Rose McGowan’s E! show, Citizen Rose, premiered this week. She’s been promoting it in interviews all over the place, as well as promoting her memoir, Brave. The New York Times and other outlets have been running excerpts from the book, where she describes in detail what Harvey Weinstein did to her at the Sundance Film Festival, and everything that happened afterwards. She told her manager, her agent, she consulted a lawyer, and basically she received next to no help at all:
Afterwards, McGowan says she told some people who “counseled me to see it as something that would help my career in the long run” and was allegedly told by a criminal attorney she wouldn’t be believed if she pressed charges.
McGowan says she heard Weinstein was calling people after the alleged assault and telling them not to work with the actress.
“It seemed like every creep in Hollywood knew about my most vulnerable and violated moment,” she writes, according to the NYT. “And I was the one who was punished for it.”
Rose had previously claimed that she told Ben Affleck what Weinstein had done to her shortly after it happened and Affleck’s response at the time had been “I told him to stop doing that!” Now that Rose is telling her story far and wide, Harvey Weinstein feels the need to chime in, because he’s just that big of an a–hole. This is what happened:
Harvey Weinstein is using an email allegedly written by Ben Affleck to cast doubt on Rose McGowan’s claim that the producer sexually assaulted her in 1997. According to a statement from Weinstein’s attorney Ben Brafman, two people whom McGowan claims to have told about the alleged assault at the time — her then-manager and Affleck — have denied that the actress reported the attack to them.
“She never told me nor did I ever infer that she was attacked by anyone. Any accounts to the contrary are false. I have no knowledge about anything Rose did or claimed to have done,’ ” Affleck allegedly wrote in an email to Weinstein, according to Brafman.
Am I the only one who feels a little bit sorry for Ben Affleck today? I mean, granted, Ben and Matt Damon (#neverforget) both said a lot of dumb sh-t in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, but let’s also be clear: they were not responsible for what Weinstein did to Rose, and they *probably* don’t deserve to be dragged into this mess at this late stage. Weinstein needs to shut his mouth and stop trying to use someone like Affleck as a human shield.
Rose also had some interesting things to say about Meryl Streep and CAA and Justin Timberlake – go here to read. She does not believe that Meryl Streep never knew anything about Weinstein… which we can debate until the cows come home, but isn’t it clear by now that there were a lot of people who didn’t know the extent of Weinstein’s behavior? Rose also says that Time’s Up was basically cooked up at CAA, and it’s CAA’s way of obfuscating their role in feeding their clients as victims to Harvey Weinstein. Which is a very interesting conspiracy.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I had a big fight with my partner last night, because I let him know that men – in general – suck.
I don’t think I’m wrong.
Sure, but telling them that isn’t generally the best way to build allies.
True. Today/ last night I’m not / wasn’t in the mood to care for their feelings, though. Sometimes you just need to vent .. ( and anyway, wouldn’t a great ally understand that?)
A great one would, but they aren’t born that way, love. A decent but flawed one might take it personally.
Speaking as someone who has been there, and understands the need to vent, and the hope that the person you love can rise to the occasion.
Humans suck. Men have just been able to get away with more for longer, and the tables are finally starting to turn.
I really like the way you put this.
Me too. Where have I heard that before. Actually people in general think they are unique when shit happens, but in truth, it happens to us all in one way or another.
I’m totally on board with #timesup, but my biggest negative life-impacting experiences on a personal front, including bullying, have nearly always been at the hands of other women, not men. On the career front, being in the communications field, I rose quickly to an executive role without experiencing gender/pay inequality, and in general, so did my female peers. But I realize, in the workplace at least, this is the exception rather than the rule. But yeah, generally agreeing that “humans” suck.
Sorry to say but I’m with you at this point. I have so many negative feelings that I’m working hard to process.
I mean…He has to know on some level it’s true, right? My husband knows it’s true and has openly said it. We have a daughter, who do we worry about harming her? Men. When I’m leaving places late and alone, who are we worried about harming me? Men. Even a few months ago my husband had to walk some distances along a semi-deserted area during the late night hours thanks to car trouble, who did he worry might try to rob him or something else? We’ll leave that to the imagination, certainly wasn’t concerned that a group of women might appear to harm him. Just ask a man how he feels about his daughter dating, deep down they know that men are awful enough to have some unsavory generalizations.
thanks for the replys you guys, especially @deets and @littlestar. kindness does go a long way, so I’ll keep trying to apply that in these instances where something seemingly insurmountable is between us.
