In addition to helping break the news of Harvey Weinstein’s long history of predatory behavior, the New Yorker has continued to go after the system and individuals who enabled the man who’s now been accused by 80 women of sexual assault or harassment. The latest dispatch from Ronan Farrow, who previously reported on the three women who say Weinstein sexually assaulted them, examines the payoffs that protected the reputation of the ousted mogul and his studios (Miramax and The Weinstein Company).
Farrow’s story is as eye-opening a read as the contract TMZ got its hands on last month, which detailed the extent of the settlements and, more disturbingly, the fact that the document was designed to give Weinstein some legal latitude. The journalist spoke again with Filipina-Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who was among the three women who disclosed their attacks in the previous New Yorker piece. Gutierrez explained that she only signed the NDA and accepted payment because she already feared losing work and being unable to provide for her family. But, she says, “the moment I did it, I really felt it was wrong.”
Among the other revelations is the fact that Bob Weinstein, who publicly denounced his brother before being accused of sexual harassment himself, used his discretionary fund to pay off two alleged victims in the 1990s. Bob Weinstein claims that he “only know what Harvey told me, and basically what he said was he was fooling around with two women and they were asking for money.” He goes on to say that his brother “asked me if I could write a check,” for fear of having his infidelity revealed,” so he did, “but there was nothing to indicate any kind of sexual harassment.” Despite those claims, Farrow cites a former senior executive at Miramax, who stated it was “implausible… that Bob Weinstein did not know about the nature of the allegations, which were reported to the company.”
The complete article is available here and definitely worth a read.