Culture
Mr. Hollywood Expelled From the Orgy

Mr. Hollywood Expelled From the Orgy

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood movie mogul, has been accused of decades of sexual assault and been ostracized by his peers. But he reflects the industry, and it reflects him. ...
Selwyn Duke

Hurricane Harvey — Weinstein, that is — blew into Hollywood and now has blown his career. Taken down by his own sexual depredations, the once-omnipotent film executive recently fled to a $2,000-a-night Arizona “rehab” center and will likely face criminal charges. Yet he merely reflects a Tinseltown that, even more than Las Vegas, is the real city of sin — and that wants to make the whole nation a reflection of itself.

No Clintonesque denials will help Weinstein, nor can he continue buying his way out of trouble (the New York Times reported that he reached at least eight settlements with women over the years). The New Yorker obtained a damning audio recording of the mogul pressuring model Ambra Gutierrez into watching him shower. Moreover, this appears the least of his trespasses. The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow reports that during the course of a 10-month investigation, he spoke to 13 women who accuse Weinstein of serious sex crimes, including rape, between the 1990s and 2015.

The result is that Weinstein, once ensconced in a protective bubble of power and pocketbook, is now receiving the Mussolini treatment: His once servile subjects are piling on. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expelled him; the Producers Guild of America has moved to terminate his membership; his name will be scrubbed from the credits of films and TV projects; and Deadline.com informs that The Weinstein Company, whose board the film producer just resigned from, is nearing “the brink” as talent agencies cut off the talent supply. Even prominent Democrats (such as Hillary Clinton) — who received more than $2 million in personal and “bundled” donations from him — have found their once-silent tongues and are denouncing the mogul. It’s the bravery of those who’ll kick a man when he’s down (this isn’t to imply he doesn’t deserve the kicks, only that the kickers deserve to break some toes).

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