The New Yorker reporter Rowan Farrow has unleashed a bombshell: famed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein—the man behind films such as Pulp Fiction, _Gangs of New York,_ Inglourious Basterds, and _The Nutty Professor_—is more than just a fan of chronic sexual harassment; he is, according to a woman who has requested her name not be published, a rapist.
Recently accused of a host of improprieties ranging from leveraging movie roles for sex to masturbating into a potted plant in a restaurant hallway, the studio head finds himself immersed in an ever-boiling pot of accusations, ratcheting up as the days go by.
The _New Yorker_ story follows a 10-month process, during which Farrow interviewed purported victims such as actresses Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, and Rosanna Arquette, who accused Weinstein of sexual advances and unwanted massages. Two women—including actress Asia Argento—claim he pressured sexual interaction, and at least one woman claims vaginal rape. From the New Yorker piece:
“Like other women in this article, she said that Weinstein brought her to a hotel room under a professional pretext, changed into a bathrobe, and ‘forced himself on me sexually.’ She said no, repeatedly and clearly. Afterward, she experienced ‘horror, disbelief, and shame,’ and considered going to the police. ‘I thought it would be a “He said, she said,” and I thought about how impressive his legal team is, and I thought about how much I would lose, and I decided to just move forward,’ she said. The woman continued to have professional contact with Weinstein after the alleged rape, and acknowledged that subsequent communications between them might suggest a normal working relationship. ‘I was in a vulnerable position, and I needed my job,’ she told me. ‘It just increases the shame and the guilt.’”
Although the media have brought attention to these sinister allegations—so much so that Weinstein has been fired by his own company—much of Hollywood has remained silent in protection of their fellow Democrat. Weinstein has ties to the Clintons and Obamas, and he is a former party donor and outspoken defender of—you guessed it—liberal women’s causes. His status as protected leftist even resulted in fashion designer Donna Karan defending him, telling the Daily Mail:
“How do we present ourselves as women? Are we asking for it, by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality? And what are we throwing out to our children today about how to dance and how to perform and what to wear? How much should they show? I don’t think it’s only Harvey Weinstein… We have to look at our world… And how women are dressing and what they’re asking by just presenting themselves the way they do. What are they asking for? Trouble.”
Had a conservative said those things, you wouldn’t be reading this article because the universe would have imploded from leftist outrage. Yet even Karan took heat for the comments and later apologized.
As the noose tightens for Weinstein, more from the left are speaking out against him. The Obamas have said they are “disgusted,” and even Hillary Clinton, who knows a thing or two about powerful men using their position to sexually accost women, has shunned Weinstein, who contributed to her campaign. Through a spokesperson, she said she was “appalled” by his behavior.
Clinton went on to say that Weinstein’s “behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.” Conspicuously, she took the exact opposite position toward many similar accusations against her husband.
The rape and assault allegations are the worst yet, and Farrow claims that 16 “former and current executives and assistants at Weinstein’s companies told [him] that they had witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances and touching at events associated with Weinstein’s films and in the workplace.” In addition, four actresses claimed they were removed from film projects after rejecting his advances.
Still, Hollywood remains mostly quiet, muted by the double standard by which it lives and breathes. After a tape of now-President Donald Trump’s coarse talk about women from an Access Hollywood episode was released last year, Tinseltown went ballistic: outspoken leftist Patton Oswalt called him a “sexist creep”; Cher preferred the label “scumbag carny barker” actress Emmy Rossum called Trump a “misogynistic entitled pig.” While some have spoken out against Weinstein, the difference in treatment over a world of difference in accusations is an astounding hypocritical feat, even for Hollywood.
At times, the Left will eat its own. But more often than not, their hypocrisy defines them more than their principles do. And in this case, they may be protecting not just a creep, but a rapist.
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