Harvey Weinstein megaproducer and executive ousted over sexual harassment

[skatesindreams]

More about Mario Batali:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/a...pJobID=1301342841&spReportId=MTMwMTM0Mjg0MQS2

 

[Susan1]

No. But I'm not willing to conclude that he's committed sexual harassment. It's looking like the percentage of men who sexually harass women is higher than many people would have thought, not all men harass.

Just as seemingly sensitive, gentle, progressive and soft-spoken men can abuse women, 'rougher' sorts of men can be respectful towards women.

I didn't say he did. Just what would happen to him professionally compared to the obscure-to-most-people judge on the baking show and they stopped showing episodes already finished.

 

[PeterG]

Peter Jackson: I blacklisted Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino under pressure from Weinstein

On seeing Jackson’s interview, Sorvino tweeted on Friday: “I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I’m just heartsick.”

Judd said, “I remember this well.”

Weinstein is alleged to have told multiple women he could enhance their careers or ruin them depending on how they responded to his sexual advances. One actor, Annabella Sciorra, has accused Weinstein of violently raping her and suspects him of ruining her reputation.

“From 1992, I didn’t work again until 1995,” she told the New Yorker. “I just kept getting this pushback of ‘We heard you were difficult; we heard this or that.’ I think that that was the Harvey machine.”

Darryl Hannah claimed she resisted Weinstein’s advances and experienced “instant repercussions”. After an international premiere of Kill Bill 2, she recalled to the magazine, a Miramax company plane left without her, and her flights, stylists and accommodations were cancelled for another.

 

[gkelly]

What makes some men sexual harassers? Science tries to explain the harvey weinsteins of the world

 

[skatesindreams]

New group formed to address harassment issues:
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/01/entertainment/times-up-anti-harassment-hollywood/index.html

 

[PeterG]

Open letter to the New York Times:

You’re my sexist dumbass, Louis C.K. — and here’s what I need from you now

Written by writer/director Ela Thier, she suggests that instead of Louis C.K. being banished to "bad boy land", he use his position of power to create change, in large part through supporting women. Some of the things she says in the letter that stand out to me include:

Your work, Louis, was a break from sexism, and I want you to know that.....I watched you make jokes about your marriage for years without ever uttering a single disrespectful word about your ex or portraying yourself as her victim.

The question is whether we’ll enjoy it (the current public reckoning of male domination) for a brief moment before going back to business as usual with nothing having changed, or whether we’ll seize this moment and organize ourselves towards real and permanent change. I’m writing to ask you to take an active role in making sure the latter is what happens. Are you willing?

The real problem is that sexism is everywhere; it’s the air we breathe. In the U.S. over the last 20 years, more than 240 women, on average, were raped each day while 99 percent of sexual assault perpetrators end up walking free.

We will not solve this human catastrophe called sexism by hunting down the “bad boys” and sending them away to bad boy land. It’s not like if we capture enough of you sexist bastards and make you disappear, we’ll achieve our liberation at last.

I could go on quoting her, but I'll let you read the article yourself. I do like that she's made suggestions at the end of her letter in regards to what Louis C.K. could now do to create change. And all of the men who have been accused or abuse and harassment. I'm really hoping that some of these men who will stand up and do something to create positive change.

 

[overedge]

Today's celebrity harasser is Canadian actor/director/theatre company founder Albert Schultz. Four women who've worked with him in the past are suing him. In the theatre company his wife was the HR person so they were afraid of the possible consequences if they complained to her....
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...lege-sexual-harassment-by-albert-schultz.html

 

[Japanfan]

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/01/entertainment/times-up-anti-harassment-hollywood/index.html

My undying belief — and I’m prepared to be criticized for saying so — is that no man would have chosen to be born into a sexist society if he’d been given the choice. I’m confident that my dad, my brother, my husband, and you — in fact every man out there, before he had been damaged by what we call “turning someone into a man” — if he were given the option while he was still a young child and before he was ridiculed for playing with girls, would, in a heartbeat, choose to have equal and genuine relationships with women over the counterfeit version that sexism leaves us with.

