Jennifer Lawrence is one of the latest – and now one of the last – of the young actresses whose careers were significantly helped by Harvey Weinstein. Jennifer shocked the Hollywood establishment by waging a successful Oscar campaign for Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook in 2013 – while she had been previously nominated for Winter’s Bone, Weinstein definitely pushed J-Law for SLP and he’s a big reason why she won that year and why she lives such a gilded existence as America’s Farty Sweetheart. That was the branding Weinstein employed for her during that campaign, and it stuck. Many people have theorized that J-Law traded favors with Harvey to get where she is now. I understand why the idle speculation exists, but I also think we should be really careful about how we talk about casting couches and abuse of power. Anyway, J-Law has issued a statement about Harvey Weinstein:
Jennifer Lawrence said she never witnessed any inappropriate behavior from Harvey Weinstein, but she nevertheless joined the chorus of actresses who spoke out on Monday about the mogul’s alleged sexual harassment of multiple women over three decades.
“I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior,” Lawrence said in a statement to Variety. “I worked with Harvey five years ago and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting.”
She added, “My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward.”
It feels like Meryl Streep gave everyone the blueprint for what to say, right? All of these women have come out in the wake of Meryl’s statement and they’re taking their cues from her. Anyway, I believe Jennifer, I believe that she doesn’t believe that she was personally harassed by Harvey Weinstein. I also believe that arrogant, abusive, douchey men are drawn to J-Law like moths to a flame. Between Harvey Weinstein, David O. Russell and Darren Aronofsky, I just think Jennifer has an exceptionally high tolerance for what she’ll put up with and where she’ll turn a blind eye.
Meanwhile, another actress who dealt with Harvey Weinstein at a very young age has a completely different take on her experience. Romola Garai met Weinstein when she was only 18 years old. This is what happened:
“Like every other woman in the industry, I’ve had an ‘audition’ with Harvey Weinstein, where I’d actually already had the audition but you had to be personally approved by him,” said Garai. “So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy, and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it, it has stayed very clearly in my memory.”
Garai, who has starred in films like”Atonement” and “Suffragette,” said that during the encounter all she had to do was sit in a chair and discuss film with Weinstein, but the encounter nonetheless left her feeling “violated.”
“The transaction was just that I was there,” said Garai. “The point was that he could get a young woman to do that, that I didn’t have a choice, that it was humiliating for me and that he had the power. It was an abuse of power.”
I have a feeling that Jennifer Lawrence probably has several versions of this kind of story but she chooses not to believe that this behavior is inappropriate or gross. Romola is absolutely correct though – “The transaction was just that I was there. The point was that he could get a young woman to do that, that I didn’t have a choice…” Yep.
PS… Please do not threadjack. There are so many stories about and around this Weinstein mess, and I will get to them. Please have faith in the gossip system and don’t derail comment threads with something which will discussed in a separate post. As always, you can email me at kaiser@celebitchy.com or tweet at me @KaiseratCB.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
J.Law stuffers from wanting to be the “guys girl” mentality (not too much judgement because I’ve been there) and I’m sure she overlooked tons of inappropriate things and/or thinks they’re funny. While she has spoken out on certain feminist issues, she doesn’t strike me as someone who can identify problems that haven’t happened to her specifically.
Exactly. Her last movie she perforated her lung with a director that is known for pushing actors past their limits. And she’s dating that dude.
I don’t buy that she never saw any inappropriate behavior. Between Weinstein, Russell and Araonfonsky? Yea I think she just takes the abuse and by now thinks it’s “normal”
I find that sad
so much this!!!!
I agree, that those kind of hotel meetings, are common in her background, as the young, hot IT girl, I would be shocked if men like Weinstein didn’t see a perfect target in her, and I absolutely agree that she probably has accepted it as normal, as all too often women do. I did. Especially when you are friends with/hang out with a lot of males, you’re used to being sexualized by them and having it not “bother” you, or at least acting like it doesn’t.
It’s so sad it makes me want to cry for her. It wasn’t until years later (I was 14 at the time) that I understood that what happened to me and what they did to me was not ok, and although I was not directly threatened or physically hurt, I was severely assaulted, and coerced into a position that I did not know how to get myself out of. I weep for Jennifer and all little girls and women. That’s why my daughter’s 2 and I already talk to her about consent. because this is the world we live in 🙁
Yup, she’s the cool girl.
Considering all the people who treat women awfully on set that she thinks are genius, I just think she’s one of those dramatic people – if its not angry/screaming it’s not passion/ art. Harvey was known for his temper as much as his assault, surely all these “not me” ladies have witnessed one if not both.
Amazing Aimmee!!
I agree. Her image is basically being a “cool girl.” And “tough enough” to handle people like Harvey. Hollywood is not a community. It’s a collection of free agents looking out for their own interests so I don’t expect anyone to be a whistle-blower if they haven’t witnessed it, but, man, to claim they didn’t know is disingenuous and dumb.
How the hell do you guys know this? What an awful thing to ascribe to this woman! Because she’s a guys girl, she just wants to be cool, so she’s okay with being violated? She HAS been violated in a very public and humiliating way and was strong and brave and spoke clearly to the fact she wasn’t going to be shamed by what others did to her, NOT SHOULD ANY WOMAN. Or did you forget about that little episode where her private photos were exposed to the world? She most certainly understands what it’s like to be a victim of this kind of abuse.
Whether this was you intent or not, this is exactly what you just said.
And shame on this headline. You make her sound like she’s defending him.
thank you, lucy–well said and perfectly said.
the shaming of women that is happening on these threads and elsewhere is the sort of gobsmacked STUNNING–that shows how ingrained such sentiments and behavior and attitudes towards women is–in big and small ways.
“Wants to be” or is “cool with” being violated?! That’s not what was said or meant. I specifically said I could see her not seeing things as a violation because of wanting to be a “guys girl” or otherwise known as internalized sexism. Do you remember how many women defended Trump after the Access Hollywood tape because he was just being a “mans man” or “locker room talk” or the “alpha man”?! I could go on and on. It’s not that these women EXPLICITLY supported men violating women, but their internalized sexism was so strong that their gauge on what was a violation was off/not working.
I could easily see J.Law having had the same “transaction” story as Romola above and laughing it off as a Weinstein being a Hollywood dinosaur who doesn’t know business is now done differently.
No one “wants to be” or is “cool with” being violated. But the election of Trump should have taught us that many women have different thoughts on what counts as a violation.
I appreciate Lucy’s comment very much. Thanks Lucy.
Lucy you’re on point. How do these commenters not see that they are blaming JLaw for Harvey’s action by saying she must have known or he did it to her but she’s too dumb to realize it or she just wants to be cool.
They are no better than the ones who are dragging these women who have spoke up.
If JLaw said she is not a victim of his behavior nor did she know about it then we have to take her at her word. How is it that you can believe the women that were victimized but don’t believe the ones that say they were not victimized . What you guys are doing is no better than the people who are saying these women are lying or they don’t believe them.
I am telling you…damned if you do damned if you don’t with this situation. People are APPALLED if someone hasn’t spoken out yet. Then ENRAGED because when they release their statements it’s not good and detailed enough. The conversation is being had. It’s a start and hopefully it will continue from here. Also, if I am going to start condemning anyone that even had a convo with Weinstein because ‘EVERYONE KNEW!!!!!” Then let’s shut the door on Hollywood in its entirety because everyone in that case should be thrown into the fire. Keep the rage where it belongs on the P.O.S Weinstein..
It’s what happens though. I’ve been in that position where I’ve been friends with mostly guys and you do modify your behavior to accommodate them, specifically not being critical of certain accepted “male” behaviors, like casual sexism. If you start calling them out they aren’t going to listen, they are going to tell you to go away, so you shut up about it. Hopefully we can talk about this now without anyone feeling like they’ll be rejected.
Lucytunes- I completely agree. I tried to bring this up on a previous thread and was jumped on. Apparently it’s how well the statement is written.
To my earlier comment:
Having read the HORRIFIC accounts of the numerous women, especially the accounts detailed in the The New Yorker, how anyone could comment that this woman was either to stupid, complicit or laughed it off to be “cool” is just shameful. This is sexual assault. What these women describe is terrifying. Many didn’t speak up out fear of what others think. If you can comment here that it this probably happened to her and she shrugged it off, you’re victim blaming and to honest, part of the problem.
I totally agree, Lucy. I am so disturbed by the comment trend where people are blaming all of the women in Hollywood, and not focusing their anger at the abuser himself.
What is wrong with some posters here ?!! I knew this would be a mess.
But she is a victim of a form of sexual assault. These comments give the appearance that not only was she oblivious or complicit with the sexaual assault of other women, she did so while being a victim of a very public airing of her actual nude body. In no shape or form do I get that from her comments about her own attack or now…or when she spoke very successfully about wage disparity in Hollywood. I just find many of the comments on this thread troubling, ESPECIALLY in the wake of Trump and the fact that such a large number of women voted for him despite his history.
We are praising Clooney in another thread, a much more powerful Hollywood celeb, but she is clearly being made to sound like she’s complicit. Intent or not, that’s how all of this sounds. I hope you don’t continue to take this as an attack, it maybe another viewpoint that more aligns with your clearly strong feminist attitude (that’s a true compliment). Read more of these comments and maybe you’ll see the same narrative emerging.
