of the Shrew." Katharine, the Shrew, was mistreated intentionally by her sudden marriage to a wealthy man running from the law for murdering someone in another village. The suitor was a gruff and irascible man who chose Katharine as his wife and his match. The taming began even before the marriage as the suitor presented himself quite in-eloquently and gave reasons why he should be allowed to marry Kate, regardless of his appearance and presentation. The marriage was made and the travel to his manor began, through mud, bad weather, and freezing temperatures. Upon arrival, Kate was not allowed to eat or dress appropriately, even though delicious food and becoming clothing were offered to her.
Long story short, Kate was tamed and her irascible husband proved to the community that she was tamed when he made a bet at her father's house that Kate would come when he called.
When Kate appeared, she stated that a woman should come when her husband calls because he, not she, is the one who faces all manner of death and hardship each time he steps outside their home. A woman generally is not forced to perform these tasks to provide for her family.
But a man should not expect something for nothing from any woman in any setting that he has not EARNED. "Coercion" is not "earning." It is forcible, subjecting women to give of themselves unwillingly. Brutality and rape ensue.
Female companionship is earned, not expected.
2
I'll believe complicit is the right choice for word of the the year (2017) when those who knowingly covered up sexual harrassment and assault - essentially condoned the actions of "alleged" rapists and pedophiles, as some of the staff of CAA or the RNC have done for Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore - are held accountable. So far, I haven't seen that evidence. As of now, the more accurate word is supremacy.
4
Unbelievable article. It is really gripping story telling of a serial abuser, bordering criminal behavior mixed in with a monstrous ego. It is so unfortunate that no one, no one, who knew what was going on would help these victims. It is like having a serial killer on the prowl and people around know the killer but did not care. I think materialism and lack of self worth motivated the silent, but powerful folks from putting an end to this serial verbal, mental and physical assaulter. I hope this monster is never resuscitated back into any into any meaningful conversation.
5
What struck me in this article was how many people declined to comment. Never mind legality, ethics, morality, etc. Just protect your rear end.
7
Look--obviously this is an important story and the NY Times has done a great job of covering it. HOWEVER....
Harvey Weinstein can no longer cause harm to women. His career is destroyed and there's an excellent chance he's on a one way trip to prison.
So how about a SERIOUS story on the complicity machine surrounding another man--accused by 20 women of sexual assault and accused by two women of rape? A man who occupies the highest office in the land and not only has massive control over the lives of every woman in America, but also the lives of every man in America? Isn't that an exponentially bigger story?
68
Sexual abuse is not the only sort of abuse. Economic abuse is even more widespread, and is protected and defended in the same ways. Harvey operated the way he did whether he was forcing himself on others sexually or financially. The sexual abuse is more lurid but the financial and economic abuse is at the center of how our economy works; Madoff operated for years until he in effect turned himself in. Wells Fargo management concocted a giant fraud to make its business model look more successful than it was and thereby drive up its stock price, but they retain most of the money they made and most of the people and other entities that banked with the company still do.
We are all shocked by Harvey to hide from ourselves the facts -- how he operates is not at all unusual, many of us benefit from the system or are part of it and want it not to break down, and we do not see how anything substantive can be done anyway (a thoroughly reasonable opinion about Harvey until a few weeks ago, and still thoroughly reasonable in the economic sphere).
10
Well, it is certainly more "lurid" for the women who have been sexually harassed , assaulted or raped - and then silenced, dismissed or ignored - although I would chose another term, such as "traumatizing" or "brutalizing".
Of course economic harassment and power-brokering can be horrible for victims and have similar mechanisms, but I submit it is QUALITATIVELY different than having your physical body assaulted. The analogy is at best an intellectual exercise but borders on an inhumane comparison for victims.
2
excellent point, I've been thinking the same thing myself....the economic bullying against working folks in the USA is disgusting.
2
Why don't men with sexual problems just pay for it instead of causing themselves all this trouble? It's cheaper too.
3
It's not the sex they like; it's the power they feel from seeing fear and then submission.
It's sick.
They wouldn't see genuine fear and submission if they were paying.
1
Because it isn't about sex, it's about power and domination. Fear and control turn these creeps on.
2
A wonderful investigative reporting job by Twohey and company! Now we can rest assured that Hillary didn't know a thing about Weinstein. Why else would she, a self professed champion of women, work with him on her documenatary? What a colossal phony.
Now if only Twohey and company could look into Trump... but this time Twohey needs to stick to the truth!
2
There are thousands of '3 strikes you're out' marijuana dealers serving life sentences right now and this disgusting excuse for a human being is free as a bird?!?!
