Producer Harvey Weinstein Accused of Nearly 30 Years of Sexual Misconduct

The New York Times broke a story on Thursday, October 5, of Hollywood super-producer Harvey Weinstein being accused of nearly 30 years of sexual misconduct.

According to the report, several women came forward about instances of Weinstein allegedly performing acts of sexual misconduct. One of the women to come forward was actress Ashley Judd, who said Weinstein invited her to Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel almost 20 years ago for what she thought was going to be a business meeting. Judd said Weinstein invited her up to his room for the meeting, for which he arrived in a robe. She then said that he asked if she wanted to give him a massage and he also allegedly asked Judd if she wanted to watch him shower.

Judd remembered asking herself, "How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?"

Ashley told the story to Variety in 2015, but didn't reveal Weinstein's identity. She opened up by saying, "I was sexually harassed by one of our industry’s most famous, admired-slash-rivaled bosses ... He was very stealth and expert about it. He groomed me, which is a technical term – Oh, come meet at the hotel for something to eat. Fine, I show up. Oh, he’s actually in his room. I’m like, Are you kidding me? I just worked all night. I'm just going to order cereal. It went on in these stages. It was so disgusting. He physically lured me by saying, 'Oh, help me pick out what I’m going to wear.' There was a lot that happened between the point of entry and the bargaining. There was this whole process of bargaining—'Come do this, come do this, come do this.' And I would say, 'No, no, no.'"

Judd went on to say, "Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly."

Weinstein spoke out in light of the allegations, saying, "I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons."

Source: NY Times