RE: “These comments give the appearance that not only was she oblivious or complicit with the sexaual assault of other women”
J.Law’s specific statement above said she was unaware. So we’re going to assume that J.Law was as big as she was, as involved in the Hollywood Machine as she was, and genuinely didn’t know (keyword: genuinely) didn’t know or hear the rumors about Weinstein?
As everyone has said on this thread and every other thread for the past few days, that excuse doesn’t fly, ESPECIALLY for those who’ve been around for enough time.
In terms of complicity, I don’t think that J.Law specifically saw him violate another girl and overlooked it, but I could see her hearing him make some crass/crude joke and taking it as as an off color remark (as opposed to inappropriate and unacceptable behavior). Again, J.Law isn’t alone in this sort of internalized sexism.
ETA: I’m not stating J.Law knew and didn’t care; I’m stating that I don’t necessarily trust her to fully recognize what is/isn’t appropriate. For example: Some people know that you can’t grope someone at work, however those same people may think joking to a coworker about her big boobs is simply crude humor. It would all be sexual harassment.
No, HH, what “doesn’t fly” is blaming women working in a patriarchal system for the system. Jennifer Lawrence holds no responsibility for Harvey’s actions. We can’t shatter the patriarchy if we are too busy blaming women for it.
@Tiffany – I’m not blaming her for the system, in and of itself. It’s called “internalized sexism” because women can take part in it without necessarily being aware of it. Unfortunately this means that women can be perpetrators and victims at the same time.
In this instance, however, I’m not blaming Jennifer for Harvery’s actions. I’m stating that when she says she was “unaware,” there could be times when she may not have necessarily clocked certain actions as harassment. Again in line with an example given above, she would certainly know that Harvey groping his assistant to be harassment, but perhaps didn’t register a crass/crude joke as sexual harassment. AGAIN, this is not just a J.Law thing and it doesn’t put her at fault. However, (to expand on my OP) when women try to have that “guy’s girl” image, they can be more susceptible to not registering certain behavior as inappropriate.
I know what internalized sexism is. It also includes blaming women for the actions of men.
You are assuming she witnessed inappropriate behavior and overlooked it or excused it. You are making judgments about Jennifer for which there are no facts to support. Your comments about her not being able to tell the difference between a joke and assault are infantilizing.
If you read the New Yorker article, what becomes clear is that he did NOT do the assaulting and harassing around other people. In every instance, he took the women to a room under the guise of having a meeting, and the room was either empty or he asked for his staff to leave. Then he would assault them in private. If anyone was complicit, it was the staff at his company, but they were also at his mercy as employees and under NDAs. He did not assault actresses around other actresses. Stop inventing scenarios that would spread the blame around. It is fiction and it is not helpful to the victims.
The term ‘higher tolerance’ to me means willing participant. She’s not a slut for agreeing to trade flesh for fame. It’s her prerogative. Something tells me she will suffer for it later. It reminds me of Wade Robson who testified at age 23 that Michael never molested him. Then at age 30, after intense therapy, he was able to come forward and speak (and sue) over being raped by Jackson as a child.
I agree. However, did she actually say this or was this ascribed to her. I haven’t found the quote of her saying this, it I will reread the link to make sure. If she did, spot on. but if she didn’t, why are we saying this on her behalf?
I have a problem with referring to someone who may have been exploited in a vile way as a “willing participant” just because they didn’t report it. I see the parallels to Wade Robson, but I would never call him a “willing participant.” He’s still a victim.
I’ve been there too and have tons of judgment for my was-there younger self (kinda like how ex-smokers are the most vocal about second-hand smoke–also me). It’s such an ugly, toxic world view. I think you are bang-on that JL is exuding that miasma. I can be 100% sympathetic about anyone who has to deal with skeevy abuse but also 100% frustrated when it’s minimized like that.
Yes. Many women and me. have to recalibrate, per se, on what is/isn’t inappropriate. I don’t know the countless women and men that I’ve heard, on myriad topics (sexual harassment, abuse, bullying, etc) that had realizations years later, even if they weren’t on the receiving end.
Yes, thank you for wording it so well. I know some of the comments here come off as harsh against JLaw, but you describe what many of us feel about JLaw’s stance on abusive behavior by Hollywood’s most powerful men. I believe her to be a victim, but it is also frustrating to see her being complicit in the systemic abuse by accepting it as the way things just are in Hollywood. I look at her relationships with Weinstein, DOR, and now Aronofsky, and there is no doubt in my mind that she is a victim of bullying, harassment, and sexual exploitation by these men. It is her choice not to see it as that way, but it doesn’t help other women in the business. Maybe in twenty years time she will realize that a lot of the things she is cool with now are unacceptable, but for now it seems she is down with it and doesn’t view her experience as any form of harassment. I beg to differ.
From now on to me she will be just JLOW…. it suits her like a glove …yurk
These comments are gross AF.
I believe her. I thought that was what we were doing now, believing women to tell their truths? Or is it only the truths that you want to hear that have weight?
Even if something did happen, JLaw is under ZERO ZERO ZERO obligation to share a painful, traumatic, complicated experience with the entire world. She is also not responsible for taking down Harvey Weinstein singlehandedly. That’s crazy.
This whole thing is Harvey Weinstein’s fault, full stop forever. That’s just it. That’s all.
If being a Cool Girl allows you to pretend you’ll be protected from those behaviors, who can blame them?
JLaw oh please. young,desperately wanting stardom, talented. From lowly tv bit parts to Features and Oscars in a flash….yeah ok and He Just happens to be your biggest supporter.
Rumors about her and a certain casting technique have abounded about her for years.
What else would she say.
She’s been rumoured and even written up in articles as one of Harvey’s girls for years now. Now whatever Harvey’s girls mean can be up to individual interpretation. IMO
I don’t remember which award show it was, but when she won she said “I wonder who Harvey had to kill for this”. The crowd laughed. The point was that he’s tough and relentless. No sex cracks.
I don’t know that I completely buy that so many Oscar winning powerhouses were unaware of this.
The sad part is that eventually Weinstein will be welcomed back into the A list after a while just like Woody Allen & Roman Polanski. There are plenty of actors, male & female, who line up to work with those pedophiles.
I don’t know about that. The others are directors/artists. Weinstein is just a money man. People loved him solely because he would pay and bully his films into award circuits. Without the power behind him and now the gilt is off he won’t be employable, he has no means to bribe awards. The others have their “talent” that people blindly follow no matter what monstrous crimes they’ve committed. The whole Hollywood community is disgusting
Society is disgusting; situations like this happen in the military, Wall Street, corporations, Silicon Valley, educational institutions, aristocracy and everywhere else.
No, he won’t be back.
The difference with Harvey is that all of these actors and directors are directly involved. He’s forced all of them into the story in a humiliating way. The whispers, the stories, about these actresses including JLaw are out now and all the denials in the world will not change that. He’s made very powerful actors look bad and associated their name with his gross actions over decades. This will not be forgiven, not the sex abuse, but the humiliation he has caused these big stars. He’s done.
Reminds me of that Hunter S. Thompson quote “In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.”
They’ll never forgive home for getting caught, they don’t care that he did it.
I suspect that there are casting couch rumors about every powerful director and producer. Trying to separate fact from fiction in Hollywood may not be as easy as we assume.
This for sure. That’s the way Hollywood has always been.
No there really isn’t which is why so many people are beyond pissed off about this whole thing. There are plenty of decent people, but the skeeves are so prolific that they ruin it for people who just want to make movies. Some people flirt and seduce or fool around, but HW is in a rare league of his own. It is like he is addicted to doing it.
Harvey will never be accepted back. This has been terrible PR for the biggest names in the business. They will never forgive him for this.
I want to believe JLaw that he never harassed her but I really am finding it hard to believe. Like it says above, she seems to have a high tolerance for gross behavior by men. But I’m wondering if maybe he did and she just doesn’t want to talk about it, which I believe is fair.
I think he was too familiar with her. Example A: His fingers are inside her dress in the photo above. Most people would have their fingers outside her dress not inside the gap.
Are you talking about the first photo? The grey top? There’s just excess fabric covering the tips of his fingers, no gap in the top.
Ewww that picture is now disgusting to me.
You may be right, KB, but I’m still not sure. Either way there looks to be flesh underneath the fabric
People are strange in their desire to think the man had discretion with some young women because they like them. Why in the world would she have been spared? She isn’t the daughter of a high power player not to mention the hacked trailer nudes.
Again it isn’t her fault but thinking it didn’t happen to her is bizarre.
Exactly. What else would she say, she is trying to keep her reputation”
JLaw and rumors of castting situations have floated for years and when the photos came out, there were reports that they were NOT for the boyfriend. Just saying.
I agree with you. I don’t think it is problematic for commenters here to say they don’t believe JLaw. I don’t believe JLaw or Meryl Streep that they did not know anything. I do believe the numerous women coming forward who said they have been harassed or at least warned about Weinstein’s behavior. That is believable to me. The denials aren’t. I believe JLaw is covering her tracks because something did in fact happen to her, or at the very least she knew of Weinstein’s reputation, but she doesn’t want to admit to it.