Not to mention the one is sitting in the Oval Office
43
This is how Cluster B disordered malignant narcissists operate. They walk among us and the more quickly they are recognized and confronted by decent people, the less damage they can do.
7
Where is his wife in all this? Why is she getting off unscathed?I find it hard to believe he restricted his vile behavior toward others only when she wasn't around, and that she was just oblivious and was always charming and ethical around her. No way. Why isn't she speaking out? Is it possibly because his bullying tactics benefitted her Marchesa business? Hmm... she seems just as much an enabler as the rest of the disgusting pack.
10
Um, aren't American Media's actions aiding and abetting a criminal.... ?
5
This is indeed a terrible report, but thank God Lena Dunham warned everybody!
5
Unmentioned in this outrage du jour is the ubiquity of daily cocaine use in the US by both men and women. Unmentioned, because possession of cocaine is a felony and no one's going to publicly admit to it. Cocaine is not used as a "date drug" ala Bill Cosby, where women [and men] are unconscious victims in a Qaalude induced semi-coma. Nowadays, cocaine is a common preliminary to sex in the hookup culture.
Some estimated hundreds of thousands of pounds of cocaine a year are consumed in the US, primarily by the rich and powerful, and particularly by ugly fat boys who grow up to be powerful and find that a $175 8-ball of coke enables them to get laid with attractive women. A small price to pay for an ugly fat boy with loose cash.
This is not just Hollywood, but every state in the US. Washington DC is estimated to be the leading consumer, Atlanta a close second. Hard data isn't kept by El Chapo's sub-contractors, but...
Cocaine use in any urban area can be measured by testing the water for cocaine residual combinants. Thus possible to arrive at a guesstimate of cocaine use further up the sewer pipe to the toilets of America.
It's also estimated that every $20 and $100 bill in ATMs across the US will test positive for trace amounts of cocaine, and thus is no longer accepted as evidence of possession.
Cocaine use also explains the bizarre sexual behavior reported, the infantile aggression and aggressive power trips in business and sex.
But no one talks about it.
2
CAA...
how charming
and reptilian
their liability is obvious
their taste nonexistent
3
Oh man this subject matter in this is sickening. It is disheartening to read about people looking the other way when it would benefit themselves and destroy others. I knew of those to be complicit to be those in the industry and politicians. However it was truly disheartening to learn that people in the media were also involved. To stamp on citizens' trust of the media... Mr Weinstein and and his henchmen abused the first amendment -- specifically freedom of press.
7
So C.A.A. has "high standards" that it "sets" for itself. What on earth does that mean? This just the fox guarding the chicken coop.
They are actually among the worst offenders in this tawdry story, since they heard the allegations directly from their own clients. Not only did they do nothing to help them, C.A.A. actively discouraged their own clients from exposing Mr. Weinstein (and who knows who else). The company was supposed to represent the actresses they sent, but (in keeping with the Chicago economics schools dictum that the only social responsibility that a business has is to turn a profit) the concern was only about the bottom line.
Someone should investigate them. I shudder to think of what their corporate culture is like.
6
Good lede on this. Thank you for admitting that some who participated in Harvey’s twisted dictatorship did so in full knowledge of the currency in use.
11
And yet the careers of those who were knowledgeable yet silent on Harvey's ogre-esque predation on women seem largely unaffected.
Tarantino just announced he will be directing a new Star Trek series.
I'm reminded of the quote - all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to remain silent. Of course how "good" a silent man is in this respect is up for debate.
3
I have not quite finished reading the article yet but one thing that is clear is that everyone should immediately stop buying or reading any American Media publications — The Enquirer, Globe, OK!, Radar Online and others - and all retailers should stop carrying them.
3
Here's an idea for a movie scene: A perverted movie producer is walking in downtown L.A, possibly towards a meeting, maybe he's got a security guard or two. From out of nowhere a multitude of masked women tactically maneuver upon him armed with tactical AR-15's and very sharp combat knifes. His security is surprised and caught off guard and they are quickly subdued, but not harmed. The masked women pull the producer to the ground, and cut and tear his pants and underwear off. One of the women pulls out a knife, and begins to...remove a certain part. As the women are pulling security in a tight formation around the operation, another is filming from a some distance away. The video captures it all. Once the "removal" is complete, the removed part is thrown over the heads of of the women pulling security and is captured on film landing on the ground by the videographer. The group tactically ex-fills the scene to a nearby waiting vehicle while the producer is left writhing in pain. The whole scene is executed military style and takes only a few seconds.
2
The ongoing focus on privilege highlights one of the most glaring disparities – the privilege men hold over women. Privilege is a relative term and there are wide disparities even within the same race and class. It’s hard to imagine any group suffers more from disparate privilege than the global community of women.
