Last Thursday, a New York Times investigation published a detailed, decades-long scandal that accused prolific producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault.
The investigation stated that over a thirty-year period, Weinstein reached at least eight settlements with women who he allegedly harassed and advanced in unwanted physical contact with. The women with whom Weinstein settled with were assistants, actresses, and models. With several of these women, Weinstein offered boosts to their career in exchange for sexual favors.
In the report, Weinstein’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, stated that “he denies many of the accusations as patently false.” Bloom also stated that Weinstein is “an old dinosaur learning new ways.” Many employees and peers stated that they knew about his inappropriate behavior, but only a few of them ever confronted him about it.
Weinstein’s company also enforced a code of silence, where his employees could not say or do anything that disparaged the business. Most of the women whom accepted payouts from Weinstein also agreed to confidentiality and could not openly speak about the deals or what happened that caused the deals to take place.
Interviews with several women indicated that Weinstein would frequently appear “partially or fully nude in front of them, requiring them to be present while he bathed, repeatedly asking for a massage, or initiating one himself.”
After the Weinstein report was released, accusations about sexual harassment and assault were also levied against Screen Junkies and Honest Trailers creator, Andy Signore.
On Friday, after the New York Times report was released, April Dawn, an online film pundit, posted on Twitter that Signore “tried to sexually assault [her] on multiple occasions,” as well as threatening to fire her boyfriend, Josh Tapia, an employee of Screen Junkies, if she came out about any of his conduct. She said that she had been in contact with the HR department for Defy Media, the parent company of Screen Junkies, for two months and “all they’ve done is protect him.”
Emma Bowers, a former intern at Screen Junkies, then came forward with emails and DMs of Signore calling her beautiful multiple times and then offering to pleasure himself in front of her. Devin Murphy also came forward with screenshotted emails of Signore’s sexual advances toward her, as well as his attempts to arrange a meeting for several years.
As of Sunday, Weinstein and Signore have both been fired from their respective companies.
Add Comment