‘Depressed’ Harvey Weinstein said he hopes to reconcile with his wife, Georgina Chapman, because he ‘loves his family more than anything’.
Just hours after Chapman, announced that she was leaving her husband, Weinstein said he was ‘devastated’ but wants the pair to eventually rebuild.
‘I truly love Georgina, and I hope one day we can reconcile, although right now I don’t know if that could possibly happen,’ Weinstein told PageSix shortly after he learned of his wife’s decision.
On Tuesday night, Chapman made the announcement that she was leaving her husband, who has been accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple actresses.
Weinstein also said he’s ‘heartbroken’ by the lack of support from Hollywood since he was once the Hollywood ‘kingmaker’.
According to PageSix, the media mogul is even more upset because he’s lost political friends like Hillary Clinton and former president Barack Obama, who condemned Weinstein on Tuesday.
‘Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein,’ Obama said in a statement without making any mention of the internship his teen daughter Malia took with The Weinstein Company this year when she was 18.
But Weinstein insisted that he was ‘always very well behaved around Malia,’ sources told PageSix.
‘Depressed’ Harvey Weinstein said he hopes to reconcile with his wife, Georgina Chapman (both pictured in December 2012), because he ‘loves his family more than anything’
On Tuesday night, Chapman (seen left on Friday) made the announcement that she was leaving her husband (right), who has been accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple actresses
On Tuesday Barack Obama said he was ‘disgusted’ with the stories about Weinstein (both seen in 2012), but he didn’t mention his daughter Malia’s internship at The Weinstein Company
‘I am profoundly devastated. I have lost my wife and kids, whom I love more than anything else,’ a shell-shocked Weinstein said late Tuesday night just hours before his daughter Remy called 911 to say her dad was suicidal on Wednesday morning.
Weinstein, 65, was visiting his 22-year-old daughter in LA when their argument spilled out onto the street, according to TMZ.
The ex-studio head reportedly yelled at Remy before trying to flag down a random car to get a ride.
Around 10.30am, the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at the home and confirmed they received a call from Remy who said her father was ‘suicidal and depressed’.
But when officers arrived Remy told them no suicidal statements were made, and it was just a family dispute.
Despite his broken heart, Weinstein revealed that he ‘encouraged’ his wife ‘to do what was in her heart’ before she announced she was leaving him.
He said he ‘supports’ her decision and hopes that after he undergoes therapy for sex addiction and behavioral issues, he and his wife can ‘rebuild’ their relationship.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Weinstein said: ‘I support her decision, I am in counseling and perhaps, when I am better, we can rebuild.’
He added: ‘Over the last week, there has been a lot of pain for my family that I take responsibility for. I sat down with my wife Georgina, who I love more than anything, and we discussed what was best for our family.
‘We discussed the possibility of a separation and I encouraged her to do what was in her heart. I understand, I love her and I love our children and hopefully, when I am better, I will be in their lives again.’
Three actresses have accused Weinstein of rape. Budding actress Lucia Evans accuses Weinstein of raping her in New York in 2004, where where is no statue of limitations on first degree rape. Italian actress Asia Argento accuses him of rape in France in 1997, and a third anonymous woman has accused him of the crime.
Weinstein’s company has also promised to cooperate fully with any possible future criminal probe.
His wife Chapman cited the alleged ‘unforgivable actions’ of her husband as a reason for leaving Weinstein.
‘My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband,’ she told People.
‘Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time.’
Among the women who have accused Weinstein of assault or harassment are actresses Rose McGowan (left) and Ashley Judd (right)
A family source said that the split had come ‘completely out of the blue’.
The source said of Chapman: ‘It’s not a good situation but she’s a very strong person, she’ll be fine. They’re very private people, I don’t know a lot about it, but we’re a strong family and we’ll get through this. These things are never black and white.’
According to a TMZ source, Weinstein is surprisingly calm about the chaos that has beset him this week.
‘He has his moments where there are bursts, but for the most part he’s pretty calm,’ the insider said.
Chapman met Weinstein in 2003 and they married four years later, going on to have two children, India Pearl, seven, and Dashiell Max Robert, four.
