The Harvey Weinstein scandal has been one of the most influential news stories these past two years. Now Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the two reporters who first broke the story about his attempts to silence accusers, will reveal how their work came about in a new book, “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.” Weinstein has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct up and including rape, of leveraging his power as a top Hollywood producer, and of going to great lengths to cover it up wrongdoing. He has denied allegations of sexual assault.
Some of the new details in the new book are remarkable, even by the standards of the story. It reports that high-profile attorney Lisa Bloom, then an attorney for Weinstein, suggested planting a negative story about accuser Rose McGowan, according to the Times.
“We can place an article re her becoming increasingly unglued, so that when someone Googles her this is what pops up and she’s discredited,” she wrote, according to the book.
Bloom, who made her name representing victims of sexual misconduct, highlighted her reputation when speaking to Weinstein, according to the book.
“I feel equipped to help you against the Roses of the world, because I have represented so many of them,” she wrote, according to the book.
It was among our most shocking discoveries! https://t.co/WiSvtzEWQF
— megan twohey (@mega2e) September 8, 2019
In a statement to Law&Crime, Bloom argued that there was inaccurate reporting, but didn’t elaborate.
“My former client’s current attorneys have strictly forbidden me from discussing anything about his case,” she wrote. “As much as I want to correct the inaccuracies in this reporting, I cannot risk being sued or disbarred.”
Bloom emphasized that after resigning from representing Weinstein in 2017, she decided to never again to work for someone accused of discrimination, harassment, or abuse.
“I do reiterate that being associated with him in any way whatsoever was a colossal mistake which I have apologized for many times,” she wrote. “To any who missed it, and especially to the women, I apologize again now. I deeply regret the months I believed in and worked for him. Immediately upon the first woman accusing him of sexual assault, I resigned and never communicated with him again.”
David Boies, who represented presidential candidate Al Gore in the 2000 Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore, is another high-profile attorney profiled in the new book. He was famously implicated in a complicated plot to discredit the women with the help of an Israeli private investigations firm named Black Cube. It makes the details against Bloom look tame.
Well, according to the new book, there are emails from the time that Boies represented Weinstein, in which attorney and client talked about possible film roles for Boies’ daughter.
From the Times:
In an interview for the book, Mr. Boies said he was unaware of the underhanded tactics that Black Cube used against journalists and regretted not paying closer attention to that firm’s work. But he defended the assistance he provided to Mr. Weinstein as the producer sought to conceal allegations and said he didn’t have “any regret that I represented him the way I did.”
[Image via KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images]
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