5
A paradigm shift is underway in Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general. It hard to ague that this won't cause a dramatic shift in culture: pop and traditional attitudes. Because of the influence of both of those elements on our society a huge "cultural reconciliation" will take place. This is just the start.
Women's voices, unencumbered by fear of exploitation, assault, exchanging sex for career mobility or success, will be free. As this new reality takes hold, and the cultural imbalances that men have perpetuated and represented are neutralized,the playing field will be leveled. Women will advance and society in general will reap the reward...in art, science, medicine, business and technology.
The Weinsteins, Lauers and their ilk will be punished, locked up, fined, shunned or ostracized but it won't matter. That will be a sideshow pretty soon...like cleaning house. The key is that we, as a community, will advance because our women will be unshackled. Pretty cool.
2
I believe HW is guilty.
I do not believe anything from the mass media industry anymore.
COMPLICITY.
2
"She later reached a settlement with Mr. Weinstein."
And that is part of the problem: if you value money so much that you settle instead of having your case adjudicated, you're essentially allowing to be bribed.
Kudos to Ronan Farrow for standing his ground even when his agents tried to get him to back down and take a meeting with Harvey Weinstein.
10
What a creep. More so, what an industry that trades on fear. Surely someone is working on a script to capitalize on "train-wreck Harvey". So, who's taken his place? Will the circle be unbroken? Stay tuned.
Excellent and sobering reporting by all. This penetrating article gets into the mechanisms of control. It's all there: the use of fear and intimidation, alliances with entities that have useful capabilities to support the miscreant, a wealthy power base able to disburse favors and the cultivation of close political contacts.
This episode is like the powerful Bert Lancaster-Tony Curtis movie "Sweet Smell of Success" in its vengeful tactics. One person can attain so much power due to organizational structure that it allows him to manipulate the organization to service his perverse desires. The organizational manipulation extends to the entire industry.
Mia Kirshner summarizes the Weinstein case exactly:
“It all came down to money,” she said. “It speaks to why he was protected as opposed to the actors.“
Donald Trump is a disaster and should never have been nominated. That being said, it boggles the imagination that Hillary Clinton would be president during this embarrassing situation. It would be another arduous Clinton imbroglio that they'd have to confront, having to explain a close relationship with Harvey Weinstein to garner his support.
Maybe the entertainment industry, and others, can use this revealing article to create organizations that respect people instead of manipulating them for personal gain.
6
Compare this to how the discovery of what Bernie Madoff was up to was handled. Financial shenanigans are enumerated and the person goes to jail - no settlements or payoffs. Sexual exploitation can be covered up and payoffs provide cover.
3
Great reporting! Now set your sights on someone a little higher up the food chain... our so-called president.
10
There isn't enough Dawn detergent to wash off the slick from living and working in Hollywood.
3
This is first rate journalism. The NYT at its very best.
These reporters deserve raises and prizes and resources and free reign to expose more crimes.
Very well done
35
What this tells me is that most humans act solely out of self interest. Far too few of us are willing to do the right thing if it threatens our money, career, etc.
2
Read it again, you missed a lot.
2
Really? Most people in the article did nothing when the victimized women told them about what had happened to them. What part did I miss?
1
“Focus on the future as America loves a great comeback story,” he wrote to the movie producer.
He finished: “The good news is, this will go away sooner than you think and it will be forgotten!”
No, Mr. Tudor Jones. This will not go away. This will not be forgotten. And Harvey Weinstein will not be coming back, even with the help of his enablers.
11
Let's hope that this atmosphere of revelations by the people who are in the know soon extends to Steve Bannon and what he is up to in planting stories to distract from Roy Moore being a child molester. One can only imagine fearfully what else he is up to to create cover for his depraved activities in aid of destroying our government.
3
Clearly the entertainment industry and the establishment media have starting to recognize the full extent of the damage Harvey Weinstein inflicted. Does it follow that there soon will be criminal charges filed against him?
2
So, Hollywood is the habitat of reptiles.
How could we have known?
3
Why does it not surprise me that David Pecker’s and Dylan Howard’s tabloid empires are comprised of publications that traffic in shaming primarily women, for their looks, and for their human frailties? Every time I pass through a grocery checkout line, I feel as if I’m running a gauntlet of humiliation reinforced by airbrushed pectorals and photoshopped midriffs, while the sleazier selections trumpet the latest fall from celebrity grace through a tawdry divorce or relapse from rehab, or taunt the childless with the latest starlet baby-bump. I’ve never bought any of these magazines and rarely, if ever, seen anyone else. Do they even make money? If I didn’t know better, I’d think these publishers use the checkout lines as propaganda outlets, not just to capitalize on people’s insecurities and fears, but to maintain a social and gender hierarchy from which they benefit. We’re all their targets.