Yeah she didn’t know, that why she joked in the press room that “She’s done in Hollywood now, since she forgot to thank him in her acceptance speech.” This is their motto now, “I didn’t know, he never did this to me, but it’s very bad, i agree!”
She was very successful with Winter’s Bone with an Academy Award before she ever worked with Harvey. He seems to have preyed on women trying to make a start on Hollywood, not established stars. I buy that he didn’t flash his dick at her, but I am sure she well knew his reputation.
She also would have already been cast in The Hunger Games when she worked with him. His power was waning and he wanted to champion someone he knew could win. I don’t think he tried anything with her because she was already an “it” girl by the time he worked with her.
She did not have an academy award for Winters Bone.
No, but she had a nomination under her belt, as well as major roles in two big franchises (X-Men and Hunger Games). She was very well established before she ever worked with Weinstein.
Sorry meant to say Academy Award nomination for Winter’s Bone
Exactly. What else would she say, she is trying to keep her reputation”
JLaw and rumors of castting situations have floated for years and when the photos came out, there were reports that they were NOT for the boyfriend. Just saying.
There’s another actress of Lawrence’s generation who would be far more interesting to hear from…Blake Lively.
Well supposedly he tried and it didn’t happen. But she took up with someone else instead
There were a lot of blinds about this. That he had his eye on her and she refused which stalled her career (she’s also not the greatest actress, but that’s less important in Hollywood).
If you read the blinds and rumors, he tried to with her and she resisted him. He then made sure she didn’t get her big break so she’d get desperate and come running to him. Which never happened.
So while I’d like to hear her take on this, I’d understand why she doesn’t want to talk about it.
I hope she says nothing. Going by the reactions to JLaw’s statement, it’ll only serves as a weapon for her, or any other non-faces, to be torn to shreds.
I ❤ that the Guardian called out the men – who have been absent from this.
She would be torn to shreds because she’s also an Allen supporter. Rings hollow
She doesn’t have much of a career now, think for her the rumors may be false. Harvey not only gave roles over to complying women, he kept them stringed along so they would get further roles. If they squealed on him like Ashley, their career went down the tubes.
Blake was pursued but decided she would settle for a smaller career I don’t think she needs to say anything. She didn’t work with him or get his support for anything or get a significant career boost.
Came here to say the same thing. Curious to hear from Lively. Lainey has been writing about HW pursuing Blake Lively as Gretchen Mol’s replacement (though she didn’t mention Gretchen by name) for years. She has worn Marchesa consistently, including throughout this year.
Exactly. What else would she say, she is trying to keep her reputation”
JLaw and rumors of castting situations have floated for years and when the photos came out, there were reports that they were NOT for the boyfriend. Just saying.
The one who has the big career and not stalled is JLAw.
I don’t believe for one second that somehow JLaw didn’t get the HW treatment.
Romola is a spectacular actor. But yeah, she was 18, British and beautiful so Harry felt entitled.
I’m not sure if I believe Jennifer’s statement or not. I haven’t seen them, or know much about what happened, but wasn’t there a theory about the nude photos that leaked of her, being quite literally taken on a couch in a hotel room? That, sadly, screams HW to me.
Also screams celebrity who travels A LOT for work and leisure. That scenery wouldn’t strike me as odd or leading to some sort of clue in her case, unless were nailing down specific times/dates that cross with HW’s presence
Jennifer said in interviews those pictures were taken and sent to her bf at the time (fellow XMen actor, Nicholas Hoult). I get people don’t like her, but dragging out her leaked naked pics, spinning it into some Weinstein “theory” and blaming her? Not cool.
Yeah but someone else was clearly taking them. They were not selfies and there were two wine glasses on the table as well as mens shoes on the floor. There was even a script in one shot on the table and a mens robe/coat on the hanger.
OMG @H. I’m so with you. Some of the very same people who are so against the victimizing of women have no problem with trying to turn JLaw into a victim though she says she is not.
They are trying to give their own interpretation of what they think happened because of what was in the background of those photos. Shame on them. Stop trying to turn this girl into a victim. This makes you no better than the opposite or worse. There were men shoes and two wine glasses. Oh yeah it had to be Harvey. SMFH.
@Maggie, she does have friends and people who travels with her. One of them could have taken the pics. Also in one pic you can clearly see JLaw holding her phone and taking the selfie. Why do people want this woman to be a victim so bad. It’s scary how women are saying they don’t believe her. If a man said the same thing some of you are saying he would be ripped to threads.
@Nikkta it was not just a couch. It was also a bed, the bathtub and the bathroom. When celebs travel, they tend to stay in hotels. I think the couch came with the hotel and it doesn’t mean Harvey was there.
Exactly. I never really liked J-Law but if she said that those pics were for Nicolas H, I believe her.
Well this thread is just hideous.
People realise Weinstein’s worked with a ton of young, A-list actresses right? Amy Adams worked with him a few times and he ran two big Oscar campaigns for her. Kate Winslet and Renee Zellweger too. He championed Anne Hathaway early on as she made the leap from Princess Diaries to dramatic actress. He produced many of Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman’s older films.
Why do those names never come up? Why always Gwyneth, JLaw and (inexplicably) Alicia Vikander? Oh, that’s right, because people dislike them and use this as just another stick to beat them with. It’s gross and mysogynistic and frankly just pathetic.
Exactly. What else would she say, she is trying to keep her reputation”
JLaw and rumors of castting situations have floated for years and when the photos came out, there were reports that they were NOT for the boyfriend. Just saying.
The one who has the big career and not stalled is JLAw.
I never heard that theory. Like H said, those photos were for her and her boyfriend at the time, which seemed to have been Nicholas Hoult.
FFS this again?
Right? It’s sickening really and I don’t even like JLaw. Yeah, I think I’m out.
I honestly don’t believe Jen Law was casting couch. She had a spectacular rise due to perceived talent (though she’s not that good of an actor) and the fact she fits the statuesque blonde bombshell mould. I believe Harvey hitched himself on to HER career.
Lawrence may have sexual harassment stories from earlier in her career. But by the time she was starring in Silver Linings, she was an Oscar nominated actress with lead roles in two franchises (X-Men and Hunger Games) and was being reped by CAA. Given that, I think it’s wholly improbable that Weinstein laid a finger on her. His modus operandi was to target aspirational actresses starting out, like Romola Garai, not established players like Lawrence. So, actually, I believe her take. Harvey probably stepped carefully around her. In fact, he was probably warned off her by the head honchos at CAA – who have more power than he ever did.
Yup, like goopy Gwen. They both owe their Oscars to him, but I doubt he harassed them. He saved that for women who he thought were more desperate to make it, a lot lower on the totem pole.
Actually Gwyneth made a statement in today’s NYTimes that Harvey did, in fact, do this to her also, so you are wrong and perhaps should re-evaluate all those assumptions you are so comfortable making.
Gwenyth just now has disclosed that he harassed her when she was hired for Emma. Her account is similar to Ashley Judd’s.
Also Rosanna Arquette and Angelina Jolie.
I’m actually a little surprised by these 3 – I would have thought since they all grew up in the business and had connections, he wouldn’t have targeted them.
i agree. i don’t think actresses bear *any* culpability for weinstein’s behavior whether they heard rumors or not. nor is it their responsibility to speak out on this b/c it can still hurt careers. where are all the agents who put them in these “auditions”? or agents who shield higher power actresses from this behavior? why isn’t anyone calling them for interviews? they absolutely have responsibility in this.
I agree with you. Jennifer Lawrence is Hollywood’s last great white hope. There is absolutely no way that Harvey Weinstein was powerful enough in 2013 to derail it. He is obviously allowed to torture a certain kind of woman but some people are too important to ruin. Besides, what is the threat? When you need the actress more than they need you, you can’t threaten them. Studios were still throwing money at Taylor Lautner. That’s how desperate they were for new “movie stars”.
Harvey brought down Ashley when she was the next big thing. No amount of star power can over come the almighty powerful producer. Many rising or big stars have been took out by them. when you are your cut. No one is that powerful in Hollywood except the movie companies themselves.
From my recollections of interviews during the SLP press i believe it was DOR who really wanted her and was ready to walk out had Harvey disagreed, it was definitely something along these lines so i dont think he was able to weigh power on her cause she was already friendly with david o russell and clicked immediately with him (and it was around hunger games so people were already paying attention to her). obviously i dont know them so anything could go, really.
that those actors are shocked by the allegations is the weirdest part cause you cant go in a blind item post about casting couches story where harvey’s name doesnt show up. literally we all knew.
Oh c’mon Jennifer. If a woman like me in Co.Antrim Ireland knew about him, a woman like you who works in the same business did.
Maybe I’m too jaded but this looks like a thrown together wishy washy statement to quiet people who are “shaming the silent”
Exactly!!!!!
Well, it seems that people are shaming anyone who had contact with Weinstein, whether they are silent or not. Which is interesting, because it is exactly that kind of shaming behaviour that contributes to this whole problem.
I don’t think people like someone straight up lying. Knowingly so.
So these people don’t use the Internet? Other young women on film sets don’t mention it? No one warned her?
I didn’t seek out any information about him and I’ve been reading this for years. But somehow women who are surrounded by the industry just haven’t heard of it? Even Clooney admitted he’d heard rumours, even if he had some White Knight lie about how he chose not to believe them because you know, they were so disrespectful to the women involved.
