As producer Harvey Weinstein's legacy and reputation remains in tatters following his dismissal from The Weinstein Company, a number of high profile actresses have come out to slam the filmmaker for years of misconduct. Alongside former James Bond regular Judi Dench - Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Kate Winslet have all released statements on the matter.
The trio would work with Weinstein in his capacity as a producer, but would all be unaware of his behavior lurking behind the scenes. Now that evidence has come to light, all three have taken aim and not missed the mark.
Harvey's Dirty Deeds Were Not Widely Known
Both Streep and Close gave their thoughts to The New York Times, the very same publication that blew open the story to begin with. For the Mamma Mia! star and serial Academy Award winner, this was an all too common occurrence for powerful men wielding their influence.
"The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported. The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.
"One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally. I didn’t know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts. And if everybody knew, I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would have neglected for decades to write about it.
"The behavior is inexcusable, but the abuse of power familiar. Each brave voice that is raised, heard and credited by our watchdog media will ultimately change the game."
For Close, the emotion was more raw.
"I’m sitting here, deeply upset, acknowledging to myself that, yes, for many years, I have been aware of the vague rumors that Harvey Weinstein had a pattern of behaving inappropriately around women. Harvey has always been decent to me, but now that the rumors are being substantiated, I feel angry and darkly sad.
"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."
Winslet: Bravery Required To Combat The Bully
Through Variety, Winslet admitted that she heard whispers surrounding the studio honcho, hoping that they were unfounded allegations. Then the truth would be revealed.
"The fact that these women are starting to speak out about the gross misconduct of one of our most important and well regarded film producers, is incredibly brave and has been deeply shocking to hear. The way Harvey Weinstein has treated these vulnerable, talented young women is NOT the way women should ever EVER deem to be acceptable or commonplace in ANY workplace.
"I have no doubt that for these women this time has been, and continues to be extremely traumatic. I fully embrace and salute their profound courage, and I unequivocally support this level of very necessary exposure of someone who has behaved in reprehensible and disgusting ways. His behaviour is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong. I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naïve. And it makes me so angry. There must be ‘no tolerance’ of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world."
Source: The New York Times, Variety
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