6
Thank god for this article and for the brave victims! We started talking about this in the 1970s, and FINALLY things will change regarding sexual violence. #metoo
3
Thanks for this compelling and real view into the world of powerful men.
I can't help but think of his wife...was she complicit or an innocent victim? How does she feel now about the fabulous lifestyle she was afforded at these other women's expense?
9
She knew. All of Hollywood's wives do.
7
"Some journalists negotiated book and movie deals with him even as they were assigned to cover him."
That certainly looks like professional misconduct. Are they going to get a pass while other miscreants are made to pay? Their lack of fundamental ethics continues to affect us all.
4
Suggestion: replace Weinstein's name with Trump and change the business context to politics and shady business dealings and you have the current administration.
6
In Peter Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures" there are numerous anecdotes about Weinstein's behavior. That book came out in 2004. This behavior was well known for years, as this article shows, and a terrible mix of power, money, fame, careerism, and predation came together to victimize a yet unknown number of women.
I am grateful that the lid is being torn off of this particular cesspool, and wish both healing and justice for the victims. However, I have no doubt that similar or worse stories have taken, or are still taking place, in Hollywood. We've barely touched on other industries, or politics. I suspect rot like this, and the various enablers of it, run wide and deep.
Keep digging.
13
The pedophiles of Hollywood are hopefully next.
6
It seems Weinstein was truly an evil monstrous man made the more so by so many people willing to help him continue to do evil monstrous things.
6
It's seemingly obvious that HW should be living behind bars. Instead, right now, who knows where he is at. Sex rehab? Yeah, right.
Those closely involved with masking his sexual predator and rape crimes should be charged with complicity. What a sordid mess Hollywood is.
Cheap and sleazy don't even come close with this. Tolerating and promoting his criminal behaviour is beyond reprehensible and also illegal, (aiding and abetting).
HW is an incorrigible, nasty old man who rightly deserves his ruination. A seriously sickening and revolting power freak.
I will NOT go and see this movie when it's made into a bio-pic.
Knowing H'Wood they're already doing casting calls for this.
5
Heartbreaking, and more ENRAGING that heartbreaking. These young women who were "complicit" did have recourse. They COULD have gone to the FBI.
They COULD have "wired up." They COULD have sued Weinstein & Co. They COULD have done rthe right thing despite risking their job.
I knew HW. I never worked in that field. He is a raging monster. There is, however, NO doubt in my mind that I would have been wired up if I knew he was hurting anyone. Complicity would not have been an option.
It is a hellish disappointment that NO male or female had the fortitude to do the right thing. How the heck do they think serial sex abusers, rapists,predators, and criminals are STOPPED? It is surely NOT by turning the other way. I am OUTRAGED.
SHAME on one and all.
7
With all due respect, JKO, going to the authorities does absolutely nothing. Zero. I know from experience that if you through all the "right" channels, report what you have seen to the District Attorney, the Sexual Assault Team, the NYPD, and Special Victims - make reports, etc., Nothing will happen, except you will be seen as....
the one who spoke up and then had a target on their back.
Even Bette Midler was afraid to speak truth to power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_ai0mbNQ4w
2
Why did the NYT put a HUGE photo of that awful man on the front page so we all had to see it first thing this morning? There is no earthly reason why that was necessary and it probably made him happy to get such PR.
8
Of course Hollywood is complicit in this scandal .
The elitists of Hollywood want you to believe they are all more pure than Ceasar's wife, we know this is nonsense.
They also want us to believe that as citizens we have no need for weapons to protect ourselves, as they pump out movie after movie filled with gore and guns, and surround themselves with walled estates guarded by armed men, same as Mrs Clinton.
Oh, and while we are on the subject of Clinton, why oh why did it take Mrs Clinton almost a week to denounce Harvey, simple answer, money talks.
So please keep your righteous indignation for the real victims of Hollywood, the downcast, over looked, the abused and used.
Those victims do not include Hillary, Harvey or any of the former heroes of the liberal left.
16
Oh please. Stop with the liberal bashing, the elites moralistic christian right has no shortage of their own sexual harassment, rape and pedophilia scandals. The sexual abuse of women and children in the country knows no political or industry boundaries.
9
And what about the heroes of the conservative right? Roy Moore? David Vitter? Larry Craig? Mark Foley? Mark Sandford? Why did Speaker Ryan force out Democrat John Conyers while giving a free pass to Republican Blake Farenthold?
