The Allegations against Harvey Weinstein
In response to the New York Times revelation of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged serial sexual harassment, he released a statement “ I came of age in the 60sd and 70s, when all the rules about behaviour and workplaces were different, as that was the culture then.”
There was a time when Hollywood studio bosses regarded young female actors as chattel and could grab and humiliate them at whim. The New Yorker interviewed 123 women who say “that between the 1990s and 2015, Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them,”
Three women accuse Weinstein of rape as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie allege sexual harassment, which he “unequivocally denied” via a spokeswoman.” any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein”, adding that he never retaliated against women who refused his sexual advances.
Although many major film stars and studios have reacted publicly with silence, the accusations have riveted Hollywood and caused some of Weinstein’s most famous collaborators, such a Meryl Streep and Glenn Close to sever ties.
Georgina Chapman, British wife of Harvey Weinstein made the announcement that she was leaving her husband, just as Weinstein flew to Europe by private jet, where he will submit himself to a live-in facility and undergoes therapy for sex addiction and behavioral issues in the hope of cleaning his act. Chapman (41) met Weinstein, 65, in 2003 and they were married four years later, going on to have two children, India Pearl, seven and Dashiell Max Robert, four.
Harvey Weinstein, whose stake in Weinstein company was valued at $130 million by Forbes in 2015, born in New York on 19th March 1952, three children with Eve Chilton married (1987-2004); two children with Fashion designer Georgina Chapman married (2007-2017). Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded film distribution company Miramax in 1979. Disney’s $60 m buyout of the company in 1993, cemented his place as an immensely powerful film producer.
Leaving Miramax in 2005, the Weinstein Company, which produced The King’s Speech (2010) The Artist (2011). He also produced Shakespeare in Love (1998). Gangs of New York (2002), and was the executive producer for Scandal (1989), Pulp Fiction (1989), The English Patient (1996), Good Will Hunting (1997), Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), War & Peace (2016). According to Actor Peter Capaldi, Weinstein was one of the inspirations for Malcolm Tucker, the foul-mouthed spin doctor from In The Thick Of It.
Gwyneth Paltrow then 22, was hired by Weinstein for her breakthrough lead role in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Gwyneth won the Best Actress Oscar for Shakespeare in Love.
But Weinstein isn’t the first Hollywood boss to be accused of sexual harassment and won’t be last. Before the accusations about him emerged, several actresses had already shared their own experiences of Hollywood’s notorious “casting couch”, meaning trading of sexual favours for career advancement.
Marilyn Monroe once described Hollywood as an “overcrowded brothel”. Child star Shirley Temple, who was then only 12 years old, accused MGM producer of unzipping his trousers and exposing himself to her during their first meeting in 1940.
Dame Joan Collins claimed she lost the leading role in the 1963 film Cleopatra after refusing to sleep with the studio boss.
George Clooney, who got his first big movie break from the producer, said “ I’ve never seen any of this behaviour-ever. If you’re asking me if I knew that someone who was very powerful had a tendency to hit on young, beautiful women sure”. But he had no idea that “women were threatened and victimised”.
Lindsay Lohan, defended Weinstein, in a video posted on Instagram, the star asked his wife to stand by him, adding that he had “never harassed or assaulted her”. Filming herself from Dubai, Ms. Lohan said: “ I feel very bad for Harvey Weinstein right now, I don’t think it’s right what’s going on. I think Georgina needs to take a stand and be there for her husband. He never harmed me or did anything to me – we’ve done several movies together. I think everyone needs to stop – I think it’s wrong. So stand up ”.
Hollywood is a cinematic closed shop, where men directed 96 per cent of the 100 top- grossing movies last year, and is a land that time and equality forgot, as there is an outrageous pay gap, with the top 10 actors combined earning three times that of their female equivalents. Many in the industry hope that the Weinstein debacle will lead to a far-reaching look at the industry and how women are treated in all positions.
“The lack opportunities for women to rise up to the top has created a business run by men, and those men are protected by other men, and they are enabled by people throughout the business and the culture of silence that allowed 30 years of sexual harassment to flourish with impunity” according to Melissa Silverstein who founded Women and Hollywood, to campaign for equality and diversity in the movie business.