Harvey Weinstein megaproducer and executive ousted over sexual harassment

[caseyedwards]

I thought Spacey was already out.

To borrow a phrase -he had a revolving door on his closet!

 

[Tinami Amori]

Now the situation is becoming more fair. It's now in the open that men are also harassed, by other men and women; men are even more reluctant to report for different reasons.

https://www.plbsmh.com/yes-men-can-be-sexually-harassed-in-the-workplace/

 

[jenny12]

Now the situation is becoming more fair. It's now in the open that men are also harassed, by other men and women; men are even more reluctant to report for different reasons.

https://www.plbsmh.com/yes-men-can-be-sexually-harassed-in-the-workplace/

I don’t know what fairness has to do with anything. Yes, men can be harassed but nowhere are they harassed nearly in the same numbers as women are. Sexual assault against women and girls is reflective of a global patriarchal structure. Men and boys being harassed and abused is a serious issue, but it does not happen to the same extent as violence and rape against women and girls.

 

[Tinami Amori]

I don’t know what fairness has to do with. Yes, men can be harassed but nowhere are they harassed nearly in the same numbers as women are.

The essence of such behavior is "sense of power", not gender. If there is a widely used term "misogyny" there now should be a widely used term "misandry".

 

[overedge]

Rose McGowan posted a list on her Twitter account of all the women that have alleged Weinstein harassed them (or worse). I can't find the link to the Tweet but there were 82 names on the list.

What I found particularly interesting was that some of the actresses named on the list seemed to have good careers going in the 90s/00s and then sort of dropped off the radar for no reason. Heather Graham and Lauren Holly are the ones that come to mind. If they stood up to Weinstein, or refused his "advances", that might explain why their careers started to suffer.

 

[VGThuy]

I don't know if this was posted previously, but over the weekend, Jane Fonda's take on the Weinstein scandal had a huge reaction from a lot of people, mostly positive from what I saw:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jane-...ms-are-white-and-famous-and-thats-why-we-care

“It feels like something has shifted,” Fonda said on the broadcast. “It’s too bad that it’s probably because so many of the women that were assaulted by Harvey Weinstein are famous and white and everybody knows them. This has been going on a long time to black women and other women of color and it doesn’t get out quite the same.”

Gloria Steinem was with her and they spoke about racist and sexist bias in how the public reacts. Steinem also mentioned that there being power in numbers which probably explains why it could no longer be ignored once so many came out. Something similar happened with Bill Cosby. It wasn't until dozens of women came out and shared their story with major media outlets where something finally happened (and a generational shift in attitudes towards lecherous behavior from men in power).

Steinem spoke about the power in numbers, and her optimism that this will be “a tipping point” in identifying racist and sexist bias. “If you steal money, you probably get arrested and convicted, because everybody says stealing is wrong,” Steinem said. “But if you do something that is very sexist or racist, because there still is a critical mass of bias in this country, it takes more cumulative instances for it to be recognized.”

 

[Jay42]

I don't know if this was posted previously, but over the weekend, Jane Fonda's take on the Weinstein scandal had a huge reaction from a lot of people, mostly positive from what I saw:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jane-...ms-are-white-and-famous-and-thats-why-we-care



Gloria Steinem was with her and they spoke about racist and sexist bias in how the public reacts. Steinem also mentioned that there being power in numbers which probably explains why it could no longer be ignored once so many came out. Something similar happened with Bill Cosby. It wasn't until dozens of women came out and shared their story with major media outlets where something finally happened (and a generational shift in attitudes towards lecherous behavior from men in power).

The only woman that Weinstein issued a statement saying he didn't remember the events the way the woman in question did was when Lupita N'Yongo published her article about him. That definitely seems to go along with what Fonda and Steinem said.

 

[watchthis!!]

‘House of Cards’ cancelled amid Kevin Spacey sexual assault allegations
https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...ter-allegations-by-tv-actor-anthony-rapp.html

Apparently the show had been cancelled months ago, but the cancellation announcement just happened to coincide with the news about Kevin Spacey? Anybody buying that?

I also saw something that included tweets where one woman said (do I need to say allegedy here?) that (allegedly) there is a long line of people (men?) who have their own Kevin Spacey stories. Will be interesting to see what happens with this. The difference is that there might be more silence because speaking up might mean some men might be outing themselves (and not be ready to do that yet).

