Whether who spoke out are all heroes in

Whether it’s at your breakfast table or an online forum, this topic has undoubtedly been the conversation of the year. The story was released in the Autumn of 2017 by The New Yorker, written by Ronan Farrow regarding the process, how Weinstein kept his victims quiet, and a detailed record of the acts he performed on women.  Articles like the New York times all began publishing Weinstein’s harrowing and disturbing acts. We, as the public truly began to see sexual harassment claims to a degree like no other. 2017 has had its fair share of sexual harassment and assault claims bleeding out one by one, from alleged abusers, like Bill Cosby to Morgan Spurlock; Harvey Weinstein has assaulted over fifty women and possibly even more. I really want to discard using the word ‘ victim’ – I feel like all the women who spoke out are all heroes in the sense of how strong enough they were to speak out against Weinstein especially with the power he possessed and risks taken to keep reports of his behaviour hidden and taken down.

He was prolific in the way he managed to have reports removed faster than you could say ‘ whisper’. I attended an all-girls’ school with a co-educational sixth form (boys and girls) for a year and I was surrounded by a majority of just girls. I feel I have always had a massive support for women and always thought they were the superior gender. I have always supported Women’s rights and the fight for equal gender pay and many other leading movements fighting for women’s rights. It causes me great pain and devastation to write about Weinstein’s acts, how he lured innocent women to yet be confronted by an erect and naked Harvey in either a hotel room or an office at his company (Miramax & Weinstein Company which has been merged together as he has been dropped from his own company).  I felt a need to write about the issue of sexual harassment/assault against women. It’s a subject close to my heart, being that  I am a strong supporter of the political women’s equal right party and have always tried to be a knowledgeable feminist. I also wanted to break down this over-night horror story for my readers and show how the ‘ city of stars’ Hollywood has its biggest, darkest secrets.

Hollywood has had claims of sexual abuse very early on in the scene, with Julie Garland being propositioned for sex in her teens, and Joan Collins believing that she lost the role of Cleopatra (which we all know was played by Elizabeth Taylor); It shows that these powerhouse executives have always ruled the movie industry and abused their power; Joan Collins would not sleep with a studio head for a title role. If you haven’t heard of Harvey Weinstein and been living in a bubble, you might have undoubtedly watched one of his movies, which have been nominated for three hundred Oscars nominations with six winning ‘ Best Motion Pictures’ to his name. Alongside this, movies winning for ‘ Shakespeare in Love’ starring Gwyneth Paltrow for ‘ Best Actress’ who also came forward with claims of sexual harassment by Mr Weinstein. The women who spoke out all had similar stories of being lured into his cunning yet callously planned attack, awaiting an event that would change their lives everlastingly. He would use upcoming scripts and give a speech about how he could make them a big star in Hollywood, if they gave him a sexual act he favoured for, it would be their chance to make them the next ‘ It Girl of Hollywood’. This lead to him ‘ guilt tripping’ the women, making them feel trapped.

In the words of one of Weinstein victims, Lucia Evans, who Ronan interviewed for the New Yorker exposé of Mr Weinstein, she expressed saying; “ He forced me to perform oral sex on him.” As she objected, Weinstein took his penis out of his pants and pulled her head down onto it. “ I said, over and over, ‘ I don’t want to do this, stop, don’t,’” she recalled. “ I tried to get away, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough.

I didn’t want to kick him or fight him.” In the end, she said, “ he’s a big guy. He overpowered me.” She added, “ I just sort of gave up.

That’s the most horrible part of it, and that’s why he’s been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like it’s their fault.” It was evident that Weinstein’s power and control was domineering, yet after many victims exposed Harvey monstrous ways we heard from more and more women coming forward after the New Yorker post debuted, stating that they had similar encounters with Weinstein. One that stood out from the scandal regarding Weinstein was the telephone call (which I will later mention) and how much I, as a member of the public, underestimated his power. Weinstein was a powerful man, I knew that, but I didn’t know how momentous his power would be. For example, he bullied stars like Sienna Miller and Felicity Huffman into wearing his -now separated- wife, Georgina Chapman’s dresses on the red carpet if they debuted in his movies, from the 2004 start-up high fashion brand Marchesa which Harvey helped to launch and fund.

It has now been questioned as to which direction Marchesa will go and how his wife, Georgina, will move on from these pernicious claims against her permanently separated husband. It’s going to be interesting to see how Marchesa will rebrand from the preposterous events of Weinstein’s actions. Georgina released a statement regarding the assaults by saying: “ My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions.” I believe that Georgina is very apologetic on the behalf of Weinstein, and knew nothing of the sexual assault allegations.