Great move, Harvey, to attack the victims!
That should help you a lot!
*sigh* when I was a teenager my own brother warned me to be careful, because “guys are basically scum”. Several men in my life have told me that. Although I have met many that fit that description, I’m grateful to also have known and loved many who donot. Sadly, it seems safest and most prudent to assume the worst, and just hope to be pleasantly surprised.
I actually can buy into the CAA conspiracy. In fact I believe I had a conversation on here with someone that floated that theory as well. So not shocking. We know that CAA threatened Love which means they knew and sent actresses to those hotel rooms anyways. CAA backing TimesUp is strictly PR but the thread is there. Plus take a look at their client list and its easy to kinda see how many of Weinstein victims were probably sent by them.
And Weinstein is an @$$ and I really don’t need to hear from him ever
I think Rose is going about this all wrong, and is coming across as too aggressive. But I agree that there probably was a CAA conspiracy. I think in general there is a vast number of important people in Hollywood, directors, producers, actors, etc who know about what is and was going on and have remained silent because it benefits them.
CAA is obviously complicit in Weinstein’s crimes. Their involvement in Time’s Up is clearly a PR move. I’m sure they have engaged the best trial lawyers in the business because they are scared sh*tless that they may have to pay for what they have done.
I think Rose is right to call out their BS, but she needs to stop calling out other actors for not speaking up. Her message gets lost in the obvious rebuttal that she knew, too.
Well, *I* think that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and Casey Afflec (ghod) and, OH, HEY! LET’S NOT FORGET HARVEY WEINSTEIN have been going about it all wrong!
So, Rose is “too aggressive” when she speaks out about being used and abused and sent down the river so rich white men could get richer?
And people feel sorry for BEN AFFLEC now?!
Damn. That was fast.
This his new girl commenting? Lindsey? This you?
Because that is cold.
Too aggressive? She has been hunted like an animal for 20years…Weinstein was too aggressive. Your attitude is exactly what is wrong. A woman defends herself loudly & calls out names therefore not ladylike. Girls need to learn how to stand up for themselves..aggressively.
Yeah to be honest while everyone keeps screaming that more stars need to be donating to Times Up right now…I’m fine if some want to hold off for awhile and see how this plays out. It’s looking pretty clear elements of CAA were complicit or at least grossly negligent. A lot of those elements are still there. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with them having such a big part in the medium and the message.
You know, it’s interesting, Reese Witherspoon’s husband is a high-powered CAA employee and she’s been very visibly helping to head this Time’s Up movement. Distraction? I’d believe it.
I’ll quote Rose here: ” ‘I wasn’t born with enough middle fingers.'”
@ Nicole
Unfortunately, money talks.
It is all about what can u do for me and u scratch my back and I will scratch yours!
I watched her on The View yesterday. She is brave. She apologized for working with that convicted sex offender. I also read the sample of her book, going to buy it on pay day, even though some trolls are posting negative reviews on Amazon.
BTW, isn’t Bryan Lourd, Billie’s father and Carrie Fisher’s ex, head of CAA?
Yea he is, god I wonder what Carrie Fisher knew about all this? I wish she was alive, we know she’d be spilling all the details good.
Well that explains why Billie Lourd gets roles. She is a terrible actress.
Bryan Lourd was the one who tried to negotiate a meeting/compromise between Weinstein and Ronan Farrow before the publication of everything. He’s problematic at the very least and at worst? Well…
“Well, Salva is a convicted and registered sex offender, which might account for some social awkwardness.
Yeah, I still don’t really understand the whole story or history there, and I’d rather not, because it’s not really my business. But he’s an incredibly sweet and gentle man, lovely to his crew, and a very hard worker.”
She said this after she worked for him. She was a person who was sexually abused in her past and suffered and yet didn’t care and didn’t want to know his whole history related to being a convicted child molester? Okay. Fine. But she is calling out everyone for being complicit. She was complicit in her own life when it benefited her with Salva. And this guy was convicted, not alleged. She apologizes on The View. She said she accidentally worked for him, didn’t find out until right before, but praised him when promoting the movie and again said it wasn’t her business. Then accept the apologies of everyone else about working with Harvey or Woody. She doesn’t seem to accept many of their apologies.
“It’s not really my business,” she said about her child molester director in 2011 after working with him. It sounds like one of Woody’s defenders when asked about the Dylan allegations , doesn’t it?
