Bob Weinstein, the brother of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and co-founder of, once-powerful film company have compared it to the Titanic, now finds itself in crisis, says he’s in “a waking nightmare” and had no idea “the type of predator” his brother is accused of being.
“I want him to get the justice he deserves,” the company’s other namesake, Bob Weinstein, said in his first interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Saturday.
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Before the New York Times and New Yorker first published stories of women who come forward with detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment and assault against his older brother, Bob operated in the shadow of his flamboyant brother.
Bob, 62, and his brother Harvey, 65, have operated the company for more than 30 years as they partnered in Miramax and, more recently, The Weinstein Co. Now, he said that he and Harvey, have hardly spoken in five years as they ran separate divisions of their company. Bob in Los Angeles, Harvey in New York.
“The members of the board, including myself, did not know the extent of my brother’s actions,” Weinstein said in the interview, referring to what has been repeatedly been called “an open secret” in Hollywood.
The Times reported this week that the company was aware of settlements with some of Harvey Weinstein’s victims in 2015; in the interview Bob Weinstein declined to comment on those details.
He said he knew his brother was unfaithful to wife Georgina Chapman, “philandering with every woman he could meet,” but insisted he had no idea his brother was allegedly committing acts of sexual harassment and assault.
“For me, I thought he was literally just going out there cheating in a pervasive way,” Bob Weinstein said. ”It wasn’t like he even had a mistress. It was one after another and that I was aware of. But as far as being in a room and hearing the description in The New York Times? No way. No F-in way was I aware that that was the type of predator that he was. And the way he convinced people to do things? I thought they were all consensual situations. . . I’ll tell you what I did know. Harvey was a bully, Harvey was arrogant, he treated people like shit all the time. That I knew.”
“I’ll tell you what I did know: Harvey was a bully, Harvey was arrogant, he treated people like (crap—ed) all the time,” Bob said. “I’m mortified and disgusted by my brother’s actions. And I am sick for the victims. And I feel for them.”
The younger brother declared that Harvey Weinstein’s career in movie industry was over and called for the film Academy to expel him. He told T.H.R. “I haven’t had a relationship with him as a brother for many, many years. But I’m ashamed that he is my brother, to be honest, and I am ashamed that these are his actions.”
No woman escaped Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse. Some 30 women have alleged abuse in recent day, including Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Rose McGowan and much more in the film industry, models, aspiring actresses and Oscar winners. Each one of them in recent days has told a story about an inappropriate behavior of the movie mogul, leading to the swift downfall of one of Hollywood’s most powerful men.
A week ago Harvey was fired from the Weinstein Co., which will now undergo a name change to survive the scandal.
Despite widespread predictions that the company will be forced to shut down or be sold, Bob Weinstein said, “There is a plan to come out on the other side.”
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office announced on Saturday that France has started the process of stripping Harvey Weinstein of his Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian distinction, due to the allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
“The French Presidency has started discussing this case with the Grande Chancellerie de la Legion d’honneur,” a spokeswoman said. “A decision will be taken after this discussion.
“The Presidency considers that this behavior is in contradiction with honor,” the spokeswoman added.
Weinstein received the Legion of Honor, “Chevalier” grade, from President Nicolas Sarkozy in March 2012.
The Grande Chancellerie de la Legion d’honneur is the body in charge of the decoration, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.
By Ynet News JBN, News Agencies
