It was only in October 2017, that the true details of
the sexual harassment Weinstein had subjected his
female colleagues to over the years, came to light.
‘Flirting With Disaster’ and ‘Shakespeare In Love’.
In his career, Harvey won an Academy Award for
producing ‘Shakespeare In Love’, and seven Tony
Awards for a variety of plays and musicals, including
‘The Producers’, ‘Billy Elliot The Musical Live’, and
‘August: Osage County’.
After leaving Miramax, the Weinstein brothers co-
founded The Weinstein Company (TWC) in 2005,
which is now one of the largest fi lm studios in
America, of which Harvey was co-chairman, until he
was famously fi red for being in the eye of the sexual
harassment and rape accusations storm.
WHAT IS HARVEY GATE ALL ABOUT?
Weinstein’s reputation of sleaze and asking for sexual
favours from actresses was the worst kept secret in
Hollywood for decades. Numerous allusions had
been made to them as jokes at awards functions and
in celebrity interviews. For instance, Courtney Love
advised young actresses in an interview in 2005,
“If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party
in the Four Seasons, don’t go.” At the 2013 Oscars
ceremony, host Seth MacFarlane made a tongue-in-
cheek remark while announcing the Best Supporting
Actress nominees in 2013: “Congratulations, youfi ve ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted
to Harvey Weinstein.”
But it was only in October 2017, that the true details
of the sexual harassment Weinstein had subjected
his female colleagues to over the years, came to light.
This catapulted into a huge scandal and fi nally his
disgraceful ouster from Hollywood.
HOW THE STORY BROKE ...
In 2015, an Italian model Ambra Gutierrez went
to the police accusing Weinstein of groping her
under her skirt at a business meeting. Gutierrez
cooperated with the police and set up a sting where
they recorded Weinstein admitting that he had
touched her inappropriately. But once the media
mogul got a whiff of the accusations, he managed to
manipulate press reports and made Ambra look like
an opportunist. The charges were dropped.
In 2016, Actress Rose McGowan made waves when
she alleged that a studio head had raped her. Using
the hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport, she said
she never reported the alleged crime because: “A
(female) criminal attorney said because I’d done a
sex scene in a fi lm, I would never win against the
studio head,” she wrote.109 SAVVY DECEMBER 2017