One of those folks who wishes to remain unnamed asks…
You live and work in Hollywood. For those of us who don't, can you give us an explanation of why so many people knew about Harvey Weinstein's disgraceful acts and no one did anything about them? And how common do you think the Harvey Weinsteins are in show business?
Well, first of all, I live and work in Hollywood but I don't exactly travel in the same circles as Harvey Weinstein. I've barely traveled in the circles of Harvey Korman.
Secondly, when folks say they heard about Weinstein's misdeeds, they sometimes mean (a) they heard directly from someone who was victimized by him. And they sometimes mean (b) they heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone about an unnamed actress who was groped in an unspecified locale at an unknown time. When it's said that "everyone knew," some of those everyones were in category (b) and they don't act, in part because so many of those rumors turn out to be bogus and in part because the law can't do anything without proper names and some specifics.
So why didn't those in category (a) do something? I don't think a lot of them knew what to do, especially if/when the victims prefer to just forget the whole thing and not open themselves up to the public spotlight, attacks from the perpetrator's lawyer and sometime from the police, the number of hours it would consume to testify against their assailants, etc.
This is key to understanding the problem here. The biggest reason slimeballs with power get away with grabbing, pressuring and raping is that many of their victims are terrified of reporting or corroborating what's been done to them…and there's not a lot that can be done to their assailants if the victims decide they're better off that way. I've known a lot of actresses who were mistreated but came to that decision.
One in particular would tell me horrible — and I'm sure, true — stories about what some very powerful men tried to do to her. At least two of the assailants were Big Stars with Big Lawyers — and reputations as decent family men with wholesome images. My friend did not think she could win a She Said/He Said argument with them and their $700-an-hour attorneys; that she'd be smeared as a slut and a lying opportunist and even if she did get some sort of justice, it would consume her life for months if not years and destroy her career.
A large part of the reason Weinstein finally got exposed was that certain of the women he mistreated were or have become Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino — ladies who have become successful enough that they're not afraid they'll lose everything if they go on the record. Unknowns could and would be accused of lying to get attention and/or money. Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't need either. If he was only abusing unknowns, I bet he'd get away with it forever. I am reminded of how there were a lot of stories around about cartoonist Al Capp exposing himself to women and trying to blackmail them into sex. Many dismissed those accounts as lies until Goldie Hawn went public with the story of her unsavory encounter with Mr. Capp.
The Harvey Weinstein situation is not a problem unique to Show Biz. Most rapes in this country go unreported. Some estimates place that number as high as 80%.
Somewhere in the insurance business, there are guys who have Weinstein-sized money and similar appetites and they get away with such assaults. Every time one does, he feels more invulnerable and goes farther with the next lady who looks to them like easy, attractive prey. And time and again, their victims think, "If I report this, I'll be ruthlessly interrogated, my motives will be questioned, my life — and maybe even the lives of my friends and family will be invaded." It is also, to some, just plain humiliating to be looked upon as a victim. We need to change that.
There are other Harvey Weinsteins in Hollywood — men who do that kind of thing because they're pretty certain they'll never be caught, never be punished. It would be nice to think that the exposure of Mr. Weinstein's abominable behavior will cause many of them to think, "Gee, maybe I'd better stop doing that kind of thing."
