Harvey Weinstein allegations; who's next when it comes to allegations? (1 Viewer)

[Winston T. Boogie]

I'm just glad that the public hasn't acted like TWC board did some great thing by firing him. If anyone on planet Earth knew how he acted, it was the people who worked directly with him. Acting once it becomes public is solely them covering their own asses and not concern for anyone else.

Oh, hell yes they knew. They had to make payouts and do some legal wrangling with his victims for years. They were signing people to agreements to silence them and asking for conditions on the payouts like to get the money you had to provide a letter for Harvey saying how great it was working with him and how much he helped their career...ugly.

Now to be fair a guy in Weinstein's position could get hustled by people looking to make a score off of him financially but let's face it when the list is this long, they have piles of evidence, the police ran a sting on him and recorded him...well...it is pretty obvious he was doing these things to women and this is not an invention.

 

[Atari]

All that's left now is for someone to buy the movie rights.

 

[Chris Will]

What typically happens is all these industry people and politicians are aware of the rumors but they dismiss them and don't listen because this guy is helping them. They don't want to know, they want to look the other way, because this guy is a major connection for them...either through the jobs he can get them or the money he can secure for them in donations. It is ugly in a big, big, way. This guy was best buddies with all kinds of people from the cream of the crop in Hollywood to presidents and presidential candidates...some who made sure to be his next door neighbors.

All that is almost more sickening then his acts. Hollywood has known about his despicable behavior for decades yet chose to look the other way, ignore or accept cash for silence. It is really depressing how many people in this world so easily sell out for money. When will Hollywood wake up and stop protecting these types of people? How many more dirty producers are out there but, people are staying silent because they were paid off?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

All that is almost more sickening then his acts. Hollywood has known about his despicable behavior for decades yet chose to look the other way, ignore or accept cash for silence. It is really depressing how many people in this world so easily sell out for money. When will Hollywood wake up and stop protecting these types of people? How many more dirty producers are out there but, people are staying silent because they were paid off?

Look, I totally understand where you are coming from but I can't and won't blame any of the women he victimized for whatever they did afterwards. Many women would not even want to discuss what happened never mind put themselves in a position where they get put in the middle of a public firestorm in a major battle with a rich, famous, and powerful man that has connections including and right up to the president and former presidents of the United States. Honestly, I would probably say to a woman at that point how far do you want to go with this? Do you want to be on every TV channel, magazine, newspaper, and tabloid in the country and slug it out with this guy and his rich and powerful friends...or do you want to just take the payout, walk away and get on with your life?

Honestly, these women get put in a horrible position, nobody is rushing in to their defense, people that work with them don't want to hear it and and they want to protect their jobs, and in situations where it was just Weinstein and a woman...well...there are no witnesses so it becomes a he said, she said with a very powerful man. The only reason they got this guy is because the NYPD did a sting on him and a brave woman got him on tape.

You can't blame these women for just wanting out of that.

 

[WillG]

When will Hollywood wake up and stop protecting these types of people?

I wouldn't count on it happening anytime soon. Hollywood doesn't seem much different from the Mafia. It's a "life", everything is kept in the family, no one rats, people in political power are greased, and you get banished if you break their rules.

Harvey got outed (and I'm wondering why the press decided to expose him) and the "family" had to turn their back on him. But the almost certain truth is that he's hardly the only one. And it's possible that things get a lot sicker than Harvey, i.e. sexual abuse of children. The rumors are out there. Corey Feldman claims it happened to him, Bryan Singer has certainly had smoke surrounding him.

 

[Chris Will]

I didn't mean to sound like I was blaming the victims, but they weren't the only ones who knew. Some of these people are huge stars that I would have thought would have had the means to fight back at some point. I guess I'm just blaming the whole Hollywood culture where they are more worried about "keeping it in the family" than bringing people to justice for their illegal acts. It's just sad, sad that we live in a world where money and power can put you above the law.

None of this excuses what he did and hopefully he ends up in jail for a long time but part of me feels like he has enough money to buy his freedom again.

 

[TravisR]

Some of these people are huge stars that I would have thought would have had the means to fight back at some point. I guess I'm just blaming the whole Hollywood culture where they are more worried about "keeping it in the family" than bringing people to justice for their illegal acts.