 

[screech]

‘House of Cards’ cancelled amid Kevin Spacey sexual assault allegations
https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...ter-allegations-by-tv-actor-anthony-rapp.html

Apparently the show had been cancelled months ago, but the cancellation announcement just happened to coincide with the news about Kevin Spacey? Anybody buying that?

I feel like I'd already heard about the show ending.

Regarding Kevin's sexuality, he was out without actually making a statement (until now). It seemed like a chunk of his opening bit when hosting the Tonys this year basically referenced his sexuality. It was as poorly kept a secret as Jodie Foster's sexuality.

As for Anthony Rapp, I'm happy to hear of men speaking out too (like Terry Crewes and James van der Beek did). But with regards to what he's best known from, for me it's as the neighbour kid in Adventures in Babysitting.

 

[PeterG]

Hollywood sex accusations now levied at Ratner, Hoffman

Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Kevin Spacey...and now Jeremy Piven, Brett Ratner (six separate accusations) and Dustin Hoffman are facing accusations of harassment.

I wonder when/if accusations about a Hollywood Singer will come to light?

 

[NinjaTurtles]

I wonder when/if accusations about a Hollywood Singer will come to light?

God I hope so; it’s so egregious.

Whole thing makes me furious with how Hollywood and the media has treated Corey Feldman.

 

[UGG]

I really find it hard to believe that Jennifer Lawrence was "shocked" at the allegations, but she won an Oscar for a movie role not that great and was the highest paid actress in 2015-16. Like Harvey just happened to skip over her after he was after everyone else and she has this great career out of nowhere? OK.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Hollywood sex accusations now levied at Ratner, Hoffman

Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Kevin Spacey...and now Jeremy Piven, Brett Ratner (six separate accusations) and Dustin Hoffman are facing accusations of harassment.

I wonder when/if accusations about a Hollywood Singer will come to light?

I mused on the same thing elsewhere online earlier today.

I do find it interesting that Kevin Spacey has a prominent career connection with that Hollywood person (i.e. a breakout Oscar-winning performance in a film produced and directed by the person in question and a featured performance in a superhero movie, directed by the same person, which had much speculation about the casting of the actor playing the superhero).

 

[caseyedwards]

Streep has been talking about Hoffman grabbing her breasts for decades

 

[PeterG]

God I hope so; it’s so egregious.

Whole thing makes me furious with how Hollywood and the media has treated Corey Feldman.

There are articles online about Feldman trying to raise money to make a documentary about the pedophilia in the movie world. Feldman has claimed that Corey Haim was sexually abused as a child and that played a part in his turning to drugs, which lead to his death. I know that Feldman has been mocked often for his strange behaviour, but if he grew up in a world where sexual harassment and child sexual abuse occurred as often as we are discovering, and that so little was done about any of it.... The fact that he's just somewhat strange instead of dead shows maybe how strong he is rather than how weird he is.

I also have wondered about Anthony Rapp as a 14 year old. How did he end up at an adult party, unchaperoned at 14 years old? None of the adults there were looking out for him? Why were his parents not at the party...or ensuring he would have a safe way to get home at 2 or 3 in the morning? I'm not in any way saying he "had it coming to him" because of these things, but how could all of these adults (especially the parents) be so unaware and uninvolved?

 

[Jay42]

Hollywood sex accusations now levied at Ratner, Hoffman

Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Kevin Spacey...and now Jeremy Piven, Brett Ratner (six separate accusations) and Dustin Hoffman are facing accusations of harassment.

I wonder when/if accusations about a Hollywood Singer will come to light?

I'm not surprised about Jeremy Piven, I've heard rumours about him for years. Cassidy Freeman (Longmire, Smallville) posted on her Instagram about how he tried to assault her several years ago.

As for the Hollywood Singer, someone tried to sue him 3 or 4 years ago around the time a movie was coming out but they managed to make it go away. Hopefully with the fall of Spacey they will be able to make something stick for the Singer this time.

 

[meggonzo]

Who is the Hollywood Singer?

 

[VGThuy]

Bryan Singer. He's been accused of sexual misconduct with minor boys and has some connections with well-known predators preying on male youth.