Yes, it sounds exactly like that. It’s this hypocrisy that makes it so hard to listen to her. Victims need not be perfect; I believe her and I want her to burn it all to the ground. But turning on anyone but HW, CAA, or anyone she KNOWS, rather than BELIEVES was complicit, is where she loses me and where she undermines herself.
Ben Affleck is not responsible for what Harvey did and even if Ben Affleck wasn’t told about it (like he says in the email from back then) that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen which is what Harvey is trying to say. I said this before and I’ll say it again: I’m sick and tired of everyone but the abusers/predators taking the fall. Harvey is dragging Ben into this as if Ben Affleck is the one who raped Rose. Ben can be a POS for a multitude of other things but this is not on him and Harvey needs to not use other people to try and cover up what he did.
Yup.
What happened to Rose is awful, but she’s also told so many lies to back herself up. The house of cards will collapse at some point, and give people more fuel to discredit MeToo
Feel sorry for Affleck – never! He knew about Rose and there is also Gwyneth, his own one time GF, that he knew about and did nothing. Harvey violated his girlfriend but then he went into numerous dealings with him AFTER knowing this.
Now he he must be scared all his sh*t is going to hit the fan. I can imagine the HUSH money he has dished out and how his staff has worked tirelessly to remind those who took settlements from him that they are bound to silence. Of course his could just be a trail of countless random one night stands and flings and not sexual harassment as such. Of course this is just conjecture on my part but I think enough has been come out that there is some basis to it.
Well, Affleck knew the score. He knew what went down with Gwyneth and apparently gossiped about it to Matt. I have enormous sympathy for Rose because it does seem like many people tried to drive her to insanity.
Does it really matter at this point? Who knew which detail? Aren’t we all in agreement that too many people knew too much for far too long? I feel like we can’t do this for much longer, the debating of details. If a woman tells me she told person A, I’m going to believe her. In this case, it doesn’t shed more light on Affleck though. We already know he’s a boob-grabby douchebag and that he is part of the circle protecting Casey.
@ littlemissnaughty, I agree. You said it all.
@littlemissnaughty. Yep. Thank you it’s exhausting.
I have no sympathy for Affleck. The last person I would believe on the face of this earth is HW. Anything he says most likely the opposite is true.
I kinda feel bad for Ben being dragged into this as well. He’s not responsible for what happened to her, or for Weinstein’s actions. Plus, Ben sucks on his own for reasons, and now there is another layer of suckage by association with that fat bastard looking fuck. I kinda fail to see what Rose is trying to prove by saying she told Ben. We all know that the pig raped her, but what was Ben suppose to do about it, exactly?
They haven’t offered the dates on those emails have they? That would be interesting to know.
Affleck is always going to be an unreliable narrator in this. I have no doubt Weinstein knows a LOT of the skeletons in his closet.
As for Rose’s former manager? Clearly complicit as hell. She worked for Weinstein for YEARS! Who cares what she has to say?
I think I read somewhere that the emails are from last june or july??
Ah. That makes sense. I think @Chaine’s comment below is probably correct, he hedged his bets.
My big thing again is hugely unreliable narrator about someone he was once beholden too. It also raises the question of what else Weinstein knows and about whom. It still feels like he’s in a bit of denial and holding back. Once he’s not? This will get even uglier.
The emails went out months before all of the articles. I doubt he knew what was coming with all of the women. At least that is what an article said, maybe Deadline.
@Jezza
Rose only mentioned her contemporaneous remarks to Affleck (at Sundance while. Promoting their film, after she says the assault happened) about what Weinstein did, and then described Ben’s angry outburst in response (‘I told him to knock it off!! ‘) because like Damon, Ben was claiming ignorance in some. Interview of how big a monster Weinstein was. Rose got po’d and told the world she dang near told him as it was happening. He knew about it she says.
I don’t feel one bit sorry for Ben. At a time before Ronan Farrow’s story and before the #MeToo movement, he was evidently given some preview that Rose was going to participate in an exposè on Harvey. He calculated that supporting Rose would have zero professional benefit to him, whereas supporting Harvey would at a time when he, Ben, has helmed several major bombs/critically panned vehicles, has received mountains of bad press for his nanny affair and his alcoholism, and his star is in general falling in Hollywood. Ben didn’t look at what would be the honest and just thing to do, he looked at what would best benefit him, and played his cards cold-bloodedly as they come. He deserves all the flack he is going to get for this.
Ding! ding! ding!
Agree.
