The 7 Most F*cked Up Things We Learned From ‘Untouchable,’ Hulu’s Harvey Weinstein Documentary
@Hannah Chambers
You probably think that you’ve already heard everything there is to know about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse scandal. Allegations against the former Hollywood producer were published in the New York Times for the first time in 2017, and since then, a flood of women who have experienced sexual assault have spoken out and created the #MeToo movement.
It might feel like you know the whole damn story, but there are so many layers, it’s unlikely anyone will ever understand the full extent of the mess Weinstein created. Hulu has just released a new documentary detailing Weinstein’s rise and fall. Here are the most messed up things we learned from Untouchable.
1. Even at the very beginning of his career, Harvey had enough power to make people afraid to come forward against him.
Before Harvey Weinstein was a famous producer, he was just a music promoter in Buffalo. Hope D’Amore worked with him in 1978, and during a work trip, he allegedly told her that a “mistake had been made” and that only one hotel room was booked. Hope told Harvey that he would have to sleep on a chair, but he still undressed and climbed into bed with her.
Harvey towards the beginning of his career.
*RICHARD BLANSHARDGETTY IMAGES
Apparently, before assault Hope, he said, “Do you really want to make me an enemy for five minutes of your time?”
Hope pushed Harvey away and said no multiple times, but eventually decided that if she could just “shut up,” it would be over in a few minutes. Afterwards, she was too afraid to tell anyone, because she knew that he “owned the cops in Buffalo.”
Even at the age of 26, Harvey had the influence to dissuade his victims from speaking out against him. So…you can probably imagine how much more effed up it got from there.
2. People were warned of Harvey’s ‘inappropriate behavior’ before joining the company.
Zelda Perkins, a woman who worked at Miramax (Weinstein’s old production company) in London, said that when she was looking to hire a new assistant, she told the applicants that they’d be required to deal with Harvey’s “inappropriate behavior.” (Not that she was condoning it at all. Zelda described her time around Harvey as “exhausting.”) She said that based on her own experience, as long as they “dealt with him robustly, they’d be fine.”
Unfortunately, on the first night the new hire worked with Harvey alone, he assaulted and attempted to rape her.
“It was one of the most shattering bits of news I had ever had,” said Zelda.
3. Apparently, if he swore on the lives of his wife and children, you knew he was lying.
Zelda confronted Harvey for assaulting the new hire the next day. “He told me nothing and swore on his wife and his children’s lives, which to me, I’m afraid was an absolute admission of guilt. I had only heard him do that as a sort of proper ‘get out of jail’ card. That was his ‘really, I’m in trouble’ lie.”
There is also another sound bite from Harvey in the documentary in which he swears on his children. It’s extremely chilling to listen to after hearing Zelda’s side of the story.
4. He was violent with the men he worked with, as well.
In the documentary, a number of Miramax employees described how “tough” of a boss Harvey was.
“In a lot of ways, he was tougher on the guys. It’s just how it was. You either dealt with it, or you left,” explained one employee. Another added that Harvey once threw a five pound ashtray at his head.
5. Even when his behavior was caught on film or tape, it wouldn’t get printed.
In 2000, Harvey had a super public, very violent encounter with two reporters named Andrew Goldman and Rebecca Traister. It resulted in Harvey calling Rebecca a c*** and then putting Andrew in a headlock and hitting him repeatedly.
None of this ever made it to print, although most of the conversation was recorded, and there were plenty of photographers snapping photos. (JFC, if only Twitter was around in 2000. That shit would have been on Worldstar immediately.) Almost 20 years later, the pictures are still nowhere to be found. Harvey really had so much control over his own public opinion, despite the fact that many knew the truth. It was just always off the record.
6. He hired spies to snoop on the New York Times while they were originally writing about the allegations.
Apparently, Harvey hired private investigators to spy on journalists and actresses. Literally nothing screams, “I’m guilty!” more than this.
7. Some of Harvey’s victims signed non-disclosure agreements that forbid them from speaking to their therapists about the encounters.
The NDAs included clauses forbidding victims from talking about the situation with Harvey in therapy. The therapist also had to sign a confidentiality agreement, and if they broke it, the patient would be liable for breeching the contract. WTF?!
By the way, Harvey still denies all allegations. His brother, Bob, who he worked with closely for most of his career, says he did not know about the allegations before the media reports in 2017. And…his trial has been moved to January. This is still all a huge mess.