 

[skatingguy]

Here's a list of sexual offenders in Hollywood. Names are still being added on an almost daily basis.
https://medium.com/@beth_winegarner...lebs-who-abuse-women-or-children-c5732e15cf92

 

[Jenny]

Lists like that are scary, because many of those cases were either dropped or remain unproven. While social media has brought this issue out into the open, encouraging victims to come forward in a supportive environment, it also provides a platform for witch hunts where anyone who wants to hurt someone can point a finger directly or indirectly and cause a great deal of damage to potentially innocent people.

 

[PeterG]

Lists like that are scary, because many of those cases were either dropped or remain unproven. While social media has brought this issue out into the open, encouraging victims to come forward in a supportive environment, it also provides a platform for witch hunts where anyone who wants to hurt someone can point a finger directly or indirectly and cause a great deal of damage to potentially innocent people.

I've been wondering about those who have allegedly (should that word be in quotation marks...or NOT?) done something and their careers haven taken a hit. Nothing yet has been proven. Someone posted earlier about Marilyn Manson firing a band member who had allegedly sexually harassed (or raped?) a woman. But nothing was posted about that band member having been convicted of anything in a court of law. It seems like some people's careers are now over, due to someone posting something online, yet no police involvement has occurred. I'm starting to wonder why people are using the media instead of the police station as the place to take action. Is this the beginning of living in a post-police state? Is this all linked to the police force having such a bad name in so many cities that people trust facebook more than a law enforcer?

 

[overedge]

I've been wondering about those who have allegedly (should that word be in quotation marks...or NOT?) done something and their careers haven taken a hit. Nothing yet has been proven. Someone posted earlier about Marilyn Manson firing a band member who had allegedly sexually harassed (or raped?) a woman. But nothing was posted about that band member having been convicted of anything in a court of law. It seems like some people's careers are now over, due to someone posting something online, yet no police involvement has occurred. I'm starting to wonder why people are using the media instead of the police station as the place to take action. Is this the beginning of living in a post-police state? Is this all linked to the police force having such a bad name in so many cities that people trust facebook more than a law enforcer?

Because harassment/abuse case are notoriously hard to prosecute or win, especially if there's no corroborating evidence and it's one person's word against the other.

I'm not convinced that the social media route is the right way either, but I can understand why people are going that route.

 

[VGThuy]

I think because there are statute of limitations issues, but also formally pressing charges and prosecuting someone is well-known to be difficult, traumatic, and long with the victim reliving the trauma over and over and being heavily scrutinized. Crime statistics also show convictions rates are very low as well. As overedge mentioned, these sorts of cases are also very difficult to prove and some incidents may not even meet the elements of a crime (or there's a perception that it does not when it actually does).

Maybe a lot of people feel that simply sharing their story publicly is a better way to go about it as they can just share their story and try their best to ignore the more vocal and negative reactions while also feel empowered and have a sense of solidarity with those who will support them.

That said, as someone who fully buys into the innocent until proven guilty mantra and believes EVERYONE should be afforded a proper defense, I have mixed feelings about this as now we are welcoming real lynch mobs that can react without much proof. That said, because I've studied the statistics and what victims go through when they push their case forward in the criminal justice system, I am also sympathetic to those who decide to open themselves up on social media, and completely understand why anyone would forego that whole process and do it this way instead.

 

[MsZem]

The only woman that Weinstein issued a statement saying he didn't remember the events the way the woman in question did was when Lupita N'Yongo published her article about him. That definitely seems to go along with what Fonda and Steinem said.

That's not true. Here's an Atlantic article about the evolving approach that Weinstein and his publicists have been taking in response to the women coming forth.

For years there was little interest when women (and in some cases, men) tried to speak about sexual harassment and assault. While I have no trouble believing that black women would have a tougher time getting attention when sharing their stories (outside of Anita Hill, which is an entirely different matter), claiming that the media and public interest is only because the victims are famous and white ignores the many women who suffered personal and professional harm when they tried to go public with allegations against Weinstein - or even if they simply said no.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Kevin Spacey...and now Jeremy Piven, Brett Ratner (six separate accusations) and Dustin Hoffman are facing accusations of harassment.