I think the biggest problem is that everyone was willing to look the other way for years. As long as people had never directly seen anything, they would ignore the rumors and have a clear conscience because they knew that raising questions was, at best, going to lose them jobs, financing, etc. or, at worst, they'd end up being branded as 'difficult' to work with and seriously damage their career.

 

[Michael Elliott]

This whole thing has been a joke to me. Isn't this the most obvious "secret" in Hollywood? The casting couch and disgusting pig producers have been in effect since before Griffith went to Hollywood. It's nothing new and it's known. Heck, how many times has the likes of Corey Feldman and Haim talked about the abuse they suffered and yet nothing gets said or done.

When the "mighty" like Clooney and Streep say they didn't know that's a flat out lie. How do I know that? Because I have zero connections to Hollywood but as another poster wrote, Asia Argento talked about this in 2000. It was well-known who the producer was in that movie. Her side of this story is interesting, sad and at times shocking because in the interview she talks about how she ended up having an affair and relationship with him after the attack. What's more interesting is that Weinstein picked up MOTHER OF TEARS for release. Did he do that as a favor since they were in a relationship?

 

[WillG]

I'm sure she loved him just for being him

 

[WillG]

This whole thing has been a joke to me. Isn't this the most obvious "secret" in Hollywood? The casting couch and disgusting pig producers have been in effect since before Griffith went to Hollywood. It's nothing new and it's known. Heck, how many times has the likes of Corey Feldman and Haim talked about the abuse they suffered and yet nothing gets said or done.

When the "mighty" like Clooney and Streep say they didn't know that's a flat out lie. How do I know that? Because I have zero connections to Hollywood but as another poster wrote, Asia Argento talked about this in 2000. It was well-known who the producer was in that movie. Her side of this story is interesting, sad and at times shocking because in the interview she talks about how she ended up having an affair and relationship with him after the attack. What's more interesting is that Weinstein picked up MOTHER OF TEARS for release. Did he do that as a favor since they were in a relationship?

Agreed. I read an article about Streep the other day saying she knew nothing. Now ill buy that Steep and Harvey wouldn't have crossed paths at the time when Streep was just an aspiring actress, but Streep is now the most respected Hollywood actress that ever lived, there is no way she wasn't privy to every story and rumor about him.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I didn't mean to sound like I was blaming the victims, but they weren't the only ones who knew. Some of these people are huge stars that I would have thought would have had the means to fight back at some point. I guess I'm just blaming the whole Hollywood culture where they are more worried about "keeping it in the family" than bringing people to justice for their illegal acts. It's just sad, sad that we live in a world where money and power can put you above the law.

None of this excuses what he did and hopefully he ends up in jail for a long time but part of me feels like he has enough money to buy his freedom again.

Yes, sorry, I did not mean to sound like I was saying you were blaming the victims...basically, the way the world works today in situations like this everybody with a belly button feels the need to weigh in and judge everybody involved and I don't think the victims should be blamed if they took a payout to keep quiet and go away. I mean with all the social media and the level of pure rage that our society seems engulfed in having to be marched out in front of the world for them to judge you and be made a target for people's venom is not something I would wish on these women.

Sadly, while Harvey is the bad guy in this there are people out there that will look at photos of the women and then judge them...regardless of if they were the victim. Look at Donna Karan, she came out saying women these days are asking for it. Then Lindsay Lohan...OK she is a nut...weighed in saying people should stop going after poor Harv. In the meantime the list of women he abused is growing...

 

[PMF]

Edited by PMF

 

[Bryan^H]

The fallout from this has really surprised me. Not only the large number of actresses that have come forward like Gwyneth Paltrow, but now it is spilling over into the guys who knew and didn't do anything camp like Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. What a train wreck.

 

[PMF]

Intimidation and abuses at the work place can often take years to expose.
The more power, the longer the reign.
Thankfully, though, its now been stopped; at least in this case.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

The fallout from this has really surprised me. Not only the large number of actresses that have come forward like Gwyneth Paltrow, but now it is spilling over into the guys who knew and didn't do anything camp like Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. What a train wreck.

I'm not really surprised. This is exactly the kind of story that will excite people because it involves famous people and sex. I think where people need to put on the brakes here is in pointing fingers at all kinds of people who maybe knew things but did not go public with them.

