Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenberg

Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:59 am

Who's next? High anxiety in Hollywood
by Jeffrey Fleischman
November 5, | 02:00 AM

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The curtain has been pulled back, and, oh, is it messy.

Hollywood has always reveled in scandal. The rumor. The whisper. The unfortunate photograph. The apology and return to grace. But the recent sex abuse stories have turned into a parade of tawdry violations and twisted passions, the stuff of movies acted out in real lives against the unglamorous air of disgrace, endless transgressions that even Ray Donovan, Showtime's half-shaven mercurial fixer, couldn't clean up with all his hush money and muscle.

The rape and sexual abuse allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner, James Toback and others have shattered the awards-season aplomb in a town that imagines itself bold and freewheeling but prefers the tempered and scripted. The entertainment industry has slipped into a multi-polar catharsis of emboldened women, nervous men, threatening lawyers, broken deals, spoiled careers and the uncertainty that comes when cracks run like lightning through facades.

“I think the industry is forever changed,” said Marcel Pariseau, a publicist whose clients include Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Munn, one of six women who accused Ratner of sexual misconduct in The Times last week. “Every morning we wake up and we don’t know what’s going to be next. You’re almost afraid to get on your gadget to see what the new story is.

"No one is going to be going to a producer or director's hotel suite anymore," he added. "All meetings will be done with somebody else in the room for protection for both sides. It's a defining moment. It's vigilance."

Instagram accounts are being scrubbed, Facebook pages edited, publicists consulted and memories jogged about what might have happened where and with whom on that blurry night years ago. The cocktail circuit is jittery; the Oscar buzz feels a bit listless. Talent agencies are dropping clients and scouring their own houses. Studios are pruning relationships, firing executives hours after an allegation is made public.

In every pitch or development meeting, “people want to talk about it,” said a female television writer who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s like everyone needs a little bit of therapy. It’s preoccupying people’s minds because they either have a direct connection to it or it’s like driving by a car crash; you’re just riveted. In the way Trump stuff used to lead a lot of things, now this stuff leads every single sit-down.”

This is the new Hollywood. Restless, unsure, demanding justice, looking for cover and wondering how to move beyond a long history of discrimination and sexual harassment and toward the kind of enlightened world it so often supposes in its art.

“We’re all having a conversation now about whether or not we are protecting people in our industry from people committing violent crimes against them,” said comedian and producer Judd Apatow. “I personally would not be comfortable making it a big part of my business trying to keep rapists and people who commit sexual assaults on the street.
We all decide how we want to make money. We all decide what’s ethical. I’m well aware that all criminals deserve representation, but at the same time sometimes we’re putting other people in danger.”

It's hard to fix things when even hallowed names are in the headlines: Dustin Hoffman has apologized after being accused of sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985. Kevin Spacey said he was seeking "evaluation and treatment" after allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

The consequences against the accused have been swift: Netflix canceled Spacey's "House of Cards" and Warner Brothers cut ties with Ratner, who has denied claims of sexual harassment and misconduct from a number of women.

Every morning we wake up and we don’t know what’s going to be next. You’re almost afraid to get on your gadget to see what the new story is.
-- MARCEL PARISEAU, PUBLICIST


"When the Dustin Hoffman thing broke I was like, my gosh, now there's going to be a library of great movies that I can't watch anymore because of the ick factor. The ick factor is real," said the TV writer.

Audiences and critics have already begun reevaluating Weinstein's films, many of which were nominated for and won Academy Awards, including "Shakespeare in Love," whose star Gwyneth Paltrow says that the producer assaulted her in a hotel suite when she was 22.


Many women are by turns horrified and relieved; a number of actresses believe the accusations are forcing the industry to finally police itself, and to realize the dangers of an entrenched "boys club." To end this culture, Ellen Barkin tweeted: "I call upon fierce, more powerful sisters in our biz to bring women who've come forward into ur circle."

The fissures rattling through town "have been a long time coming," said Jordana Oberman, an actress and producer. "The industry has been complicit in this type of behavior and chalked it up to Hollywood. A lot of us are hoping this is a defining moment, but only time will tell. My hope is that there's a bigger examination of the complicity and that people won't shut up anymore."

The raised fist of Rose McGowan, who says she was raped by Weinstein, and worries of Woody Allen, who cautions against a "witch hunt," are the opposite ends of this unsettling expanse. The scandals strike at the core of this town's power — who has it, how they wield it — and follow years of complaints over racism and discrimination that culminated in the #OscarsSoWhite campaign and then, many believe, had a part in handing this year's Best Picture Academy Award to "Moonlight," a gay coming-of-age story by a black director and cast.

But the back-slapping lasted only months. This is, after all, Hollywood in the age of President Trump, a reality show host who crystallized the marriage of celebrity and politics, and a candidate who admitted to groping women only to land in the White House. The entertainment industry railed at Trump but the allegations against Weinstein, Ratner and others suggest a long pattern of abuse perpetrated by men who considered themselves artists and liberals.

"When I started in this business in my 20s, there was a pervasive feeling that rich, powerful men in any business could do what they wanted — and that's just the way it was," producer Christine Vachon, whose credits include "Carol," "Still Alice" and "Boys Don't Cry," recently told The Times."It was baked into our lives."

Trump's ascent and the cascade of Hollywood allegations have refocused the feminist movement at a time women increasingly feel their rights are endangered. The hundreds of women who have come forward in the entertainment industry span an arc from top-tier actresses to office assistants. Their allegations fed into and spurred wider calls against abuse across the country. Social media — from #MeToo on Twitter to endless Facebook pages — have become constant pre-occupations in the city, modern-day town criers that not only alert women to the latest infractions but also provide a reframing of previously tolerated behavior.

"Whether it is conversations I've had with writers, or just the general vibe, there's a genuine respect and admiration for the women who have come forward to speak out against this," said John Eisendrath, a television writer and executive producer of "The Blacklist." "Like every guy, and I am certain I am no exception, I have gone over in my mind the 30 years I have worked in this business. Have I seen it? Was I exposed to it? Did I ignore it? Did I not do enough in situations?"

Alec Baldwin says the culture of the town has changed and there may be backlash and recrimination.

"At least for a considerable amount of time in the future, you will almost never see an unchaperoned casting session again. Ever," he said. "Everybody's going to want to have somebody in the room with them to make sure nothing questionable is going to happen."

He added: "My agent contacted me and said that they're concerned that people who are quiet are going to lose work as a result of this. Because they're going to find some photograph of you with [someone who has] been accused of something untoward, and I just hope people proceed with this very carefully."

The day-to-day "zeitgeist is there's an awareness in the way people should be treated that is now a part of everyone's consciousness," said Eisendrath. "That is the headline."

The sexual accusations have also led to debate about legal questions and moral equations over who should protect whom amid criminal investigations, civil suits and negotiated settlements. All this for years has been part of the complex machinery that has threatened, toppled and saved careers in a crucible where bluster is an art form and image is paramount.

Nathanael West, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Raymond Chandler were intrigued, enchanted and often un-romantic about this town, its egos and insecurities, its strivers and connivers. They knew of scandal, and saw Los Angeles and Hollywood as neighborhoods and private lives reaching into one another and stretching through canyons toward the ocean, on and on, like the flash and tremor of a dream. But lurking beneath, somewhere deep in the earth, a fault slips into a brokenness waiting to rise. Nobody knows where or when it will strike.

