After a week that’s seen his company show up repeatedly in media reporting alongside words like “imploding,” “bankruptcy,” and “turned a blind eye to decades of alleged sexual abuses,” Weinstein Co. co-founder Bob Weinstein has given an interview today in which he openly denounced his brother, Harvey, calling him “sick and depraved.”
Bob Weinstein talked to The Hollywood Reporter’s Matthew Belloni and Gregg Kilday, a conversation that followes two basic tracks: offering his apologies and condolences to the dozens of women who have come forward accusing Harvey Weinstein of abusing his position of power against them, and desperately assuring people that The Weinstein Co. is still a going concern. “I find myself in a waking nightmare,” Weinstein began, adding, “My brother has caused unconscionable suffering,” and “I don’t feel an ounce of remorse coming from him.”
But, Weinstein contends, “The members of the board, including myself, did not know the extent of my brother’s actions.” When pressed on that point, Weinstein cited a five-year-long personal separation between himself and Harvey, brought on by the elder Weinstein’s abusive nature, and portrays himself as another of his brother’s victims (although he was careful to note “I do not put myself in the category at all of those women that he hurt”). Meanwhile, though, Weinstein refused to directly discuss the terms of Harvey Weinstein’s contract, which appears to include clauses specifically designed to punish him for (and then absolve him of) the exact same behaviors he’s now been accused of committing. Mimicking points made by other high-level members of the company, Weinstein says he thought his brother was just having multiple consensual affairs, and failed to draw a line between what he knew of Harvey’s professional and personal conduct, and his treatment of the women around him.
Repeating what he said in a statement yesterday, Weinstein was adamant that The Weinstein Co. would persist, albeit with a new, “non-familial” name. He was also vocal about keeping his brother away from the company going forward, calling his legal efforts to return “a losing fight” and stating that he’s working to “sever” Harvey’s ownership interest.
“I’m mortified and disgusted by my brother’s actions,” Weinstein said in closing. “And I am sick for the victims. And I feel for them. I feel for them.”