Oh, and let's not forget our Grabber-in-Chief. Who is still a hero of the conservative right. What about his innumerable victims?
7
"Some journalists negotiated book and movie deals with him even as they were assigned to cover him."
A list of names of these so-called journalists? That's corruption and perhaps they shouldn't be working as journalists ever again.
14
Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor (along with your NYT editors) and all the women who have bravely spoken out are my new heros.
Thank you all.
14
Why hasn't David Boies been disbarred for violating Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7?
22
Well finally the establishment media is getting around to dealing with real evil in this fiasco: the enablers who turned a blind eye to the abuse and perversion heaped on the victims. Weinstein and people of his ilk are sick puppies no doubt, but the supposedly "normal" people surrounding these deviants, who allowed, concealed, and ultimately created the opportunities for more victimization should be taken to task, shamed, jailed where possible, etc. Bravo!
59
A couple of women I know, have recently expressed their exhaustion regarding this topic, saying that it's all gone too far—extending to guys who merely make an inappropriate remark or come on to you. I was feeling somewhat the same until I read this article.
Any comparison between Al Franken and a monster like Harvey Weinstein is absurd. Beyond his humiliating and traumatizing women during these encounters, and leaving them with psychic scars as a result, Weinstein cruelly damaged some of their careers. Who knows how many of his victims might have gone on to be directors, producers, studio heads?
Having lived in LA more than half my life, I know what it's like to be bombarded on a daily basis with the idea that women are only valuable when they're a certain age and officially in the "hot" category. I never realized that beyond the sickness of this problem generally, lay a system in which women were punished ruthlessly for not allowing themselves to be treated like blow-up sex toys.
64
Could someone please explain to me why this Weinstein is not sitting in a jail cell?
30
Because he is rich and powerful, and of course in America now, the everyday rules of civilization do not apply to him, or so Harvey and his minions think. This is what worshiping wealth ultimately leads to.
2
Due process. We are all entitled to it.
1
How extensive this rotten network is, with most failing to extricate themselves due to material self-interest and an immoral disregard for those they exploit. Disgusting. The human animal is a piece of work.
4
If this was so obvious for so long, what was the NYT waiting for? The Chomskian moment when people will actually be ready to listen?
3
It's great to see the truth come out at last, especially the details of how Weinstein constructed and maintained this network of intimidation.
But I worry that none of it will matter.
Weinstein's network may just be a metaphor for the cultural network that men in this country have constructed to assert power and control over women. When Mitch McConnell said (simply and powerfully) "I believe the women," we had hope that all the news, the revelations, and the firings would make a difference, that the country could move ahead in living up to the true meaning of the 14th amendment, that we could banish harassment as a part of what women have to put up with every day.
But then to wake up Monday morning and read that the Republican Party has just simply caved in and agreed to support a rapist in his bid for a seat in the US Senate. And with the full support of the President of the United States.
As long power matters more than truth, matters more than integrity and simple decency, then real change is not going to happen.
39
Laws should be changed to make individuals with knowledge of abuse and failure to report that abuse liable for their actions.
That whould shake things up a bit.
11
Being a mandatory reporter would require training. Who would pay for that? Surely no republican or wealthy persons in this country who are the same people who set up this environment to allow people like Weinstein to do what he did. Hollywood and most moneyed places in this country are controlled by wealthy republicans. It suits them to make it seem DEM's support morally questionable positions and pander to avarice and vice while they remain in control of what happens and the making of money.
How much of Hollywood was sexulaized by HW?
Stories and scripts need to step away from "Hot-body pursuits", "Powerful (white) men having fun", and "Man in control" fantasies driven largely by studio's id objectifying human form rather than spirit.
This also goes to the fashion industry's intent focus on selling sexualization as the primary goal of a woman's existence.
Woman (and men) should have the <> to sexualize their appearance and lives, but not be forced into it either by youthful predation or an industry dedicated to satisfying men's conceptualized definition of "Attractive".
6
Interesting article. But it would have been even more interesting to compare it the complicity machine Betsy Wright (ironic name) and Hillary Clinton ran for Bill Clinton to see whether the methods are the same across industries.
15
This entire article beautifully answers the question, "Why didn't they come forward sooner?"
112
Exactly! and that doesn't even touch on the emotional and psychological reasons for delayed reporting. Yet here we are today with the last comment on a recent article "In Sex Abuse Cases an Expiration Date is Attached" advocating for shorter SOL's on adults who have been assaulted or abused.