I was a huge fan of Georgina Chapman and loved how she presented herself with her fashion to support womanhood. She had even given a speech at the Variety’s Power of Women about the work she was doing for a charity that was helping girls to aspire and achieve their dreams. She has been featured in American Vogue and many outlets as a celebrated celebrity fashion brand.  I was sceptical as to why she would stay with Weinstein originally when they knew reports would be fired out against Weinstein until she declared she was separating. While performing extensive researching, I came across a source regarding that Georgina did know about Harvey’s angry, hard-core temper towards other people, the source confirmed that: “ Georgina always knew Harvey was no angel, but she was genuinely shocked and horrified by the number of women making claims against him and the serious nature of the allegations,” My heart goes out to the children of Georgina and Harvey with the terrible consequences that will affect them growing up. Marchesa will be Debuting at NYFW in February it will be intriguing to see where that goes and to see how the brand moves forward. Moving on, I want to delve into the cases that shocked the world.

I want to express the stories of the victims and share it with my readers, how Weinstein operated throughout the courses of the acts he performed on women for decades. The first person I want to cover is the inspiring woman, Rose McGowan. Rose McGowan? Some may say “ crazy, deluded and going insane”, which believed before the Weinstein outbreak. She attempted to tell people, but nothing was done. McGowan tweeted that she had told the head of studio of Amazon (which he would go on to say there was no evidence of this assault) with her adding to the tweet ‘ I was the proof’.

McGowan claims she was raped, silenced for ten years and people still thought “ Oh God, she is just being irrational?” Well, Rose didn’t back down! Her horror story started what was reported and debuted in one of Ronan Farrow’s follow up article on Weinstein for the New Yorker (‘ Army of Spies’) if would like to read more of what Rose had to say. Rose McGowan was contacted by e-mail from a literacy agency which seemed legitimate. They would then go on to offer McGowan a great deal of money to kick start of an event with her having the role of being a women’s rights advocate, and to speak at the gala kick-off event which would have been hosted that year. She would then, therefore, be introduced by a lady named Diana Filip who sent the email to McGowan. Filip would then go on to say she was a ‘ deputy head of sustainable and responsible investments at Reuben Capital Partners. Furthermore, the truth of the matter is that Diana Filip (which is her cover-up name) would be a former Israeli defence force officer who was assigned to befriend Rose McGowan. Ruben Capital Partners would be a fake front company which Filip was an agent for the black cube. An Israeli elite intelligence firm acting undercover to amass information, not just of McGowan, but Weinstein accusers and in conjunction with the journalist who got stories reported to them about Weinstein.

Weinstein had assigned to get upcoming reports abolished and to use the black cube to ferret out information of which women were speaking out. This would lead to McGowan being recorded with thousands of hours of conversation, which Weinstein would use information that was gathered about McGowan and others to intimidate into silence. McGowan would not have a clue about the operation right under her nose.

McGowan would have several meetings with Filip thinking that she was going to have the support for standing up to sexual assault and to help others in her scenario, to then find out it was all a scam. Another case is Ambra Battilana Gutierrez (who is a formal finalist in the Miss Italy contest) who accused Weinstein of groping her breasts and putting his hands up her skirt while at a meeting at his hotel room. Ambra would later then wear a recording device hidden to their next meeting to record what had happen previously and to confront him of what happened.   From the recording you have probably gathered the harsh, aggressive tone to the lack of respect and acknowledging that he was a famous man, wanting to hide the situation before a hotel employee came up with his jacket. It is very hard to listen to and take in what he is saying, forcing Ambra to do something she did not want to do.

The NYPD did not prosecute Weinstein once they got the tape, which I find astonishing. You might think so much more could have been done, and this could have been prevented and stopped the year they got the tape. Weinstein also made Gutierrez sign an agreement which recalls destruction of all evidence related to the incident. It has draconian penalties for breach, and had her sign a avadavat saying nothing chronical in the recording he admitted to actually happened if she ever breached the settlement contract.

Ronan Farrow even spoke to a lawyer about the settlement saying, “ This is one of the most usurious unethical agreements I’ve ever seen”. Another case very similar is Lauren Sivan, who publicly explained on the Megyn Kelly TODAY show  about the events and how the encounter with Harvey Weinstein would not only shock her terribly, but have her feel nothing but abhorrence and shame. Harvey and Lauren would first set eyes on each other at a dinner party by chance, and they would talk about politics and other general topics. Then the topics lead into him talking about a new restaurant he claimed he owned and wanting to give Lauren a tour. Lauren had the perfect life, she could not fault it. She loved her job as a news anchor in her hometown Long Island and had a great boyfriend. Harvey exposed himself to Lauren at the restaurant where he took her down into the basement. Repulsed, Lauren got out of there as fast as she could.

He then went on to phone her job place to arrange to see her again, with her in such disbelief she replied “ Absolutely…not, I have a very serious boyfriend” to then hang up the phone. Lauren recalls it was a very short conversation. Harvey Weinstein issued a statement on all the allegations saying: ” I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different.

That was the culture then I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office – or out of it. To anyone. I realized some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed.  I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.

Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go. That is my commitment. My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons. Over the last year I’ve asked Lisa Bloom to tutor me and she’s put together a team of people. I’ve brought on therapists and I plan to take a leave of absence from my company and to deal with this issue head on. I so respect all women and regret what happened.

I hope that my actions will speak louder than words and that one day we will all be able to earn their trust and sit down together with Lisa to learn more. Jay Z wrote in 4: 44 “ I’m not the man I thought I was and I better be that man for my children.” The same is true for me. I want a second chance in the community but I know I’ve got work to do to earn it. I have goals that are now priorities. Trust me, this isn’t an overnight process.

I’ve been trying to do this for 10 years and this is a wake-up call. I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them. I am going to need a place to channel that anger so I’ve decided that I’m going to give the NRA my full attention. I hope Wayne LaPierre will enjoy his retirement party. I’m going to do it at the same place I had my Bar Mitzvah. I’m making a movie about our President, perhaps we can make it a joint retirement party.

One year ago, I began organizing a $5 million foundation to give scholarships to women directors at USC. While this might seem coincidental, it has been in the works for a year. It will be named after my mom and I won’t disappoint her.” The apology did not seem very sincere due to him blaming his actions on growing up in the 60s and 70s which does not excuse the acts. Let me put it like this… there are many men have grown up in the 60s and 70s and DO NOT SEXUALLY ASSAULT/HARASSE WOMEN! It’s a pathetic accuse to get the sympathy of the public and of Hollywood.

He is blaming his actions on a time period which yes, was very male dominated and patriarchal and that was how they acted towards women. It was a different ball game! Examples like Wall Street shows that it was a like a boys’ club and objectified the few women who worked there, but times have changed. We are in the year of 2018 and the fact this is still happening is inexcusable. Weinstein also started quoting other figures which was a little confusing, making the whole statement in my opinion… trash! Another thing to point- he never really apologised to the women, like his apology would even be accepted(!) The whole statement was a mess and undeniable unremorseful. Campaigns have started, and rightfully so like ‘ TimesUp’ and #MeToo.

‘ Timesup’ is a campaign started by Hollywood. Their letter of solidarity was published on their website explaining and starting off with “ Dear sisters, we write on behalf of 300 hundred women who work in film, television and theatre”. It praises the women who have come out and told their stories.

It later explains how they want every woman to have equality – it’s the consistent, strong message throughout. It shows sisterhood, standing together to battle harassment, whether it’s ‘ boardrooms to executive suites and management to academia’. In the letter there was a part I would like to quote, “ In addition, we seek equal representation, opportunities, benefits and pay for all women workers, not to mention greater representation, opportunities, benefits and pay for all women worker, not to mention greater representation of women of color, immigrant women, disabled women and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women, whose experiences in the workforce are often significantly worse than their white, cisgender, straight peers. The struggle for women to break in, to rise up to ranks and to simply be heard and acknowledged in male-dominated workplaces must end; time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly.

” I thought this was a perfect highlight because it summed up everything about this campaign, and this is what we needed for so long in many aspects of different industries and in the year of 2018. I think it’s time to end all inequality. Next, the campaign #MeToo started back in 2006 by a social activist Tarana Burke to promote empowerment to women of colour who had been sexually abused from practically underprivileged communities.

The campaign to light by Alyssa Milano encouraged to use the hashtag during the outbreak of the scandal with Harvey Weinstein for women to tell their own stories. I would like you guys to check out those campaigns, it would be great if you could and donate if you can. It all goes to a great cause and every little bit of interest helps and spreads awareness in more detail.

To end this very, very, very long article I would like to praise and thank the journalists who ran their stories when people like Weinstein got people to get them taken down to threats that would end their careers and make them lose everything they had. I want to say that the drive and the determination of never giving in to these threats to always have a reason to keep going for these amazing, fabulous women who have endured such tragic events. To name a few, Ronan Farrow, Megan Twohey, Emily steel, Daniel Holloway, Jodi Kantor, Amy Kaufman and the many others I can’t recall at this moment in time, but I just want to give a big thank you to you all. You are all heroes and I don’t think I can express the gratitude and how much I am so thankful for the hard work you have put into your investigating and publishing.

Each and one of you have showed courageous attitudes towards reporting and telling the stories of the women so greatly. I want to acknowledge that the Golden Globes will have a great significance towards this topic as all of Hollywood will be in one place and it will be fascinating to see how they approach and show that ‘ It’s time to stop and here is the end of sexual harassment’. To move forward, we can only keep the conversation going and really support the awareness. As there is so much to cover, I feel as though I have not put every detail of this story but I would urge you guys to read any upcoming or past articles by The New Times and The New Yorker on the Weinstein case if you want to know a little more as the journalist covers every detail that I might have missed.

If you are going dealing with or gone through sexual assault/harassment/abuse I will link down organisations and helplines you can contact to speak to.