I agree. I think j law probably spent time alone with a nude Weinstein. But honestly, she refers to herself as an alpha, and has tons of guy friends, so she maybe was like “I’m Harvey’s bro!” Or something. If she doesn’t believe she was abused, then I believe her.
Why on earth would an Oscar nominee and franchise lead, already worth millions, sleep with Harvey Weinstein?? People are desperate to believe that casting couch stuff went on here, in the face of basic logic and common sense. It says a lot about their eagerness to throw dirt at Jennifer Lawrence…
this shitty take is why women are scared to speak out
WTF is this comment?!
Jennifer wasn’t Harvey’s first choice. Ann Hathaway was doing the movie. That’s who Harvey wanted. But Ann did not get along with David O. Russell at all, and she left the project. So that’s how Jennifer came into the picture for that movie.
Anne left SLP because she landed her role in Nolan’s Batman movie right afterwards, and took the obviously bigger role at the time – no one could see in advance the huge success that SLP would be, as DOR had been dismissed in Hollywood for several years and had only just came back with The Fighter. SLP was just a small indie in the making.
The stories that she (AH) “didn’t get along with David O” were just that; she actually left due to scheduling conflicts. Sense something or someone causing trouble in this? telling tales to damage an actress who wouldn’t do his exact bidding. Wonder who that could have been hmm……
If Jen has a high tolerance for assholery, it’s not a character flaw, it’s not something wrong with her, it’s her being a victim. That’s all.
A victim of abuse sometimes sees it as abuse, sometimes they don’t, If Jen is used to men being jerks to her and she puts up with it, it’s because of victim mentality, maybe even Stockholm.
Predators know who not to go after- it’s part of what makes them predators. They always have a group of people they know they can turn to in order to say, “see, they’ve never complained.” Those tend to be people who have strong support systems. I have no problem believing that Weinstein didn’t pull this kind of crap on women he suspected would have credibility with the public, in part because he could co-opt that credibility.
My guess is that Jennifer Lawrence had enough of a support system around her that he left her alone so that she could be a character witness. And yes, she does seem to have a high threshold of what could be considered appropriate behavior but again, that could make her a good character witness in his mind.
Are any of the bros who undoubtedly witnessed this behavior directly going to speak up, or is it all up to the women to take the blame?
Romola was also told that she was fat and pressured to loose weight and even not to eat while filming Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights because of Harvey. Didn’t he do the same to Hayley Atwell while filming Brideshead Revisited? He called her a fat pig and asked her to loose weight but Emma Thompson intervened?
Harvey was not an “in name” producer on Dirty Dancing so it actually likely wasn’t him. Her description of it struck me as being from the main producers (one she mentioned was a woman too). I don’t say that to excuse him of his behaviour towards her three years earlier, it’s just a good reminder for all of us that just because he’s gone doesn’t mean there aren’t still tons of problem/gross producers still working away.
But from what Garai tells Weinstein had a direct and probably definite say in her casting as in, he let her come to his hotel room to indulge his power (dis)play. So even if he was not a producer in name – TWC was one of the producing companies though – and not on set, doesn’t mean that he was not pushing the ‘she needs to make sure not to get too fat’ angle from behind the curtains. In the Guardian piece Garai says that she believes the pressure came from him. Of course in this others involved in the production were indeed complicit, but there we have the overall disgusting problem of demanding women to be thin or even super thin, especially in Hollywood and the fashion industry.
I wish she hadn’t said anything. I feel like she was pressured into speaking and WHY? She shouldn’t have to. She has been slut shamed all over the internet for years, by know-nothings who live in Idaho claiming they are so in t he know and “of course” she slept with Weinstien, and of course those pictures were taken on the casting couch. That is all so much nonsense. Now she was pressured into making this statement so the entire internet can scoff and go, yeah right! like those pictures weren’t for Harvey!
Honestly this whole thing makes me so ill. A man is exposed as a predator and women are paying the price. This is just stunning.
Yes to this!
This comment is EVERYTHING! This is not Jennifer Lawrence’s mess. And if we’re going to attack her statement then why aren’t we attacking men’s silence? There are FAR more men who have been complicit in this. Who have accepted it and covered for him. Who had the power to help stop it. Jennifer Lawrence has absolutely no responsibility in any of this. I’m so sick of women being the first on blast.
I was curious what Jennifer had to say. She’s had allot of success working for Weinstein. I am also curious if Gweneth Paltrow will speak up. I would like to hear from everyone who ever won an award working for this creep.
This reminds me of the Catholic priest scandal. The dirty ones isolated and chose their victims carefully and that’s how it went on for years. Not everyone knew. Not every one was a victim. On top of that you’ve got Harvey paying women off and the non disclosure agreements.
i’m clapping…and clapping…and nodding and clapping tot his comment
Thank you, Darla. JLaw is not my favorite actress but the slut shaming by other women has to stop.
ITA with everything you said.
JL: “I never experienced anything like this from Weinstein.”
Commenters: “Yes you did and you were naked on his casting couch!”
or “Yes you did, but you didn’t speak up because you wanted to be seen as the cool girl!”
Like FFS this is why women stay silent. Because it doesn’t f*cking matter what we say; the public will insert and project their fanciful narrative on us regardless. My god WHEN will people FINALLY start listening to and believing women?
Oh, and this thread is f*cking disgusting.
@Kitten
Thank you!
This thread is disgusting!
There is so much hate for JLaw it’s disturbinh
Oh dang Kitten.. AMEN! Thank you.
Such aggression towards these women. “Give us every disturbing detail…YOU KNOW IT HAPPENED!!” This thread is gross. This woman was already part of a very public violation and people are still jumping down her throat, as if they know her personally. Been following this thread all morning, but I AM OUT!
I am not understanding demanding actors to speak up and essentially say “I may/may not have heard xyz about Harvey, but he never did anything to me”. What about the members of his board, his peers who all interact with and work with him on a daily basis–who had the power to stand up to him, without him ruining their career or tanking their film–and at least knew that his behavior was inappropriate, even if they didn’t know he was raping/sexually assaulting women? That’s who should be called out.
I feel like the media is turning this into a tabloid story, with no substance, only the next “gotcha!” quote. I want to see real, substantive articles. Go and analyze where Rose McGowan’s career went dead because of Harvey and speak about the tactics, etc. Name who didn’t hire her because Harvey said not to, etc.
Personally, I don’t think anyone should have said anything because at this point they will be forced to lie. Of course, she knew and whatever happened is Jennifer’s business, and if she did use him, then I don’t think less of her for that either.
Romola said some women willingly had relationships with him so then two consensual adults made a trade, and it isn’t my call to judge an actress who makes that decision.
But I find it hypocritical how people choose who must not have done anything and the people who must have. It misses the point. To me, it says if a woman did sleep with him then people are ready to throw stones at her and will think less of her. Who would be honest in this kind of atmosphere? Would she be canceled then?
Harvey is a predator, and he amassed power, so he could get women to fool around with him. He took advantage either way.
Harvey is the villain. Period.
I love you, Kitten! You said exactly what I feel.
I completely agree that Harvey Weinstein is the bad guy here. There is no question. That is the main story.
At the same time, can’t we talk about whether there is a difference between slut-shaming and voicing concern that women who tolerated HW’s abuse were, in fact, enabling it? Can’t we talk about how women should handle instances of sexual harassment? Is it ever okay to just go along with it?
Okay, JL, says she wasn’t harassed and we should believe her, just as we believe those who say they were.
But those actors who were harassed and went along with it for business reasons — and presumably there were some — make it so much harder for those who follow.
Again, the root of the problem is the harasser. Absolutely. In this case, Harvey Weinstein. But women (and the men who support them) need to act in solidarity. So NO ONE should work with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski and now Harvey Weinstein, ever again.
“Can’t we talk about how women should handle instances of sexual harassment? Is it ever okay to just go along with it?”
This question is problematic because you’re asking once again that the onus be placed on women to police and report the terrible behavior of men. Because the poor menz just can’t help themselves but women know better therefor we must be tasked with the responsibility of checking the abhorrent actions of male predators.
I’m just so damn TIRED of these threads that describe yet another high-profile man in a position of power repeatedly doing something disgusting and inexcusable to women and the conversation being redirected and reframed to talk about how women should handle men’s repeated victimization of us.
It’s no different than our collective conversation about rape and how it always comes back to women shouldn’t get drunk at a college party, shouldn’t walk home alone at night, shouldn’t wear provocative clothing, shouldn’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time. As women, we must always change and modify our behavior to account for male transgressions.
And we should ALWAYS know better because men will be men, right?
NOPE. I’m done with that shit. The conversation about Harvey Weinstein should start with the toxic masculinity born out of/perpetuated by a patriarchal society, the enabling and protection that is afforded to these men by our patriarchal society and should end with a discussion about how we (*we* meaning women BUT ALSO MEN) raise our young men to value/respect women as equals.
The focus should be on changing MALE behavior, not on how women handle male predators, insinuating that there’s one specific protocol that applies to every woman in situations of extreme duress when the power-disparity favors men over us.