Also the other email – I haven’t looked up the details of Rose’s encounter with Harvey but to say someone got into a hot tub willingly and therefore couldn’t be raped? Go away whoever you are.
Both emails are gross. HW continues to be the slime bucket he is.
Amen!
“Ben didn’t look at what would be the honest and just thing to do, he looked at what would best benefit him, and played his cards cold-bloodedly as they come”… and this man is raising daughters. What would he do if they were treated the same way he treated Rose? Setting one hell of an example, Ben.
Yes! Truth.
Does it matter whether she told Affleck or not? I suppose it makes him more of a jerk for continuing to work with him if she did, but why is that the thing Weinstein is trying to cling to? He’s done. He needs to shut up and go away forever, hopefully to jail.
I really sympathize with Rose for all her anger and frustration, but I think she also needs to let people deal with these issues in their own way too.
She’s not even claiming to have told Ben, just that he knew.
“‘I looked at him and I must have had tears in my eyes because I remember shaking and I said, “I just came from a meeting with him” and I said his name and he goes, that’s when he said, “Goddamn it, I told him to stop doing that,”‘ said McGowan.”
Why would he know she was raped from that? Harvey tried to proposition Gwyneth, Ben probably assumed he also propositioned Rose.
Ben said he knew Harvey was sleazy and a bully. He very well could have believed he made another gross move on someone, that being Rose, if that’s her quote of all that was said between them. He was in his 20s back then.
Ben is problematic for many things. I don’t know that this is one of them, but I would have to read more about it.
CAA is way into the complicit manchineel and covering for the abusers, this perfomative idealism and selective protest just shows who their sides are, the important players, the PR manchine.
It is beautiful to think the victims will have a voice now when the reality is they are selective about who is the right victim and if the abuser is a big shot a lovable abuser or someone that has important friends.
I loathe CAA.
They’ve gone after agent-less Angelina for years. She’s withstood all of it by not commenting on 99.9%
I used to think that was the main reason (she had no rep), add to that Huvane was CAA and he’s a longtime Aniston pal and PR flack, now knowing that Jolie also had beef with Weinstein who practically owned them…
..it’s just..no wonder.
But she isn’t claiming to have explicitly told Affleck that she was raped, right? The excerpt I read said that she was shaken and she told Ben that she had a meeting with Harvey the day before and he said “dammit, I told him to stop doing that!”
She assumed that he knew she was raped, but wouldn’t it be just as likely or more likely that he thought Harvey had merely propositioned her?
I agree KBB. If she looked upset and simply told him she had a meeting with fat bastard, Ben could have took it as Fat bastard only coming onto her, and Rose could have took his reaction as understanding he raped her.
That part confuses me too. Because “Dammit, I told him to stop doing that!” is hardly an appropriate response when someone confides that they’ve just been raped.
I mean – it’s almost comically bad. I really don’t think he understood the extent of what happened. I mean – I GENUINELY hope that wouldn’t be ANYONE’S response to someone telling them they were raped.
@kbb
I totally get your point but it may not go down well here. I think a lot if people knew Harvey was sexually aggressive, propositioning, coercing , trying to blackmail young starlets into sex in exchange for career advancement .
All of that is wrong but not everyone had to know that he was flat out raping women when his advances were rebuffed.knowing someone is a hound dog and knowing someone is a rapist not quite the same thing though neither are excusable
Lainey has a great article up on her site today about this. I think she is dead on that Harvey has shit on Ben and he is keeping him in line with it. Like she says why would Ben just out of the Blue one day 20 years after this allegedly happened email Harvey about knowing nothing about it. Something must have prompted that email from him.
Absolutely. No way Affleck sent that out of the blue. He was…encouraged…to do so. As was Rose’s ex-manager. Yuck, what does Weinstein have on them? And who else has he “prompted” or “reminded”?
I mean, it’s just common sense that Harvey asked him about what Rose told him, but according to Rose’s account what Ben said is true. She didn’t actually tell Ben that she was raped. She assumed he knew she was raped because she was shaken and told him she had a meeting with him the day before. If he considered Harvey a friend, he would have vouched for that without any need for some kind of blackmail. He wasn’t claiming Harvey didn’t rape her, just that she never said Harvey raped her.
Rose keeps saying Ben knew, but that’s just an assumption on her part. An assumption that makes no sense to me. Why would he assume she was raped merely because she said she had a meeting with Harvey the day before?
…because Ben knew that Harvey was raping women? You think that fat pig didn’t brag about his conquests to his two boot-licking young lackeys Ben and Matt? He knew and he knew for years.
