10 Celebs Who Tried To Warn Everyone About Harvey Weinstein
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VOICE OVER: Ryan Wild
WRITTEN BY: Joshua Garvin
It was a shock to some, but an open secret to many. For this list, we'll be looking at prominent figures in news and entertainment who attempted to expose the Hollywood mogul's wicked acts before they were made widely public. Our countdown of celebrities who tried to warn us about Harvey Weinstein includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Seth MacFarlane, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie, and more.
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Celebrities Who Tried to Warn Us About Harvey Weinstein. For this list, we’ll be looking at prominent figures in news and entertainment who attempted to expose the Hollywood mogul’s wicked acts before they were made widely public. Were there others who tried to raise the alarm before 2017 that didn’t make our list? Let us know in the comments below.
Dozens of women have made accusations against Harvey Weinstein. Most of them have told variations of the same story: he used his position to lure them up to a hotel room for a ‘meeting.’ When they arrived, he would either harass or try to force himself on them. That was the exact experience described to the New York Times by Angelina Jolie. In the late 1990s, Weintein pulled this move on her at a hotel and she rejected him. Afterwards, she never worked with him again and warned anyone she knew who was about to. Jolie additionally said, "This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable."
After Weinstein brought Paltrow onto the film “Emma”, she was called to his hotel room for a meeting. Once the producer initiated unwanted contact, the actress got out of the room. Paltrow was soon encouraged to stay silent about the harassment. Despite telling Brad Pitt, the actor alone wasn’t able to expose the producer. According to reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, Gwyneth Paltrow played a key role in breaking the Weinstein story in 2017. She reportedly spoke with them early on and helped them convince others to come forward. Although Weinstein allegedly arrived at a party to intimidate her, Paltrow still pressed forward to speak about what happened to her.
Over the years, a number of reporters tried to break the story about Weinstein. One such reporter was Sharon Waxman, formerly of The New York Times. She claimed that the paper prevented her from going forward with an article about Weinstein’s transgressions in the early 2000s. According to Waxman, she spoke to a major enabler for the mogul and a victim who’d been given money to stay silent. But while she attempted to publish the full story, Weinstein reportedly interfered by speaking to several Times higher ups. He allegedly convinced high profile actors to help protect his enabler. If the producer hadn’t stepped in, Waxman could’ve brought more attention to him back in 2004.
Mira Sorvino was one of the women who spoke to Ronan Farrow for his piece in The New Yorker. During the first round of promotion for her movie “Mighty Aphrodite”, she said Weinstein had attempted to force himself on her. He reportedly came to her apartment in New York to try again. In the wake of these incidents, Sorvino had difficulties working in Hollywood without coming forward about Weisntein’s behavior. Her career also suffered behind the scenes due to his machinations. Although she attempted to speak to someone at his company, she was still discouraged from going public. Sorvino later spoke about her past encounters with Weinstin in 2017.
In 2011, actress Jessica Barth told her friend and collaborator Seth MacFarlane about her own encounter with Harvey Weinstein. Two years later, the comedian gave us our first hint behind the curtain. MacFarlane was hired to host the 2013 Oscars. During the announcement of nominees for best supporting actress, he cracked a joke that hinted at Weinstein’s behavior. MacFarlane further explained to reporters why he spoke out after the scandal broke in 2017. He said, “When I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction”. Although the joke didn’t open the floodgates at the time, it showed that several stars had an awareness of Weinstein’s misdeeds.
In 2015, Lauren O’Connor was an up-and-coming creative executive at the Weinstein Company. Unfortunately, the toxic environment took its toll on her. Before she left, O’Connor wrote a memo and sent it to multiple executives at the company. The memo brought attention to misconduct and sexual harassment by the company’s founder and CEO: Harvey Weinstein. In it, she accuses him of tormenting people and physical assault. O’Connor initially thought that her writings would be buried due to the legal and social pressures she faced. However, the memo was eventually leaked. It eventually helped other reporters start building a case against Weinstein.
After Dunham was made aware of Weinstein’s behavior she tried to do something about it in 2016. In addition to being a power player in Hollywood, Weinstein was a major donor in Democratic politics. He was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton in particular. During her presidential campaign, Dunham contacted political staffers to inform them about his behavior. The actress tried to make the argument that being associated with such a controversial person could reflect badly on the organization. In follow up stories, several staffers claim that the conversation about specific allegations didn’t happen. Dunham continued to be vocal about Weinstein after that point.
David Carr was a culture reporter and media columnist at the New York Times from 2002 to 2015. In 2001, he wrote a piece about Weinstein for New York Magazine. He reported on a 2000 incident: Journalist Rebecca Traister asked Weinstein what he considered impertinent questions and he verbally abused her. Following that, Weinstein physically attacked her boyfriend, journalist Andrew Goldman. The NYPD did nothing with the complaint. Afterwards, Carr repeatedly tried to break the Weinstein scandal. But the two victims he tried to get on the record ultimately decided not to speak publicly. Unfortunately, Carr passed away before the producer’s conduct became widely known.
Ashley Judd was one of the more famous individuals to accuse Harvey Weinstein in the original Twohey and Kantor article. He initially made advances on her in a private hotel room meeting. After getting out of that situation, she spoke to her mother, singer Naomi Judd. The actress was also part of a small community of victims who talked about their experiences with each other. She first came forward publicly in 2015, two years before the scandal finally broke. In an interview with Variety, Judd finally told the world about her experience. Although she didn’t accuse Weinstein by name at the time, she eventually provided the full story.