Thier is being more generous here than I would be. Maybe some men would prefer not to be born into a sexist society, but others would definitely find the privilege and entitlement that sexism accords appealing. And I question how much men are aware of the damage that comes with "turning someone into a man". For example, at least some men seem to take pride in the male construction of the soldier without considering the devastation, destruction and death that war wreaks - not surprising, given the mythic position of the soldier..

Also, privilege and entitlement manifest in myriad ways that many men (and women) are unaware of. For example, Mr. Japanfan works in group homes and says that women sometimes offer to do his portion of the cleaning for him. BTW this was in response to a question about how he experienced male privilege - and it took him a very long time to come up with the answer.

Another example that comes to mind is when my nephew applied to the police a few years ago and was informed that the force was currently focused on building up its female numbers as it had much fewer women than men. When women get a larger piece of the pie, men get a smaller one. Some men aren't going to like that, and to a certain extent this is only natural in a world where men are accustomed to being the dominant gender.

 

[PeterG]

Maybe some men would prefer not to be born into a sexist society, but others would definitely find the privilege and entitlement that sexism accords appealing.

I read her thoughts to mean male infants and children did not want to experience receiving the mis-information that makes them think that they have more value than females only because they are male. And that these repeated lies are a form of abuse that no child wants to experience. By the time males get to the privilege and entitlement you mention, the abuse has already happened to the males a decade or two earlier.

And I question how much men are aware of the damage that comes with "turning someone into a man".

I totally agree. This is a big step we all need to take as a world-wide society.

For example, at least some men seem to take pride in the male construction of the soldier without considering the devastation, destruction and death that war wreaks - not surprising, given the mythic position of the soldier.

I feel that some serious brainwashing has occurred to both genders for us all to have ended up where you have just described.

 

[Japanfan]

I read her thoughts to mean male infants and children did not want to experience receiving the mis-information that makes them think that they have more value than females only because they are male. And that these repeated lies are a form of abuse that no child wants to experience.

Do infants and children have the capacity to not want to receive certain information, or to deem that information incorrect?

By the time males get to the privilege and entitlement you mention, the abuse has already happened to the males a decade or two earlier.

I agree that some males are abused by the process of becoming or being 'made men' - the practice of hazing comes to mind - but certainly not all. And it varies amongs societies.

I feel that some serious brainwashing has occurred to both genders for us all to have ended up where you have just described.

For certain. And the brainwashing is embedded in society, how we live, and how we perceive gender. And perpetrated by the media. For the young women of mine and many previous generations (and probably the current one) it was vitally important that men like us and be attracted to us. The women's liberation movement did not change that substantially, although it did at least give women more choices about how we lived. I really wish young women would learn to not compromise their power and/or authenticity just so that men would like them! When women have advanced, men have just had to deal with it (some more willingly than others).

 

[PeterG]

Canadian filmmaker Paul Haggis faces more allegations of sexual misconduct

The story on the news tonight also mentioned that after (the first accuser) Breest wanted nine million in damages from Haggis, he filed a lawsuit against her for extortion. And that she then counter-sued. That was followed by Haggis claiming that he believed the other three women that came forward are a part of the Scientology church coming after him for speaking out against Scientology. Stranger than fiction...

 

[Jay42]

Canadian filmmaker Paul Haggis faces more allegations of sexual misconduct

The story on the news tonight also mentioned that after (the first accuser) Breest wanted nine million in damages from Haggis, he filed a lawsuit against her for extortion. And that she then counter-sued. That was followed by Haggis claiming that he believed the other three women that came forward are a part of the Scientology church coming after him for speaking out against Scientology. Stranger than fiction...

As horrendous as this is, and I'm not saying I don't believe his accusers, but I can believe that CoS would do this. He's been a thorn in their side since he left, not quite Leah Remini levels but definitely up there. CoS is definitely not adverse to pulling this kind of shit to silence someone.