"It's a difficult time to navigate this," said Amanda Lenker Doyle, a casting director. "It's horrible stuff to hear and talk about every day. I certainly hope it will change the industry going forward."

Times staff writer Glenn Whipp contributed to this report.
Twitter: @JeffreyLAT
jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:47 am

Report Details Weinstein’s Covert Attempt to Halt Publication of Accusations
by Jim Rutenberg
New York Times
November 7, 2017

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The disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein used a web of private detectives, lawyers and even undercover former Mossad agents in a failed effort to stop The New York Times and The New Yorker from publishing their investigations in October into allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him.

The cloak-and-dagger undertaking, detailed in a new report on The New Yorker’s website Monday, included the use of an agent who posed as a women’s rights advocate to befriend and spy on one accuser, the actress Rose McGowan. The same agent posed as a woman with a possible allegation against Mr. Weinstein in an attempt to lure journalists into sharing information about other possible accusers, according to the magazine’s report, which relied heavily on internal Weinstein documents and emails.

A contract with one of at least three private investigation firms that Mr. Weinstein employed, Black Cube, listed its “primary objectives” as providing “intelligence which will help the client’s efforts to completely stop the publication of a new negative article in a leading NY Newspaper” and obtaining content from a book that was to include “harmful, negative information on and about the client.” The magazine identified the newspaper as The New York Times and the book author as Rose McGowan, who has stepped forward to allege that Mr. Weinstein raped her. (He has denied forcing women into “nonconsensual sex.”)

The contract, which the magazine published on its website, had as its signatory a Weinstein lawyer, David Boies, a Democratic Party stalwart who argued for marriage equality at the Supreme Court and represented Al Gore in the disputed 2000 presidential election.

Mr. Boies’s firm, Boies Schiller Flexner L.L.P., has provided The Times with outside legal counsel in three legal matters over the past 10 years, including one libel case. The newspaper released a stern statement on Monday night about Mr. Boies’s involvement in the effort to undermine its reporting and its reporters.

“We learned today that the law firm of Boies Schiller and Flexner secretly worked to stop our reporting on Harvey Weinstein at the same time as the firm’s lawyers were representing us in other matters,” the statement read. “We consider this intolerable conduct, a grave betrayal of trust, and a breach of the basic professional standards that all lawyers are required to observe. It is inexcusable and we will be pursuing appropriate remedies.”

On Monday night, David McCraw, The Times’s deputy general counsel, declined to say what those remedies might be. But, he said, “I think that what they owe us is an explanation of what actually happened,” adding, “We need to know much more.”

Mr. Boies did not respond to an email inquiry on Monday. But he told The New Yorker that while he oversaw the contract, he himself did not select the firm or direct its agents. And while he said he did not believe his work for Mr. Weinstein and his firm’s representation of The Times represented a conflict, “We should not have been contracting and paying investigators that we did not select and direct.”


Black Cube promotes itself as “a select group of veterans from the Israeli elite intelligence units.”

One of its agents posed as a potential Weinstein accuser to secure two meetings with Ben Wallace, a New York magazine reporter who was pursuing a Weinstein article that never came to be. She also reached out to one of the two lead New York Times reporters on the Weinstein story, Jodi Kantor, The New Yorker reported, an attempt that went nowhere.

Ms. Kantor was also investigated, along with the New Yorker reporter on the Weinstein story, Ronan Farrow, by another firm Mr. Weinstein hired, PSOPS. The firm had been used, as well, to dig up dirt on accusers like Ms. McGowan, producing one long briefing that included a subheading that read, “Past Lovers,” The New Yorker reported.

Mr. Weinstein’s habit of using investigators to undermine accusers and reporters dates back more than a decade, according to the New Yorker article published on Monday, which was also written by Mr. Farrow. The magazine reported that Mr. Weinstein had used Kroll “to dig up unflattering information” about the former New York Times media columnist David Carr, who died in 2015, when Mr. Carr was working on an article about Mr. Weinstein in the early 2000s for New York magazine. The article quotes from a report about Mr. Carr that Mr. Weinstein’s investigators produced, noting that he had learned of Ms. McGowan’s allegations.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Weinstein, Sallie Hofmeister, denied Mr. Weinstein had assigned a private eye to look into Mr. Carr when The Times asked her about it last month. Ms. Hofmeister did not respond to emails on Monday night.

Correction: November 7, 2017

An earlier version of this article misstated the types of cases in which Boies Schiller Flexner L.L.P. represented The Times with outside counsel. While the firm has provided The Times with legal counsel in three matters, it provided counsel in one libel case — not three.
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Thu Nov 09, 2017 3:49 am

Ex-Weinstein staffer says assistants were manipulated: ‘We weren’t safe either’: As stories suggest female staffers helped lure producer’s alleged victims, former assistant says she and her colleagues also faced abusive behavior
by Sam Levin in San Francisco
17 October 2017 03.01 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 17 October 2017 20.05 EDT

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The women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse spoke of the same tactic: the movie producer would make young women feel safe with the presence of his female assistants, who would later disappear, leaving the mogul alone to harass and assault his guests, they alleged.

Before long, acting in Baby Burlesks demonstrated some fundamental lessons of movie life. It is not easy to be a Hollywood starlet. Starlets have to kiss a lot of people, including some unattractive ones. Often, starlets are knocked down to the floor or pricked by their diaper pins. The hours are long. Some of the positions that must be assumed are downright uncomfortable. Your hair and teeth must always be clean, and the same goes for your white socks.

Often starlets are required to wear scanty costumes and suffer sexist schemes, such as walking around with a silver arrow stuck through your head.

Like a Girl Scout, starlets must be cheerful and obliging, particularly to directors, producers, and cameramen. Like a Boy Scout, starlets must always be prepared, whether to recite lines, give a benefit performance, or become the butt of a joke.

Starlets must be constantly alert. Weak theatrical talent must be compensated by strong instincts for survival. Above all, starlets must cultivate the talent of tenacity.

Lesson One: Being a starlet is a complicated life, especially when you are four years old.

Lesson Two: Disobedience carries its price. The price was penalty time in a large, black box. Lamont was keeper of the key. Two dozen children under six years old can become a rabble more easily than two dozen adults. However menacing, Lamont's visage and manner were insufficient alone to establish his authority. He had a clincher to ensure our good behavior.

The 1927 advent of talking motion pictures had created the first such box, a portable work station for sound technicians, six feet to a side, mounted on rubber-tired wheels and with sole access through a narrow, soundproofed door. Inside there was a thick glass viewing port screened by a heavy curtain. There appeared to be no way to construct it so that it would be both soundproof and ventilated, so the air inside remained humid, hot, and heavy.

Two boxes were available for us, only one to be used for sound mixing. The other was empty, save for a large block of ice, its diabolic, dark interior waiting expectantly for some troublesome child to be thrust inside for punishment not always befitting the crime. The ice chilled the stale air and steadily melted. No child wants to lie down in a cold puddle, yet standing grows tiresome. As a final satanic option, the ice block provided the only place to sit.

