It was a shock to some, but an open secret to many. For this list, we’ll be looking at prominent figures in news and entertainment who attempted to expose the Hollywood mogul’s wicked acts before they were made widely public.
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00:00 "I told a lot of people and nobody did a thing."
00:03 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 10 celebrities who tried to warn us about
00:09 Harvey Weinstein.
00:10 "We had one instance in a hotel room where he tried to, where he made a pass at me."
00:16 For this list we'll be looking at prominent figures in news and entertainment who attempted
00:20 to expose the Hollywood mogul's wicked acts before they were made widely public.
00:25 Were there others who tried to raise the alarm before 2017 that didn't make our list?
00:30 Let us know in the comments below.
00:34 Angelina Jolie "If you even so much as think of touching
00:37 me, you're going to find yourself limping back to your mother's womb."
00:39 Dozens of women have made accusations against Harvey Weinstein.
00:43 Most of them have told variations of the same story.
00:46 He used his position to lure them up to a hotel room for a "meeting."
00:50 Jolie says she rejected the advances and chose never to work with Weinstein again.
00:56 When they arrived, he would either harass or try to force himself on them.
01:01 That was the exact experience described in the New York Times by Angelina Jolie.
01:05 The New York Times reports Angelina Jolie alleges Weinstein made unwanted advances in
01:11 a hotel room during the release of the film Playing by Heart.
01:15 In the late 1990s, Weinstein pulled this move on her at a hotel and she rejected him.
01:20 Afterwards, she never worked with him again and warned anyone she knew who was about to.
01:27 Jolie additionally said, "This behavior towards women in any field, any country, is
01:34 unacceptable."
01:35 Gwyneth Paltrow "Paltrow now claims in the mid-90s Harvey
01:38 Weinstein harassed her as well."
01:41 After Weinstein brought Paltrow onto the film Emma, she was called to his hotel room for
01:46 a meeting.
01:47 Once the producer initiated unwanted contact, the actress got out of the room.
01:59 Paltrow was soon encouraged to stay silent about the harassment.
02:03 Despite telling Brad Pitt, the actor alone wasn't able to expose the producer.
02:15 According to reporters Jodi Cantor and Megan Tewey, Gwyneth Paltrow played a key role in
02:21 breaking the Weinstein story in 2017.
02:24 She reportedly spoke with him early on and helped them convince others to come forward.
02:41 Although Weinstein allegedly arrived at a party to intimidate her, Paltrow still pressed
02:46 forward to speak about what happened to her.
02:55 Sharon Waxman Over the years, a number of reporters tried
02:59 to break the story about Weinstein.
03:01 One such reporter was Sharon Waxman, formerly of the New York Times.
03:06 She claimed that the paper prevented her from going forward with an article about Weinstein's
03:11 transgressions in the early 2000s.
03:20 According to Waxman, she spoke to a major enabler for the mogul and a victim who had
03:25 been given money to stay silent.
03:27 But while she attempted to publish the full story, Weinstein reportedly interfered by
03:31 speaking to several Times higher ups.
03:42 He allegedly convinced high profile actors to help protect his enabler.
03:46 If the producer hadn't stepped in, Waxman could have brought more attention to him back
03:51 in 2004.
04:11 Mira Sorvino Mira Sorvino was one of the women who spoke
04:15 to Ronan Farrow for his piece in The New Yorker.
04:18 During the first round of promotion for her movie, Mighty Aphrodite, she said Weinstein
04:22 had attempted to force himself on her.
04:32 He reportedly came to her apartment in New York to try again.
04:36 In the wake of these incidents, Sorvino had difficulties working in Hollywood without
04:40 coming forward about Weinstein's behavior.
04:42 Her career also suffered behind the scenes due to his machinations.
04:58 Although she attempted to speak to someone at his company, she was still discouraged
05:02 from going public.
05:04 Sorvino later spoke about her past encounters with Weinstein in 2017.
05:10 Sorvino recently told The Hollywood Reporter that she couldn't say for certain that her
05:13 career was impacted after she refused Weinstein's advances when she was a young actress on the
05:18 verge of stardom, but now she knows.
05:22 In 2011, actress Jessica Barth told her friend and collaborator Seth MacFarlane about her
05:28 own encounter with Harvey Weinstein.
