Iced out by Harvey’s dick
Film director Peter Jackson has admitted to blacklisting actors Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in response to a “smear campaign” orchestrated by accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.
“I recall Miramax telling us they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs,” Jackson said, referencing the production company Weinstein ran with his brother Bob. As a direct result, he said, both women fell out of the running for parts in his Lord of the Rings series.
“At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us. But in hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing. I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women.”
He Weinstein not only perved on them, he also deliberately damaged their careers. A twofer: harm people and then punish them for being harmed by you.
Sorvino and Judd have both claimed they refused Weinstein’s pressure to have physical relationships, and Sorvino has said she felt “iced out” of the industry after rejecting his advances.
On seeing Jackson’s interview, Sorvino tweeted on Friday: “I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I’m just heartsick.”
That’s so awful.
The New York Times and the New Yorker previously reported that Weinstein cultivated a far-reaching network of entertainment professionals, spies, and media allies to help him deflect potential exposure or retaliate against the source of those threats.
Weinstein is alleged to have told multiple women he could enhance their careers or ruin them depending on how they responded to his sexual advances. One actor, Annabella Sciorra, has accused Weinstein of violently raping her and suspects him of ruining her reputation.
“From 1992, I didn’t work again until 1995,” she told the New Yorker. “I just kept getting this pushback of ‘We heard you were difficult; we heard this or that.’ I think that that was the Harvey machine.”
One guy. One twisted dick-driven bully of a guy.
[Edited to remove an unintentional ambiguity]
LOCK HIM UP
PS: And his Brother Bob in the next cell so they can hear each other. The rest of their lives.
I really hope he goes to jail and is sued into bankruptcy for defamation.
Peter Jackson
Never suspected a thing. Sure, I buy that.
chigau, are you accusing his wife (and co-worker) Fran Walsh of the same duplicity? She was present. Maybe they were naive. Maybe they were wilfully blind. We don’t know, but judging with 20/20 hindsight is pretty easy I guess.
And see Salma Hayek’s piece in today’s New York Times.
Just thinking of how many promising actors mysteriously vanish from view.
The culture of power is utterly invested in protecting the strong against the weak.
Remember Cliff Robertson? He didn’t work for five years after going public with the fact that the head of Columbia Pictures had forged a $10,000 check in his (Robertson’s) name. And that was without a whiff of sex.
A friend of mine and I were talking about that last night. She rebuffed an advance from a boss, and within two weeks her job mysteriously didn’t exist any more and they had to let her go.
I turned in a report on a co-worker who had harassed me, and was told I should be flattered. Within a very short period of time, I no longer had a job there.
I goes on and on, and as I’ve said before, is not restricted to the powerful. The icing out of women starts on her walk to work in the morning, with the wolf whistles and ogles and oh-so-subtle ass grabs as she tries to move through the world of men. The stares, the contempt. It continues all day long. Then after she is off work, if she goes out for a drink to relax and unwind, she is regarded as a piece of meat that is up for grabs not only by the men in the bar or club, but by society at large who condemn her for a perfectly normal action that men do with impunity all the time.
Keep in mind, chigau, this isn’t a case where Jackson heard the women’s stories and dismissed them. Rather, he’d been looking at these actresses for roles, and was advised by the company bankrolling his film that they were difficult to work with.
Some of the Boy’s Club has been coming out with apologetics for the abusers, and otherwise trying to minimize the harm done. Jackson doesn’t seem to fall into that category–if anything, he’s giving the women’s legal teams the smoking gun.
What a sick man. How long does it take to ice a penis to death? Just the penis. Full body death would not be just.
Which is why Weinstein is pushing back so hard. Others have called him a bad man. Some have refused to work with him. Meh, so what he’ll be thinking. Jackson has provided a direct causal link between Weinstein and reputational and financial harm suffered by high profile and high-earning women. I’m quite certain lawyers for all parties are having very earnest conversations with their clients.
Not to mention: last I saw, US and UK police were investigating him.
I might stress, I’m not providing a total defence for Jackson. New Zealand is a small place, but I don’t personally know Jackson (I know people who know him – we average about 2.3 degrees of separation here). I’d like to think that 20 years or so ago Jackson and Walsh were simply a bit naive. I wouldn’t be surprised if they simply didn’t allow themselves to consciously dwell on the implications and vibe of a statement either. That’s human. He also has practised some pretty sharp hiring practices with unionised labour in the past, which didn’t attract universal admiration.
What is clear is that Jackson has not only stuck his head above the parapet on this issue, but has been prepared to keep it up there over the week. Admittedly, Weinstein probably has little chance of hurting him at this point.
My wrath in the post was entirely for Weinstein. I have none to spare for Jackson.
S’alright, there’s more than enough wrath to go around. Very few people get of of being alive with hands that fresh fallen snow would sully. Most of us have done ‘bad’ in some way at some time. When it comes to treating women shitty there’s a broad spectrum from being ‘unaware’ of the problem right through to destroying a persons health, career, well being, or actually killing them. It’s a sad world when those of us who were merely self centred boyfriends with a crass line in jokes are good by comparison. On the other hand it does show that people can grow and change if they want to. Sadly, so many don’t want to. They want to be selfish, unpleasant and abusive.
Today, a Policeman in one of our cities was sentenced for killing his estranged wife (17 years minimum). He also attempted to murder her new partner (a friend of his). He tied his wife up and shot her through the head, from under her chin. I can’t imagine the terror of her last moments. He was caught only because he messed up killing her new partner. The man’s self-pitying not-pology is still making me angry.
Weinstein may not have murdered anybody, but he warped and destroyed lives and careers. The disgusting thing is that he’s just powerful, not unusual. I thought chigau was a bit sharp with the shot at Jackson, but he possibly does deserve a bit of nuanced critique. Is there time to raise an eyebrow while the barricades are being stormed?