Harvey Weinstein Frets That His 'Work Has Been Forgotten' After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein is trying desperately to clear his name, and those efforts seem to be going beyond his current legal battle.
In the wake of dozens of sexual misconduct allegations, Weinstein bemoans the lasting damage to his professional reputation, a reputation that he believes should be one of supporting women.
“I feel like the forgotten man,” he said in an interview with Page Six.
“I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker, and I’m talking about 30 years ago. I’m not talking about now when it’s vogue. I did it first! I pioneered it!”
“It all got eviscerated because of what happened,” he continued. “My work has been forgotten.”
Later, he detailed his specific movies that either starred women or discussed social justice themes.
“Gwyneth Paltrow in 2003 got $10 million to make a movie called ‘View from the Top,’” he said. “She was the highest-paid female actor in an independent film. Higher-paid than all the men.”
Paltrow has accused Weinstein of using a professional proposal to lure her into his hotel room and trying to massage her in 1994.
He also recalled distributing the film “Paris Is Burning,” which showcased the drag ball culture in the French capital.
“I understood the celebratory nature of the film and bought the distribution rights,” he said. “The same thing is true for ‘Transamerica,’ [for] which Felicity Huffman got an Academy Award.”
While Huffman did receive an Academy Award nomination, she did not win the Oscar for her portrayal of a male-to-female transgender character.
Weinstein gave this interview — his first in over a year — while recovering from spine surgery at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
The operation was a three-hour endeavor to remove three plates from his vertebrae, which were placed after he sustained a back injury from an August car accident.
Weinstein insisted that the interview was merely a way for him to come forward to show that he had not been exaggerating the severity of his physical condition and, as such, he refused to address his infamous allegations specifically.
He is currently charged with five counts of predatory sexual assault, criminal sex act and rape stemming from two series of accusations, one involving an unnamed lover and another with production assistant Mimi Haleyi.
After being delayed, his trial is set for Jan. 6 in Manhattan Supreme Court and he faces life in prison if convicted.
While only formally charged in two cases, Weinstein and his eponymous film studio reportedly reached a tentative multimillion-dollar settlement with over 30 accusers, less than half of the roughly 80 women who have alleged behavior ranging from non-criminal harassment to forcible rape, according to The New York Times.
The settlement came with the caveat that Weinstein would not admit any wrongdoing, and the former mogul has continued to claim innocence throughout the ordeal.
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