05:30 The actor released a statement.
05:32 He said he made the quip because a friend of his, actress Jessica Barth, confided in
05:36 MacFarlane that she was an alleged victim of Weinstein's.
05:39 Two years later, the comedian gave us our first hint behind the curtain.
05:43 MacFarlane was hired to host the 2013 Oscars.
05:50 During the announcement of the nominees for the Best Supporting Actress, he cracked a
05:54 joke that hinted at Weinstein's behavior.
06:02 MacFarlane further explained to reporters why he spoke out after the scandal broke in
06:06 2017.
06:07 He said, "When I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take
06:13 a hard swing in his direction."
06:14 Although the joke didn't open the floodgates at the time, it showed that several stars
06:19 had an awareness of Weinstein's misdeeds.
06:22 Lauren O'Connor In 2015, Lauren O'Connor was an up-and-coming
06:27 creative executive at the Weinstein Company.
06:29 Unfortunately, the toxic environment took its toll on her.
06:42 Before she left, O'Connor wrote a memo and sent it to multiple executives at the company.
06:46 The memo brought attention to misconduct and sexual harassment by the company's founder
06:51 and CEO, Harvey Weinstein.
06:53 In it, she accuses him of tormenting people and physical assaults.
07:14 O'Connor initially thought that her writings would be buried due to the legal and social
07:19 pressures she faced.
07:21 However, the memo was eventually leaked.
07:28 It eventually helped other reporters start building a case against Weinstein.
07:33 Lena Dunham After Dunham was made aware of Weinstein's
07:37 behavior, she tried to do something about it in 2016.
07:40 In addition to being a power player in Hollywood, Weinstein was a major donor in Democratic
07:46 politics.
07:47 He was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton in particular.
07:56 During her presidential campaign, Dunham contacted political staffers to inform them
08:01 about his behavior.
08:06 The actress tried to make the argument that being associated with such a controversial
08:10 person could reflect badly on the organization.
08:14 In follow-up stories, several staffers claimed that the conversation about specific allegations
08:18 didn't happen.
08:20 Dunham continued to be vocal about Weinstein after that point.
08:33 David Carr David Carr was a culture reporter and media
08:36 columnist at the New York Times from 2002 to 2015.
08:41 In 2001, he wrote a piece about Weinstein for New York Magazine.
08:56 He reported on a 2000 incident.
08:59 Journalist Rebecca Traster asked Weinstein what he considered "impertinent questions"
09:04 and he verbally abused her.
09:06 Following that, Weinstein physically attacked her boyfriend, journalist Andrew Goldman.
09:11 The NYPD did nothing with the complaints.
09:27 Afterwards Carr repeatedly tried to break the Weinstein scandal, but the two victims
09:32 he tried to get on the record ultimately decided not to speak publicly.
09:39 Unfortunately, Carr passed away before the producer's conduct became widely known.
09:45 Ashley Judd Ashley Judd was one of the more famous individuals
09:49 to accuse Harvey Weinstein in the original "Tui and Cantor" article.
10:00 He initially made advances on her in a private hotel room meeting.
10:04 After getting out of that situation, she spoke to her mother, singer Naomi Judd.
10:09 The actress was also part of a small community of victims who talked about their experiences
10:13 with each other.
10:23 She first came forward publicly in 2015, two years before the scandal finally broke.
10:29 In an interview with Variety, Judd finally told the world about her experience.
10:33 Although she didn't accuse Weinstein by name at the time, she eventually provided
10:37 the full story.
11:05 Rose McGowan Rose McGowan has been outspoken about Harvey
11:11 Weinstein for years.
11:25 In the past, she told Ronan Farrow about a 1997 incident for a book.
11:30 After her early career successes, she met with Weinstein at a hotel.
11:34 He then proceeded to assault her in his room.
11:47 Although McGowan claimed to have told Ben Affleck about the incident, nothing came of
11:51 her disclosure.
11:52 The actress initially accepted a settlement for Weinstein's crime.
11:56 However, upon recognizing that she was still legally free to talk about it, McGowan told
12:01 her harrowing story.
12:13 The actress even refused a million dollar offer for her silence so that she could continue
12:31 her career.
12:42 (upbeat music)