Before utilizing this black box, however, our production staff had to temporarily separate mothers and offspring. That problem was easily solved. Mothers were officially excluded from the set at all times, on the pretext that their exclusion would avoid tumult, noise, and divided authority. Under this policy of exclusion, mothers were no longer chaperones but simply chauffeurs, hairdressers, and seamstresses. At the stage door mothers were redirected to an adjacent waiting room, where they sewed, chatted, or otherwise frittered away the waiting hours. As mothers patted us good-bye a child welfare supervisor theoretically took charge, smiling benignly. Across the threshold we would all troop, and the big, airtight doors of the soundstage would close behind us with a soft whoosh!

The presence of the child welfare supervisor represented another problem and a different tack was employed to neutralize her. Once our gaggle of children was without mothers present and in custody of the supervisor, she, too, disappeared. Adjourned to a nearby dressing room tastefully outfitted with radio, magazines, refreshments, and a soft couch, seldom would she reappear until end of work and time to reopen the soundstage door. Rested and refreshed, she would dutifully release us back into the custody of our waiting mothers.

Several times I wound up banished inside Lamont's black box. It was really a devilish punishment. Take one small, obstreperous child. Heat it under bright Kleig lights until perspiration starts. Remove child directly to the chill of the black box. Close access door tightly and leave child in box until sufficiently cooled and chastened. Remove child, reheat under the glare of Kleig lights, and carry on with work. The box proved the ultimate enforcer. Increased obedience followed as night follows day.


The process also proved a slick way to induce ear infections, a sty, some boils, or intestinal flu, items of only slight concern to our film mentors, save where production was thereby delayed. Child health was for mothers to cope with.

One obvious loose end in the scheme remained. What if some child complained to Mother? Hays and Lamont covered that open base by warning us that anyone who tattled would be recommitted to the box for disobedience. Despite Lamont's order of silence, I confided in Mother. Although intensely disliking my punishment status, I had come to uneasy terms with the total darkness, the ice block and the sense of locked confinement. The reason I turned to Mother was that I always had, but what I related was so alien to her patient, loving style, she brushed off my weird tale as if make-believe all day had overstimulated my imagination. I resolved the dilemma the only way left. The game was clear. Pay attention. Be alert. Do as I was told, when, and how. Get it right the first time. No mistakes, and no wasted time.

-- Child Star, by Shirley Temple Black


After a week of reading stories casting blame on Weinstein’s female employees, one former assistant said she wanted to speak up and make clear that the situation was much more complicated. She and other women at his company were also victims of Weinstein’s abuse –- regularly exploited and manipulated, leaving some severely traumatized, the woman alleged in a recent interview with the Guardian.

“We weren’t safe either,” said the woman, who worked closely with Weinstein as an assistant in London in the last five years and requested anonymity. “It was an abusive relationship on every level.”

The woman, who was in her early 30s when she was employed at the Weinstein Company, echoed the complaints of others who have worked for the disgraced producer, alleging that his staff was forced to do demeaning and humiliating tasks to facilitate and cover up his philandering. Many, including her, she claimed, didn’t suspect they were enabling sexual assault or rape.

“He had manipulated everyone in his path with that one purpose, and that was for sex,” she said. “It’s awful. I should have walked out. I should have said something.”


Weinstein has been fired from his company and widely denounced by Hollywood following a slew of accusations that he sexually harassed and assaulted young women, allegedly inviting models and actors to hotel rooms for business purposes before demanding massages and sex. The scandal has launched criminal investigations and has inspired women across the industry to speak up about misconduct by powerful men.

The New Yorker investigation, which uncovered rape allegations, claimed that women at the company served as a “honeypot”, helping lure his victims.

The former UK assistant said she was heartbroken to read about the assault claims, and that while some close associates may have known what was happening, she claimed that women like her were not willing collaborators and had also suffered through verbal abuse, vicious threats and intimidation.

“We were in danger, too,” she said, adding that she had joined the company with aspirations of advancing in the film industry. “You think you’re going to get this illustrious career. You really want to believe you are going to succeed. He preys on this. He preys on young, vulnerable people he can manipulate.”

Weinstein has “unequivocally denied” allegations of non-consensual sex and has said he denies many of the claims of sexual harassment first reported in the New York Times. His spokesperson did not respond to questions about the assistant’s claims, but sent an earlier statement that said: “Mr Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.”

Although she was hired as a business assistant, in a role focused on development and acquisitions, the woman said she was forced to do a lot of personal assistant work, sometimes centered around Weinstein’s sexual escapades.

“Sex was a daily part of my life working for him. It was about enabling him in so many ways. It’s really disgusting,” she said, recounting how she would be tasked with keeping women Weinstein had slept with away from his wife at events.

When Weinstein wanted to be left alone with a woman, “he would tell me to fuck off”, she further alleged. “I was scared of him.”


At the time, the encounters made her very uncomfortable, given that the young women were hoping for career opportunities.

“That’s still an abuse of power,” she said. “They thought they were getting something out of it.”

It was more clear to her now, she added, that he had exploited women who worked for him while making advances against other women: “He used us to make him look less predatory.”

She recalled one incident in which she learned that a young woman allegedly confided to Weinstein’s driver that she had had a bad experience with the producer in a hotel room -– the first time the assistant suspected that his behavior could be more abusive or violent than she had thought.

“I felt sick,” she said.

The culture of the office made it impossible to speak up and it was hard to find a way out, she added. “You’re trapped. You’re tired. You’re vulnerable. He starts breaking you down,” she recalled. “It just spirals out of control the minute you start to realize what’s going on. You start to feel like you’re going insane.”

While some in the industry began warning each other about Weinstein over the years, working to shield vulnerable women from the producer, his own staff had no recourse, she said: “We were totally forgotten.”

Other former assistants and employees have also spoken up about being treated like “dirt” and Weinstein behaving like a “monster”, with one describing to the Guardian a culture of “fear” and “silence”.


The former assistant said it was a huge relief to see the reporting on Weinstein and that she hoped it would help validate the pain women across the world have endured: “This might change history for women, not just in the film industry, but for women in the workplace.”
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:41 am

What it was like to work for Harvey Weinstein
by bbc.com
13 October 2017

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Former office assistant Lisa Rose: Weinstein mentioned a massage as he invited me to another room

When Lisa Rose was 22 she got a job with Miramax in London. It was 1988.

Before she started, she was given a warning: "Harvey will answer the door in a towel. He will ask you for a massage. You say no, you ignore him and you make sure you walk away so you're not too close."


Lisa is one of several people to come forward to the BBC with claims of harassment by the film producer.

Harvey Weinstein denies any sexual assault.

This is Lisa's story:

It was exciting. I'd just left drama school and it felt glamorous. I met producers, gave feedback on films.

I went to parties and screenings of Hear My Song and Nasty Girl in Soho with actors, writers, directors.

I did admin for Miramax - bookings, calls, scouted a new penthouse in Belsize Park. I delivered a script to Daniel Day-Lewis. I even booked Concorde flights for Harvey.

I remember meeting him, feeling like "oh, I need to make a good impression, maybe he'll get me an acting job".

Image

When he came into town, everything focused on him.

It's like you knew this hurricane force was coming for a short period of time and everybody took a deep in breath and then everybody knew that he would be gone in a couple of days.

