The women who 'warned' us about Harvey Weinstein
The lid has well and truly been blown off Hollywood's 'open secret.'
But in the wake of the explosive claims of sexual abuse against one of the industry's biggest movie producers, Harvey Weinstein, some people have been left questioning why no one spoke out earlier?
However it seems that perhaps many of the women affected by the alleged serial predator have been trying to warn us about the situation for years.
The most recent examples is a clip of Courtney Love that has just resurfaced from 2005, in which she's asked what advice she would give a young girl in Hollywood.
Her answer is startlingly straight.
“If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party," the now 53-year-old said. "Don’t go.”
The clip is almost chilling, particularly as she hesitates giving her answer initially for fears of being 'libellous.'
Scream actress Rose McGowan has also been very vocal about being attacked in the past.
A scroll through her Twitter feed over the years shows numerous posts in which she discusses being the victim of sexual assault and why it is so hard to talk about.
Because my ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution #WhyWomenDontReport
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 14, 2016
Despite not identifying the culprit, others saw through her thin veil and clearly named her alleged attacker on social media.
It's HARVEY WEINSTEIN, and I'm shadow banned, pls pls RT get it out there!
— AnotherRunner (@AnotherRunner1) October 15, 2016
In light of the New York Times article that outed him, Rose has now fully come forward and claimed Weinstein raped her.
Back in 1998, Gwyneth Paltrow had an awkward conversation with David Letterman about Weinstein in which they discussed his 'coercion' tactics.
Three years later, the mum-of-two described a shoot the producer asked her to do as 'uncomfortable.'
"There were certain favours that he asked me to do," she told New York magazine. "That I felt were not exploitive but not necessarily as great for me as they were for him."
She too has since levelled allegations of sexual harassment at the movie mogul.
Ashley Judd was the original actress to come forward in the sex scandal exposé at the start of the month, where her acknowledgement of the 'secret' she'd been keeping kicked off the whole piece.
“Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time," she told the newspaper. "It’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.”
The Double Jepordy actress however also dropped some serious hints about the goings on in tinsel town back in 2015, in an interview with Variety* *where she discussed being harassed by someone in her industry.
"He was very stealth and expert about it," Ashley, 49, said. "He groomed me... When I kept saying no to everything, there was a huge asymmetry of power and control."
Another actress who has recently come forward and claimed Weinstein attacked her is Asia Argento.
After chronicling her long history of alleged assault with Weinstein, the XXX star revealed she had shared the experience of what happened to her creatviely in her movie, Scarlet Diva.
In the film that she wrote and directed there was a scene of a young actress being assaulted by a powerful producer.
I wrote and directed this scene in 1999. #Weinstein pic.twitter.com/VFRJQM0O4M
— Asia Argento (@AsiaArgento) October 10, 2017
"People would ask me about him because of the scene in the movie,” she told the New Yorker.
As well as the individual hints, there have been TV shows that have thrown shade in Harvey's direction.
Jane Krakowski’s character Jenna Maroney, in 30 Rock, made two jokes about the Hollywood producer pressuring her for sex.
Harvey Weinstein's habit of abusing vulnerable women was such an open secret that 30 Rock joked about it pic.twitter.com/npTQjmRvEm
— karen ricks (@karenricks) October 10, 2017
Outspoken feminist Lena Dunham also made a subtle dig at the producer's reputation in a scene in her hit HBO show, Girls.
Final shot of @girlsHBO ep "American Bitch" (with Matthew Rhys) that I directed, also entrance to Harvey Weinstein's apartment pic.twitter.com/dwWrc1tzK0
— Richard Shepard (@SaltyShep) October 7, 2017
In a fictional scene where her character Hannah eis being harassed, she leaves a seemigly generic NYC building.
However, it was in fact Harvey Weinstein's apartment block.
So it seems perhaps Hollywood wasn't quiet. Maybe they just weren't heard.
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