Can I get next week’s Powerball numbers, Lady D? Since you know everything about everything, including what people knew or didn’t know 15+ years ago.
@Lady D They were supposed to know that Harvey was raping people because he bragged about conquests? I’m sure Harvey told all kinds of stories about women, but I’d bet my house that he framed it as women throwing themselves at him, not him threatening, coercing, and raping them.
Ben and Matt would have known that he propositioned Gwyneth and that after she turned him down, he still worked with her.
There is no evidence whatsoever that Ben and Matt knew he was punishing women who turned him down or forcing women to have sex with him. If you choose to believe that, fine, but that’s you choosing to make that leap because there is no evidence of it otherwise.
I don’t doubt he knew. His PR about this has had the whiff of hiding something and guilt. He flat out lied at first and then behaved strangely. This latest move is another guilty looking move.
Quentin Tarantino confessed and said his piece and then went away for a bit. Clooney made statements and moved on.
Rose’s ex said she had told him about what happened. There is no reason for her to pick out Affleck and she didn’t until he lied about knowing anything. There is no way he didn’t know a lot more about HW than the average actor.
Ben and Matt loved the whole Hollywood game and liked being players. They liked the Boy’s Club and socialized with HW. What he did or didn’t know exactly isn’t the issue as much as he wasn’t truthful in the beginning. He has shown a lack of character for years in several instances including with his brother.
He knew HW did things beyond what others knew. But he can’t seem to let it go which only brings up more questions.
Douchebags, every one.
I don’t care if Rose told her manager, Ben Affleck or the Pope that she was allegedly attacked. If she wanted justice, she needed to tell a lawyer and the police. Ben Affleck is neither.
You know what – you are absolutely right! I agree with you totally on that. It was not Ben’s place to go to the police and report it. That was her move entirely. However, was she intentionally scared into not making that move?
And the whole question around Ben was not that he should have went to the police but why after knowing this about Harvey (add in Gwyneth) did he continue to repeatedly work with him and clum around with him for years right up to JUST recently. There are tons of pictures of Affleck with his arms around Harvey smiling from ear to ear as if they were best buddies who had alot of respect for each other, the majority after Affleck knew all this! He did not disassociate himself from Harvey then or for years after, and still would not have, he only has now because this all became public knowledge.
So? There are photos of Weinstein with just about everyone over the past 10 years. We don’t know what Paltrow told Ben, or how she played it. Maybe she told him that it wasn’t a big deal and to not make one out of it. There are a lot of assumptions floating around about all of this. Let’s not put words in people’s mouths. P.S. Repeatedly work with him? Ben hasn’t made a movie for/with Weinstein in years and years. You seem determined to make Ben Affleck the bad guy in all of this, and he simply isn’t, no matter how you try to stretch it.
There’s a lot of people with their arms around him or smiling. Gwyneth went on to work for Harvey in many movies. They liked each other after she put him in his place. She wasn’t all over the place warning women not to work for him. She was working for him.
There’s a photo of Rose McGowan not only posing with Harvey years after her rape. But there’s one where they are actually chatting, the one she did with Rodriguez. So what is one to think about that, meaning other stars just seeing that at a glance?
Nicole Kidman was out to dinner with Harvey to discuss Lion. I remember an article I read. She hugged him when she came in and they sat down together. Nicole has worked years with Harvey on many movies. Katie Holmes just a few years ago was on The Today Show with Harvey to promote a movie she was in of his. She seemed quite comfortable with him.
The list goes on forever about women and men looking happy to be with Harvey. According to Rose, everyone knew, everyone. So jump on all of them then.
+1
You think the police care? That’s truly naive. They don’t care, honey, that’s part of the problem.
Don’t call me “honey.” THAT level of condescension is actually part of the problem these days. That and your entire attitude about reporting crimes. Sure, let’s leave it all up to Ben Affleck to set things right and convict wrongdoing. What a great plan.
You must have missed this part:
“she consulted a lawyer”
and
“[She was] allegedly told by a criminal attorney she wouldn’t be believed if she pressed charges.”
She DID tell a lawyer.
Which part of the word “allegedly” isn’t clear to you? Again, what did she want or expect Ben Affleck to do for her?
Criminal lawyers defend rapists. Why would she be going to a criminal lawyer for advice? They defend the accused, not the accuser.