Posted by; Honor senior, Cumberland, Md. 11 hours ago
In Child abuse there should be no expiration date, but the burdon-of-proof should become steeper; with adults, less than a week for rape, if the victum is able to reach the Authorities, and one month for harassment of any kind! This "lets wait decades and jump on a bandwagon", must cease!
Some people simply refuse to use their minds to try to grasp the complexity of things human.
1
Non-Disclosure Statements (NDS) should be declawed when it comes to criminal investigations. If a DA or Police investigator asks specific questions about an act covered by an NDS, the NDS should not be enforceable.
Kudos to those with the courage to resist him and his army, and sympathy to all hit-on or harassed by this slim ball.
7
Although I am fully aware of his philanthropic largess, am very disappointed in the comments by Paul Tudor Jones. No, Mr. Jones, this is not going to be forgotten. And, your comments clearly indicate either do not fully understand what has happened or somehow you think it was OK. Which is it?
9
I'm completely grossed out that UVa gobbled up his massive donations.
1
Sadly, despite all we know about Harvey, I suspect that in a few years many in the "industry" will happily accept his money and advice on projects. Perhaps he won't have as much day-to-day clout, but as was said in Godfather II, "it's the business we are in."
[And poor David Boies, a once distinguished legal career, now forever tarnished by his disgraceful work for his client, Weinstein.]
5
I don't feel sorry for David Boies at all. He knew what he was doing.
4
Of course I applaud your coverage of this issue, but I was sickened to see a huge pic of this man above the fold when I opened my door this morning. Please don't do it again.
37
the cultural change we hope for will be far harder to achieve if hard core complicitors are not held to account.
incliduded here are range, from agents who sent women to weinstein to the met opera management and board who knew and failed to respond to the allegations against james levine, throw in the media leadership that did the same for charlie rose and matt lauer and the electeds who covered (and paid up) for their colleagues .
while all the "silents," the hollywood a-list, the hundreds in industry, media and education who knew of serious (criminal or hostile) misconduct (as opposed to "the flirty stuff") are culpable, there are enough bad boys and girls who actually enabled or abetted perpetrators to make the red "A" badge of "accessory" a fashion item in the same cultural (if not actual) jail housing the black-lettered (lawyer joke) "P" perps.
further, to accelerate the change, why not begin each session of congress, each board and staff meeting, even school and college convocation and class, every train and plane ride, with an announcement (like the one on the los angeles metro) that sexual harassment of any kind is prohibited, anyone experiencing or observing any unwanted or resisted act, word or gesture should report it immediately (the metro provides call boxes on each car)...the bet here is that notice, refreshed, regularly, will give pause to perps and courage to those on whom they pray.
1
HW sexual harassment of female actors is bad, but it is far from the worst thing he has done against women. His movies and the resulting decline in moral and sexual standards have been far worse for women.
Like it or not, women always bear the cost of sex. Portrayal of promiscuous sex in his movies as a new normal, has contributed to generations of women locked in a cycle of abuse, poverty, and lack of fulfillment.
6
Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations, tailor made for Weinstein and Fox News. And the Trump organization, and the cabal of money launderers.... RICO is the way to get to the top of these corporations, without settling for some fall guy flunky. When the Trumps, Weinsteins, Murdochs of this world start occupying jai cells and watching their empires crumble, we'll see some progress with this horror show.
2
rico works for crooks on both sides of the aisle...for the debbie/hrc (take the nomination, leave the cannoli) conspiracy and hit on bernie, the slick willie biz with the russians, the e-ticket to fbi-land issued to all the hrc gang re the server, etc., and of course the bipartison rico (how about a lillle gold statue of capone and his tommy gun) to the congress for paying hush money, (ours yet!) to cover colleagues' bad behavior.
3
"When you quickly settle, there is no need to get into all the facts,” said Daniel M. Petrocelli, a lawyer who handled two agreements with accusers.
What he said about Weinstein et al could just as easily apply to Congress's approach to tax reform...
6
The predator parallels run deep. Substitute one name and a couple of details of the abusers job and the story plays out the same. Weinstein, Trump, Ailes...
4
The photo of the CAA men is absolutely hilarious. Look at the placement of their hands!
8
It takes a village to make a monster thrive.
13
A vile and evil man. If there was any justice in this world he'd be in prison for the rest of his life, along with everyone who covered for him or aided him.
17
This look at Weinstein just goes to show why nuns are no good at producing blockbuster movies. Nobody wants to sit home Saturday night reciting their rosary either. Frankly, the more a sanctimonious media demonizes someone these days, the more I like them. No one should have they power they've assumed for themselves. Lay off the guy already, we got it a long time ago without you constantly wallowing in it.
