Harvey Weinstein, a disgraced Hollywood producer is currently serving a 23 year sentence for rape as well as other sexual assault crimes. This crime was first reported in The New York Times. Ken Auletta, a journalist who was working on a profile about Weinstein for The New Yorker, attempted to break the story.
Auletta stated that he described his brutal behavior verbally and physically in terms of wrestling matches and fistfights with people. “But I could not nail him on the other thing I believed he was guilty of, which is abusing women sexually. “I couldn’t get them to talk.”
Lesley Stahl, Correspondent, asked: “Would it be true that Harvey Weinstein became an obsession for you?”
“I had a semi-obsession,” Auletta replied. “I wanted the guy exposed, sure.”
Even after Weinstein was arrested, his semi-obsession continued to grow. Auletta now has a biography called “Hollywood Ending” in which he seeks out Weinstein’s Rosebud. How and why did the Academy Award-winner and head of Miramax Films become an infamous sex offender.
Stahl stated, “Your book’s like a PET scan for his psyche.”
Auletta said, “Well, he is a human being that has many dimensions.” “One dimension is that he was a violent, often violent, man who abused people. Harvey Weinstein’s talent as a filmmaker is another dimension.
Weinstein was honored for films such as “Like Water for Chocolate,” Enchanted April, and “Shakespeare in Love.”
Stahl said, “Just so sensitive and some of them sweet.” “And I wonder how someone capable of making those movies could also be a monster.”
Auletta stated, “I couldn’t figure it out.” But if you rape or abuse more than 100 women
“Over 100 women?”
“Since October 2017, more than 100 women have claimed that he physically abused their bodies.”
“I wonder if it was possible to determine whether something occurred in his childhood?”
“What you saw was Miriam Weinstein screaming all the while at Harvey’s house: Harvey, you’re fat. “Harvey, stop eating this.” “Harvey, stop eating that.” That yelling carried on into Harvey’s career.”
Weinstein spoke out about his violent temper tantrums during 12 hours of taped interviews. Weinstein stated that he was ready to make a change. I don’t have the desire. I feel like I have won all my battles. Some things still irritate me. But, I try to keep my mouth shut, whatever the consequences.
Auletta stated, “He couldn’t change who he is.” Harvey had no control over many things.
“So, now you’re sitting next to him. “Did you feel intimidated?”
“No. After the questions became a bit more heated and I confronted him over the women rumors, his violent temper, and other stuff, he suddenly got up from his chair. I was sitting at a small conference table. He sat up straight from his chair and looked over at me. He clenched his fists and stood up. Harvey began to cry as soon as I got up and we were looking at each other. Harvey just began to cry and he just cried a lot.
Weinstein, through his tears, denied that he assaulted Rowena Chiu, his former assistant, and called their relationship (as with other people) “consensual.” Weinstein has repeatedly denied the Chiu accusation.
Stahl asked Chiu about her statement. “There was a whole Miramax system that propped Harvey up, and enabled him to conduct his sexual assaults.”
Chiu responded, “I think for many people at Miramax, who obviously saw Harvey’s work and lifestyle daily, I think they would prefer to think about Harvey as someone who had multiple affairs and who didn’t behave very well but they didn’t want to see themselves as being employed by a serial Rapist.”
Chiu claimed that she was warned against being alone with Weinstein. If you have to, wear two pairs of tights. Harvey should never be seated on the same couch as you. Harvey may invite you to sit beside him.
Despite all these precautions, Chiu claimed Weinstein attempted to rape her at Venice Film Festival 1998. She narrowly escaped.
She said that Harvey is usually naked or semi-clad in his hotel room. “Obviously, we’re not. “We’re at work!”
Rowena: “Wait a minute Rowena. You’re saying it like it’s normal?” He got naked. I think to myself, “He got naked?”
Chiu stated that Harvey was not the first person she encountered in the film industry who attempted to be naked in an office setting.
“And then, what? He just lunged? He attacked you?”
Chiu stated, “So, it’s not so much a lunging, but a process over a number hours. You’re now in a room together with someone known for his anger. Because you don’t know what he will do, you can’t scream or run screaming out of the room. He probably weighs at least three to four times as much as me. It’s an awkward situation in which I have to get out of the room and not make him mad. There is an element of physicality to this situation, where he is much larger than me and he holds me down to a mattress. I try to get away from him.
Stahl asked Auletta if she knew that Harvey was being portrayed by many people in Hollywood. It’s what you might call “the culture of silence”.
He replied, “People who know or should’ve known that someone is actually doing criminal acts and keep silent,”
“And that’s not a small group of people sometimes.”
It’s a broad group. Miramax and Weinstein Company employees. Agents in Hollywood. There were also studio executives. Actors and actresses. It’s a lot of conformity. You don’t want your coworkers to be accused.
“You don’t want to tattle?”
“You don’t want to be an arat.”
Weinstein is now behind bars and will face another criminal trial in Los Angeles this fall on almost a dozen sex crimes charges. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Stahl asked Chiu: “Do you think Harvey feels any remorse?”
She responded, “It’s not true regret until he sees that it has happened to him. He is deserving his level [of] public censure and also a prison sentence.”
Auletta stated, “Here’s the guy with four assistants. He had a car with screens, flip-down screen screens. He could watch movies and TV shows. And here he was today, eating baked beans.” He should also know that he is worthy to be in prison.
“And I don’t think he does.”
READ A EXCERPT: Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein & the Culture of Silence
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Story by Amiel Wisfogel. Remington Korper, editor.