Asking women to fix a problem that was created by men is no better than asking black people to fix a situation that was created by whites.
No, you’re absolutely right. The onus shouldn’t be on changing female behaviour, but on changing male behaviour. You’re right: the conversation should start with toxic masculinity and the patriarchy.
I’m not saying women can “fix the problem.”
I am saying that women shouldn’t sit there and take it, just as black people shouldn’t sit there and take it. Way easier said than done, I know.
SO on point, Kitten. I’m moved by the spirit. It is not Jennifer Lawrence’s job to police Harvey Weinstein’s bad behavior and she does not have to talk about it if she was a victim. It. Is. Not. On. Women. To. Dismantle. The. Patriarchy. Men are responsible for that. The boys club is the problem. Men refusing to speak out about the bad behavior of other men are the problem. Toxic masculinity is the problem. This is not women’s problem, it is not Jennifer Lawrence’s problem. And yes, this thread is nauseating.
Jennifer is not responsible for him, and his outing is continued abuse for everyone who is forced to address his behavior against their will.
No one is to blame for him except Harvey and the board of his companies that enabled him.
Best comment in this thread.
Lawrence is damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. She makes a statement and people are calling her a liar. If she hadn’t released a statement people would be screaming at her to speak out.
Some doing everything they can to deflect from Harvey and blaming the women involved. The vast majority of Harvey’s enablers are men – people like Matt Damon and others who helped kill any anti-Harvey stories over the years.
Some of the comments on here – by women nonetheless – are revolting and disgusting. They remind me of crap MRAs and Trump supporters say when they talk about women.
Standing ovation, Darla. A man acts badly, and all the women who ever knew him are dragged into HIS mess and shamed for it.
Why aren’t we dragging the men in Hollywood? Why force the women (many of whom may have been traumatized by him) to speak out?
Time would be better spent examining the Hollywood culture that allowed this to happen, and laying out basic principles and policies for all Hollywood entities to follow to avoid more of this in future.
Yes to all of this. It’s completely irresponsible to even suggest that people are suggesting JLaw got her Oscar by sleeping with him. It’s demeaning, insulting, and a complete deflection of the issue at hand.
Once again we’re watching as women are raked over the coals for the behavior of a disgusting man. We never seem to learn, and it’s heartbreaking.
Weinstein supposedly sent an email to the Hollywood elite appealing for help. I wonder if that’s what Jennifer is doing here? I have a very, very difficult time believing that she didn’t know. Someone must have at least warned her.
This thread is going to be a mess. I can feel it now..
I’m not even going to bother with Jennifer.
I can’t even put into words my dislike for some of the men on that list, (are any of you truly shocked by Russell, Matt and Tarantino? Those men were always scum) so them enabling him wouldn’t surprise me nor would it affect me and what I spend my money on, since I barely support any of them. They should be held accountable, but the question is WILL THEY? With the reality of Hollywood and how disgusting it is, they were probably doing something similar.
” also believe that arrogant, abusive, douchey men are drawn to J-Law like moths to a flame. Between Harvey Weinstein, David O. Russell and Darren Aronofsky, I just think Jennifer has an exceptionally high tolerance for what she’ll put up with and where she’ll turn a blind eye.”
This. I’ve always had the feeling jlaw is a talented girl who rose quickly and is insecure about her talents, which is why she puts up with these arrogant auteurs who think they know best. I hope she gets to work with a good female director who will allow her to be herself.
There were rumors at the time of the nude pictures leaks that a few of them that were hers were for Harvey, not for her boyfriend. I’m not judging her for that if true but I am side-eyeing her statement if it’s true.
Why would it be true? Those rumours were never printed in any media outlets, they began on gossip comment boards by ignorant people who know nothing and who salivate at any salacious detail they can find on the internet. It’s sickening to me how many people actually believe these types of “rumours”.
Well, there were a ton of “rumors” about Harvey that turned out to be true.
How would anyone possibly know that? You can’t tell from looking at the pictures who they were meant for. How could you? She’d have to be holding up a For Harvey sign.
The only way someone could know she took photo’s for him and sent them to him is if they were the hacker, or a law enforcement agent investigating the hack, and thus aware of which cloud which photos came from. Obviously the hacker wouldn’t be gossiping online about it since if they were interested in revealing anything like that, they would have just released information about the source of each of the images along with the images. And I doubt FBI agents were spreading rumours.
I mean … what is the point of any actress saying “He never did that to me.” ? I don’t get it. So he didn’t abuse EVERYONE. Great. I have no issue with the rest of her statement. And yeah, she probably brushes off a lot more crappy behavior than others but I also believe he knew exactly who to target.
It’s along the lines of “If my husband ever laid a hand on me, I’d blow his brains out” in response to stories of domestic violence. If only women like Lawrence would at least add, “Though it did not happen to me, I know it could have – sexual assault and harassment could happen to anyone and don’t mean anything about the victim.”
“I have a feeling that Jennifer Lawrence probably has several versions of this kind of story but she chooses not to believe that this behavior is inappropriate or gross.“
Been there. I’m just now, at 45 coming to terms with things that were done to me that I wrote off as just how men are.
I’m getting really uncomfortable with the speculation I keep reading about actresses. So many people are just talking shit about women they don’t like.
If a woman says she wasn’t personally harassed by Weinstein then we should believe her, just as we should believe a woman who says she was. That’s it.
The real story – the important story – is the women who were abused and the people who worked very hard to cover up that abuse with money and intimidation.
I DO believe Jennifer. I believe her when she says that she wasn’t harassed and really didn’t know. But I also can’t shake that this is a young woman who has turned a blind eye to inappropriate behavior before with the way she continued to defend David O’Russell and make public declarations of love towards him even after Amy Adams went out on a limb and called him out as an abuser. I can’t shake the feeling that Jennifer means well but isn’t willing to put herself out there to protect other women if it means cutting herself off from men in power. I blame the MEN for creating this dynamic. I blame the men for creating the power imbalance. But it does frustrate me because she has a lot of power and she has shown in the past that she’s not willing to use it to denounce men who hurt other women.
But J-Law has gone out on a limb to protest against sexist behaviour – several times already. There was her excellent equal pay piece, and her disclosure that a producer had tried to fat-shame her, and plenty of other public statements on similar topics. She’s stood up for other women in the industry lots of times, and gets plenty of grief for it from right-wingers. The idea that she doesn’t fight the power imbalance is just untrue.
@Gill G— To be honest with you? While I appreciated her piece on equal pay, I found it frustrating that SHE got to be the “hero” in a situation where, in truth, she wasn’t even the one who was underpaid. It was Amy ADams who was underpaid and Lawrence hung her out to dry when she called out David O’Russell. Do you understand that Lawrence took that entire situation and essentially made herself the hero by writing that essay while still, at the same time refusing to denounce the abuser? I’m not saying that she hasn’t done good things. I like Jennifer. But I do think she is sometimes in denial about what kinds of behavior in appropriate when they come from powerful men who dote on her and like her and help her succeed. I am not saying she’s to blame for that but other women—women with less power than her or older than her—get hurt in the process.
But Lawrence had been underpaid in Hustle: very substantially, given her box office status. She didn’t mention Amy Adams in her essay, but it wasn’t her place to do that – and Amy was subsequently really enthusiastic about what J-Law had written. And that was a separate issue from the David O Russell bullying allegations: directors don’t fix star salaries, producers do. Yes, maybe she accepts stuff from directors that she shouldn’t – but the idea that she hasn’t spoken up repeatedly on gender issues is unfair.
@Gill G—but she was NOT underpaid in Hustle because she had a smaller supporting role. She was NOT underpaid. Adams was the one was underpaid because she had a LEAD role that carried the movie and was paid less than Jeremy Renner.
Look, I never said that she hadn’t spoken up. But if you acknowledge that the pay gap was a separate issue from the harassment and abuse from Russell than you aren’t helping your argument. The truth is complex here. Lawrence did the right thing but writing that article but she also was in denial and made excuses about O’Russell’s abuse. It’s not an all or nothing here and I never said it was.
Anyone else think it’s possible she’s in denial or covering for him? I mean I want to give her the benefit of the doubt but with all we know about him and his behavior I’m having a hard time believing she was completely in the dark.
Considering the other men she praises as genius, the guy she’s currently dating and the fact that Weinstein just put out statements supporting her bomb of a movie? Yea that’s not a stretch at all
So, it’s not a stretch that a hugely successful young actress worth millions would sleep with a fat pig like Harvey Weinstein after she’s already been selected for the role in SLP by David O Russell (against Harvey’s wishes, as a poster above has remarked)?? The idea that she was abused is pure wishful thinking on the part of people who really hope it’s true, for whatever dodgy reasons of their own. (An irrational hated of Lawrence, perhaps.)
By the way, I see that Martin Scorsese has also been praising Mother as a great film. Did J-Law sleep with him too?
Covering does not mean sleeping with the dude. No one said that. You did.
Yeah, I do not know if she really slept with him, but I highly doubt she had no idea about his ways.
When people say ‘Lawrence must have known’, what was she expected to do – turn down the part in Silver Linings and danage her career, while all of Hollywood was singing Harvey’s praises? I find the way people are trying to imply she’s done something wrong here a little distasteful. The blame 100% lies with Harvey and his associates.
