CATCH AND KILL
→ The year’s best spy thriller is
stranger—and more horrifying—
than fiction. Ronan Farrow
expands on his reporting of the
sexual-assault allegations
against Harvey Weinstein and
others, while also telling his
story of unraveling shocking
conspiracies from Hollywood
to D.C. He weaves a breathless
narrative as compelling as it
is disturbing. —David Canfield
BOOKS
Well before publication,
reports surfaced of pos-
sible retaliation by many
of those accused in the
book. Did that scare you?
With every story I report,
there is a playbook
that gets used to try
to get ahead of it, and
that often includes legal
threats against either
whoever is publishing the
story or me personally,
or both. I wouldn’t say
I’ve become immune to
that. I’m human, and it’s
stressful and scary.
The book reads like a
spy thriller: bizarre code
names, paper shredding,
someone constantly
following you. Did it feel
like that in the moment?
It did feel like I was in
some kind of a “cloak-
and-dagger” espionage
plot as the reporting was
playing out. [Laughs]
It was only when I got the
underlying documents
and people started fess-
ing up to the fact that this
conspiracy was real that
I realized: If you’re wealthy
and connected enough,
you can literally construct
a movie-style spy-thriller
operation to crack down.
In the final moments,
there is a shocking new
allegation of sexual
assault against Matt
Lauer (who has denied
it). The alleged victim
says NBC dismissed it.
It is explosive. She did go
through a very traumatic
situation that she alleges
happened, and it’s an
important story of why
people should come for-
ward in these situations,
because it can change
a corporate culture.
But does this mark the
end of a chapter?
The press is still embat-
tled. There are still Harvey
Weinsteins in industry
after industry. But the
book brings full circle a lot
of unanswered questions
both I and the public had
when that story emerged.
I hope it feels satisfying.
8
By Ronan Farrow
EW ● COM NOVEMBER 2019 13
BRIGITTE LACOMBE