 

[cocotaffy]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/...ww.nytimes.com/topic/person/catherine-deneuve
Article about a 100 French women in entertainment lead by famous actress Catherine Deneuve denouncing the excesses of the metoo movement.

 

[cocotaffy]

I wanted to comment on that manifesto from those French women but didn't have time this morning. Those women sounds like they're confusing sexual harassment with sexual freedom. The Metoo movement never meant a woman can't be the sexual object of a man as mentioned in the article as long as there is consent. I believe men heckling women in the streets are not sexy in the least and all the unwanted gestures in public spaces but even worse, due to the power play issue, in the workplace should never be confused with sexual freedom. If those men stopped those types of behaviors it would not mean they couldn't seduce a woman. Why do they equate the uber macho forceful type of coming on to woman to sexual freedom ? This is a vision of another time. Can't men manage to find a way to understand if a woman actually do enjoy forceful ways or not ? Many people men and women have specific tastes when it comes to seduction and sex it's just a question of being receptive to the other and respect when a line shouldn't be crossed. It's called communication and contrary to those French women, I don't think this will be the end of sexual freedom and experimentation. On the contrary, this would probably free a lot of women because they would feel safer facing a man who knows when to stop and actually listen to their desires instead of projecting his own regardless. It's not puritanism it's respect and tbh it's not that difficult but it does require self-control, patience and a desire to understand others. I believe men are fully able to do all those things, many of course already do, and I believe it starts in the family when they're just little boys. The ending of the article annoyed me:
"In concluding the letter, the writers return to the concept of self-victimization and a call for women to accept the pitfalls that come with freedom. “Accidents that can affect a woman’s body do not necessarily affect her dignity and must not, as hard as they can be, necessarily make her a perpetual victim,” they write. “Because we are not reducible to our bodies. Our inner freedom is inviolable. And this freedom that we cherish is not without risks and responsibilities.” "
We don't live in a vacuum. In societies where men control a lot of the workplaces, pitfalls don't come from freedom, they come from a bias set of circumstances against which a woman of Catherine Deneuve status might be able to defend herself but many just can't without fear of losing their jobs. So no, women are not victims by denouncing everyday harassment and no, it shouldn't be their only responsibility to fend off unwanted advances, it's exhausting and create a huge amount of stress. Men also need to take responsibility for their actions and reflect on what is acceptable or not. So the conversation shouldn't be why the Metoo movement went too far but how can we constructively without throwing blame build a safer environment for men and women to interact with each other.

 

[gkelly]

I once had a conversation (in French, so I was not able to be eloquent) with a young Frenchman about why I didn't want to sleep with him on a first date. He did not believe that there was a difference between men and women regarding commitment before sex, but he would accept that there was a difference between French and Americans.

Which may tell us something about cultural differences.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Dylan Farrow says some of those dressing in black for the Golden Globes & insisting "Time's Up" do not stand for women of abuse & harassment since they continue to work with perpetrators rather than make the hard decisions. She specifically included Blake Lively & Justin Timberlake (who recently said working with Woody Allen was "a dream come true") in her comments.

Greta Gerwig said she regrets working with Woody Allen & causing another woman pain because of it. She said she will no longer work with Allen. This article has links to more information.

*** Dylan Farrow Is Not Going To Let Hollywood Forget Its Support Of Woody Allen :
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alannabenn...nt-woody-allen?utm_term=.qnkGPxP32#.mi9rw0wlk

“It’s of course particularly hard for me as a survivor of sexual abuse to know that for these particular individuals I am not part of the 'every woman' they stand for,” Farrow said in her statement. “I seem to remain secondary to their ambition, which undermines the powerful and embracing message they are trying to send.”

Advocating for “every victim” in the abstract is great for illustration. In practice, each victim is a real person with a story that may be inconvenient and require sacrifice to stand with them. If Hollywood isn’t prepared to do that, they shouldn’t try to lead this movement.

 

[VGThuy]

I think she's right to do so. I just hope some don't use this to try to delegitimize the entire movement as it was started in earnest by women of color (whose voices have long been silenced or ignored) and has already done a lot of good.