3
The Sound of Music
Frankly, the more a sanctimonious media demonizes someone these days, the more I like them. - too bad you can't vote for Roy Moore, as he sounds like the perfect candidate for you.
No one should have they power they've assumed for themselves. - except Weinstein, of course, since it takes a sexual predator to make a great movie.
2
Excuse me?
First of all, to your point around nuns......I see your misogyny and I raise you some results. The movie industry is in decline precisely because the product they are producing is not meeting the needs of the majority of its audience i.e. women. It's the same reason why the Today Show began to falter--a show that is mostly seen by women at home was being produced by men in NY. Huge disconnect.
Second, this is all new information--a terrific expose with incredible and staggering detail. That you call it wallowing suggests perhaps you did not read the article. There is a disconnect between the statement you are making and the content provided.
Thirdly, project much? Sanctimonious? Um. This is an article with facts. You, on the other hand are making a moral judgment in a derogatory manner about the information presented because it offends you. Literally the definition of sanctimonious.
I suggest you get with the times. We women will no longer put up with being silenced by the likes of you---nor will we have our experiences marginalized by people who obviously have no reference point of knowledge. The #metoo movement showed this problem is widespread, prevalent and ubiquitous. Not only do I want better for myself--but I want better for my daughter and for humanity.
11
Did you read this story? I mean, really read it?
This is a guy who for decades sexually assaulted dozens upon dozens of women, then used his vast and efficient machinery to silence those he abused. He cultivated relationships with powerful and influential people to quell the rumors of his behavior. It's absolutely shocking it went on for so long.
If reading a story like this makes you 'like' Harvey Weinstein 'more'...I just don't know what to say. I wonder what the women in your life would think about that.
The purpose of 'wallowing' as you say, in this story is to understand how it happened and maybe, just maybe, prevent it from happening again.
16
Thanks and kudos to Time Magazine for naming #metoo as their person of the year!
Thanks to the millions of women and men who spoke up against sexual abuse, harassment, intimidation, suppression and all the things that have allowed men to abuse their supposed "power". Telling their stories was/is painful and difficult but it is the only way to force societal change.
Speaking up gives other women the courage to speak up. Speaking up amplifies the need for Socially Conscious Women to step up and take one-half the power in every segment of society to bring balance to our out-of-balance world.
HIStory is one of WAR caused by spreading fear-anger-hate-LIES,LIES,LIES and causes death-destruction-rape-pillage-plunder. That is what The Con Don and his Robber Baron brethren want to force on the world.
WE THE PEOPLE - Socially Conscious Women and Men across The United States of America and around the world - are the only ones who can/will stop them. NOW is the time!!!
15
Good reporting but why are you pulling your punches about the people MOST responsible -- the board of the Weinstein Company? Is that because the board includes right wing Republican billionaire donors and their complicity doesn't feed into this attempt to smear only Democrats? The Clintons? How about the board of Harvey's company?
Why does this article wait until the last sentence to mention Paul Tudor Jones, who not only sat on the Weinstein Co. board but placed Harvey on the board of his own children's charity, the Robin Hood Foundation?
Tudor Jones is a right wing Republican donor known for supporting charter schools. No one would know MORE about the payoffs and accusations than the Weinstein Co. board. Why spend so much time blaming the Clintons - who don't work in the industry and are interested in public policy, not Hollywood relationships and gossip -- while the Republican billionaire who sat on the Weinstein board is barely noted? Why demand a comment from busy politicians while not bothering to question (or get a "no comment") from the right wing Republican who sat on the Weinstein Co. board and was clearly far more complicit?
For an article about "complicity", it's odd that the reporters spend more time on the Clintons than on a Weinstein Co. board member who just happens to be one of the largest Republican donors. Why protect a Republican billionaire on Harvey's board who was far more complicit than the Clintons? Not good.
71
Perhaps because HW was a huge money donor to the Clintons and to Democrats in general while posing as a feminist.
7
There are other board members also...
1
A rich sociopath with connections to build a "wall".
Unfortunately, the wall, as most walls, did not work.
Weinstein, a monster with money.
11
Ronan Farrow is a true hero.
84
For me, the picture of the CAA staff says all we need to know to answer the question "how did this happen for so long?" For those who think feminism has changed American culture: maybe think again.
101
This grotesquely elaborate dance -- in which hundreds of people each played a small but critical role in enabling abuse to continue for decades -- is replicated in miniature everywhere abuse happens. Which is almost everywhere.
Hopefully exposing the inner workings of situations like this will put a halt to those who blame women for not coming forward, rather than the culture we've built that shames and silences survivors while showering accolades on their abusers.
