Even though the truth about Harvey Weinstein is just coming to light in the press, Hollywood and the former NBC News contributor, Ronan Farrow, have known about the sleazy producer for quite awhile.
“In mid-August, Ronan Farrow, an NBC News contributor, had secured an interview with a woman who was willing to appear on camera, in silhouette, her identity concealed, and say Harvey Weinstein had raped her, according to four people with close knowledge of the reporting. It was a pivotal moment in a testy, months-long process of reporting a story that had bedeviled a generation of media and Hollywood reporters.”1
However, that interview on NBC would never take place. NBC executives made sure of it. Explaining to him that he didn’t have enough to move forward with the story, the network told him to stop reporting on it. And so, once his interview was scheduled, the network told him he couldn’t use an NBC News crew and he couldn’t mention his NBC News affiliation.
But Farrow had more than enough:
- a damning and much-coveted audio recording in which Weinstein admits to having groped an Italian model.
- interviews with former executives and assistants who’d worked closely with Weinstein who spoke about the culture of harassment and abuse he perpetrated.
- someone ready to accuse Weinstein of rape, on camera.
With his story “dead” at NBC and with permission to take his reporting to another news organization, the story would up at The New Yorker, “…was a blockbuster: multiple women accusing Weinstein of rape and other sexual misconduct, accompanied by the audio of Weinstein admitting to sexual assault.”2
Who killed his story? Interviews with 12 people, all who asked not to be named, both inside and outside NBC News- and with direct knowledge of the reporting behind Farrow’s story- named Oppenheim (NBC News president) and other executives. An inside job. And they stalled and stalled and stalled.
Although the Weinstein team attempted to discredit the story, as well.
“According to multiple sources inside and outside of NBC News who worked on the aborted story, Oppenheim related to Farrow what Weinstein’s lawyers had said in complaint to NBC: that Farrow had a conflict of interest because Weinstein had helped revive the career of Farrow’s estranged father, director Woody Allen. Weinstein’s representatives would later use a similar line of attack when the story landed at The New Yorker. The magazine, known for its rigorous vetting process, saw no conflict of interest.”3
It’s high time Hollywood started talking about the atmosphere they have created. This kind of treatment to ANYONE is repulsive.
We will follow this story and update you as more information emerges- including whether or not Weinstein will see any jail time.