He used to get a different suit tailored for his meetings in London, from under the Savoy hotel, and just leave it in the wardrobe when he left. I used to think "what a waste of money".

He'd leave half-empty coke cans all over the place and the room where he slept was left in a total mess. It was disgusting.

Everyone became anxious and scared -- on tenterhooks because he would rage and shout. People didn't really talk about it -- they were just trying to get on.

One time in the hotel, he exploded at a casting person -- he screamed, shouted, swore. Hours later he told me to send them flowers, to make a big apology.


But while he was at meetings, I could sit in the Savoy and order room service. I remember eating chips, looking out of the window, thinking "oh, wow, this is cushy".

Despite knowing his reputation, I still chose to work there -- it was paid well, hours were flexible and it felt like a good job. But I knew things weren't right.

'I ended up in a situation with him'

When you got taken to the Savoy, you knew that Harvey was there.

Then I ended up in a situation with him.

I was sent to the hotel in a taxi. They just said, "you'll work out of the Savoy today". Everyone was so busy, so I just went and did it -- I was answering the phone and ordering things, it all felt very normal.

I was alone in the room with him.

He asked me for a back rub, to give him a massage. But I had been forewarned -- and I said no. Because of the warning I could really focus on getting out of the situation.

He huffed and puffed and said, "well other people do it".

I moved into a suite room immediately -- I could see where the door was from there.

I was really frightened, my heart was beating, and I was thinking, "this is what it's like having so much power -- he's a man who's got a lot of power".

He didn't touch me. He said nasty things but he didn't touch me.

I told friends about it but no-one really said much. People giggled or looked embarrassed, and some said, "well, that's just something that happens".

Every week I wrote a cheque of a whopping £900 to a woman, who was supposedly a writer -- I knew she wasn't. One woman who worked very closely with him kept a diary detailing all the things going on. When I saw people come in, when I saw someone on his arm in a picture, I thought, "oh, that poor person".

I resigned.

No-one I worked with would consciously put someone in his path. No-one would willingly say "go be a victim, be prey to this ogre, we'll sacrifice you to him". But people were scared stiff of him.


Do I feel guilty for not reporting anything? Who could I have gone to -- the police? Who would have listened? No-one has ever said go report it.

'A monster'

I was a little tiny person against a huge corporation. I thought people would laugh or say it didn't happen.

He's a scary and big man -- a monster. I thought if I say something, I'll never get an acting job because he runs the industry.

His amazing talent also made me question if I was wrong. I thought maybe this is just how it is, and I'm not a strong enough woman to play the game. Sexual harassment is shameful, embarrassing, humiliating. You keep it in for many years because you think, why would I want to be reminded of that?

Image
Lisa Rose was hoping to make it as an actress in the late 1980s

But now all these people are coming forward, and I want to speak out.

I want women to be able to to say this is wrong and know that they'll be heard. This is about exposing abuse of power and bullying. It all needs to stop.

Holding it all in all these years affected me. I became very cynical about the film industry. It made me think that only certain types of women can survive it, you have to be very tough to put up with things like that.

I think I didn't really get on in my acting career because I refused to do what he wanted -- I wouldn't play sexy and seductive and do what men wanted, so I wonder sometimes if that's why I didn't go far.

I see his picture in the newspapers on the bus and it makes me feel sick. Even now I feel scared. I'm battling that fear that speaking out could hurt me.

I wish I had had the chance to pass on a warning, like the one I was given, to people who never got that chance, and who ended up in compromising situations.

I could have stopped that happening to other people.

As told to Georgina Rannard, BBC UGC & Social News team
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:33 am

The Minotaur of Hollywood, A Harvey Weinstein Production
Dedicated to Los Angeles, that Loved Harvey Weinstein, Until it Didn't
by Charles Carreon
November 9, 2017

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The Minotaur of Hollywood, A Harvey Weinstein Production
by Tara Carreon


Way down in Los Angeles,
That city by the sea
There was a mighty industry
That everybody thought was sweet.

They called it entertainment,
Vaudeville, they made silent pictures,
Publicity stills. They had talent agents,
talent scouts; they made the country laugh
and kept the public out.

Hollywood became its name
A silly sign its claim to fame
It drew foolish girls
Like moths to flame
In a world gone mad
Well, who’s to blame.

The temples of Hollywood are up in the sky
Through the freeway canyons
The limousines fly. They’re loaded
with girls who wanna be stars.
Next stop is the Minotaur.

He’s got several lairs in the Hollywood hills,
Unlike Bill Cosby, he doesn’t use pills,
He more likes to trap,
Then move in for the kill.

Built like a bear, but not as good looking,
The Minotaur’s friends
All say they weren’t watching
When he feasted on virginal,
delicate flesh,
Wiped his mouth on his bathrobe,
And satisfied, left.

Hollywood’s a labyrinth, they say,
Don’t you see? Concierges and bellhops,
doormen and valets, a thousand
hotel rooms, a million blind hallways.
A girl could get lost here
And never be found
Till at last that old Minotaur
Does come around
And asks himself lecherously,
“What have I found?”

So who built this labyrinth,
So secret and safe,
To house this dread predator
Who loves to make waste?
Why did they love this Minotaur more
Than the virginal offerings
Whose flesh the beast tore?
What did he give them
To protect him with lies
To induce still more victims
To please his desires?

Well, the Minotaur, it seems
Is a creature of dreams,
For all one desires is seen in his eyes,
And in that same place
All one’s dreams die.

His evil is cunning;
It moves not a step,
Till all is secure
And the trap has been set
Planning and preparation the keys to his game
You were foolish to trust him, so you’re to blame.

Now they say the Minotaur is dead
The’ve taken off its head
They’ve dragged it behind
an Escalade
Painting Sunset red.

Yes, they’ve got the guards out tonight
Labyrinth’s locked up tight
The Minotaur’s no more
And the Pacific Ocean
Has departed the shore.
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:20 pm

The SPY who duped Rose McGowan UNMASKED! This is the blonde Israeli military veteran who worked undercover for disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein and tricked the actress into sharing her memoirs
by Alana Goodman For Dailymail.com
18:49 EST, 8 November 2017 | UPDATED: 14:17 EST, 9 November 2017

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Stella Penn, an operative at Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube bluffed her way into meetings with Rose McGowan and journalists
The 30-something Israeli vet claimed to be working on women’s rights advocacy and reportedly asked McGowan to speak at an upcoming event
She used aliases ‘Diana Filip’ and ‘Anna’
She is a former member of the Israel Defense Forces and lives in Jaffa, Israel Penn, who was recently married, also goes by the name Stella Penn Pechanac, multiple sources told DailyMail.com
Weinstein hired the ex-Mossad agents to prove he was the victim of a 'negative campaign' in what was dubbed 'Operation Parachute'
Black Cube is run by former Israeli intelligence officers of Mossad


The pretty blonde spy who duped Rose McGowan into meeting privately with her while working undercover for Harvey Weinstein is a 30-something-year-old Israeli military veteran named Stella Penn, the DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

The operative at Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube – who bluffed her way into meetings with Rose McGowan and journalists while using the aliases ‘Diana Filip’ and ‘Anna’ -– is a former member of the Israel Defense Forces and lives in Jaffa, Israel.

