It was no secret in Hollywood that producer Harvey Weinstein was sexually assaulting and harassing tons of women, but he was able to skate by for decades. Why? Because he held a powerful network of entertainment connections that allowed him to undermine and silence his accusers. Ronan Farrow of the New York Times published an explosive report detailing the agencies and organizations that were complicit in aiding and abetting Weinstein's misconduct.
Among the list was the National Enquirer which would engage in "catch and kill" missions, purchasing exclusive rights to negative stories on Weinstein and then killing the story and silencing the accusers in the process. It was also revealed that multiple agents at Creative Arts Agency (one of the most powerful agencies in entertainment) sent actresses to meet with Weinstein alone at hotels despite prior incidents and advised them to stay quiet when things went awry. Executives at Weinstein’s film companies who learned of allegations rarely took a stand, cowed by their volatile boss or worried about their careers. His brother and partner, Bob, who denounced him and acted shocked actually participated in payoffs to women as far back as 1990. Weinstein's lawyers crafted several settlements that kept the truth from being explored and much less exposed. "When you quickly settle, there is no need to get into all the facts,” said Daniel M. Petrocelli, a lawyer who handled two agreements with accusers.
Leading up to Weinstein's ultimate outing, he tapped into every resource at his disposal to maintain his business and perversions. He reportedly asked a partner C.A.A. to broker a meeting with their client, Ronan Farrow, who was reporting on Weinstein. He also allegedly tried to pay off accuser Ambra Battilana through American Media (which owns the National Enquirer and was working on a project with Weinstein's company) but her asking price was too high. While trying to stop actress Rose McGowan from writing about her sexual assault in a memoir, he tried to arrange a $50,000 payment to her former manager and throw new business to a literary agent advising McGowan.
Ultimately people were finally able to say no and Weinstein's actions have been laid out for the world to see.
Source: complex.com
