From the outside looking in, and not knowing anything about the ins and outs of the entertainment industry, the average Joe took most of this noise with a grain of salt.
Until 2017, that is…
Earlier this year, several entertainment moguls became the subject of sexual assault and misconduct allegations.
No one has been accused of more awful acts than former Miramax and Weinstein Company executive, Harvey Weinstein.
For those of you who are unaware, Weinstein is a mega producer responsible for immensely popular films like Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare In Love, and Good Will Hunting, along with more recent releases like Southpaw, Silver Linings Playbook, and Django Unchained.
Apparently, everyone who’s anyone in Hollywood knew about Weinstein’s appalling behavior. ‘Family Guy’ creator Seth MacFarlane called out Weinstein at the 2013 Academy Award Nominations.
And so did NBC‘s ’30 Rock’ when actor Jane Krokowski’s character, Jenna Maroney, had this to say.
“I’m not afraid of anyone in show business, I’ve turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions … out of five.”
Yet, even though it was common knowledge, no one said anything for years, even decades, until the likes of Rose McGowan, Kate Beckinsale, Rosanna Arquette and over 84 others accused Weinstein of inappropriate behavior.
The newest star to allege to have been mistreated by Weinstein shocked the masses. Salma Hayek recently wrote an article accusing him of some truly awful things.Hayek’s first role in a Weinstein produced film was when she played Frida Kahlo in Frida back in 2002.
Via NewYorkTimes:
All I knew of Harvey at the time was that he had a remarkable intellect, he was a loyal friend and a family man. I had started a journey to produce the [movie] with a different company, but I fought to get it back to take it to Harvey.
I did not care about the money; I was so excited to work with him and that company. My dream had come true. He had validated the last 14 years of my life. He had taken a chance on me – a nobody. He had said yes. Little did I know, it would become my turn to say no. No to opening the door to him at all hours of the night, hotel after hotel, location after location, where he would show up unexpectedly, including one location where I was doing a movie he wasn’t even involved with. No to me taking a shower with him.As if that’s not bad enough, Hayek went on to say Weinstein threatened to kill her during a fit of rage.
No to letting him watch me take a shower. No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No to my getting naked with another woman. No, no, no, no, no … And with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage, I don’t think he hated anything more than the word ‘no’.
“The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, ‘I will kill you, don’t think I can’t’,” the 51-year-old actress recalled.
Hayek and Weinstein were photographed together, along with Hayek’s husband, French billionaire François-Henri Pinault, as recently as 2013.
“Mr. Weinstein does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female costar, and he was not there for filming,” the statement added, before going on to say that the sex scene was “part of the story, as Frida Kahlo was bisexual.”Man, Hollywood is one screwed up place!
“As in most collaborative projects, there was creative friction on Frida, but it served to drive the project to perfection,” the representative said. “All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired.”
It’s fair to assume we haven’t heard the last of allegations to come out about Harvey. Let’s hope this terrible ordeal being so highly publicized helps to prevent similar situations from arising in the future…