“If we make this
moment all about
Harvey Weinstein,
we’ve already lost.”
— Oprah WinfreyOn October 5, 2017, Ronan Farrow, the son of Mia
Farrow and Woody Allen, came out with a sensational
story in ‘The New Yorker’ that Weinstein had sexually
assaulted or harassed 13 women, and raped three.
His modus operandi was typical: Arranging meetings
with aspiring actresses and models at a hotel room
or offi ce under the pretext of discussing business,
and then demanding massages or sex. Actresses also
accused Weinstein of replacing them from his projects
and planting false stories about them if they rejected
his advances or complained about him.
The article was the fi nal trigger to unearthing the
skeletons in his closet. It prompted scores of actresses,small and big, models and A-listers as well as ex-workers
from the Weinstein company to come forward with their
own horror tales of sexual bullying, abuse, assault and
even rape by Weinstein.
From old timers like Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and
Gwyneth Paltrow to recent sensations like model Cara
Delevingne and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, the
count of Harvey’s victims stands at 80 women with
18 accounts of rape!
THE REPERCUSSIONS
The repercussions of the accusations have been brutal
and swift. His own brother Bob has stated that he
effectively divorced him fi ve years ago, calling him ‘sick
and depraved’. Weinstein’s wife Georgina Chapman
announced on October 10, 2017, that she was
divorcing him, stating his actions were ‘unforgivable’.
Professionally, Hollywood is trying its best to erase his
legacy altogether. Weinstein was fi red from his company
TWC as the board of directors voted for his dismissal.
The Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences
voted overwhelmingly to
expel him, in what was
described as “an exceedingly
rare consequence”. He has
been stripped of several
other professional titles and
Hollywood has labelled him
a persona non grata in the
industry. Even TV shows
that Weinstein produced,
ranging from Lifetime’s
‘Project Runway’ to Amazon’s
upcoming Matt Weiner drama
‘The Romanoffs’, will no
longer include his name in
the credits.Harvey used his position to extract sexual favours from aspiring actressesSAVVY DECEMBER 2017 110