She is also the co-founder of high-end women’s fashion line Marchesa – and before the announcement of her split from Weinstein, sources said that she was struggling to save the brand from being tarnished by her husband’s allegations.
And despite her announcing she was leaving him on Tuesday, Chapman has been plagued by his sexual harassment scandal.
Chapman is reportedly concerned that his past will affect her fashion company, Marchesa – but also worried that without him she won’t have the A-list connections to ensure the brand remains high-profile
Chapman has enjoyed enormous success with the fashion brand over the last 13 years thanks to her husband’s influence over Hollywood stars. She is pictured at its 2014 show
Chapman was promoting Marchesa’s fall bridal collection in New York last week when the story about her husband broke. She is pictured with partner Keren Craig on Thursday October 5 – the same day the New York Times released its first Weinstein exposé
As the allegations against Weinstein intensified this week, talk turned to the future of Marchesa, Chapman’s fashion label which has been propped up by her husband’s money and Hollywood influence since she founded it in 2004.
On Wednesday, the label postponed its scheduled Spring Summer Press Preview, giving no rescheduled date or explanation for the decision.
A jewelry company which was working with Chapman to launch a bridal range also announced on Wednesday that it was halting the launch.
Helzberg Diamonds, a jewelery company with stores in New York, New Jersey and online, announced on Wednesday that it would no longer carry the Marchesa name.
In statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the company confirmed: ‘The company is not launching the Marchesa brand at this time.’
The designs however appear on its website only without their brand name. Instead, they are referred to as being part of the ‘Radiant Star’ collection.
An original link which it advertized to the ‘Marchesa Radiant Star’ range no longer works.
Weinstein said that he didn’t want his wife to be hurt any more by the recent allegations against him.
‘I know she has to do what is best for the children, for herself and her business, she employs 130 people. I don’t want her or my children to be hurt any more than they already have,’ he told PageSix.
But leaving him might present other problems for the beleaguered British designer.
A source told People that she is terrified that the line, which is loved by many of the women who have starred in her husband’s films, will crumble without his help.
That’s because he – as one of the heaviest hitters in Hollywood – has access to the A-list stars that can keep the brand in the public eye.
Hezlberg Diamonds was due to add Marchesa’s line of Radiant Star engagement and wedding rings to its stores and promoted it last week (above). The company has since announced that it is halting the range launch
But leaving him might present other problems for the beleaguered British designer. A source told People that she is terrified that the line, which is loved by many of the women who have starred in her husband’s films, will crumble without his help
A TV fashion source said: ‘Harvey is the one with all the friends. It’s going to be a tough time for her and Marchesa’.
A New York fashion publicist who did not want to be named told the Hollywood reporter: ‘No star is ever going to want to wear the brand again.’
Weinstein is good friends with Vogue editor Anna Wintour and the two have co-hosted fashion and Democratic political fundraising events.
Chapman and Weinstein are regular guests at Wintour’s annual Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute galas.
Just last week, Weinstein boasted that his wife was ‘standing by me 100 per cent’.
He has also said she will be one of the people to ‘kick my a**’ and help him become a better man.
Weinstein also hopes that he will still be able to serve the Weinstein Company, from which he was fired on Sunday, in some capacity, TMZ reported.
WHO IS GEORGINA CHAPMAN?
Georgina Chapman is pictured right in August this year, alongside Marchesa co-founder Keren Craig
Georgina Rose Chapman is an English-born fashion designer and TV personality who married Harvey Weinstein in 2007.
She was born in London in 1976 to parents Brian Chapman, owner of fairtrade coffee company Percol, and Caroline Wonfor, a journalist.
Chapman grew up in upmarket Richmond, in the city’s south west, before being sent to prestigious Marlborough College boarding school in Wiltshire.
She later studied at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, where she met future business partner Keren Craig, and the Wimbledon School of Art.
It was around this time that she began modelling, appearing in adverts for shampoo and throat lozenges.
After leaving the Wimbledon School of Art in 2001 she went into costume design and began appearing in bit-part roles for TV and film.
In 2004 she started fashion label Marchesa with Craig, which they named after socialite Marchesa Luisa Casati.
The pair went on to enjoy huge success, with the label recognized by the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund as one of their top 10 finalists for 2006.
