Scott Rosenberg, a Hollywood screenwriter who wrote the Weinstein-produced film Beautiful Girls (which also happened to feature a breakout role for Natalie Portman) has written an epic Facebook post acknowledging that he and everyone he worked with was aware, at least to some extent, of Harvey Weinstein’s behavior:
A few actress friends of mine told me stories: of a ghastly hotel meeting; of a repugnant bathrobe-shucking; of a loathsome massage request.
And although they were rattled, they sort of laughed at his arrogance; how he had the temerity to think that simply the sight of his naked, doughy, carbuncled flesh was going to get them in the mood.
So I just believed it to be a grotesque display of power; a dude misreading the room and making a lame-if-vile pass.
It was much easier to believe that.
In his post, he goes on to apologize and ask everyone else who knew to do the same:
Everybody-fucking-knew.
But everybody was just having too good a time.
And doing remarkable work; making remarkable movies.
As the old joke goes:
We needed the eggs.
Okay, maybe we didn’t NEED them.
But we really, really, really, really LIKED them eggs.
So we were willing to overlook what the Golden Goose was up to, in the murky shadows behind the barn…
And for that, I am eternally sorry.
To all of the women that had to suffer this…
I am eternally sorry.
It’s not fun or pretty to read a litany of stories from men about how they messed up and contributed to other people’s pain. The behavior being admitted to here isn’t pretty, and it may be triggering for some. But I actually appreciate the fact that Rosenberg is upfront here and doesn’t try to dodge the bullet or feign innocence.
More of that self-interrogation from other powerful men would be welcome.
