Harvey Weinstein repeatedly sexually harassed a number of female employees and movie stars over the course of his three-decade career as one of Hollywood’s most celebrated studio heads.
A bombshell investigation by The New York Times reveals that Weinstein once asked Ashley Judd if she would like to watch him shower during a meeting in his room at the Peninsula Beverly Hills and paid $100,000 to Rose McGowan for an unknown incident shortly after she filmed her breakthrough role in the film ‘Scream.’
That settlement is one of eight that Weinstein has reportedly paid out over the past 30 years, with Italian model Ambra Battilana also getting a payout in 2015 after accusing him of groping her and putting his hand under her skirt.
It was also inside his room at the Peninsula Beverly Hills where Weinsten stripped naked and made a number of female employees give him a massage.
Weinstein did not deny any of the explosive claims uncovered by the Times, saying: ‘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.’
He added that he is now taking a leave of absence from the company to ‘deal with this issue head on.’
Bombshell: Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed a number of female employees over the past three decades, making many give him massages while he was naked (Weinstein and wife Georgina Chapman above in February)
Keeping quiet: The studio head, 62, also reached a settlement with Rose McGowan in 1997 for $100,000, one of eight he has paid out over the years (McGowan and Weinstein above in 2004)
Imporper conduct: Weinstein also invited Ashley Judd (above) to his hotel room for a meeting and then asked if she would watch him shower
Judd recounted her meeting with Weinstein, saying she was doing night shoots for her 1997 film ‘Kiss the Girls’ when she got an invite to meet with Weinsten that she could not pass up.
She said she felt uncomfortable from the start and ordered cereal from room service because it would arrive quicker than a hot meal.
Judd said she was asked to give Weinsten a massage and then a shoulder rub, both of which she declined while trying to get herself out of the room.
That is when he asked her to help him pick out his clothes for the day and then watch him shower.
‘I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask,’ said Judd.
‘It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining.’
She eventually amide her escape by joking that Weinstein would have to help her win an Oscar before she would be willing to touch him, stating that the prestige of working for his studio made it too difficult to forcefully shut down his harassment.
‘There’s a lot on the line, the cachet that came with Miramax,’ explained Judd.
She previously wrote about the same experience in 2015 for Variety without naming Weinstein, simply saying it was a studio mogul.
‘I was with a bunch of other actors, and it was critical that it was actors: The exact same thing had happened to them by the exact same mogul,’ wrote Judd.
‘Only when we were sitting around talking about it did we realize our experiences were identical. There was a mutual strengthening and fortification of our resolve.’
She later wrote in that piece: ‘The ultimate thing when I was weaseling out of everything else was, ‘Will you watch me take a shower?’ And all the other women, sitting around this table with me, said, ‘Oh my god—that’s what he said to me too.”
McGowan would not comment to the Times about her experience, but has been very vocal about the incidents of harassment and assault she experienced in her early years.
She has never named the perpetrators of these acts.
‘I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then,’ began Weinstein in a lengthier statement released on Thursday.
‘I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office – or out of it. To anyone.’
He went on to state: ‘I realized some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed.
‘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.’
He then revealed that over the course of the past year he has been trying to conquer his demons by meeting with Lisa Bloom, who like her mother Gloria Allred is known for her work defending victims of sexual harassment and assult.
‘I’ve brought on therapists and I plan to take a leave of absence from my company and to deal with this issue head on. I so respect all women and regret what happened,’ said Weinstein.
‘I hope that my actions will speak louder than words and that one day we will all be able to earn their trust and sit down together with Lisa to learn more.’
Later he quoted Jay Z and said he now plans to devote his full attention to taking on the NRA.