I mean let's assume that lots of people knew about this including the likes of Streep, Dench, Affleck etc...if nothing happened to them and they did not see anything first hand...they just heard the stories and rumors...what exactly are they supposed to do? You can't just start blurting out statements about a guy committing crimes if you have no evidence only rumors and innuendo to go on. That's slander and would not be a smart thing for these celebrities to do. They could warn other people privately to stay away from Harvey or not to work with him but you can't go public with just rumors and secondhand info. That would be dumb.

Also I would consider that this has a giant political slant in that Weinstein was a big donor and supporter of Democrats and so are most of the Hollywood types involved in all this insanity now...and you know this is red meat to the opposing side so they will try to make everybody they can look bad in any way they can. This story will expand and there will be lots of blame game going on and you have to keep in perspective how much of that will be pure nonsense.

I think the focus needs to stay on Harvey, he is the bad guy in this. Other celebrities that knew...well...we don't know what they did or what info they had and when...so pointing fingers at them is not important.

I do however think Judi Dench should have them film and show on television the removing of the Harvey Weinstein tattoo from her bum.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Don't assume the tattoo is real. She did an interview with the NY Times maybe a month ago and insinuated it was an elaborate gag involving a makeup artist who applied it before Miramax premieres. She was also on James Cordon's show a month ago and talked about her wrist tattoo ("carpe diem") and when asked, confirmed that the wrist tattoo was the only one she had.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Don't assume the tattoo is real. She did an interview with the NY Times maybe a month ago and insinuated it was an elaborate gag involving a makeup artist who applied it before Miramax premieres. She was also on James Cordon's show a month ago and talked about her wrist tattoo ("carpe diem") and when asked, confirmed that the wrist tattoo was the only one she had.

Well, if I were Judi Dench I would not want to admit I had Harvey's name on my ass but it would be a great continuation of the "gag" to have it removed in front of the cameras...perhaps to the James Bond theme and with Daniel Craig doing the erasing.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

All I'm saying, she gave those interviews before this scandal broke. So I tend to believe it was never a real thing in the first place.

 

[TravisR]

Also I would consider that this has a giant political slant in that Weinstein was a big donor and supporter of Democrats...

I see this talked about on the news and I'm not trying to get political but my understanding is that Weinstein gave about $1.5 million to political candidates over the course of about 25 years. On average, that's 'only' about $60,000 a year. He gave just under $75,000 total for the 2008, '12 and '16 elections or about $25,000 an election. Now that's a fortune for a regular guy but I can't imagine that the Presidential candidate of a major political party sees that money as any kind of major donation. In all seriousness, would a donation of that size even get you a dinner attended by and a photo with the candidate? His standing in Hollywood would get him a photo and a brief chat but the donation is not catching anyone's attention.

 

[WillG]

I'm not really surprised. This is exactly the kind of story that will excite people because it involves famous people and sex. I think where people need to put on the brakes here is in pointing fingers at all kinds of people who maybe knew things but did not go public with them.

I mean let's assume that lots of people knew about this including the likes of Streep, Dench, Affleck etc...if nothing happened to them and they did not see anything first hand...they just heard the stories and rumors...what exactly are they supposed to do? You can't just start blurting out statements about a guy committing crimes if you have no evidence only rumors and innuendo to go on. That's slander and would not be a smart thing for these celebrities to do. They could warn other people privately to stay away from Harvey or not to work with him but you can't go public with just rumors and secondhand info. That would be dumb.

Also I would consider that this has a giant political slant in that Weinstein was a big donor and supporter of Democrats and so are most of the Hollywood types involved in all this insanity now...and you know this is red meat to the opposing side so they will try to make everybody they can look bad in any way they can. This story will expand and there will be lots of blame game going on and you have to keep in perspective how much of that will be pure nonsense.

I think the focus needs to stay on Harvey, he is the bad guy in this. Other celebrities that knew...well...we don't know what they did or what info they had and when...so pointing fingers at them is not important.

I do however think Judi Dench should have them film and show on television the removing of the Harvey Weinstein tattoo from her bum.

True, you can't act on rumors alone. But there's a difference between that and claiming you had no idea. And the big politicians should definately have exercised better judgement about accepting large donations from someone with such an unsavory reputation (though politicians generally never were ones to think they weren't above reproach as well). And even if it wasn't Harvey, the concept of the casting couch is nothing new. Hollywood execs who abuse their power in this way shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

I guess it really comes down to Hollywood just being a cesspool. People with too much money and too much power and the rest afraid to merely fart in the wrong direction.