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| Will Liberals Give Weinstein the O’Reilly Treatment? | Will Liberals Give Weinstein the O’Reilly Treatment? |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| I’ll never forget the one time I laid eyes on Harvey Weinstein outside the pages of Vanity Fair. It was at a movie premiere in Manhattan in 2014. My sister and I got up before the film started for a pre-emptive bathroom run. As we left the theater, we couldn’t avoid walking past Mr. Weinstein, who was pressed up close to a younger, much smaller man in the hallway. | I’ll never forget the one time I laid eyes on Harvey Weinstein outside the pages of Vanity Fair. It was at a movie premiere in Manhattan in 2014. My sister and I got up before the film started for a pre-emptive bathroom run. As we left the theater, we couldn’t avoid walking past Mr. Weinstein, who was pressed up close to a younger, much smaller man in the hallway. |
| Mr. Weinstein was inches from the younger man, pointing fingers at his face, swearing at him and threatening him. The man being berated was flush against the wall. He stood there, taking it, not saying a word. | Mr. Weinstein was inches from the younger man, pointing fingers at his face, swearing at him and threatening him. The man being berated was flush against the wall. He stood there, taking it, not saying a word. |
| I’d read enough profiles of Mr. Weinstein to know about his money troubles and his gorgeous wife and his boiling temper. Still, I’d never seen a person talk to another that way. It shocked me. But the most astonishing thing about it was that this happened in public — at a Weinstein-produced movie, no less. Powerful people streamed by this shameful interaction and said nothing. | I’d read enough profiles of Mr. Weinstein to know about his money troubles and his gorgeous wife and his boiling temper. Still, I’d never seen a person talk to another that way. It shocked me. But the most astonishing thing about it was that this happened in public — at a Weinstein-produced movie, no less. Powerful people streamed by this shameful interaction and said nothing. |
| As it turns out, younger, less powerful women say his bullying, predatory behavior toward them was equally unconcealed. But it took dogged Times reporters to nail down the details and they are vile. | As it turns out, younger, less powerful women say his bullying, predatory behavior toward them was equally unconcealed. But it took dogged Times reporters to nail down the details and they are vile. |
| Among the accusations against Mr. Weinstein: He asked a young Ashley Judd to watch him shower. He would lure eager female strivers into “business” meetings in his luxury hotel rooms where he’d ask them for massages. One woman warned another to wear a parka for extra protection. Assistants were expected to rouse Mr. Weinstein in the mornings and do “turndown duty” at night. He seemed to be in bathrobes or naked as often as Hugh Hefner. According to The Times, he paid settlements to “at least” eight women who have accused him of sexual harassment. | Among the accusations against Mr. Weinstein: He asked a young Ashley Judd to watch him shower. He would lure eager female strivers into “business” meetings in his luxury hotel rooms where he’d ask them for massages. One woman warned another to wear a parka for extra protection. Assistants were expected to rouse Mr. Weinstein in the mornings and do “turndown duty” at night. He seemed to be in bathrobes or naked as often as Hugh Hefner. According to The Times, he paid settlements to “at least” eight women who have accused him of sexual harassment. |
| If the Weinstein story follows the pattern recently laid down by Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, it’s a decent bet that “at least” will be followed with many additional allegations. The question is whether Mr. Weinstein, as a liberal lion of Hollywood and prominent donor to Democratic politicians, will suffer the same consequences as those Fox News troglodytes Mr. Ailes and Mr. O’Reilly. | If the Weinstein story follows the pattern recently laid down by Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, it’s a decent bet that “at least” will be followed with many additional allegations. The question is whether Mr. Weinstein, as a liberal lion of Hollywood and prominent donor to Democratic politicians, will suffer the same consequences as those Fox News troglodytes Mr. Ailes and Mr. O’Reilly. |
| If past is prologue, perhaps not. As Camille Paglia noted in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, prominent feminists like Gloria Steinem didn’t waste any time discarding sexual harassment guidelines when it came to Bill Clinton’s sexual predations as president. Principle rapidly gave way to partisanship and political opportunism. | If past is prologue, perhaps not. As Camille Paglia noted in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, prominent feminists like Gloria Steinem didn’t waste any time discarding sexual harassment guidelines when it came to Bill Clinton’s sexual predations as president. Principle rapidly gave way to partisanship and political opportunism. |