I don’t believe Jennifer would ever come forward and admit to knowing anything.
Not if she wants to keep working with influential, if shady, producers & directors.
I understand that a lot of these people have a delicate line to walk, to condemn him but also to not undo the good he did for their career.
That being said, people who read gossip sites have known about this (or at least heard the rumors) for 7-8 years now. So saying that the people in Hollywood knew NOTHING seems a little disingenuous.
I commented on a previous post that I wasn’t surprised that many Hollywood people weren’t rushing to Twitter or their PR managers to denounce Harvey because they probably either worked for one of his friends or someone just like him, but for the ones I see as very secure in their careers—like Meryl and Jennifer—this templated, feigned innocence, denial-based approach feels a bit too much like spin control.
Jennifer had to have at least heard about it, and she won’t even acknowledge that. Jessica Chastain said straight out that she was warned. Didn’t Jennifer jokingly thank Harvey in at least one of her awards speeches for threatening or killing whoever it took to win her that trophy? So she knew he was a crazy level of ruthless but now her team is carefully choosing words to absolve her of any knowledge of the rest of his assholery? Her statement makes me think that either she’s just trying to provide cover for her image/career or there’s something to that shitty but rather insistent chatter that she’s one of the girls who’s been through his protege casting couch.
Anyhow, if the majority of the statements from the rich and famous of Hollywood are all going to go this “oh gosh, I didn’t really know” route, I’m just going to skip them.
Bingo.
I like Jennifer Lawrence and I do believe that in her mind she never experienced anything inappropriate. I do not blame women for men’s actions. That said, I have to be honest that I’ve never been able to look at Jennifer the same way after she literally left Amy Adams out to dry a few years ago. Amy called out David O’Russell for abusive behavior—behavior that other sources backed up. Amy was clearly distraught by it. Jennifer, as a younger actress with a lot of power, could have supported her. Instead, Jennifer turned a blind eye and basically insinuated that she was just willing to put up with more. Amy Adams was calling out abuse and Jennifer left her standing out there alone. It bothered me then. It bothers me now.
I know I might get bashed for this , but if HW asked me to come to his hotel room for a movie role answered the door in his robe and we talked about movies. I think I would think it was weird and gross, but I don’t think I would think it was sexual harassment. Reading the story though, it most certainly is sexual harassment. Honestly, though if this happened in another industry who would tell and what could you do about it? Most people need to be employed. We keep thinking about these actresses as rich celebrities, but at one time they were struggling actresses, and they still might see themselves that way, even though they may have more power than they think. These conversations are great, because they help women think about what they can do to stop this behavior. Sure the men should stop it, but that won’t happen right away if at all. I hate to say it, but I think I would have just shrugged and let it go. May have told a few girlfriends, but that would be it, and I probably wouldn’t say it even if the abuser was outed like Weinstein. I would be too embarrassed for how stupid I was.
Some of these comments are so freaking awful.
Probably because there are some rumors about Lawrence and Weinstein since a moment
No, there actually aren’t any bonafide rumours about JLaw and Weinstein, not from any legitimate outlets.
Anyone can invent a rumour on a gossip comments board. I could make one up right now, but if I did, then no one should believe it. Sadly, many people who frequent gossip sites will believe whatever they want to believe, and spread these assumptions until voila! A “rumour” is born.
Outsiders on boards like this one who make assumptions and slut shame women are as much a part of the problem of misogyny as anyone else.
And those rumors (if there are any) are AWFUL TOO! OMG.
And the people who invent and spread such rumours are just as bad as Weinstein, imo, because this is merely a printed form of sexual assault.
She is right. There were rumors, but it is weird on a gossip site to get annoyed about gossip just because you don’t like the gossip.
I don’t care what she did with Harvey.
I care that women are being forced to defend themselves and lie because of society’s zest to slut shame and blame women for a nasty man.
I’m honestly very disgusted with how this has been twisted from Harvey being an abuser into shaming and speculating about women. JLaw had already been cast in THG franchise by the time she was cast in SLP. Harvey picks on the most vulnerable, and I do think he’d avoid his worst behavior around JLaw because he knew he’d piss off the execs from Lionsgate if he messed with their next it girl. So no, I highly doubt JLaw got the same treatment as Romola, Ashley, etc. although I suspect he was still harassed her in a more subtle way. I also suspect that JLaw, who has dealt with a lot of manipulative/verbally abusive men like D.O.R. and Darren, might be in denial that the behavior is inappropriate.
The thing is that people who keep claiming the “casting couch” about actresses they don’t like (and who probably weren’t subject to the casting couch anyway) don’t even recognize how abusive the “casting couch” situation is in the first place. Even if a woman was doing it for purely mercenary means, it still means the person in power is greatly abusing his power. And I suspect coercion and rape is in play 99% of the time. In a narrow, incestuous industry like Hollywood you can’t quite your job and find a new one in a different city…and I suspect it is quite easy to freeze up and be terrified when a super powerful, physically intimidating man like Harvey is looming over you.
Anyway, I don’t blame actresses for not speaking out or perhaps for downplaying what Harvey did to them because look at how people react. The comments on DListed, even some on Jezebel, are disgusting. It’s never “look at Harvey intimidated and abused these women”…it’s “that’s why she has a career slash it’s all their fault (not the powerful studio execs and men, but the women) for not speaking out.” I know we are a sexist country but it is still shocking to see the amount of misogyny even from so called woke spaces.
Some of these comments are precisely why women are afraid to come forward. And they’re coming from other women! Ugh.
As much her personality gets on my nerves, I never got the casting couch feel from her. Her win for SLP was similar to Gwen’s for Shakespeare in Love. Just not deserving but due to Harvey & how he operates as producer especially around Oscar time…she even said in her acceptable speech “who did you kill to get this for me?”. I can believe her to an extent. As Clooney said in the other thread, the rumors were there.
Very interesting comment from Ellen Barkin:
“Standing up to any abuse of white male power will cost you your life or your life’s work. Period.”
Let’s keep this in mind please. It’s so true.
Well, if that’s the case, then there is no hope. Thank god there are brave women every day who DO stand up to abuses of white male power.
JLaw had the nom for winter’s bone, had the x-men movies, plus hunger games when she met Harvey, of course he wouldn’t try shit with her.
And all of you a
I feel like this kind of statement is not really helpful at all, and I’d almost rather she said nothing. You know?
Sure Jen..
I’m sick of some of the posts I see on here. The only person responsible for this is Harvey Weinstein. We are not privacy to the brains, minds, a knowledge base of ANY of these people and we simply do not know what they “knew” or didn’t know.
People like Donna Karan who are blaming the victim deserve our scorn.
@ paranormalgirl, I agree. I did want to hear from other men & women in the industry just so they could lend their support to the victims. It’s not up to us to decide who “knew” or “didn’t know”.
100%
She has been problematic for me for a while. This is not helping. Like George, she is full of crap. She knew, she participated, she benefitted. She is trying to save face and condemn at the same time. Not buying it.
Jennifer Lawrence was in her early 20s when she became really successful. Even though she had the veneer of success, I wouldn’t necessarily expect her to come at the situation with the same wisdom as someone as Meryl Streep’s age. If Meryl Streep hasn’t done anything of note to understand how these rumours could have been true, I don’t get how anyone can expect someone as young as Lawrence to have the gumption to.
With things as they are I sometimes absolutely hate being a woman. We can’t win.
On the one hand, I believe she knew of his behaviour. Woman isn’t stupid. Did he ever pull anything with her, probably not, but she knew.
Does this make her, or any of the other women that knew as well, complicit? Kind of, yeah. Is it their responsibility to forfeit their career, dreams and aspirations in order to just point a finger at someone they have NEVER been personally accosted by? I think that is terribly unfair.
Most working women have had to tolerate, ignore, downplay various forms of harassment on the job, every day. Do we all stand up to it? Probably not. We pick our battles, we warn the other women, sometimes we shut that sh*t down… knowing that we might not have to deal with it, but others will.
Everyday, all day, women are complicit in the objectification of other women, that’s the sad truth. We are all freaking complicit, to varying degrees. We have to be to stay sane.
So as to the other hand… I do not blame jlaw for taking her money and running. She had just enough power to not get trapped in a bathroom alone with him. Truthfully, that’s not a lot of power.
I can’t hold these women accountable for not being brave enough to sacrifice their careers over rumor and back room warnings. And understand, that’s what they faced. All to go toe to toe with the most powerful, vindictive man in Hollywood.
I have been sexually harrassed, felt up… the works. Know how many times I have refused to work with the creeps that did it? Zero. Just saying.
Agree 100%. I, too, have been felt up, talked to sexually, the whole nine yards, whilst at work from age 15 to present time. The only time I reported it was about two years ago (I was 29 years old). It became such a stressful aspect- meetings with my immediate bosses, with HR, and with the (extremely large) company’s CEO’s, that I became overwhelmed and eventually quit my job. Was it worth reporting? Absolutely not. Nothing was changed, i Just had added stress.
So, no, I don’t blame any woman for not reporting. Pick and choose your battles, indeed.
It is a shameful aspect of the entire freaking system, women ignoring levels of abuse because it doesn’t reach the threshold where the pain of dealing with it is less than the pain of tolerating it. And then it gets worse. I blame the patriarchy.
