The famous and powerful producer, Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax Films in 1979, has worked in the film industry for decades, making many enemies throughout his career. A story published by the New York Times had released several unknown sexual harassment accusations toward Weinstein. He had planned to take a leave of absence but was fired on Sunday for such accusations, coming as a shock to many that he was fired from his own company.
Miramax Films has produced dozens of movies, making millions of dollars when Disney bought the company in 1993. Disney, however, didn’t like the way the Weinstein brothers ran the company. They were harsh, intimidating, and they yelled a lot. Expanding movie budgets and the disagreement with their self-rule led Disney to decide to cut ties with the company in 2005. After Disney parted ways with the Weinstein Co., the brothers needed help. Rarely anybody wanted to watch their movies. Their 2005 film Derailed was “a glossy and often risible bit of trash,” critics said.
The allegations piled up even as Weinstein impacted popular culture. He has collected six best-picture Oscars and turned out a number of cinematograph classic , from the films “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hunting” to the television show “Project Runway.” In public, he presents a champion of women and a winner of artistic and humanitarian awards.
On Sunday, the Hollywood mogul was accused of decades of sexual harassment. Ashley Judd was one of the sexually harassed women was acting in one of his films, Kiss the Girls, when Weinstein called her into his office for a “meeting.” He had pressured her in to watching him shower and giving him a massage, to which Judd admitted to in an interview with the New York Times. Weinstein was interested in young actresses, models, and assistants, eventually settling with one of his assistants, Rose McGowan. In the paper, it said that Weinstein gave her a $100,000 settlement.
On Thursday, October 5th, Rose tweeted “Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies. #bebrave.”
In 2011, Harvey Weinstein had a professional recovery. Critics were calling him the “comeback kid.” One of his films, The King’s Speech, was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning the best-picture trophy. Weinstein was entitled to one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in the year 2012.
After the paper was published, he told the New York Times how he apologizes for his behavior toward his colleagues. He says “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go. That is my commitment. My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons.” Harvey Weinstein will try to improve himself and his temper.
Among the alleged victims of Weinberg’s sexual assault allegations are Former Weinstein and Company employee Lauren O’Connor and Emily Nestor and actresses Asia Argento, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevigne.
Although he wanted to sue the paper for their story and denied those accusations, the Weinstein Co. board of directors say that the “next steps will depend on Harvey’s therapeutic progress.”