| Mr. Weinstein clearly understands this calculus. In the wake of the Times report, he issued a cringe-inducing apology: “I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then,” as if in the good olde days of the women’s liberation movement it was totally acceptable to ask a 20-something colleague to bathe you. | Mr. Weinstein clearly understands this calculus. In the wake of the Times report, he issued a cringe-inducing apology: “I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then,” as if in the good olde days of the women’s liberation movement it was totally acceptable to ask a 20-something colleague to bathe you. |
| He promises “to do better” and “conquer my demons.” He misquotes Jay-Z. He says he has hired a team of therapists to “deal with the issue head on.” | He promises “to do better” and “conquer my demons.” He misquotes Jay-Z. He says he has hired a team of therapists to “deal with the issue head on.” |
| But the real heart of his message was that he will be an even better progressive if given a second chance: “I’m going to need a place to channel that anger so I’ve decided I’m going to give the N.R.A. my full attention.” He’s also making a movie about Donald Trump. | But the real heart of his message was that he will be an even better progressive if given a second chance: “I’m going to need a place to channel that anger so I’ve decided I’m going to give the N.R.A. my full attention.” He’s also making a movie about Donald Trump. |
| And if the virtue-signaling isn’t enough, the man who has bankrolled Barbara Boxer, Charles Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand — the list goes on and on — is determined to pay out much more. “One year ago, I began organizing a $5 million foundation to give scholarships to women directors” at the University of Southern California, he said, adding, “It will be named after my mom and I won’t disappoint her.” Perhaps, like Mitt Romney, he has “binders full of women” to fill those slots. | And if the virtue-signaling isn’t enough, the man who has bankrolled Barbara Boxer, Charles Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand — the list goes on and on — is determined to pay out much more. “One year ago, I began organizing a $5 million foundation to give scholarships to women directors” at the University of Southern California, he said, adding, “It will be named after my mom and I won’t disappoint her.” Perhaps, like Mitt Romney, he has “binders full of women” to fill those slots. |
| Several Democratic politicians, including Ms. Warren, have already announced that they are planning to donate Mr. Weinstein’s campaign contributions to charity. But some women seem prepared to go along, at least for a price. Take Lisa Bloom, the feminist superlawyer who represented many of Bill O’Reilly’s victims at Fox. “When women speak our truth the old world shatters,” she tweeted this year. “We slayed the dragon.” | |
| But now Ms. Bloom is trying to train her own dragon: Harvey Weinstein. “I’ve asked Lisa Bloom to tutor me,” Mr. Weinstein writes in his letter. “I hope that my actions will speak louder than words and that one day we will all be able to earn their trust and sit down together with Lisa to learn more.” | But now Ms. Bloom is trying to train her own dragon: Harvey Weinstein. “I’ve asked Lisa Bloom to tutor me,” Mr. Weinstein writes in his letter. “I hope that my actions will speak louder than words and that one day we will all be able to earn their trust and sit down together with Lisa to learn more.” |
| It would be interesting to know how much earning Ms. Bloom expects to do with that learning. I’m guessing her tutoring doesn’t come cheap. | It would be interesting to know how much earning Ms. Bloom expects to do with that learning. I’m guessing her tutoring doesn’t come cheap. |
| Mr. Weinstein knows the ways of Hollywood well enough that he might get away by acting out his part in this clichéd repentance script. Or, at 64, he may have played out his last cards. Either way, what’s telling is that Ms. Bloom and his other advisers seem to believe their best chance of salvaging their damaged client is, like the Catholic Church of yore, to pay for his sins in the coin of liberal affirmation. The behavioral issues will take time. | Mr. Weinstein knows the ways of Hollywood well enough that he might get away by acting out his part in this clichéd repentance script. Or, at 64, he may have played out his last cards. Either way, what’s telling is that Ms. Bloom and his other advisers seem to believe their best chance of salvaging their damaged client is, like the Catholic Church of yore, to pay for his sins in the coin of liberal affirmation. The behavioral issues will take time. |
| In her interview, Ms. Paglia noted that, the case of Mr. Clinton, “Hypocrisy by partisan feminist leaders really destroyed feminism for a long time.” She might have added that it also helped Donald Trump get elected. Here’s hoping the outspoken feminists who have been chummy with Mr. Weinstein, Meryl Streep and Michelle Obama chief among them, don’t make that mistake again by giving the grotesque Mr. Weinstein a pass. | In her interview, Ms. Paglia noted that, the case of Mr. Clinton, “Hypocrisy by partisan feminist leaders really destroyed feminism for a long time.” She might have added that it also helped Donald Trump get elected. Here’s hoping the outspoken feminists who have been chummy with Mr. Weinstein, Meryl Streep and Michelle Obama chief among them, don’t make that mistake again by giving the grotesque Mr. Weinstein a pass. |