The brand is now a favourite for celebrities at red carpet events.
Chapman has also appeared as a guest judge on America’s Next Top Model, and starred as a judge in the first five seasons of Project Runway: All Stars.
Chapman began dating Weinstein in 2004, around the time her label started, after he had split from his first wife.
The pair married late in 2007 and have two children together – a seven-year-old daughter, India, and a son, Dashiell, aged four.
On Tuesday Gwyneth Paltrow (left, with Weinstein in 1999) said he sexually harassed her when she was 22. Angelina Jolie (right) said he did the same, so she never worked with him again
Asia Argento (above in 2004) said that Harvey Weinstein raped her in a hotel room at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc back in 1997. Three other women also accused him of rape
His legal team are in talks with the company’s board, and according to an insider, he ‘wants to come back with fresh, new ideas’.
But a reunion seems unlikely, as the board on Tuesday once again condemned the mogul – and announced that it would be co-operating with the police.
‘The Weinstein Company’s Board of Representatives – Bob Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar – are shocked and dismayed by the recently emerged allegations of extreme sexual misconduct and sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein,’ the board’s statement read.
‘These alleged actions are antithetical to human decency. These allegations come as an utter surprise to the Board. Any suggestion that the Board had knowledge of this conduct is false.
‘We are committed to assisting with our full energies in all criminal or other investigations of these alleged acts, while pursuing justice for the victims and a full and independent investigation of our own.’
On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that The Weinstein Company had consulted with an ad agency and was considering renaming itself to put distance between it and the litany of alleged abuses.
The controversy showed no signs of winding down on Tuesday, as several actresses came forward with new accusations about the producer.
Anglina Jolie said that in 1998, when she was just 23 and promoting her film Playing By Heart, Weinstein made unwanted advances on her in a hotel room.
‘I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,’ Jolie told The New York Times.
‘This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.’
Rosanna Arquette (left) and Mira Sorvino (right) both said Weinstein forced himself on them, but that they managed to fight him off
WEINSTEIN’S ACCUSERS
Angelina Jolie said she had to turn down Weinstein’s advances as a young actress
Gwyneth Paltrow: The star told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom before she started shooting the 1996 film Emma. She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul.
Angelina Jolie: Jolie told the Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998 and chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him.
Louisette Geiss: Actress was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting.
Judith Godreche: The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996.
Dawn Dunning: Aspiring actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects in 2003. When she arrived Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel.
Tomi-Ann Roberts: Weinstein met her when she was serving tables as a college junior in 1984 and told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived, she says, he was naked in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was nude. She says she refused and left.
Asia Argento: The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21. ‘He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn’t stop. It was a nightmare.’ She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva.
Katherine Kendall: The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993. He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her.
Lucia Evans: The actress, formerly known as Lucia Stoller, claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a ‘casting meeting’ in a Miramax office in Manhattan. He reportedly called her late at night after the incident.
Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that Weinstein attempted to get her into a hotel bedroom and massage her when she was 22
Mira Sorvino: The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her, she claimed. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career.
Rosanna Arquette: The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein’s advances in the early 1990s. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims.
Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he assaulted her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival. 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.
Career suicide: Mira Sorvino revealed how her career nose-dived after she turned down Weinstein’s advances
Ashley Judd: Judd’s film roles include the 1997 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.’
Emma De Caunes: French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010, soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his hotel room, where he began to take a shower. He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before. ‘I was very petrified,’ said de Caunes. ‘But I didn’t want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.’
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.
Jessica Barth: Weintein reportedly pressured Barth, an actress, to give him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel from 2011 onwards.
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.
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, 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
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.
Jessica Hynes: The British actress, best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced, said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 – in a bikini. Hynes, formerly known as Jessica Stevenson, said she refused to wear the skimpy item – and lost the job.
Romola Garai: British actress Romola Garai said she felt ‘violated’ following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe. Garai, best known for her role in ‘Atonement’, said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because ‘you had to be personally approved by him’. ‘Like every other woman in the industry, I’ve had an ‘audition’ with Harvey Weinstein,’ she told The Guardian. ‘So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it’.
Unnamed assistant: Weinstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a woman employed as his assistant in 1990. The case was settled out of court.
