Late night talk show host John Oliver has blasted Harvey Weinstein amid a barrage of sexual harassment claims, telling the movie tycoon: ‘Your excuse isn’t an excuse.’
Oliver, who hosts HBO’s Last Week Tonight, addressed the mounting claims on his show Sunday as Weinstein was forced to step down from his own production company.
Oliver started off by pointing out that this week’s ‘grim stories concerning the treatment of women’ coincided with the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood tape.
Late night talk show host John Oliver has blasted Harvey Weinstein amid a barrage of sexual harassment claims, telling the movie tycoon: ‘Your excuse isn’t an excuse.’
The former Daily Show correspondent went on: ‘The Times published a massive exposé detailing movie executive Harvey Weinstein’s years of alleged sexual harassment, and his response was infuriating – because he and his attorneys admitted that he needs help while also denying the charges and threatening to sue the Times. And on top of that all, was this.’
Oliver then read out Weinstein’s statement released after the story broke: ‘I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it’s not an excuse.’
Oliver replied: ‘Yeah, you’re right: Your excuse isn’t an excuse.
‘In fact, it isn’t even an excuse for that behavior in the ’60s: “Well, back then we had no idea that women didn’t want to be forced to look at d****!
‘That wasn’t discovered by scientists until 1998. It was a different time.’
The comedian added: ‘And new stories are now coming out, including an allegation from one local news reporter that Weinstein “trapped [her] in the hallway of the restaurant,” tried to kiss her, and when she refused, he “proceeded to expose himself” before ejaculating quickly into a potted plant.
‘So, step aside, Chocolat: You are no longer the most horrifying picture that Harvey Weinstein has ever produced.’
Oliver, who hosts HBO’s Last Week Tonight, addressed the mounting claims on his show Sunday as Weinstein was forced to step down from his own production company
Oliver replied: ‘Yeah, you’re right: Your excuse isn’t an excuse. In fact, it isn’t even an excuse for that behavior in the ’60s: “Well, back then we had no idea that women didn’t want to be forced to look at d****!’
The 65-year-old movie boss was ousted from The Weinstein Company – which he founded with his brother Bob in 2005 – by its board of directors on Sunday. Pictured, Ashley Judd, actor Vince Vaughn and Weinstein at an Oscar party in 1997
This development comes as Hollywood stars are finally speaking out to condemn Harvey Weinstein after he was fired from his own movie production company last night over a barrage of sexual harassment claims.
The 65-year-old – so powerful that Meryl Streep once called him ‘God’ – has been dismissed from The Weinstein Company in the wake of allegations that surfaced last week.
Many Hollywood stars have been criticized for remaining largely silent over claims that Weinstein, whose company produced such hits as ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘The Artist,’ preyed on young women hoping to break into the film industry.
But as news emerged yesterday that The Weinstein Company had fired the producer, some of the industry’s best known figures started to speak out in support of those who had made the allegations.
Weinstein (pictured with actress Meryl Streep) was ousted by his own company’s board of directors on Sunday
Actresses Susan Sarandon and Heather Graham as well as Spotlight star Mark Ruffalo were among those who took to Twitter yesterday to back the accusers who included Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd.
Meryl Streep herself also issued a statement on Monday calling the allegations against Weinstein ‘disgraceful’ and ‘inexcusable’.
However, she was adamant she did not know of any suggestions of sexual harassment made against the movie mogul before the New York Times published its explosive report last week.
Following a devastating New York Times expose that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein, the Weinstein Co. co-chairman was unceremoniously fired by his brother, Bob, and three other directors on the film company’s board.
‘In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company … have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,’ the company board said in a statement Sunday night.
Actresses Susan Sarandon and Heather Graham as well as Spotlight star Mark Ruffalo were among those who took to Twitter yesterday to back the accusers who included Rose McGowan (pictured) and Ashley Judd
For a domineering studio head long known for intervening in the edit room, this is very likely the final cut. His career in Hollywood, many in the industry believe, is finished.
It took much longer than three days for Weinstein’s fall. The reporting took months, and followed years of previous efforts by other journalists to nail down details of the behavior that was roundly considered ‘an open secret’ in Hollywood. And it took years for the alleged victims, including actress Ashley Judd, to work up the courage to go on the record.
Weinstein had previously taken an indefinite leave of absence following a New York Times expose chronicling decades of allegations of sexual harassment by the Oscar winner.
WEINSTEIN’S ACCUSERS
Harvey Weinstein has been slammed with multiple accusations of sexual harassment after a report detailing a $100,000 settlement he reportedly made to Rose McGowan in the mid-’90s emerged this week.
Below are some of the women who have accused Weinstein of harassing them, or other women.
Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he approached her during production of that movie. She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a ‘monster’ and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head.
Ashley Judd: Judd’s film roles include the thriller Kiss the Girls – and says that during the filming of that movie Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower. She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: ‘Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.’
Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein’s in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and ‘several’ other women; she later settled out of court
Lauren O’Connor: A former employee of The Weinstein Company, she told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was ‘a toxic environment for women at this company’ after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT said.
Ambra Battilana: An Italian actress and model, she told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.
Laura Madden: An ex-employee, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. ‘It was so manipulative,’ she told the NYT. ‘You constantly question yourself – am I the one who is the problem?’ Weinstein denied knowledge.
Emily Nestor: Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.
Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property
Zelda Perkins: An assistant of Weinstein’s based in London in 1998; then 25, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and ‘several’ others were harassed and later settled out of court.
Elizabeth Karlsen: The Oscar-nominated producer of Carol and The Crying Game, among others, told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago, an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.
Liza Campbell: A freelance script reader, she told the UK’s Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.
Lauren Sivan: The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007. He took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.