Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer annouces plan to sue the New York Times

If you haven’t had the chance to read the New York Times’ exclusive story on Harvey Weinstein, please do so. The lengthy report did on-the-record interviews with several women, including Ashley Judd, who claim that Weinstein harassed them or behaved with extreme misconduct, if not outright assault. The Times details how Weinstein has paid undercover settlements (with NDAs attached, settlements worth between $80K and 150K) to “at least” eight different women, including but probably not limited to: “a young assistant in New York in 1990, an actress in 1997, an assistant in London in 1998, an Italian model in 2015,” and a woman named Lauren O’Connor, who wrote a memo about Weinstein’s behavior and the many allegations against him back in… 2015. Weinstein has allegedly abused women around the world, mostly in luxury hotels, including the Peninsula, the Savoy in London, the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc near the Cannes Film Festival in France and the Stein Eriksen Lodge near the Sundance Film Festival.

Numerous women have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. He’s paid at least 8 settlements. NYT exclusive: http://bit.ly/2xmAtG2

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 5, 2017

In case you hadn’t heard, Harvey’s lawyer Charles Harder has already announced plans to sue the NY Times. So… I guess try to read the story before the NYT takes it down? *nervous laughter* No, seriously.

On the heels of The New York Times’ bombshell exposé published Thursday about “decades of harassment” on the part of Harvey Weinstein, the mogul’s attorney Charles Harder says he’s preparing a lawsuit against the paper.

“The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein,” he writes in an email to The Hollywood Reporter. “It relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by nine different eyewitnesses. We sent the Times the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish. We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to women’s organizations.”

Harder is perhaps most famous as the lawyer who represented Hulk Hogan in the litigation that brought down Gawker. He also represented Melania Trump in a defamation action against the parent company of The Daily Mail. That case settled earlier this year. Harder also sent a cease-and-desist letter last year on behalf of Roger Ailes to New York Magazine, and in his career, he has represented many popular stars in entertainment including Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock.

[From THR]

Yes, a lawsuit against the Times at this point feels very Hulk Hogan v. Gawker. By that I mean, Hulk Hogan was mostly mad that he got called out for something he did. The thing about it is though… Hulk Hogan really did take down Gawker, which sucked. Could Weinstein bring down the NYT? Probably not. Especially not if more people come out and tell their stories. Variety also has a story about whether or not “the Weinstein brand” is now toxic. Er, yes? YES, IT IS TOXIC.

Meanwhile, a lot of people are focusing on the Rose McGowan part of the story. The NYT names McGowan as one of the women who got settlements from Weinstein. The NYT says McGowan got a $100,000 settlement in 1996, when Rose was 23 years old, “after an episode at the Sundance Film Festival in a hotel room.” Rose was not interviewed by the NY Times, but she has been tweeting this week. When Weinstein told the Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday that he should buy the rights to their exclusive, Rose tweeted: “I want to buy the movie rights” and “Let’s play get ready to blame the victims.” She and Asia Argento – another one of “Harvey’s former girls” – tweeted back and forth with each other. After the NYT story broke, Rose tweeted this:

Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies. #bebrave

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 5, 2017

Anyone who does business with __ is complicit. And deep down you know you are even dirtier. Cleanse yourselves.

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 5, 2017