Taissa, the above is a summary from outlets who have read the book. The book is Rose’s version of events. They put “allegedly” because they aren’t directly quoting the book, they are paraphrasing, and they are recognizing this is Rose’s version. You are going to mount your argument on the idea that she didn’t go to lawyers, even though she says she did??? So you are doubting her on this point, even though you have no legitimate reason to? Hello, rape culture! As far as your straw man argument re: Ben Affleck, she’s not saying Ben Affleck should have mounted her legal defense. She’s only saying that she talked to him about it. It doesn’t change the fact that she did go to lawyers.
Jayna, why wouldn’t she be going to a lawyer with experience in criminal cases to get information on what to expect? Why are you questioning her decisions so harshly? First, the goal post was that she didn’t go to a lawyer. When it was shown that she is saying she DID go to a lawyer, ya’ll resort to doubting this happened or questioning her choice of lawyers. It’s just so odd that people doubt the victim on even the most basic of things.
@Tiffany, I just think it was bad advice, probably coming from people who recommended she go to him who didn’t want her to make waves and wanted her to be talked out of it. I don’t doubt it happened and that she talked to a criminal defense lawyer. I meant it rhetorically. Why even go to him? His advice was probably always going to not be encouraging. I once dated a criminal defense lawyer. His job is to cut a deal or get people off. I broke up with him because he was going to represent a man accused of molesting his young stepdaughter.
Jayna, I don’t disagree with your overall position. Especially considering that Harvey was sending in “spies” to his victim’s inner circles, I think she would have been helped most by seeking legal advice from someone who works specifically with victims. However, it is possible that she did seek this advice but it isn’t included in the paraphrasing above.
I completely believe in the role of the criminal defense attorney in our justice system, but dang, it would be hard to defend people who weren’t innocent and actually committed horrific crimes. I don’t blame you for not being able to stay with someone who had to play such a role. That would be very difficult.
She would go to a defense attorney because HW would have sued her. Also, it would explain to her what she would have to defend if she went ahead.
I watched her show last night and it was surprisingly REALLY good. She is way different than I thought. The media makes her out to be “crazy” but she’s not at all. She is also very insightful and intelligent.
Never Forgive (or forget) any of them, especially because Ben and Matt covered for Casey, so they are all bad in my humble insignificant opinion.
I’ve read her statements and watched her interviews, even the most recent ones, and she keeps mentioning that she met Ben after the incident on some photo-call and he said “Goddamn it. I told him to stop doing that”. But she never says that she explicitly told him that she was raped by Harvey. She doesn’t even say anything of what exactly SHE said to Ben, if she said anything at all, just what she thinks that he must have assumed, just by looking at her. First of all, even if her claims are true, what Ben allegedly told her is very ambiguous and it doesn’t prove that he knew what Harevy did or had done before. It could refer to anything, inviting her to his room, hitting on her, being a bully or whatever. And Ben allegedly sent that private e-mail to Harvey back in July 2017, before the explosion of the scandal. I don’t understand why he would have any reason to lie in a private e-mail back then. It’s not like he has gone on record now with that statement or using it to defend himself. It’s Harvey allegedly using it now.
Second, I don’t understand why her mentioning Ben is relevant at all, whatever you chose to believe. If she decided to keep silent, for whatever reason, what exactly was Ben supposed to do when he wasn’t even a witness of the event? She also called him a liar and threw Ben all sorts of insults on Twitter, when Ben has never even claimed in public that he wasn’t aware of Harvey’s actions, just that he knew the guy was “sleazy” and a “bully”, but wasn’t aware of the extent of his abuse. He further said that he liked and believed and supported Rose, in response to all that she said, but also believes that people should tell as much or as less of their own stories, which makes a lot of sense to me.
Also, Ben stopped working with Harvey 16 years ago. People love to make the assumption that they were close just because Harvey produced GWH, but that isn’t the case at all. Ben has always alluded that Harvey was a sleaze and a bully in his references, even back in the day despite being grateful for what he did for their career, and if you watch a “Dinner for Five” segment on YT in 2004, he says in a seemingly jokingly but evidently honest way, that Harvey bullied both him and Matt during the making of GWH, forcing them to do countless promo saying stuff like “I put a lot of money for you two assholes. Now get out there or I’ll have your legs broken… I’m kidding but I’m not.” That still doesn’t prove that he was aware of all his actions or approves of them. I feel sorry for his name being brought up in this by both Harvey and Rose. He has nothing to do with this.