Another unnamed assistant: In 2015, Weinstein reportedly pressured another assistant into giving him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel, where he is also said to have pressured Barth.
Unnamed Miramax employee: At one point in the early 1990s, a young woman is alleged to have suddenly left the company after an encounter with Weinstein. She also settled out of court.
Unnamed woman: A woman who did not wish to be named because she feared Weinstein’s connections told The New York Times that the producer had summoned her to his hotel at an unknown date and raped her.
Ben Affleck finally broke his silence to condemn Harvey Weinstein on Tuesday, saying the sexual harassment claims made him sick. Weinstein produced Good Will Hunting, for which Affleck and Matt Damon (all three pictured) won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar
Affleck only made the remarks after five days of widespread condemnation of Weinstein – and after being asked repeatedly for comment by DailyMail.com
Her voice was joined by that of Gwyneth Paltrow, who said that Weinstein sexually harassed her at his Beverly Hills hotel when she was just 22, and that it almost lost her a big role.
Italian star Asia Argento told the New Yorker that Weinstein raped her in 1997 at a party hosted by Miramax at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc.
She claims the mogul led her to an empty room and asked her to give him a massage.
She reluctantly agreed,and halfway through he began to perform oral sex on her after forcibly lifting up her skirt despite her repeated requests for him to stop, she said.
Aspiring actress Lucia Evans and another unnamed woman accused him of rape as well, according to the article.
Rosanna Arquette and Mira Sorvino also said that Weinstein forced himself upon them, but that they were able to fight off his sexual advances.
Soon after, the two women say, their careers began to suffer.
Also on Tuesday, actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon finally spoke out about Weinstein, who was instrumental in bagging them an Oscar for Good Will Hunting.
Affleck, who had been silent on the matter for five days, finally said on Facebook that he was ‘saddened and angry’ over the claims.
Although Affleck implied that he had only just learned of the Weinstein claims, McGowan said she’d told him after her alleged 1997 assault and that he was aware of previous allegations
It’s not clear which press conference McGowan was referring to, but both she (left) and Affleck (center) appeared in the 1998 horror movie Phantoms (pictured), produced by Weinstein
‘I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades,’ he wrote.
‘The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick,’ he added, calling them ‘unacceptable’ and demanding people ‘do better at protecting’ women.
Those remarks didn’t impress Rose McGowan, one of Weinstein’s alleged victims, who accused him of knowing about his abuses for at least 20 years.
She tweeted: ‘@benaffleck ‘GODD*MNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT’ you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.’
McGowan then tweeted a screengrab of her message onto her main timeline with the message: ‘You want to play let’s play #ROSEARMY.’
It’s not clear which press conference she was referring to, but both McGowan and Affleck appeared in the 1998 movie Phantoms, which was executive-produced by Weinstein.
The horror flick premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, which is where McGowan’s alleged assault took place.
Good Will Hunting premiered in December of that year; two of Affleck’s preceding three films – Kevin Smith comedies Mallrats and Chasing Amy – were also backed by Weinstein.
Immediately after his remarks, McGowan also tweeted ‘Ben Affleck f**k off’
McGowan also tweeted ‘Ben Affleck f*** off’.
She had been prodding the star for days to speak out, but clearly she hoped for a different response.
On Monday, she tweeted: ‘Ben Affleck Casey Affleck, how’s your morning boys?’
Casey Affleck has also been accused of sexual harassment.
Damon (pictured with Weinstein in 1998, the year Good Will Hunting was released) spoke out just after Affleck did, claiming that he had no idea of the producer’s actions
Shortly after Affleck’s statement came out, The New York Times published a story revealing that both Paltrow and Jolie were subjected to unwanted advances by the Hollywood heavyweight.
Affleck and Paltrow dated briefly in the late ’90s. Paltrow was dating Brad Pitt around the time Weinstein made advances towards her.
Also addressing the controversy on Tuesday was Matt Damon, whom McGowan had previously called a ‘spineless profiteer who stays silent’.
He and Russell Crowe had been accused by The Wrap’s Susan Waxman of intervening in a story she was writing on Weinstein.
It claimed Fabrizio Lombardo, the former head of Miramax Italy was put on the payroll to procure women for Weinstein. Lombardo denied the claims at the time.