Penn, who was recently married, also goes by the name Stella Penn Pechanac, multiple sources told DailyMail.com.

The blonde spy duped McGowan into meeting with her and even managed to obtain a copy of the actress’s unpublished memoir this year, after telling the actress she was a women’s rights advocate from London.


Penn claimed she worked for a London-based investment company called Rueben Capital Partners.

In reality, Penn worked for the Israel-based intelligence firm Black Cube, which had been hired by Harvey Weinstein to investigate numerous women who had accused him of sexual harassment and other perceived enemies.

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The pretty blonde spy who duped Rose McGowan into meeting privately with her while working undercover for Harvey Weinstein is a 30-something-year-old Israeli military veteran named Stella Penn, the DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal

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Harvey Weinstein agreed to pay up to $1.3m to Black Cube, an Israeli intelligence firm

The company was tasked with collecting information on numerous women, including McGowan. The firm also worked to obtain a copy of McGowan’s unpublished memoir, to determine if the actress was going to go public with her sexual assault accusations against Weinstein.

McGowan first met with ‘Diana’ after the two were introduced by a literary agent last May, the New Yorker first reported this week.


The Black Cube operative claimed to be working on women’s rights advocacy and reportedly asked McGowan to speak at an upcoming event she was organizing. Penn and McGowan met in person on several occasions in New York and California, and even spent time on the Venice boardwalk, according to the New Yorker.

Penn pressed McGowan for information about her allegations against Weinstein, and eventually managed to obtain a copy of the actress’s unpublished book.

The operative even kept up the ruse after the New Yorker published explosive allegations against Weinstein last month, revealing that he had been accused of sexual harassment and rape by numerous actresses and female employees over the years.

‘Diana’ wrote an email to McGowan after the story was published, praising the actress for her courage.

‘Hi Love,’ she wrote. ‘How are you feeling? . . . Just wanted to tell you how brave I think you are.’

McGowan was reportedly shocked when she was later told by the New Yorker that ‘Diana’ was actually an undercover investigator working for Black Cube.

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Weinstein hired Israeli firm Black Cube on October 24, 2016, to carry out the covert operation, known internally as 'Operation Parachute' by operatives that included ex-Mossad agents

‘Oh my God,’ she told the New Yorker. ‘Reuben Capital. Diana Filip. No fucking way.’

Penn, using the alias ‘Anna,’ also met with New York reporter Ben Wallace earlier this year while he was working on a story about Weinstein.

The Black Cube operative implied to Wallace that she wanted to discuss allegations against Weinstein. But the reporter said she seemed to be pressing him for information on his upcoming article while revealing very few details about herself.

According to a biography of her posted online, Penn is involved in an educational advocacy group in Israel called Recalculating the Educational Route.

The biography says she moved to Israel in 1994 from Yugoslavia. She served as a Lieutenant in the Israeli Air Force and has worked on Jewish advocacy campaigns in the U.S. and Australia.

She speaks four languages –- English, Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian, and conversational Spanish.

Penn is also an actress. She graduated from the theater arts program at Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in 2010, according to her biography.


Weinstein agreed to pay Black Cube up to $1.3 million for its investigative work, according to his October 24, 2016 contract with the firm exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.

The covert operation, known internally as ‘Operation Parachute,’ targeted at least 10 women, fashion designer Kenneth Cole, and a prominent AIDS charity, the DailyMail.com has learned.

Weinstein's work with Black Cube was first reported by the New Yorker on Monday, which published a July contract showing that the firm deployed undercover agents to obtain information from Weinstein's sexual assault accusers and journalists.

The initial October contract between Weinstein and Black Cube last fall shows that Weinstein was fixated on the idea that he was the victim of a 'negative campaign' orchestrated by his enemies -– and he was willing to go to great lengths to stop it.

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Harvey Weinstein's original contract with Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube, in October 2016 reveals that Weinstein agreed to pay the company as much as $1.3 million to spy on his perceived enemies -– including close friend and amfAR chairman Kenneth Cole (pictured)

This Letter of Engagement supersedes all prior agreements, written or otherwise, between the parties (including, in particular, the Letter of Engagement, dated October 24, 2014, between Black Cube and the Firm, acting on behalf of the Client (hereinafter “the Original LoE”) and the Client, whether written, oral or otherwise) and Black Cube acknowledges and agrees that it is not and will not be entitled to any fees (whether success fees or otherwise, whether pursuant paragraphs 16 through 18 of the Original LoE or otherwise) or costs under the Original LoE.

-- Letter of Engagement Between Black Cube and Boies, Schiller & Flexner dated July 11, 2017


BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL
BLACK CUBE

Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP
575 Lexington Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10022
USA
24 October 2016

Letter of Engagement

1. This Letter of Engagement sets out the terms whereby Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP ( “the Firm”) is engaging B.C. Strategy UK Ltd., a limited company incorporated in England and Wales (registered number: 0815397, hereinafter “Black Cube”), on behalf of a client, (hereafter “the Client”). This letter explains the research process and scope of the litigation support services to be provided to the Client, and attached to it you will find our Terms and Conditions, which shall be considered as a part of this letter.

General

2. B.C. Strategy UK Ltd is a business intelligence and strategic consultancy firm based in London, Tel-Aviv and Paris. The company, owner of the Black Cube brand in Israel, USA, UK, European Union, Hong Kong, Australia and other countries, specializes in finding tailored solutions to business challenges by gathering high quality intelligence and providing its clients strategic consultancy and guidance. The firm specializes in delivering end-to-end research into corporations, individuals and product markets.

3. Black Cube is a select group of veterans of elite units in the Israeli intelligence community, combined with financial and legal experts. Our team comes from a well-established intelligence background in the fields of information gathering, analysis and research, as well as various legal and financial backgrounds and field operations. The team’s unique background, together with the cutting-edge methodology developed by Black Cube, was the reason we were retained to untangle complex business environments and legal cases for many multi-national clients. Black Cube regularly supplies services for a variety of international corporate and law firms.

4. Black Cube is willing to provide business intelligence services to the Client in accordance with the work plan suggested below, and hereby warrants that all information collected during the project and all other action taken or directed by Black Cube will be obtained in confidence and by legal means and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. In accordance, all operations are subject to the law in all relevant jurisdictions.

5. All of Black Cube’s operational methodologies have been approved by K&L Gates, BCL Burton Copeland and Gross, Kleinhandler, Hodak and Co. (top-tier law firms in the US, UK and Israel respectively).

6. Furthermore, Black Cube seeks advice and guidance from top tier law firms in any other jurisdiction in which we operate, in order to ensure full compliance to local laws and regulations, specifically with regard to privacy and data protection.

Objectives

7. The primary objective of the project is to identify the entities behind the negative campaign against the Client (hereinafter – “the Campaign”), and support the Client’s efforts to put a stop to it.

8. Of course, any other specific request or requirement from the Client will be taken into consideration.

The Research Team

9. For the Duration of the project, Black Cube will allocate a dedicated team of expert intelligence officers that will operate in the USA and any other necessary country:

a) A project manager with specific experience in managing similar business intelligence projects. The project manager will be in charge of building the research plan, managing the team, allocating resources, scheduling, and presenting results to the Client.

b) Intelligence analysts – experts in web-based data gathering and database access, social networks and pattern analysis.

c) Avatar Operators – experts in relevant media analysis and relations, in all available social networks.

d) Linguists – for all relevant languages including English.

e) Operations experts with extensive experience in social engineering.

f) In house legal advisor – for advice on the legality of collection methods and operations; focusing on privacy, data protection and database access.