This is what she said about “telling” Ben:
“‘I looked at him and I must have had tears in my eyes because I remember shaking and I said, “I just came from a meeting with him” and I said his name and he goes, that’s when he said, “Goddamn it, I told him to stop doing that,”‘ said McGowan.”
She really needs to stop saying he knew. He obviously had no idea that she was raped, and I don’t understand why she is so convinced otherwise.
Maybe because she is telling the truth. Perhaps she did tell him.
It makes no sense to think he didn’t. Based on what exactly? I haven’t read anything or heard anything that would make me doubt what she said.
She doesn’t need to stop saying anything if it is true.
Ben has lied about a lot of things, so his word means nothing. He can’t admit it, or he would have to explain, and he never explains himself very well.
The fact that Harvey thinks anything he says at this point will have any relevance just confirms how sick and out of touch he is.
Amen.
Weinstein has lost all credibility. Why should anyone believe any statement that is issued from his vile mouth?
Both Phantoms & Shakespeare in Love were released in 1998. At the time of SIL, Affleck was dating Paltrow. Matt Damon stated that he knew about Paltrow & Weinstein from what Affleck had told him( in an interview). So Affleck knew about Paltrow & Weinstein & knew that he was more than just a womanizer. And so did Damon!
HOWEVER, the question is was Affleck’s understanding (of the conversation with McGowan) that of Weinstein just “hitting on Rose”, rather than sexually assaulting her?
Affleck’s understanding of Paltrow’s situation obviously is different.
I can’t believe Weinstein is dragging Affleck into this mess to save his a&&! Affleck cannot surely be the only one that Weinstein is going to drag into this! What about Paltrow? Weinstein is not going down without a fight!
Weinstein reminds me of the guy that all the girls made fun of in high school & wouldn’t have given him the time of day!
Doesn’t CAA rep Affleck?….if so, this just got very interesting!
No. Ben Affleck is with WME, not CAA.
@TAISSA
I wasn’t sure….thank u for letting me know!
It’s not Ben Affleck’s job to save women from Weinstein. It is not nor was not his responsibility to go to the police on their behalf. How about we stop blaming someone other than the abuser here? Stop waiting for Ben Affleck of all people to save you.
Since you asked: No. I do not feel the slightest bit sorry for Ben Affleck today.
To your point, of course he is not responsible for Weistein’s actions. However, he and his brother and their buddy Damon are kind of A#1 – why and how this systematic oppression of women works. No matter what they are told, they shrug it off, minimize it, and don’t ever have to think about it. B/c Weinstein was never going to sexually assault them.
What this me too/time’s up is missing is MEN. Why are THEY – and we- not talking about how men talk to their sons about consent. About how “getting some” is not the end goal. About how they speak to their male friends about consent, intoxication, rape and sexual assault; about the lies they tell themselves and each other about what constitutes rape, and when they are guilt of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.
How stupid is this? Seriously. Of all the dozens of claims against Weinstein and he chooses to respond to “she didn’t tell Affleck!”?? I honestly can’t understand what his legal team is thinking, aside from maybe trying to hit at Affleck for some reason. He’s the only one that looks really bad here, because even if Rose hadn’t told him anything, it’s no proof Weinstein didn’t attack her.
It’s relevant in that she is saying that she told her former manager and that Ben “knew.” She’s been very careful not to say that she actually told Ben, just that he knew. So Ben’s email doesn’t actually dispute her version of events, but her former manager’s email does. It implies that it was consensual but she regretted it afterwards.
I think Harvey is just trying to muddy the waters as much as possible and if he can drop some big names, he will, even if those big names don’t actually offer anything to his defense. I think his legal team feels like if they can frame it as Rose’s word vs Ben’s word, it’s beneficial to Harvey. But again, nothing Ben said actually conflicts with what Rose said.
Harvey is mental. He probably insisted those emails be put out there because he thinks it proves something. Proves what? It proves nothing, because a gazillion women have come out about him, which supports Rose’s allegations that she was attacked by Harvey. He is delusional.
The fact that Rose has never once said what she explicitly told Ben Affleck is enough proof to me that she is lying and deliberately trying to make him look bad for some strange reason. Is he a mind reader or something? Oh, she must have had tears in her eyes. RME. Oh puh-lease, okay sure. What allegedly happened to her is not Ben Affleck’s fault, the fact that she never went to the police about it is not his fault, the fact that she took hush money — also NOT his fault. This craziness needs to stop.