While she was working on the story, Waxman says the actors called her to vouch for Lombardo and the allegations about Weinstein were stripped out of the piece by her editors.
Damon, who said he knew Lombardo from the Italian launch of The Talented Mr Ripley, said he had no idea about what Waxman was investigating.
‘Harvey said, ‘Sharon Waxman is writing a story about Fabrizio and it’s really negative. Can you just call and tell her what your experience with Fabrizio was?’ So I did, and that’s what I said to her,’ Damon said.
Graham said that in a meeting with Weinstein in the early 2000s, the movie mogul bragged that he and his wife had an ‘agreement’ that he could sleep with whoever he wanted to while he was out of town. He referring to first wife Eve Chilton (pictured in 1997). They divorced in 2004
‘For the record, I would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s not something I would do, for anybody,’ Damon said.
Waxman has since spoken out to say that she ‘endorses’ Damon’s side of the story, tweeting Tuesday that he ‘wasn’t informed’ on the sexual harassment allegations.
Also drawn into the ongoing story on Tuesday was Weinstein’s first wife, Eve Chilton, after Heather Graham said she had been aware Weinstein slept with other women.
Graham told Variety that in the early 2000’s she met Weinstein at his office and was told that he wanted to cast her in one of his movies – offering her a pile of scripts on his desk to pick from.
‘Later in the conversation, he mentioned he had an agreement with his wife,’ Graham said, referring to Chilton, whom Weinstein married in 1987 and divorced in 2004.
‘[He said] He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town,’ she said. ‘I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy.
‘There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there.’
She said he later attempted to lure her into a hotel, but she refused – and promptly lost the film he was supposedly willing to finance.
As the story continued to roll, Barack Obama – who received $680,000 in money raised by Weinstein for his 2012 election campaign – joined in the chorus of disapproval, saying he was ‘disgusted’ with the revelations.
‘Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein,’ Obama said in a statement.
‘Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status.’
‘We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories,’ the former president continued.
‘And we all need to build a culture – including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect – so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future.’
He did not say whether he would return the money raised for his campaign.
Hillary Clinton also spoke out on Tuesday, saying she was ‘shocked and appalled’ about the stories that had emerged about Weinstein.
On Tuesday, it also emerged that Weinstein had approached Jeffrey Katzenberg, former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and CEO of DreamWorks Animation, for help in persuading the board of the Weinstein Company not to fire him.
Katzenberg released the content of his reply – and it likely made for painful reading for the disgraced producer.
Katzenberg and Weinstein, pictured far right and left respectively, have been friends for more than 30 years. He wrote in his letter ‘you have done terrible things to a number of women. I am sickened by it’
Weinstein emailed a handful of Hollywood executives, including Katzenberg, on Wednesday in a desperate and last-minute plea for support.
‘My board is thinking of firing me. All I’m asking is, let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling,’ wrote Weinstein in the email, which was read by one of the recipients to Janice Min.
‘Whether is be in a facility or somewhere else, allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance.’
He went on to state that ‘a lot of the allegations are false’ before asking that they send an email backing him, which he could in turn present to the company board.
In response, Katzenberg, who has known Weinstein for 30 years, said he had ‘no way of knowing’ whether the allegations were false, given that the email was sent just days after the NYT expose.
‘You have done terrible things to a number of women over a period of years,’ he continued.
‘I cannot in any way say this is OK with me…It’s not at all, and I am sickened by it, angry with you and incredibly disappointed in you.
‘I doubt this is what you want to hear from me and most likely you aren’t interested in my advice but this is the way I see it.’
WHAT THE STARS ARE SAYING ABOUT WEINSTEIN
Jennifer Lawrence stated although she had not witnessed Weinstein’s inappropriate acts herself, she still condemned the producer
Matt Damon: ‘As the father of four daughters, this is the kind of sexual predation that keeps me up at night. This is the great fear for all of us. I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this. I feel horrible for these women and it’s wonderful they have this incredible courage and are standing up now. We can all feel this change that’s happening, which is necessary and overdue.’