22
I hear that when then arrest you, you get one “phone call”. Wonder if that is all you will need, eh Harvey?
5
what a disgusting man and only slightly less disgusting his enablers and only a little less disgusting those who looked the other way
9
Hate to say it, but Weinstein, Letterman, Lauer, Rose, et al are all sitting around a table together drinking thousand dollar glasses of wine and wearing their sexual harassment coronation wreaths with pride.
13
What does it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his soul?
5
If anyone reading these nauseating, disgusting details of criminal abuse and complicity on the part of Harvey Weinstein and his enablers doesn't believe that President Trump has not engaged in the same pattern of behavior to shield his own abuse of women is living in a fantasy land. Both men are malignant narcissists who derive pleasure from their ability to control, intimidate, and ruin other people's careers and reputations. Why has the NY Times not devoted the same resources to and demonstrated the same tenacity in investigating the sexual predations of our president? For God's sake, what are you waiting for? Get busy!
141
Are we sure they are not? Here's hoping.
1
But not Bill Clinton?
3
Actually, they have devoted the same resources to Trump. The piece ran on May 14, 2016, and was called "Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved with Women in Private." One of the very same authors as this piece, too: Megan Twohey.
2
Harvey is a ugly man who really needs to go away ASAP -- preferably to a local penitentiary.
40
It is great to see that the stand Ashley Judd took hasn't been forgotten and that she is getting some recognition for the movement she helped start. Her experience wasn't the most shocking but she was the first celebrity to put her face in the public when it wasn't clear how things were going to turn out. She will always have my admiration.
69
Watching the video, Judd's brilliance made me sooooooo happy. She kept returning to big-picture core issues including patriarchy, brain-stem fight-freeze-flight behavior, and more. An amazing discussion with NYT's crack reporters, and I'm grateful to have watched it.
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxW1jaDyN44
south park a great parody of the pigs in hollywood
3
If the "machine" was so powerful, why is this story all over the newspapers, and why is Weinstein in disgrace?
1
Because, Mike Livingston, women are finally in positions of power and can speak out forcefully about injustice. "What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?/The world would split open." --Muriel Rukeyser. We're not in a social moment. We're in a social convulsion. Hang on. The accusations are going to keep coming.
80
Took 20 some years...I would say that is pretty good use of power. I assault a woman...I am under arrest asap!
8
The moral question is why did it take over 30 years for this to come out???
22
Why is this guy not under arrest already? The power elite, hypocrisy at it's finest.
76
Same reason OJ walked. Big money allows you to hire big lawyers. Big lawyers have big staffs (not that kind). Big law firms can overwhelm the court system and it’s just as easy to let the guy walk on his own recognizance. After all..the man has donated hundreds of millions to Democrat and Progressive politicians, judges and causes over the years. Everyone owes him.
THAT is how it happens.
8
Whether it's the agents, reporters, producers around Weinstein or the people orbiting Lance Armstrong, Bill Cosby, or Bernie Madoff... when those around those in power are making money/careers on the status quo, they have a vested interested in helping to maintain it.
3
We have the Clintons and the Democrats in general ignoring or abetting the behavior of Weinstein, while the Republicans turn a blind eye to Trump and Roy Moore. Is it time for women to start their own political movement independent of both parties?
(Probably not, actually, assuming that most women don't want to keep the GOP in power for years to come.)
12
There's a big difference between the two. Trump's and Moore's accuser didn't come forward until right before two huge elections. It's clear the accusations were politically motivated. And all of President Trump's accusers have since disappeared. On the other hand, the abuse of Weinstein et al was an open secret.
Just about everyone involved in exposing Harvey Weinstein and bringing him down is a liberal. Liberals have also called for the Resignation of Conyers and Franken. In sharp contrast, Republicans have circled their wagons around rapists, child molesters and assorted filth. They are the enemies of humankind and have no credibility on any topic.
4
"And all of President Trump's accusers have since disappeared."
This is untrue.
1
Just as we no longer feature photos of mass murderers, let's not publish the images of mass abusers. Just seeing HW's face first thing in the morning is sickening.
57
Wow. I found this report to be pretty shocking. The degree of ferocity toward victims and the extent of the cover-up network are beyond what I imaged existed anywhere. If I saw such a matrix mapped out in a fiction story, I would have dismissed it as too extensive to be plausible. Thanks for the reporting. My understanding of sexual harassment is changing.
121
Thank you, Mr. SeaMonkey, and other socially conscious men who are just beginning to see the damage institutionalized sexual discrimination has caused over half the population of the world - women.
Socially Conscious Women and Men around the world must share power equally to bring the world into balance. This is a start.
10