I notice a lot of the same posters in here from other Ben Affleck/Lindsay Shookus/Jen Garner threads seem to really want to stick it to him. Because you don’t like how he conducted himself in his former marriage is not a reason to try to blame him for someone else’s alleged attack.
@Brenda
Nobody on here has commented on the Affleck/Shookus/ Garner bandwagon. The majority here don’t actually blame Affleck for “someone else’s alleged attack.” His marriage / soon to be divorce doesn’t have anything to do withWeinstein allegedly assaulting women.
I will say though that if there is a pile of sh&t to be found, Affleck seems to land in it head first!
Ben Affleck may not be at fault (though he’s generally a douche & enabler) but neither is Rose for taking “hush money” or not going to the police. It’s extremely difficult to have someone convicted of a sex crime & if you fail, the public will take that as a proof of the perpetrator’s innocence. Seeking a settlement is some form of restitution/acknowledgement.
Even for people who are not in the public eye, going to the police is not an easy task.
Since this story had not broken, Affleck wasn’t subpoenaed by any court to testify on behalf of Weinstein. I guess the burning question is why did Affleck write a statement by email on behalf of Weinstein? Weinstein still obviously had the control & power at the point. So was Affleck’s hand forced? I wonder who else?
Is Weinstein facing any legal action or has he gotten away with his crimes with nothing more than a bad reputation?
OK. I’ll assume he’s not facing any legal action then.
I believe he is being investigated in New York and Europe on some of the claims, maybe LA. I don’t know that charges have been made, but there are ongoing investigations.
So I was working on movies in Boston back in the late 90’s (from 1996-1999) and was on Good Will Hunting, a project called “Next Stop Wonderland” (done as an indie and bought by HW at Sundance in 1998) and another project called “Southie” in 1998 with Rose, Donnie Wahlberg, and Will Arnett, among others. It’s very interesting how all of those projects were directly and indirectly impacted by HW and I had occasion to deal with Harvey when I was second unit production coordinator on Next Stop Wonderland because he was PERSONALLY rewriting the entire fucking movie (driving the writer/director Brad Anderson absolutely insane with fury) and was forever sending the producer and I his shitty rewrites. He was an absolute fucking monstrous prick and was routinely abusive to me, the producer, the director and everyone else he came into contact with. I knew there was something majorly wrong with the guy but I had no idea he was raping people. I also kind of got friendly with the production team on GWH because we were all the same age and they were pretty nice guys – save Affleck, who was ALWAYS a prick from minute one that I met him. Matt was actually really nice, though I have no idea how the years have changed him. I knew those guys were routinely pushed around by HW and they all lived in fear of him and just generally disliked his whole management style. He had them by the balls because he funded the entire project and never let them forget it.
I worked with Rose after the Harvey ordeal at Sundance (I found out in hindsight, not at the time) and she was awful to deal with. She was also abusive to peons like me but I have no idea if that was because of what she had gone through or if it was just her or both. All I know is that I still don’t particularly like her though I feel awful for what she went through of course.
Is it just me, or can you hear the half of Hollywood men trembling somewhere in the corner? Now they not only may be outed as perves and abusers of power but Harvey will use any skeletons in their closets to throw them under the bus. Probably today they all are going though their mailboxes and texts to try understand what Harvey has on them. Even then they can’t be sure Harvey doesn’t have the dirt from some of his spies.
Ok. To play devil’s advocate here….Ben does have an issue with lying. He lied about his giant Phoenix tattoo on his backside. He tried to say it was fake & for the movie Live By Night. The paps have actually photographed his backside recently which what certainly appears to be that tatoo. He had to apologize for censoring slave owning ancestry. Who is to say he isn’t lying about his conversation with Rose? I don’t think we will ever know!
One thing for sure, Affleck is a horrible liar & at some point, it always bites him in the a##!
When Savannah Guthrie interviewed Ben. One of Ben’s statements was”I believe Rose.”
“I support her.” ” I really like and admire her tenacity and wish her the best.” So he does believe her just doesn’t recall Rose telling him that Harvey raped her? Am I understanding this right?
Months before all hell broke loose, Ben sent a letter of support to HW. So he knew of the rape and that he was being implicated as someone Rose confided in in the aftermath. When the expose was released, he decided to make a public statement – several in fact. That he believed Rose (knowing he had written an email saying otherwise) and that HW was a bully etc… No, it wasn’t Ben’s job to report this to the police. But I have zero inclination to feel sorry for him. All this underhandedness shows how duplicitous this guy is. After that slave owning ancestry fallout, I am not surprised.