10. The team is supported by our board of directors and advisors – businessmen in key positions in Israel and abroad and former heads of the Israeli intelligence forces, all of whom contribute from their vast experience and worldwide connections.

Schedule and Fees

11. The final report will be provided within two months from signature of letter of engagement. However, due to the urgency of the project, Black Cube will utilize its Blitz methodology in order to allocate additional resources in the beginning of the project.

12. Regular updates, delivered in face to face meetings with the firm and client along with written status reports, will be given to the Firm and Client to present findings and discuss further directions.

13. Relevant information will be provided to the Firm and Client as it becomes available.

14. The price for this project per months will be 100,000 USD ($200,000 USD in total), inclusive of all costs (i.e. databases and software licenses, flights, travel, computers and special accessories, and out of pocket expenses). The Client will not bear any additional expenses unless agreed upon in advance. The Client has the option to terminate the engagement after the first month if it is not satisfied with the results produced thus far with no obligation to pay the second month’s fee.

15. The first monthly payment be due upon the signing of the letter of engagement, and the second monthly payment will be due 30 days after the signing of the letter of engagement.

16. In the event in which the Client uses the intelligence provided by Black Cube, in a litigation, in a different juridical process, in the media or in presentation to authorities, Black Cube will be paid a success fee of 100,000 USD.

17. Additionally, in the event Black Cube succeeds in achieving the objective, including putting a stop to the negative campaign, Black Cube will be paid an additional success fee of 200,000 USD.

18. Furthermore, in the event in which Black Cube discovers that there was a concerted effort on the part of an individual or entity behind the negative campaign (e.g. a business competitor) that was not otherwise known to the Client and which resulted from activities beyond the normal scope of the objective and work contemplated in this engagement, Black Cube will be paid an additional success fee of 300,000 USD.

19. The payment of the success fee will be independent from, and in addition to, any other fee paid according to this agreement.

20. VAT will be added, only if necessary, according to English law.

21. We agree that Black Cube will solely look to the Client and not the Firm for payment of any amounts due under this engagement and shall hold the firm harmless from any costs arising out of this engagement.

We are looking forward to working with you on this opportunity. I firmly believe that Black Cube’s high-level intelligence capabilities will enable us to deliver to you the desired results of this case.
With kind regards,

Dr. Avi Yanus, Director

Encl.

I agree to the terms of this letter and the BC Strategy UK Ltd. Terms and Conditions on behalf of the
Client:
Name: Amy Habie
Signed: Amy Habie
Date: 10/27/16


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Actress Rose McGowan (left), who has made allegations of rape against Weinstein, and Thomas Ajamie (right), a financial fraud attorney who had been hired by amfAR to examine a suspicious financial transaction involving Weinstein, both were investigated by Black Cube

Harvey Weinstein's original contract with an Israeli intelligence firm, published exclusively here, reveals that the disgraced movie executive agreed to pay the company as much as $1.3 million to spy on his perceived enemies – including numerous actresses, fashion designer Kenneth Cole and a prominent AIDS charity.

This Letter of Engagement supersedes all prior agreements, written or otherwise, between the parties (including, in particular, the Letter of Engagement, dated October 24, 2014, between Black Cube and the Firm, acting on behalf of the Client (hereinafter “the Original LoE”) and the Client, whether written, oral or otherwise) and Black Cube acknowledges and agrees that it is not and will not be entitled to any fees (whether success fees or otherwise, whether pursuant paragraphs 16 through 18 of the Original LoE or otherwise) or costs under the Original LoE.

-- Letter of Engagement Between Black Cube and Boies, Schiller & Flexner dated July 11, 2017


Black Cube was first hired to 'identify the entities behind the negative campaign against [Weinstein]' and 'support [Weinstein's] efforts to put a stop to it,' according to the initial contract.

The investigation targeted actresses who accused Weinstein of sexual assault, but it also extended to Weinstein's supposed friends and allies.

A source familiar with the operation said Black Cube was asked to investigate Weinstein's long-time friend Kenneth Cole and the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a charity where Weinstein was a donor. Cole is amfAR's chairman.

Black Cube was also asked to look into Thomas Ajamie, a financial fraud attorney who had been hired by amfAR to examine a suspicious financial transaction involving Weinstein.


Another target was Commentary magazine editor John Podhoretz, who had posted a comment on Twitter in 2015 about Weinstein's rumored assault victims.

Actresses Sophie Dix and Katherine Kendall were also subjects of interest, according to the source.

Ajamie told DailyMail.com that he was not surprised he was on Black Cube's list and believed he was targeted because he had been hired by the amfAR board to investigate an unusual financial deal Weinstein had with the charity in 2015.

The transaction, which is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice, involved transferring profits from an amfAR auction to a theater project that Weinstein had invested in.


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The elaborate planning that went into the operation involved the crafting of a fake website for Reuben Partners, with a section devoted to 'Women In Focus' (above)

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The fake firm of Reuben Partners also had an office building listed on its website (seen above in Google street view)

Ajamie's investigation found that Weinstein's financial deal 'exposed amfAR to material risks to its financial integrity and reputation.' In the process, Ajamie also discovered some of the sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.

'I knew that Weinstein and his lawyers had hired private investigators, and his lawyers were investigating me and trying to harass me,' said Ajamie.

He said he recalled run-ins with individuals he believed may have been working for private investigators. Over the past year, he said several strangers showed up at his law office claiming they had scheduled meetings with him or stopped by his apartment unannounced.


A spokesperson for amfAR declined to comment on Weinstein's spy operation.

'As has been widely reported, the Department of Justice is conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into certain transactions carried out by Mr. Weinstein,' said the spokesperson.

'In our continued effort to cooperate with this investigation we are unable to comment at this time. amfAR remains committed to pursuing its charitable mission of finding a cure for the over 30 million people living with HIV and AIDS.'

The initial October contract reveals that Weinstein promised to pay Black Cube $200,000 for two months of work -– plus up to $600,000 in bonuses if the firm went above and beyond the scope of its assignment.

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Another target was Commentary magazine editor John Podhoretz (pictured) who had posted a comment on Twitter in 2015 about Weinstein's rumored assault victims

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Actresses Katherine Kendall (left) and Sophie Dix (right) were also subjects of interest to the intelligence firm, a source told DailyMail.com

The cost included 'databases and software licenses, flights, travel, computers and special accessories, and out of pocket expenses.'

Black Cube would also be paid an additional $100,000 if Weinstein used the information it collected in lawsuits, pitched it to the media or gave it to law enforcement.

The contract also included an additional $300,000 payment to Black Cube if the firm uncovered previously unknown individuals who were involved in the 'negative campaign' against Weinstein. It also stipulated a $200,000 'success fee.'

'In the event Black Cube succeeds in achieving the objective, including putting a stop to the negative campaign, Black Cube will be paid an additional success fee of 200,000 USD,' said the contract.