I cannot in good conscience level an accusation at jlaw, or at any of the other women, even if they had personal knowlege of his abuse. The power differential was just to great.
Now, those that come out and say these women were asking for it, I’m looking at you Donna Karan, ya’ll can f*ck right off.
Harvey Weinstein is not stupid. He’s not going to harass actresses that are already successful. When Jennifer Lawrence was campaigning for SLP, she already had the Hunger Games and the X-Men franchise, and had already been nominated for an Oscar. Weinstein only targeted either fairly unknown actresses or ones he deemed as in great need of a career push or assistants who wouldn’t get anyone’s ear about his behavior. I believe Lawrence never experienced anything but professional behavior from him.
There’s such a fine line when it comes to rumors in Hollywood between a woman doing the casting couch parade to her own advantage and a woman being forced to do the casting couch because of a rapist producer. I think that anyone who was looking at their own career would have stayed away from such rumors. Can we stop blaming actresses for this? The only one who deserves to be called out is Hillary Clinton because she’s been getting Weinstein’s money for years and years.
I don’t know if that’s entirely true. I think that even with women who have success or means, he finds something they really want and manages (or at least tries) to make them think only he can deliver it to them. His wife Georgina is the daughter of a billionaire, Gwyneth Paltrow has Hollywood parents, Ashley Judd also has a family in show business, and yes, Jennifer already had a career going when he started working with her. And yet somehow, he still managed to implant himself in their lives.
BS. GG acceptance speech “Harvey, thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me here today”
so she did know and she did experience the i/ benefits /i of it.
also look up DOR called Lily Tomlin a c*** video.
Thankfully no A-List actress ever had to svck off anyone to make it, not even at the start, not in the 70s, no violence or sexual harassment from a big honcho still in place, no nothing. Or else they’d tell on them, like the brave women they praise, our allies. How lucky.
Some of you guys just truly and completely suck. I’m so glad there are some reasonable, not vile, voices here.
If George Clooney, who is decades older than Lawrence and has his male physicality as a weapon, wasn’t willing to do anything to “stop” Weinstein, I don’t get how anyone can expect Lawrence to.
Where is Reece Witherspoon or Brad Pitt? Where are the producers who can step forward and say that’s not how it’s going to be done on our watch?
The only person to express shame at having benefitted from HW on the backs of the abused is Kevin Smith. Everyone else just seeems to be saying thank you to those braver than me now please let this blow over.
“Where are the producers who can step forward and say that’s not how it’s going to be done on our watch?”
Can they really make a guarantee that this will never happen again, though? Hollywood is a weird town where bad stuff continues to happen.
Some of the comments in here…I can’t believe some of you guys. Are you guys for real? He is the one to blame here. HE IS. She’s openly defending those women who were affected by him.
Guys, we’re going to have to get off of Jlaw. because Rowan’s story just dropped and I started to read it and became so sick I had to come here. I can’t finish it.
We need to get our heads on straight, and get off the women.
Because this is horrible. And the women aren’t the problem.
I hope he scorches Harvey. Going to read it.
Thank you Darla, everyone is screaming for actresses that have worked with them to make a comment and when they do it’s not worded correctly or not sincere enough for them. This is not their fault, it’s Harvey’s, hopefully he will never set foot in business again. Sadly there are probably several more of these predators in the business and I’m willing to bet some actresses are still to scared to say anything due to retaliation.
Harvey is is to blame 100% for his actions. No doubt.
My issue is…
JLaw and many of these actors’ statement are using “legalise” phrasing; the nuisance is important. JLaw never outright states — Yes, I heard the rumors but Harvey gave me my big break and my own ambitions meant more to me than speaking out.
She states — I was not harassed. Probably true.
I never heard of these allegations — the women being paid off. Probably true,
But I am sure she heard of ICK stories like Jessica Chastain and Kevin Murphy, etc.
BUT she omits that from her statement. Her statement is crafted to admit certain truths while omitting what she DID know.
If Ronan Farrow’s article is damaging, JLaw people said speak now and get it front of it. Not that she is mentioned in the article — just the optics alone. Get your statement on the record before the sh*t hits the fan.
The problem exists when these very same actresses volunteer or cast themselves quasi-activists for women’s equality in Hollywood.
JLaw penning letters and op pieces about income inequality, etc. Consistency matters or you lose the moral high ground. Olivia Wilde comes to mind too. Her Twitter statement was toothless.
It is a matter of walk the walk and not just talk the talk because then it is simply good PR and empty virtue signaling.
What did olivia wilde say? Anything about harvey and the threesome?
The threesome that never happened? The model turned down Weinstein in that Gawker published story, So how could she say anything about it?
Olivia’s tweets about Weinstein:
1. Let’s be clear. What Harvey Weinstein did to those women was nothing short of abuse. I am disturbed, and disgusted. It’s appalling.
2. Though I never witnessed it, I stand in solidarity with his victims, and hope their bravery sends a loud message to all abusers of power.
3. The victim blaming needs to stop. As does the shaming of women who didn’t come forward earlier. They spoke, and we are here to listen.
The idea that Lawrence should stop talking about gender equality because she might have heaed vague rumours about Weinstein makes absolutely no sense to me. That would probably disqualify every gender activist on the planet.
Vague? I work in the film industry. There was nothing vague about the rumors, the stories, the whispers surrounding Harvey.
JLaw is a hypocrite like the rest of Hollywood. Read the Ronan Farrow article.
So, any professional link with someone who’s revealed as an abuser should prevent you ever speaking out about gender equality – even if that link happened when you’re 22 and young/naive, as happened with Lawrence? That would silence everybody, which is just what the sexists want. Leave aside Streep, or Clooney – should for example Amy Adams now stop talking about harassment, because (as mentioned in the Ronan Farrow piece) she was working with Harvey in 2015? That ‘consistency’ logic takes out everyone with a loud voice in Hollywood, which won’t help anyone.
Of course her statements were carefully worded to protect her. Every manager, publicist and agent are working overtime on this scandal on how to stop the bleeding to their clients and themselves. It is all about distance. They are seeing the public outrage and are responding accordingly. “We didn’t know, see, witness, experience….” is to keep them free from being complicit as possible while at the same time condemning it to save their high moral ground on women’s issues. This is for men and women. Make no mistake, there is a lot of money at stake here.
It does not just go for the actors, but media to get access which is why the interviews are not hard hitting interviews but designed to spin and save an actor’s reputation. Journalists still want access when this “blows over.” The truth is, to some degree, they are all complicit.
Hope Brian singer is next.
I believe her that she wasn’t harassed, but I don’t know about her gauge on knowing the wide range of inappropriate behavior and harassment. If HW had physically violated someone in front her, I definitely think she’d call it out. But if he made an inappropriate joke towards an assistant, she may see it as crass humor, but perhaps not necessarily as harassment.
As mentioned, this is due to internalized sexism that MANY women are victim to. So she’s not alone.
This comment section is a dumpster fire. A lot of people here should be ashamed of themselves.
Jesus, this thread is disgusting. Some of y’all are letting your obvious dislike of Jennifer turn you into victim-blamers. Bringing up her nude pictures and acting like this whole situation is her fault. And the fact that most of the ppl saying this are women…mind blown!
It doesn’t surprise me. Women can be as cruel and judgmental as they come.
I like J Law as an actress. But I will say, it’s always struck me as strange that she literally came out of nowhere to become an Oscar winning A lister in a matter of what 2-3 years? I find it hard to believe that J Law didn’t face any of Harvey’s “attention”‘and harassment. Right now, she still has a career to protect that can easily go down in flames, as she is still a young actress and there are plenty of young blond actresses, should she speak up. Actresses like Judd and Sorvino’s peak years are long behind them, they are not in-demand actresses, hence they feel that they do not have much to lose if they speak up now.
She didn’t come out of nowhere. She’d been working since she was 16. She had two years on a TV show and a handful of films under her belt before Winter’s Bone, which was a surprise indie darling. While that was in post she worked with Jodie Foster and did another little indie that got some attention (Like Crazy), and then landed the X-Men role. Winter’s Bone got her Hunger Games a year later.
There’s nothing unusual about that trajectory. She worked very consistently for 4-5 years under the radar in some decent projects, started to get noticed by some better filmmakers, broke out with a great little indie, and quickly built from there. She already had an Oscar nomination and two lead roles in two big franchises when she worked with Harvey.
And if JLaw knew and was harassed or gave in to him what does that really matter? It just makes her another victim either way. No matter how she decided to handle him, the fact that she had to handle him at all is the problem.
For some women, they give in because it is easier to get it over with and move on, or they are naive and think it is normal or for whatever personal reasons. I find it a problem that to go down that road means the woman is a slut when in this instance a man who held the keys to a dream decided to use them to exploit women sexually.
Jennifer felt compelled to address this, and she shouldn’t have to say anything. She doesn’t need to carry his burden or divulge her decisions to open herself to judgment so that people can put her in a category.
I think suspending belief that it is possible that she did have a relationship with him is part of the problem. It encourages the culture of predatory behavior by refusing to understand the different complex ways a man like Harvey preys on women. The crime is that talented women feel they have to do this to open doors that shouldn’t be closed in the first place. They all have to carry his shame now, and that isn’t fair.
