Actresses who willingly have sex with Hollywood producers have made a “conscious decision” to advance their careers, according to Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer Ben Brafman.
“If a woman decides that she needs to have sex with a Hollywood producer to advance her career and actually does it and finds the whole thing offensive, that’s not rape,” Brafman told a British newspaper on the eve of the Oscars.
Over 100 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct spanning four decades, however Brafman argues that no criminal behavior took place.
“You made a conscious decision that you’re willing to do something that is personally offensive in order to advance your career,” he added. Weinstein, who is reportedly undergoing sex addiction therapy, denies having non-consensual sex. He is currently being investigated by police in the UK and US.
Of course – that’s not exactly how things went down according to several women. Celebrities including Rose McGowen, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek have accused Weinstein of various improprieties, from unwanted advances to flat out rape.
“It was such a bat to the head. He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things.” –Uma Thurman
Actress Salma Hayek told the New York Times that Weinstein threatened to kill her in a terrifying “attack of fury.”
“…with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage.
I don’t think he hated anything more than the word “no.” The absurdity of his demands went from getting a furious call in the middle of the night asking me to fire my agent for a fight he was having with him about a different movie with a different client to physically dragging me out of the opening gala of the Venice Film Festival, which was in honor of “Frida,” so I could hang out at his private party with him and some women I thought were models but I was told later were high-priced prostitutes.
The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, “I will kill you, don’t think I can’t.”
Last November, NBC New York reported that the Manhattan District Attorney had enough evidence to indict Weinstein, which was followed by a December probe into hush money settlements with his accusers.
Those allegations include claims by Lucia Evans, then a college student, that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him inside his Tribeca office in 2004, and claims by “Boardwalk Empire” actress Paz de la Huerta that Weinstein raped her on two occasions in 2010.
The DA’s Office is also investigating whether Weinstein misappropriated money from The Weinstein Company — which fired him in October — or his former company, Miramax, to buy his accusers’ silence, sources said. –NY Post
De la Huerta told CBS News in an November interview she was first raped in October 2010 after Weinstein gave her a ride home from a party – after which the Hollywood mogul insisted on having a drink in her apartment when he forced himself on her. She said he raped her again in December 2010 after coming to her apartment. She had been drinking and was not in a condition to give consent, the actress told CBS News.
In February, the New York Attorney General’s office filed a bombshell civil rights lawsuit on Sunday against Harvey Weinstein and the co-founders of the Weinstein Co. for “egregious violations of New York’s civil rights, human rights and business laws,” pointing to a corporate culture which failed to protect employees from abusive behavior.
The 38-page filing by the NY AG details a series of abuses by co-founder and CEO Harvey Weinstein – facilitated by several Weinstein & Co. employees.
Schneiderman’s complaint details Harvey Weinstein issuing threats to TWC employees and the fact that the company had “a group of female employees whose primary job it was to accompany HW (sic) to events and to facilitate HW’s sexual conquests.” The complaint further states: “One of the members of this entourage was flown from London to New York to teach HW’s assistants how to dress and smell more attractive to HW.” –Variety
“The Weinstein Co. repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement. “Any sale of The Weinstein Co. must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched. Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation and fear.”
The complaint also cites instances in which Weinstein Co. senior managers failed to respond to employee complaints about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior. The complaint cites TWC’s “COO” but does not cite David Glasser by name. The four-month probe included “an exhaustive review of company records and emails,” according to the Attorney General. –Variety
Damage control, Mossad style
Journalist Ronan Farrow detailed how Weinstein used a network of attorneys, private detectives and a firm run by former Israeli Mossad agents in a failed attempt to silence his accusers and prevent The New York Times and The New Yorker from publishing allegations of sexual harassment, assault and rape.
One of the firms employed by Weinstein, referred to him by Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, was UK based Black Cube – which promotes itself as “a select group of veterans from the Israeli elite intelligence units,” set up a fake London wealth management firm and sent a female ex-Mossad agent posing as women’s rights advocate “Diana Filip” to befriend and spy on actress Rose McGowan.
“I took her to the Venice boardwalk and we had ice cream while we strolled,” McGowan told Farrow, adding that Filip was “very kind.”
Via The New Yorker:
When I sent McGowan photos of the Black Cube agent, she recognized her instantly. “Oh my God,” she wrote back. “Reuben Capital. Diana Filip. No fucking way.”
The same female agent from Black Cube posed as a different woman with a possible allegation against Weinstein in an attempt to trick various journalists working on unflattering Weinstein reports into revealing information about other accusers, according to Farrow’s report.
Black Cube, founded in 2010 by former Mossad agents, operates out of London, Paris and Tel Aviv. Their international advisory board was headed by Meir Dagan [deceased, 2012] – former head of Mossad. Other advisory board members include Major General Giora Eiland – former head of the Israeli National Security Council who headed the IDF’s Operation Branch and IDF’s Planning Branch, Itiel Maayan – member of Microsoft’s Customer Advisory Board (?), Professor Asher Tishler – President of the College of Management Academic Studies, Paul Reyniers – former partner at Price Waterhouse, Colonel Ephy Yerushalmy – former head of Unit 504, IDF Humint Division, and Doron Arbelli – former director of the Israeli Tax Authority.
Of course, why pay out millions to accusers and hire former Mossad agents to silence and intimidate victims and journalists if it’s not rape?
Perhaps Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Donna Karan or Oliver Stone know the answer – since all of them defended Weinstein after the accusations began to fly.
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2D1HgHX Tyler Durden