... well, at least there is Kevin Spacey... because so far it looked like only circumcisions bring out the animal in men..

 

[Jenny]

I wondered, in the case of Anthony Rapp, if he first approached Kevin Spacey (if he hadn't already over the years) to try to sort it out, or did he go directly to media? Sure, now other people are coming forward about Spacey, but Rapp was the first, and I haven't seen anything in his quotes or the media story to say that he did. So it seems he chose to go to the media first, knowing it would get picked up, and thus ambushing Spacey in a very public way and instigating a trial and judgement via public opinion. Even if his story is all true, as @PeterG says, is this the way justice now works?

 

[VGThuy]

Rapp wrote about it in his autobiography years ago but didn’t name Spacey. He probably spent his adolescence and adult years coming to terms with his feelings about. Plus, as a 14 year old he probably felt he couldn’t say more about it as he was also coming to terms with his sexuality and being open with his loved ones about it. As to whether it would have been better for Rapp to approach Spacey about it in person, I think we should try to get into the mindset of a victim and whether they’d want to confront their assaulter.

I think the real sociological and psychological question is why are people now coming out in waves to be open about it after harboring and being negatively impacted by their experiences for so long. I think it must feel envigorating and powerful in a way they aren’t used to as they probably felt vulnerable and maybe weak with regard to this for so long. It’s a way to get power back and also bring attention to the fact so many are in the same boat. Maybe one day society can function in a way that is more open for victims to no longer be shamed and afraid and there won’t be this mass exodus of victims finally speaking out for the first time after repressing it for so long.

 

[overedge]

I also have wondered about Anthony Rapp as a 14 year old. How did he end up at an adult party, unchaperoned at 14 years old? None of the adults there were looking out for him? Why were his parents not at the party...or ensuring he would have a safe way to get home at 2 or 3 in the morning? I'm not in any way saying he "had it coming to him" because of these things, but how could all of these adults (especially the parents) be so unaware and uninvolved?

I don't know about Rapp's family background, but Drew Barrymore was getting into nightclubs on her own when she was not even a teenager.

Kids who are successful actors are usually pretty self-possessed and intelligent, and I can see even responsible parents thinking, well, the party is with people they know from work (and who the parents probably know as well), they can get around the city by themselves, so there's no harm in letting them go on their own.

I don't think making that choice necessarily speaks to irresponsible parenting - I mean, the women who were harassed by the studio execs didn't think they'd have to fight off an assault when they thought they were going to a business meeting. I think the responsibility is on the people who think it's OK to commit assault, not on people who go to a party expecting a party, or people who go to a business meeting expecting a business meeting.

 

[PeterG]

I don't know about Rapp's family background, but Drew Barrymore was getting into nightclubs on her own when she was not even a teenager.

Kids who are successful actors are usually pretty self-possessed and intelligent, and I can see even responsible parents thinking, well, the party is with people they know from work (and who the parents probably know as well), they can get around the city by themselves, so there's no harm in letting them go on their own.

I don't think making that choice necessarily speaks to irresponsible parenting - I mean, the women who were harassed by the studio execs didn't think they'd have to fight off an assault when they thought they were going to a business meeting. I think the responsibility is on the people who think it's OK to commit assault, not on people who go to a party expecting a party, or people who go to a business meeting expecting a business meeting.

Agreed 100%. But I want to live in a world where people look out for each other. The abuse is the responsibility of the abuser alone. But if I was at a party and left someone underage alone there...where she/he was abused, I would be having feelings about my wanting to party and not being aware enough of my surroundings (and those present).

 

[Tinami Amori]

I think the real sociological and psychological question is why are people now coming out in waves to be open about it after harboring and being negatively impacted by their experiences for so long.

I have a theory, but you probably will not like it. Election of Trump undermined the "Power of Hollywood" and exists as "open opposition" in the eyes of many people. The "victims" were part of "the Hollywood system". Not only they felt reluctant to go against "their own", but perhaps subconsciously did not feel there will be "ready and willing defenders" on their side. "Hollywood sexual depravities" is an ace card (big or small) in hands of conservatives, given that the Hollywood is against them. The victims now feel they have "undesired and unexpected, but still an ally who at least will not Liberal Hollywood sweep it under the rug".