Goldie Hawn stood up to Harvey Weinstein and sort-of won
Goldie Hawn says Harvey Weinstein undermined the version of Chicago she was developing with Madonna
Rob Marshall’s 2002 Chicago is considered one of the great movie musicals in Hollywood history, one can’t help but be curious about the never-made version starring Goldie Hawn and Madonna. Alas, though the two stars toiled away on the project in the late ’80s, their efforts were sabotaged by the now infamous producer Harvey Weinstein.
“Harvey basically undermined me and Madonna,” Hawn, who got her start as a Broadway dancer, tells Variety. Despite an agreement with Hawn, who was supposed to be a producer on the project, Weinstein commissioned a new script wherein Velma Kelly was 20 years younger than Hawn was at the time. “I said, ‘Don’t fuck with me. Because I know just what you’re doing. We’ve made a deal,’” she shares.
“You stand up to a bully. And sometimes, you win,” Hawn adds, revealing that Weinstein did pay her for her work. She doesn’t know how Madonna felt about it (“You know, she just went with the tide”), but Hawn herself felt more charitable to Weinstein in the aftermath. “I said to him afterwards, ‘You know what the best part of you paying me is? Not the money. You restored my faith in dignity and ethics.’ Little did I know.”
Reached for comment by Variety, the imprisoned Weinstein responded, “Acting roles were always chosen based on what was best for the project, artistically and financially.” Miramax went on to produce Marshall’s take on the musical, which won numerous accolades including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (for Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Velma Kelly) and Best Picture. Weinstein’s statement continued, “We felt we did the best we could on Chicago and I’m proud of it, and I am so elated that Goldie’s experience was a positive one, and that she has the fortitude to say that in this environment. I would simply say, ‘thank you.’”
Describing Hawn’s story as a “positive experience” is a hefty PR spin, even if she did give him a modicum of credit for paying up. He must have missed the part where Hawn said “He’s finally living his karma.”