The document described Black Cube as 'a select group of veterans of elite units in the Israeli intelligence community, combined with financial and legal experts' based in London, Tel-Aviv and Paris.

The October contract was signed by Amy Habie, the chief financial officer at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, the law firm Weinstein used to retain Black Cube. It was also signed by Black Cube's director Avi Yanus.

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Elizabeth Avellan with ex-Robert Rodriguez, who left her to begin a relationship with McGowan, says a reporter contacted her and pressed her for dirt on McGowan

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Weinstein had the agencies compile psychological profiles on dozens of targets such as Rosanna Arquette (left) while Pamela Lubell (right) was allegedly tricked into revealing a list of her old colleagues, then forced her to call them to see who had spoken to the press

In a subsequent contract in July, published on Monday by the New Yorker, Weinstein agreed to pay the firm another $200,000 for four months of investigative work, and up to $350,000 in potential bonuses.

Despite the relative success of the operation, sources said Weinstein and Black Cube ended up in a dispute over payments, which was the reason for the second contract in July.

During 'Operation Parachute,' Black Cube operatives managed to obtain several meetings with targeted journalists and actresses.

One undercover female operative working for Black Cube met with actress Rose McGowan and her agent in May 2017 in Los Angeles, according to the New Yorker.

DailyMail.com learned the operative is a blonde woman in her 30s from Jaffa, Israel, who previously worked for the Israel Defense Forces.

During the meetings, they discussed an unpublished memoir McGowan had written called Brave, which referenced Weinstein. The operative was able to obtain a full copy of the book.

The Black Cube investigation – known as 'Operation Parachute' – was led carried out by the firm's London office, according to a source familiar with the effort.

Black Cube founders Avi Yanos and Dan Zorella – a former member of the Israeli Intelligence Corps – were also involved in the project.

Insiders said the spy firm's London office went into panic mode on Monday and initially tried to destroy documents related to the Weinstein deal before their law firm Peters & Peters advised against it.
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:47 pm

Jenny McCarthy Details Alleged Casting Couch Experience with Steven Seagal: ‘It Just So Grossed Me Out’
by Maria Pasquini @MLSQUEENZ
November 9, 2017 AT 2:11PM EST

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


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MIREYA ACIERTO/FILMMAGIC; ALLEN BEREZOVSKY/GETTY

Although Jenny McCarthy first accused Steven Seagal of sexual misconduct back in 1998, amid new allegations against the actor, McCarthy, 45, detailed her casting couch experience with Seagal, 65, on SiriusXM.

“They sent me out for Under Siege 2,” McCarthy began, describing a 1995 film Seagal starred in, adding that she “purposefully wore a muumuu to the audition so the casting people would actually look at my face and watch my work.”

When it was finally her turn to audition, McCarthy said she noticed “there was no one else in the room,” but she convinced herself that wasn’t a problem because “he’s a celebrity.”

“So I stand across from him and he plops onto a sofa that’s near a fireplace,” she continued. “And he points at the sofa cushion next to him saying to me, ‘Take a seat. Relax.’ I said, ‘No thank you! I’m just really excited to read for this part. And I have so much energy I need to stand.’”

McCarthy then detailed how the actor went “on and on about how he spent time in Asia working on missions” adding that he was “watching out of one eye to see if I take the bait.” And then McCarthy claims he told her, ‘’‘You know, this part has nudity in it. And I can’t really tell what your body looks like in that dress that you’re wearing.’”


“In my head I’m like, ‘Okay here we go. Sound the alarms, this is not a test this is the real thing, activate all defense systems,'” McCarthy continued. “But I so wanted to legitimately read for this part that I wasn’t gonna give up yet. So I told him, ‘Listen. My agent says there’s no nudity. I specifically asked her and she said no.’

McCarthy then claimed Seagal told her “there is off-camera nudity,” before asking her to lower her dress for him.

“In shock, of course I responded with, ‘Could we please read the scene,’” but she said again he asked her if she could lower her dress “so I can see your breasts.”

“I paused, I looked up at him, went from shocked to sadness, my eyes filled with water and I yelled, ‘Go buy my Playboy video — it’s on sale for $19.99’ and just took off,” she continued, adding that as she was about to open the door to her car, the actor — who she said had followed her — told her not to tell anybody, “or else.”


“So I get into my car and I just burst into tears,” she said, adding that she didn’t know what the actor meant by “or else,” but that after that encounter, she was ready “to move back to Chicago.”

“It was so disheartening,” she continued. “And I thought about like, ‘I was the last girl that day. How many girls had to take off their clothes? How many girls had to do more?’ It just so grossed me out.”

A spokesman for Seagal previously denied McCarthy’s claims to The Daily Beast. Representatives for Seagal have not responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding any of the claims.

In late October, Seagal joined the list of major Hollywood figures accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal when Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero accused Seagal of trying to proposition her.

On Wednesday, actress Portia de Rossi tweeted about her alleged experience with Seagal saying that “her final audition for a Steven Seagal movie took place in his office” and that “he told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his pants.”

Portia de Rossi ✔@portiaderossi
My final audition for a Steven Segal movie took place in his office. He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants. I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, “well, I didn’t know if he was your type.”
3:49 PM - Nov 8, 2017


And last week, Julianna Margulies recalled an encounter with Seagal, whom she costarred with in the 1991 film Out for Justice. “When I was 23, a casting director, a woman, said, ‘Steven Seagal wants to go over the scene with you in his hotel room at 10 o’clock at night,’” Margulies told Jenny Hutt for SiriusXM’s Just Jenny.
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:22 am

Portia de Rossi Says Steven Seagal 'Unzipped His Leather Pants' During Audition
by Mike Miller
November 8, 2017 AT 8:10PM EST

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Image
MATT WINKELMEYER/GETTY; KRISTINA NIKISHINA/GETTY
Portia de Rossi is the latest actress to accuse Steven Seagal of sexual misconduct.


The Arrested Development star, 44, tweeted her alleged experience with Seagal, 65, on Wednesday. “My final audition for a Steven Segal movie took place in his office,” she wrote.

“He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants,” Rossi continued. “I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, ‘Well, I didn’t know if he was your type.’”


Portia de Rossi ✔@portiaderossi
My final audition for a Steven Segal movie took place in his office. He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants. I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, “well, I didn’t know if he was your type.”
3:49 PM - Nov 8, 2017


Just last week, Julianna Margulies recalled an encounter with Seagal, whom she costarred with in the 1991 film Out for Justice. “When I was 23, a casting director, a woman, said, ‘Steven Seagal wants to go over the scene with you in his hotel room at 10 o’clock at night,’” Margulies told Jenny Hutt for SiriusXM’s Just Jenny.

“I lived in Brooklyn, and I said, ‘Oh, I don’t do that. I don’t travel. I don’t have money for a cab.’ And I didn’t. And I said, ‘And I don’t take subways late at night.’ And she says, ‘Don’t worry we’ll reimburse you. And I’m here, a woman,’” the E.R. alum recalled. “I got to the hotel at 10:40, and she wasn’t there. And he was. Alone. And he made sure that I saw his gun, which I had never seen a gun in real life. And I got out of there unscathed.”