Here's an article I read earlier today that I found interesting:

The Lefty Critique of #TimesUp is Tired and Self-Defeating

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Dylan Farrow says some of those dressing in black for the Golden Globes & insisting "Time's Up" do not stand for women of abuse & harassment since they continue to work with perpetrators rather than make the hard decisions. She specifically included Blake Lively & Justin Timberlake (who recently said working with Woody Allen was "a dream come true") in her comments.

Greta Gerwig said she regrets working with Woody Allen & causing another woman pain because of it. She said she will no longer work with Allen. This article has links to more information.

*** Dylan Farrow Is Not Going To Let Hollywood Forget Its Support Of Woody Allen :
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alannabenn...nt-woody-allen?utm_term=.qnkGPxP32#.mi9rw0wlk

Good for Dylan Farrow.

The accusations about Allen Stewart Konigsberg have been well-known and publicized for several years (in relation to Soon-Yi, for well over a decade). If people like Blake Lively and Justin Timberlake and Cate Blanchett (for whom I used to have great respect) and even Greta Gerwig say they were unaware, then IMHO either they are being disingenuous at best (a huge stretch) or so desperate to work with him that they overlooked what was being discussed openly and broadly to have a "career moment" (in Blanchett's case, a second Academy Award). No one is that ignorant in the entertainment industry.

 

[VGThuy]

I admit I was also informed by Woody Allen films and used to marathon watch them. For me, all I really knew about was Soon-Yi and since they are still happily married, I didn't think that much of it until I got a bit older, reflected, learned more about power dynamics and gender (and I thought I knew a lot at the time), and scrutinized his romantic dynamics in his films in a different way. Then Dylan Farrow's articles came out and that just hit it for me. I bet a lot of people who do admire his work had to go through the same process.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Greta Gerwig's comments seemed to say she was not aware of the issues with Woody Allen until after she made the film with him. She was in To Rome with Love in 2012 & I think the NYT article by Dylan Farrow was in 2014. OTOH, Blake Lively's comments indicate she was aware but just decided it's not her business (!).

It sounds like Dylan Farrow is quite outspoken regarding her support of the Time's Up movement & instead is only calling out the hypocrites. Also, there is nothing stopping the women who initiated the movement from pointing out the inconsistencies themselves when it comes to Woody Allen & taking a lead role in this. They could always make a comment in support of her. Especially considering the contribution made by Ronan Farrow to bring the issue to the forefront & knowing he believes his sister.

 

[Japanfan]

I admit I was also informed by Woody Allen films and used to marathon watch them. For me, all I really knew about was Soon-Yi and since they are still happily married, I didn't think that much of it until I got a bit older, reflected, learned more about power dynamics and gender (and I thought I knew a lot at the time), and scrutinized his romantic dynamics in his films in a different way. Then Dylan Farrow's articles came out and that just hit it for me. I bet a lot of people who do admire his work had to go through the same process.

I was always wary of Woody Allen because he is such an egoist, always having to put his **** mug front and center in his films. And his films were so often about rich, famous people sitting around in their summer mansions lamenting their angst about life. He loved to indulge his neurosis, which IMO is not something to take pride in. so

Nonetheless, he is certainly a brilliant man, albeit myopic. I particularly liked his 'The Other Woman' with Gena Rowlands, I believe that was the title.

But I stopped watching his films after the Soon-Yi story broke. I suspect she must put him on a pedestal and put him first in their relationship. Whatever, if it works for the two of them, that's fine. But I won't watch any of Allen's films ever again.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

I was always wary of Woody Allen because he is such an egoist, always having to put his **** mug front and center in his films. And his films were so often about rich, famous people sitting around in their summer mansions lamenting their angst about life.

Nonetheless, he is certainly a brilliant man, albeit myopic. I particularly his 'The Other Woman' with Gena Rowlands, I believe that was the title.

But I stopped watching his films after the Soon-Yi story broke. I suspect she must put him on a pedestal and put him first in their relationship. Whatever, if it works for the two of them, that's fine. But I won't watch any of Allen's films ever again.