Rose McGowan has been outspoken about Harvey Weinstein’s for years. In the past, she told Ronan Farrow about a 1997 incident for a book. After her early career successes, she met with Weinstein at a hotel. He then proceeded to assault her in his room. Although McGowan claimed to have told Ben Affleck about the incident, nothing came of her disclosure. The actress initially accepted a settlement for Weinstein’s crime. However, upon recognizing that she was still legally free to talk about it, McGowan told her harrowing story. The actress even refused a million dollar offer for her silence so that she could continue to speak about Weinstein.
Angelina Jolie
Dozens of women have made accusations against Harvey Weinstein. Most of them have told variations of the same story: he used his position to lure them up to a hotel room for a ‘meeting.’ When they arrived, he would either harass or try to force himself on them. That was the exact experience described to the New York Times by Angelina Jolie. In the late 1990s, Weintein pulled this move on her at a hotel and she rejected him. Afterwards, she never worked with him again and warned anyone she knew who was about to. Jolie additionally said, "This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable."
Gwyneth Paltrow
After Weinstein brought Paltrow onto the film “Emma”, she was called to his hotel room for a meeting. Once the producer initiated unwanted contact, the actress got out of the room. Paltrow was soon encouraged to stay silent about the harassment. Despite telling Brad Pitt, the actor alone wasn’t able to expose the producer. According to reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, Gwyneth Paltrow played a key role in breaking the Weinstein story in 2017. She reportedly spoke with them early on and helped them convince others to come forward. Although Weinstein allegedly arrived at a party to intimidate her, Paltrow still pressed forward to speak about what happened to her.
Sharon Waxman
Over the years, a number of reporters tried to break the story about Weinstein. One such reporter was Sharon Waxman, formerly of The New York Times. She claimed that the paper prevented her from going forward with an article about Weinstein’s transgressions in the early 2000s. According to Waxman, she spoke to a major enabler for the mogul and a victim who’d been given money to stay silent. But while she attempted to publish the full story, Weinstein reportedly interfered by speaking to several Times higher ups. He allegedly convinced high profile actors to help protect his enabler. If the producer hadn’t stepped in, Waxman could’ve brought more attention to him back in 2004.
Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino was one of the women who spoke to Ronan Farrow for his piece in The New Yorker. During the first round of promotion for her movie “Mighty Aphrodite”, she said Weinstein had attempted to force himself on her. He reportedly came to her apartment in New York to try again. In the wake of these incidents, Sorvino had difficulties working in Hollywood without coming forward about Weisntein’s behavior. Her career also suffered behind the scenes due to his machinations. Although she attempted to speak to someone at his company, she was still discouraged from going public. Sorvino later spoke about her past encounters with Weinstin in 2017.
Seth MacFarlane
In 2011, actress Jessica Barth told her friend and collaborator Seth MacFarlane about her own encounter with Harvey Weinstein. Two years later, the comedian gave us our first hint behind the curtain. MacFarlane was hired to host the 2013 Oscars. During the announcement of nominees for best supporting actress, he cracked a joke that hinted at Weinstein’s behavior. MacFarlane further explained to reporters why he spoke out after the scandal broke in 2017. He said, “When I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction”. Although the joke didn’t open the floodgates at the time, it showed that several stars had an awareness of Weinstein’s misdeeds.
Lauren O'Connor
In 2015, Lauren O’Connor was an up-and-coming creative executive at the Weinstein Company. Unfortunately, the toxic environment took its toll on her. Before she left, O’Connor wrote a memo and sent it to multiple executives at the company. The memo brought attention to misconduct and sexual harassment by the company’s founder and CEO: Harvey Weinstein. In it, she accuses him of tormenting people and physical assault. O’Connor initially thought that her writings would be buried due to the legal and social pressures she faced. However, the memo was eventually leaked. It eventually helped other reporters start building a case against Weinstein.
Lena Dunham
After Dunham was made aware of Weinstein’s behavior she tried to do something about it in 2016. In addition to being a power player in Hollywood, Weinstein was a major donor in Democratic politics. He was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton in particular. During her presidential campaign, Dunham contacted political staffers to inform them about his behavior. The actress tried to make the argument that being associated with such a controversial person could reflect badly on the organization. In follow up stories, several staffers claim that the conversation about specific allegations didn’t happen. Dunham continued to be vocal about Weinstein after that point.
David Carr
David Carr was a culture reporter and media columnist at the New York Times from 2002 to 2015. In 2001, he wrote a piece about Weinstein for New York Magazine. He reported on a 2000 incident: Journalist Rebecca Traister asked Weinstein what he considered impertinent questions and he verbally abused her. Following that, Weinstein physically attacked her boyfriend, journalist Andrew Goldman. The NYPD did nothing with the complaint. Afterwards, Carr repeatedly tried to break the Weinstein scandal. But the two victims he tried to get on the record ultimately decided not to speak publicly. Unfortunately, Carr passed away before the producer’s conduct became widely known.
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd was one of the more famous individuals to accuse Harvey Weinstein in the original Twohey and Kantor article. He initially made advances on her in a private hotel room meeting. After getting out of that situation, she spoke to her mother, singer Naomi Judd. The actress was also part of a small community of victims who talked about their experiences with each other. She first came forward publicly in 2015, two years before the scandal finally broke. In an interview with Variety, Judd finally told the world about her experience. Although she didn’t accuse Weinstein by name at the time, she eventually provided the full story.
Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan has been outspoken about Harvey Weinstein’s for years. In the past, she told Ronan Farrow about a 1997 incident for a book. After her early career successes, she met with Weinstein at a hotel. He then proceeded to assault her in his room. Although McGowan claimed to have told Ben Affleck about the incident, nothing came of her disclosure. The actress initially accepted a settlement for Weinstein’s crime. However, upon recognizing that she was still legally free to talk about it, McGowan told her harrowing story. The actress even refused a million dollar offer for her silence so that she could continue to speak about Weinstein.