In late October, Seagal joined the list of major Hollywood figures accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero’s recent accusations against Seagal came nearly a decade after Jenny McCarthy recalled an alleged incident in which he asked her to strip naked for the movie Under Siege 2 during a private audition in 1998.

A spokesman for Seagal previously denied McCarthy’s claims. Representatives for Seagal have not responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding any of the claims.
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:23 am

Julianna Margulies Recalls Alleged Encounter With Steven Seagal: ‘I Saw His Gun’
by Karen Mizoguchi
November 4, 2017 AT 12:24AM EST

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Julianna Margulies is adding her own experience to the ongoing conversation about sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood—and claims she had a frightening encounter with actor Steven Seagal. The Emmy-winning actress and Seagal costarred in the 1991 film Out for Justice.

A representative for Seagal did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Friday,

“When I was 23, a casting director, a woman, said, ‘Steven Seagal wants to go over the scene with you in his hotel room at 10 o’clock at night,'” Margulies told Jenny Hutt for SiriusXM’s Just Jenny on Friday.

“I lived in Brooklyn, and I said, ‘Oh, I don’t do that. I don’t travel. I don’t have money for a cab.’ And I didn’t. And I said, ‘And I don’t take subways late at night.’ And she says, ‘Don’t worry we’ll reimburse you. And I’m here, a woman,’ ” the E.R. alum recalled. “I got to the hotel at 10:40, and she wasn’t there. And he was. Alone. And he made sure that I saw his gun, which I had never seen a gun in real life. And I got out of there unscathed.”


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GARY GERSHOFF/WIREIMAGE; PAUL ARCHULETA/GETTY

In late October, Seagal joined the list of major Hollywood figures accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero’s recent accusations against Seagal came nearly a decade after Jenny McCarthy recalled an alleged incident in which he asked her to strip naked for the movie Under Siege 2 during a private audition in 1998.

A spokesman for Seagal previously denied McCarthy’s claims. Representatives for Seagal have not responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding any of the claims.

Marguiles also spoke about an alleged past incident with Weinstein.

“I have my own Harvey story, but I never was raped. And I never was harmed. And I don’t know how I got out of that hotel room,” the actress said during her SiriusXM interview. “It always starts with, ‘I’m a healer, I want to massage you’ and all. I sorta screamed my way out…But, the point is that for years, years, we all just shrug it off.”

Concluding, “And because of my experience with Steven Seagal in that room, which was horrific, I refused to meet Harvey Weinstein in his hotel room when another woman brought me, saying ‘you will absolutely get [a screen test].’“

Margulies emphasized that the discussion of sexual harassment in Hollywood should include the women who enable predatory men.
“Who are these women? You know, one of the things I want to stay clear of in this dialogue, collectively with other women and men, is that it’s not always the men that are awful,” Margulies said.

Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past couple weeks by more than 50 women, including multiple allegations of assault. (The movie mogul has denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex.)

Margulies appeared on Just Jenny along with Erin Merryn, a childhood sexual abuse survivor who is fighting for states to pass Erin’s Law, which mandates schools teach sexual abuse awareness and prevention. The issue of sexual abuse “is not to be shrugged off,” Margulies, a longtime advocate for the law, said on the show. “We have to start with our children.”
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Re: Harvey Weinstein: 'Beautiful Girls' Scribe Scott Rosenbe

Postby admin » Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:23 am

‘Take Off Your Dress’: How Men in Hollywood, From Steven Seagal to Harvey Weinstein, Treated Women for Decades
by John Walters
Newsweek
10/12/17 AT 4:20 PM

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Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero, who has worked as an actress since 1990, nodded knowingly when the Harvey Weinstein news broke late last week. “Nearly every woman I know in Hollywood has been ‘Weinsteined’ at some point in their careers,” says Guerrero. “If not by him, then by someone else.”

In 1996, Guerrero was a 31-year-old with a few minor roles to her credit (Matlock, Batman Returns ) when her manager, Lorraine Berglund, phoned with exciting news. “They want you to read for the female lead in a Steven Seagal film,” Berglund said, “but the audition is going to be held at his house in Beverly Hills.”

In the mid-’90s, Seagal was a box-office juggernaut, but Guerrero was wary of the offer. The casting agency offered to send a female associate, Shari Rhodes, to accompany Guerrero on the audition. “This was potentially a huge break for me,” Guerrero says, “but there was no way I was going there by myself.”

Upon arrival, Guerrero and Rhodes were greeted by Seagal, who answered the door clad only in a silk robe. He ushered them into a side room, where he sat in an oversized, ornate chair on a platform (“We called it ‘the throne,” says Guerrero) and asked Guerrero to read her scenes. When she finished, Seagal, who was also a producer on the film, Fire Down Below, said, “You’re fantastic! Tell me about yourself.”

“I drove home feeling pretty good about the audition,” Guerrero recalls, “and that same day my manager called. ‘Steven wants to offer you the lead,’ she said, ‘but you have to go back to his home for a private rehearsal tonight.’”

Guerrero declined. The lead role of Sarah Kellogg in that film went to Marg Helgenberger (of CSI fame)...

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-- Marg Helgenberger


... but Guerrero was given a small part. On the day she arrived on set, she spotted Seagal talking to male crew members. From Guerrero’s perspective, it seemed like a scene out of high school. “He was looking at me and then he’d say something to them and there’d be laughter,” says Guerrero, who was listed in the film’s credits as “Blonde Beauty.” “Finally he approached me and asked, ‘Would you like to go into my dressing room?’”

Once again, Guerrero declined. She has never seen Fire Down Below and as far as she knows, her scene was cut. “When I read about Harvey Weinstein, the reports of him appearing in a robe triggered me,” she says. “That’s exactly what Steven Seagal did. I found out later that he was notorious for this.”


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An Inside Edition report that will air Thursday evening includes multiple allegations against Seagal spanning more than two decades. One of his accusers, Jenny McCarthy, said that during a casting session she was ushered into a room with Seagal, who said, “So you were [Playboy’s] Playmate of the Year? Take off your dress.”

That’s Hollywood, says Guerrero. “As an aspiring actress you have zero leverage,” says Guerrero, who appeared in the 2011 Oscar-nominated film Moneyball. “Who was I going to go to complain about sex discrimination? He was both the star and a producer on the film.”


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'Inside Edition' correspondent Lisa Guerrero tells Newsweek "nearly every woman I know in Hollywood has been ‘Weinsteined’ in their careers.

Guerrero later ventured into sports reporting, but was unable to escape the casting-couch syndrome. As an on-air reporter at Fox Sports in the early 2000s, she says that she was twice propositioned by Fox executives and twice rejected them. There were consequences. “I was supposed to provide on-site coverage for the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans that aired on Fox,” Guerrero says. “Before we departed, an executive—he was married—suggested that we share a hotel room.”

No way, Guerrero told him. “Then they took me off our Super Bowl coverage,” says Guerrero, who left Fox Sports in 2003 to be the sideline reporter for ABC’s Monday Night Football.


Guerrero believes that the Weinstein scandal will lead to a tidal wave of similar stories. “The only way to get [this abuse] to stop is for every woman to come forward and to tell their stories,” she says. “It’s not just about going to Human Resources any more. If the most powerful studio mogul in Hollywood could be brought down, I hope more women find the courage to come forward.
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