Ben Affleck: ‘I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades’
Nicole Kidman: ‘As I’ve stated before publicly, I support and applaud all women and these women who speak out against any abuse and misuse of power – be it domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workforce. We need to eradicate this behavior.’
George Clooney: ‘I suppose the argument would be that it’s not just about Hollywood, but about all of us – that every time you see someone using their power and influence to take advantage of someone without power and influence and you don’t speak up, you’re complicit.’
Jennifer Lawrence: ‘I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting.’
Kate Winslet: ‘His behavior is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong. I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumors, maybe we have all been naïve.’
Meryl Streep: ‘The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported.’
Kate Winslet said Weinstein’s behavior was appalling and very wrong
Glenn Close: ‘I’m angry, not just at him and the conspiracy of silence around his actions, but also that the ‘casting couch’ phenomenon, so to speak, is still a reality in our business and in the world: the horrible pressure, the awful expectation put on a woman when a powerful, egotistical, entitled bully expects sexual favors in exchange for a job.’
Judi Dench: ‘Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offences which are, of course, horrifying, and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out.’
Mark Ruffalo said it was a ‘disgusting abuse of power’
Romola Garai: ‘Like every other woman in the industry, I’ve had an ‘audition’ with Harvey Weinstein. So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it.’
Ashley Judd: ‘Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.’
Mark Ruffalo: ‘To be clear what Harvey Weinstein did was a disgusting abuse of power and horrible. I hope we are now seeing the beginning of the end of these abuses.’
James Gunn: ‘If even 1/10th of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true (and I believe they are), then good f***ing riddance. That s***’s gotta stop.’
Lena Dunham: ‘Easy to think Weinstein company took swift action but this has actually been the slowest action because they always always knew.’
Susan Sarandon: ‘Huge respect for Ashley Judd and all the women who broke their silence for the article on Harvey Weinstein. Brave.’
Julianne Moore: ‘Coming forward about sexual abuse and coercion is scary and women have nothing to be gained personally by doing so. But through their bravery we move forward as a culture, and I thank them. Stand with Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and others.’
Jessica Chastain: ‘I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again.’
Jeff Bridges: ‘I wish him the best struggling with his demons, but his behavior was terrible. And I wish him – just as being a fellow human being – we are all struggling with different things. And he can struggle with his and come out the other side.’
Kevin Smith: ‘He financed the first 14 years of my career – and now I know while I was profiting, others were in terrible pain. It makes me feel ashamed.’
Paul Feig: ‘There is no excuse for monsters like Harvey Weinstein. It’s up to all of us, men and women, to speak up against sexual harassment and abuse.’
Michael Keaton: ‘H Weinstein – yikes! Disgusting and creepy. So is ‘leader of the free world’, by the way.’
Heather Graham is one of a number of actors to speak out against Weinstein
Emmy Rossum: ‘The ‘old dinosaur’ explanation doesn’t cut it. Decades of using power to intimidate women for sexual gain is reprehensible and inexcusable.’
Heather Graham: ‘Women speak out about sexual harassment and Harvey Weinstein gets fired. This is the best and most inspiring news story I have seen in a while.’
Judd Apatow: ‘What Harvey Weinstein did was abhorrent. He admits he did it. Why should anyone be silent in their disgust and support for his victims?’
Amber Tamblyn: ‘Heed the mantra and never forget: Women. Have. Nothing. To. Gain. And. Everything. To. Lose. By. Coming. Forward.’
Scott Derrickson: ‘I expect the Hollywood elite will remain largely silent about Weinstein. Me, I give zero f***s about any repercussions for condemning him.’
Brooklyn Decker: ‘We condemn ‘grab them by the p***y’ and we condone this.’
Patricia Arquette: ‘If there is a way to cure yourself of being a predator than I hope Harvey learns what it is & shares it with the world. It’s an epidemic.’
Ryan Murphy: ‘In this society, most women have a Harvey Weinstein in their life. There is always a minefield you navigate when you’re a woman and go through the system of Hollywood. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have champions or people who aren’t interested in taking advantage of you, and sometimes you do not. I know my way around an Oscar-winning lady or two, and whenever he would come up in conversation, there was always this ‘ick’ or ‘ugh’ type of reaction. All of the women I spoke to would say that. All of them. I wondered what was up with that.’