I believe the Gena Rowlands film is "Another Woman".

 

[MacMadame]

I think the last Woody Allen film I watched was Manhattan. It totally creeped me out. He creeps me out. I loved his comedies but the rest of his stuff is self-indulgent and creepy IMO.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Mira Sorvino (Oscar winner for Mighty Aphrodite) speaks up.

*** Mira Sorvino’s Open Letter To Dylan Farrow :
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mira-sorvino-letter-dylan-farrow_us_5a56b660e4b08a1f624b47e0

I am so sorry, Dylan! I cannot begin to imagine how you have felt, all these years as you watched someone you called out as having hurt you as a child, a vulnerable little girl in his care, be lauded again and again, including by me and countless others in Hollywood who praised him and ignored you. As a mother and a woman, this breaks my heart for you. I am so, so sorry!

We are in a day and age when everything must be re-examined. This kind of abuse cannot be allowed to continue. If this means tearing down all the old gods, so be it. The cognitive dissonance, the denial and cowardice that spare us painful truths and prevent us from acting in defense of innocent victims while allowing “beloved” individuals to continue their heinous behavior must be jettisoned from the bottom of our souls. Even if you love someone, if you learn they may have committed these despicable acts, they must be exposed and condemned, and this exposure must have consequences. I will never work with him again.

 

[caseyedwards]

I think the last Woody Allen film I watched was Manhattan. It totally creeped me out. He creeps me out. I loved his comedies but the rest of his stuff is self-indulgent and creepy IMO.

Small time crooks is just a fun little story!

 

[gk_891]

I was never into Woody Allen but I did like the visual aspect of Manhattan and I also quite like some of his more serious dramas like The Purple Rose of Cairo (one of the few films where I could actually tolerate Mia Farrow) and Sweet and Lowdown. Part of that may be because Woody isn't featured as an actor in those films as I think he's an awful actor.

 

[Scrufflet]

I think the last Woody Allen film I watched was Manhattan. It totally creeped me out. He creeps me out. I loved his comedies but the rest of his stuff is self-indulgent and creepy IMO.

Oh thank goodness someone else has said this. Me Too! Although that means something different here. Watching him with Mariel Hemingway as his girlfriend being played for laughs made me want to vomit. And I looked around me in the theatre wondering why nobody else was reacting the way I was. No mention of it being cringe-worthy in any reviews of the time and I looked. I stopped watching his work and was not at all surprised at all that ensued. His recent comments indicate that he still hasn't grasped any of it. He's a dinosaur.

 

[Tinami Amori]

I find most of Woody Allen's movies well made technically, yet resent the fact that he puts the audience, figuratively speaking, into a role of psychoanalysts and observers of his hang-ups and insecurities. Few other film-makers are just as self-indulgent, and make it "about them and their oh so special soul-searching" (Fellini, Fassbinder, Bertolucci, Pasolini, Tarkovsky, etc..) but not in every film and not in such quantity as Allen... And when he is not "confessing", he is "moralizing"....

 

[VGThuy]

There’s a song in the Broadway version of Nine (a musical version Fellini’s 8 1/2) that was cut from the film version where a character criticizes a self-indulgent, self-important director for reasons similar to yours.

 

[VGThuy]

Lauren Collins' piece in The New Yorker in response to the 100 French women who signed that letter:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/dail...nd-other-prominent-frenchwomen-denounce-metoo

The women who signed the Le Monde piece are mostly, though not exclusively, white members of the professional and artistic classes: journalists, curators, artists, professors, psychoanalysts, doctors, singers. There aren’t any housekeepers or bus drivers on the list, and there is no acknowledgment that things might be more complicated when a woman is not the leader of her professional team, as women so often are not. The concept of intersectionality, by which a feminist would concern herself with causes far wider than the persecution of a man whose “only wrong” was “to have tried to steal a kiss, to have spoken of ‘intimate’ things during a professional dinner,” doesn’t seem to have occurred to the signers.