It defies reason that she didn’t know, but we are forcing her to lie to save her career, and that is a shame. Jennifer’s talent is why she is where she is no matter if she got help or not. He is not the one onscreen or the one hustling their ass off, and he isn’t sacrificing his privacy or charming journalists in interviews.
Like I said I am not canceling anyone over Harvey. Without him, none of this would have happened to anyone.
“No matter how she decided to handle him, the fact that she had to handle him at all is the problem.”
Exactly this and to the rest of your comment, there is no one-size-fits-all reaction for a victim. Have we REALLY not learned this yet? Some women might feel comfortable coming forward, some might be terrified for their careers, still others might feel shamed into silence. Some women who have witnessed misbehavior from Weinstein may have completely erased the uncomfortable and disturbing memories from their minds as a means of coping and moving forward with their lives.
As someone who experienced TERRIBLE–and I mean terrible– workplace harassment many years ago, I never reported him. I never told anyone except my BF at the time, and much later my parents as I was debating contacting a lawyer. Anyway, I let it happen. I stayed. I knew what he was doing was disgusting but I was intimidated and ashamed and frankly, I needed the job–I needed to pay rent.
Hugs kitten.
When confronted with men like this there is no right response, there is just coping the best you can. That is all anyone can do.
Yes I agree with you. Well said.
She knew! They all knew and said and did nothing because it wasn’t happening to them, because he helped their careers, because they wanted the Oscar more, it’s the same thing with Hollywood.
What was she supposed to do exactly?
How much ‘help’ do people really think she needed? When she worked with Harvey she already had one Oscar nomination, and two big roles in two big, well-regarded franchises. She was already perfectly set up for an Oscar win.
Harvey didn’t even want her for Silver Linings Playbook, he fought DOR for months because he wanted Anne Hathaway.
To me it doesn’t matter if she did experience missconduct on his part personally. Because it sounds a bit self serving, partly because the public statment is reduced to personal thing, like, I just wanted to let you all guys know I am among those lucky ones that were not abussed or assaulted. And because it once again serves as a justification of silence, the “i knew nothing” narrative. I refuse to believe the busy actors, especially those who worked on Weinstein’s projects did not hear anything. And that is fine. I mean we do understand that anyone thinking about their own future would not want to be the one to brake this info into the public. And that is fine. This is something that needs to be said. This is the reality of the world we live in, where power makes people compromise with themselves. And that is ok, because we all do it on different levels. But that is something that can be discussed publicly now and needs to be discussed without pointing finders or blaming those who heard about this ans yet never made their knkwledge public. This is why I appreceate Jessica Chastain’s and to the extent Clooney’s statements.
agree!!!
I truly believe Jennifer was harassed some sort of way by Harvey too. She is a victim and hopefully she’ll be okay.
Absolutely. If he did to Jolie and Paltrow, both with some Hollywood pedigree, I would think little Jennifer from KY wouldn’t stand a chance. I mean Gwynnie thought he was her Uncle Harvey for Krissakes!
These statements don’t feel very powerful to me, when these actresses are hedging their “I’m angered”‘s with “I didn’t know, it didn’t happen to me,” as if to eliminate themselves from culpability. One, bs, and two, even if not bs: so what? Thank the women coming forward for their bravery, denounce this kind of behavior, and leave it at that!
OMFG. Who CARES who “knew”? This man wielded all the power. All the power to ruin women’s lives and careers. All the power to ruin PEOPLE’S lives and careers. Stop being so damned judgmental. It’s sickening. Stop taking the onus off of Weinstein and putting it onto people in his sphere. Was there complicity? Yes. Was it coerced complicity? In a lot of cases, yes.
I think it does matter who among the A-listers knew, and who is now willing to come forward to expose the truth in order to support the lesser known victims of Weinstein. Of course the blame lies 100% with Weinstein, but there were many others who were willingly complicit, especially among his male colleagues in the business. The same with Bill Cosby. These men would not have gotten away with decades of sexual assault if they did not have help. Those who remain silent are complicit in the continuance of this type of behavior. When women at the top of the industry such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow come forward to tell their stories of harassment and abuse, it gives credence to those who have less power and reach in the media. This is to make sure that Weinstein never has a chance at a comeback. It shouldn’t be that way, but that is how our media and society works. Meryl can afford to look the other way and not have it affect her career or her daughters. JLaw I believe is mostly protecting herself by staying out of the fray. It’s her choice to do so, but is it the most courageous thing she could be doing? Not by a long shot. Kudos to Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan, and others who have helped in taking this monster down once and for all.
@kibbles
Because of course JLaw must lie. She clearly said she didn’t experience such abuse, not all actresses have suffered this. She had to say that she was a victim to make you happy? This is pure woman shaming. Awful
How is it woman shaming? I’ve said I don’t believe Clooney either. I don’t believe Affleck and I probably won’t believe Damon and other men once they eventually release their statements. It’s not shaming an older A-list actress like Streep when those of us don’t believe her say she likely did hear something about Weinstein’s offenses. Shaming would be to say we don’t believe the victims who have come forward, and the vast majority of us here believe them. Some of us simply choose not to believe the men and women who won’t admit that they heard nothing about Weinstein’s reputation while working closely with him.
I’m ashamed of some comments I read. Disgusting
Man, I have no hate for my sisters. Being a woman is difficult. We don’t know each others truth. Respect ✊
‘Why haven’t more men spoken out?’
Because people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?
I wonder if Harvey will take a few bros down with him?
Yes. I think that those who remain silent or say that they did not know are actually scared of what Weinstein has on them and what he will do in the aftermath to get his revenge. Actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, and Angelina Jolie are older, more firmly established, and have not done business with Weinstein for well over a decade, so I doubt he has any dirt on them. The men Weinstein has worked with and the younger starlets like JLaw who are much more recently associated with him, not so much. They are definitely in danger of blowback if they come out against him and he spills the beans, photos, emails, documents, etc. that could damage their careers and reputation. I really think you hit the nail on the head. People in glass houses, etc. They don’t want to be exposed with being complicit in Harvey’s crimes.
JLaw made only a movie with Harvey, 5 years ago. Stop with this woman shaming.
So Harvey has dirt on Streep and Dench? Please. Harvey is the monster here, stop with comments
Cinzia, stop using the excuse that those of us who don’t believe the celebrities coming forward saying they heard nothing as “women shaming”. If that is the case, I’m also “men shaming” Clooney, Affleck, and the other men who worked with Weinstein who continue to remain silent or deny they knew anything.
Random thought on this… A friend who has prosecuted a few guys like Weinstein tells me they sometimes have a type. A vulnerable young actress who might exhibit shock and fear could be a guy’s ideal victim, versus a woman who might click to be very angry instead of fearful and laugh at him, or exhibit rage instead of fear, or be what he would consider a potential “big mouth” versus an “ideal” meek, silent, shamed or scared, or intimidated victim.
It is possible he viewed someone like a JLaw as too much of a loose cannon factor to tamper with her – the cool girl loud thing – and focused on others.
That said, I don’t know how she hadn’t heard/ didn’t know from others. The comments about her being too used to levels of abuse are sad but might be accurate. At least people are finally saying something, I guess.
This. Something I think people forget about JLaw is that yes, she’s worked with some POS directors, but she also gives as good as she gets. On the set of SLP she and DOR would have full blown screaming matches, often initiated by her. She didn’t back down and she mostly got what she wanted. She’s not at all afraid of confrontation, even very aggressive confrontation. If you watch her in videos with paparazzi, she’s also not afraid to exhibit aggression when they cross her boundaries, even when they do that cloying fake friendliness thing that makes it hard.
Predators like Weinstein aren’t stupid. They know who they can silence, and they know when it’s too much of a risk. JLaw is way too much of a risk.
This thread is ugly and gross. I feel like some people are ready and wanting to pile on JLaw because she’s annoying and she grates. At some point, I have to say that the only people I see victimizing Jennifer Lawrence are internet commenters who insist that she was assaulted by HW when she says she wasn’t.
Was she? I know what I think, but it doesn’t matter. If she was, then she doesn’t want people to know. That’s her right. She doesn’t have any obligation to anyone else, not even other victims. By insisting that she was we are denying her the right to keep that private until (if ever) she is ready for people to know.
If she wasn’t, then we are denying her the right to say what she knows to be true because it doesn’t fall in line with what we think the truth should be. It’s practically gaslighting her.
Either way it’s ugly and gross.
+1
Maybe she honestly didn’t experience anything inappropriate from him. I think we all know abusers selectively pick victims on who they think is vulnerable – he especially went after young women at the beginning of their careers because he knew he had the most power then.
When he was dealing with Jennifer she was the biggest female star in the biz and she is known for being pretty feisty and outspoken. Does anyone honestly think she’d watch him masturbate or take a shower?
OMG, I know it’s not the place, but “America’s Farty Sweetheart” floored me, LMAO!
I think some of those hacked J Law photos were for Harvey. I think the actresses who went along with sick Harvey’s sex for parts are going to deny deny deny. See also
Gretchen Mol claiming her only interactions with Harvey were “polite hello’s.” That man couldn’t help himself in his sick assertion of power over women. I highly doubt any woman experienced only polite hellos with him.