Ryan Murphy Says Women in Hollywood ‘Always’ Had an ‘Ick’ Reaction About Harvey Weinstein

Ryan Murphy has had limited personal interaction with Harvey Weinstein himself, but he claimed that the Hollywood producer did not elicit warm reactions from women he had talked to in the past.

During his conversation with TV critic Emily Nussbaum at the New Yorker Festival on Saturday, the American Horror Story creator touched on the recent sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein in a The New York Times report in which eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, spoke out against the 65-year-old powerhouse film executive.

Although he did not know of specific incidences, Vulture reports Murphy said he knows his “way around an Oscar-winning lady or two, and whenever he would come up in conversation, there was always this ‘ick’ or ‘ugh’ ” reaction.

And it wasn’t just some women. Murphy said it was “all of them.”

“In this society, most women have a Harvey Weinstein in their life,” Murphy said, according to Vulture. “There is always a minefield you navigate when you’re a woman and go through the system of Hollywood. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have champions or people who aren’t interested in taking advantage of you, and sometimes you do not.”

Murphy, 51, said Harvey once called him to congratulate him on his adaptation of The Normal Heart.

Rob Reiner also addressed questions about Weinstein at the New Yorker Festival, calling the studio head a “schmuck.”

“It’s not just our community – this is happening in every workplace in America. It’s disgusting,” Reiner said, according to Deadline. “Harvey Weinstein funded the movie The Hunting Ground. How do you do that?! We have to create a safe atmosphere where women are able to tell their stories.”

He continued, “He’s one schmuck who did what he did. But there are a lot of great people in Hollywood who don’t do stuff like that.”

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On Thursday, The New York Times published an article in which eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, spoke out against Weinstein, accusing him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.

Weinstein responded to the allegations in the report, saying he was working with a therapist to address his issues head-on. “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it,” he said. “Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”

Weinstein’s then-attorney Lisa Bloom said in a statement that her client “denies many of the accusations as patently false,” though Weinstein said that he “bear responsibility for my actions” in an interview to The New York Post on Friday. Another lawyer for Weinstein, Charles Harder, said the mogul has plans to sue the New York Times. (Bloom announced she was resigning from advising Weinstein on Saturday afternoon.)