Screenwriter who worked with Harvey Weinstein says 'everybody f***ing knew'
Scott Rosenberg, a screenwriter who worked with Harvey Weinstein during his late 90s heyday, has penned a searing ‘poem’, detailing his time working with the producer and how ‘everybody f***ing knew’ about his reputation.
Weinstein is now at the centre of dozens of accusations ranging from sexual harassment to assault and rape, and though he continues to deny forcing himself on women, Rosenberg says the producer’s behaviour was out in the open.
He penned movies like ‘Con Air’ and ‘Gone In Sixty Seconds’, and wrote ‘Beautiful Girls’ and ‘Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead’ for Miramax, the company co-founded by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob, which was later sold to Disney.
In a 1,500 word missive on his Facebook page, he describes a rarified environment working with the company, of luxurious trips and winning Oscars, but at the cost of ignoring the ugliness going on behind the scenes, something he says he’s now deeply ashamed of.
“To me, if Harvey’s behavior is the most reprehensible thing one can imagine, a not-so-distant second is the current flood of sanctimonious denial and condemnation that now crashes upon these shores of rectitude in gloppy tides of bullsh*t righteousness,” he writes.
“We knew something was bubbling under. Something odious. Something rotten,” Rosenberg continues.
“But… And this is as pathetic as it is true: what would you have had us do? Who were we to tell? The authorities? What authorities? The press? Harvey owned the press. The Internet? There was no Internet or reasonable facsimile thereof. Should we have called the police? And said what? Should we have reached out to some fantasy Attorney General Of Movieland? That didn’t exist.”
He later apologises for sitting by and doing nothing.
“I am eternally sorry, I’ve worked with Mira (Sorvino) and Rosanna (Arquette) and Lysette (Anthony). I’ve known Rose (McGowan) and Ashley (Judd) and Claire (Forlani) for years… Their courage only hangs a lantern on my shame. And I am eternally sorry to all those who suffered in silence all this time. And have chosen to remain silent today.
“So, yeah, I am sorry. Sorry and ashamed. Because, in the end, I was complicit. I didn’t say s**t. I didn’t do s**t. Harvey was nothing but wonderful to me. So I reaped the rewards and I kept my mouth shut. And for that, once again, I am sorry.”
Though it appears that the essay has now been removed from public view on Facebook, Deadline reproduced it.
Weinstein is currently being investigated by police in London and New York over a number of alleged sexual assaults.
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