A former Miramax assistant who was the first to break a non-disclosure agreement with Harvey Weinstein has called for the culture of gagging victims to end.
Zelda Perkins signed an NDA in 1998 after she claimed the disgraced movie producer sexually harassed her when she worked for him at his London office and tried to rape one of her colleagues.
Perkins, who bravely breached the agreement to speak out in 2017, said Weinstein’s conviction of third degree rape and a criminal sexual act on Monday has not solved the problem and the #MeToo movement needs to continue.
She told the New York Times: ‘Harvey going down for five years, 10 years, is not the end of this. This does not solve the problem. We can’t all just turn our eyes back to normal life and think everything is OK.
Harvey Weinstein and his Assistant Zelda Perkins at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998
Zelda Perkins prior to testifying before British politicians investigating workplace sexual harassment in London in 2018
‘The fight absolutely doesn’t stop here. I think Harvey has become the ogre and the figurehead of this awful situation, but he is not the only one. And I think we have to remember that #MeToo was not about Harvey Weinstein. Tarana Burke did not start #MeToo because of Weinstein.
‘#MeToo has not been finished by him going to jail. And I hope this is the beginning of judges and juries understanding and taking the nuances of abuses of power more seriously.’
Weinstein was convicted on Monday by a New York jury of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in his apartment in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel room in 2013.
He was acquitted of the two most serious counts of predatory sexual assault, which each carried a potential life sentence. He was also found not guilty of first degree rape in relation to Mann.
Weinstein, who arrived at court using a walker for much of the trial, now faces a 29-year prison sentence.
He was due to be sent immediately to Rikers Island prison following the jury’s verdict but was rushed to hospital with chest pains and heart palpitations.
Perkins has previously said that she tried to stop the disgraced film mogul’s sex abuse 20 years ago but ended up being coerced into signing an NDA.
Weinstein was convicted on Monday by a New York jury of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in his apartment in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel room in 2013
Rowena Chiu who says Harvey Weinstein tried to rape her when she was a 24-year-old assistant working in his London office
She said she tried to take action in 1998 as a 22-year-old after her colleague at Miramax told her that Weinstein had tried to rape her at the Venice Fim Festival.
She ‘naively’ thought that reporting his alleged abuse to the firm’s family-friendly parent company Disney would result in his dismissal.
Instead, she was warned against speaking out – and both women quit their jobs at after signing agreements forbidding them to discuss the incident.
‘I was made to feel like I was in the wrong for trying to expose his behavior,’ she told the UK’s House of Commons in 2018.
She said she had felt compelled to sign the ‘stringent and egregious’ contract after ‘humiliating and degrading’ talks that finally ended at 5am after a 12-hour meeting.
Rowena Chiu, her colleague who claimed Weinstein attempted to rape her at the film festival, told the New York Times: ‘I had said in an interview a few days ago, that this isn’t just a story of one man.
‘Even in the light of a conviction, it isn’t just one person. Obviously it is a really important victory for the #MeToo movement.
‘But the #MeToo movement is much, much bigger than what happens to Harvey. This is certainly a moment of great encouragement and a milestone for me personally and the movement as a whole.’
Anita Hill on Monday added her voice to the many other women who spoke out about Harvey Weinstein’s guilty verdict, saying that although many deem it as a victory for the #MeToo movement, it’s “only the beginning.”
A New York jury on Monday found Weinstein guilty of third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sexual act, ending a months-long criminal trial in Manhattan that focused on the testimonies of six women who accused him of sexual assault. He could face up to 29 years in prison.
“Today’s verdict in the Weinstein case is a clarion call of justice for the countless women whose voices have been suppressed in workplaces throughout society,” Hill said. “The Hollywood Commission’s mission does not end with the long overdue prosecution of Mr. Weinstein. Our goal of guaranteeing a safe work environment throughout the entertainment community remains more important than ever.”
Tarana Burke, the activist who started the original #MeToo movement more than a decade ago, said: ‘Most of us will never see the inside of the courtroom, but these women got to take the stand, look him in the eye and say, ‘You did this to me.’
‘He will forever be guilty. That’s a thing we have.’
.