Harvey Weinstein has revealed that he has had ‘really tough conversations’ with his family after the allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The Hollywood mogul said that he had to ‘prove that I’m worthy’ to his wife Georgina Chapman and his five children – but they were standing by him.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Weinstein, 65, expressed profound regret for his inappropriate behavior towards women stretching back decades.
He said that ‘I own my mistakes’ and that included frank talks with Chapman, 41, a British fashion designer and actress, and his five children aged between four and 22.
Weinstein also wants to ‘earn the forgiveness’ of actress Ashley Judd who accused him of repeatedly making indecent proposals to her 20 years ago.
Down and out in lower Manhattan: Harvey Weinstein was seen looking downcast after news broke that he sexually harassed a number of female employees over the past three decades (above) in photos taken by DailyMail.com
No good will: He made a number of female employees massage him in his hotel room while he was naked revealed a New York Times investigation
Helping hand: Weinstein exited his office with attorney Lisa Bloom (above), who is known for her work with victims of sexual harassment
Family: He is married to designer Georgina Chapman (above in February 2017) and the couple has two young children, with Weinstein also having three girls from his first marriage
Weinstein said: ‘I have had tough conversations with my family, really tough ones but my family is standing with me.
‘I have a journey and I have to prove to every person that’s out there that I’m worthy of them and I have to prove to my family the same thing.
‘This is going to be a journey, a lonely journey but a journey where my wife and kids couldn’t be stronger and couldn’t be standing behind me more’.
Weinstein, the multiple Oscar-winning founder of film companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, spoke to DailyMail.com after the bombshell New York Times report revealed his long record of misconduct.
The New York Times said he had reached at least eight settlements with women including one who said she was coerced into giving him a massage while he was naked.
Weinstein is said to have asked a young Judd to watch him shower and paid Rose McGowan $100,000 under a settlement for an incident shortly before her breakthrough role in ‘Scream’.
Sharing her story: Weinstein paid Rose McGowan (right in 2007) $100,000 and invited Ashley Judd (left in 2015) to his hotel room for a meeting and then asked if she would watch him shower
Adios: Bloom compared her client to a dinosaur and said he was learning to make changes in his life
Heading for the hills: Weinstein sped off in his SUV up the West Side Highway after saying he would seek treatment
Speaking on the phone Weinstein blamed his temperament for why he thought it was appropriate to behave in such a manner to young women who looked up to him as a way to gain a foothold in the movie industry.
He said: ‘There’s a difference between maybe what you’re thinking (I was) behaving and anything else.
‘The behaviour is more about temperament. I have a temper and it’s not a good one so I think I act too imperiously.
‘There’s a difference between that any anything else’.
Weinstein, who has produced films like Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting, said that he was ‘very remorseful to women and to men, everybody that I’ve offended’.
He said: ‘I own all my mistakes and I have to deal with that’.
In the New York Times article Judd, 49, said that she was invited up to Weinstein’s room 20 years ago where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could massage her or watch him shower.
She remembered thinking to herself: ‘How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?’
She soon got another invitation and was asked to give him a shoulder rub. When she declined he asked her to watch him shower again.
Judd said: ‘I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask. It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining’.
Asked about her claims Weinstein said: ‘Here’s what I feel about Ashley. She wrote a story in Variety (that did not name Weinstein but described the incident) that was one way, now she’s remembering this way.
‘My feeling is I read her book about being abused as a child.
‘Whatever Ashley wants to say about me, I’m going to be supportive. I need to earn her forgiveness. I thought we had a relationship at one time, the goal is to get that back. I salute her like everybody else does’.
Kids: Weinstein and Chapman has a daughter India, 7, and four-year-old son Dashell (above in July)
Daughter and star: Weinstein with daughter Lily (left) and actress Nicole Kidman (right)
McGowan reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997 when over the incident in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival. At the time she was 23 years old.
Asked about the incident Weinstein said: ‘I promised to keep the peace and that’s how I feel about it’.
He also denied the New York Times’ claim that he had reached eight settlements with women and said their reporting was ‘not right’.
He said: ‘With any company with have non disclosure agreement and whatever and for all sorts of reasons we don’t reveal that. It’s in our interests to make sure people feel good, that’s what we do’.
Weinstein said that Lauren O’Connor, who sent a memo to executives at the Weinstein Company in 2015 detailed his sexual misconduct, ended up settling.
Ex: Weinstein and first wife Eve Chilton
Weinstein said that The Weinstein Company hired Linda Fairstein, the former prosecutor known for investigating crimes against women, but the O’Connor withdrew her complaint and ‘everybody sent nice letters to each other’.
Speaking to DailyMail.com Weinstein was also keen to point out that he was being targeted by forces that appear similar to those who turned on Hillary Clinton during her failed Presidential campaign.
Outside of the movie business Weinstein is a staunch supporter of liberal causes and has been a major fundraiser for the Democrats.
He said: ‘There seems to be a group of people who are trying to finance a number of stories against me. I have to find out who they are.
‘I’m not just owning my responsibilities, I know that. There are no excuses, but there are no excuses for people who are conservatives Republicans who are financing things against me in every area, be it personal, charitable, whatever.
‘There’s more at risk for the country but I worry about that in an era of fake news and these consortia that are financing news and I find myself a victim of it’.
In a statement when the allegations surfaced Weinstein said he has spent spent the last year taking counsel on gender power roles from Lisa Bloom, an attorney who has represented victims of sexual assault in prominent cases like Bill Cosby’s trial.
Weinstein has also retained star litigator David Boies and Charles Hader, who represented Hulk Hogan in his lawsuit against Gawker.
Harder said that he was preparing a lawsuit against the New York Times for writing a story that is ‘saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein’.
Miramax: David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Harvey Weinstein, Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Zwick and Mark Norman at the 1999 Oscars after ‘Shakespeare in Love’ won Best Picture
Weinstein hard harsh words for the newspaper and claimed that their reporting was ‘sloppy’ and ‘disingenuous’.
He said: ‘I’m very remorseful to women and to men, everybody that I’ve offend. The New York Times however gave us, they had a six month investigation, they told us all along they would give us time….they said they would not have people off the record and they did.
‘They said they would present every allegation to us, they did not, they left out seven or eight allegations.
‘I grew up believing in the New York Times. I think now because of the Washington Post and the Wall St Journal being so f****** fantastic they’re trying desperately to do things.
‘They also have the reputation of being the New York Times, so which is it?
‘They made a lot of mistakes in their reporting. They hurt innocent people.
‘Me, I’m apologetic, I’m remorseful for all those people, any people that I hurt, I feel terrible but for the New York Times itself, you can’t be this disingenuous, this sloppy, the poor an organization any more.
‘You have to hold the New York Times accountable’.