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Crime

04th Mar 2020

How Harvey Weinstein was brought to justice

Fran Golinski Drinkwater

The once untouchable Hollywood producer was found guilty of rape this month

When allegations of sexual misconduct against the Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein were passed on to two journalists at the New York Times, they were wary.

Not out of skepticism over the veracity of the claims, but of the fact that powerful figures – such as Weinstein – are often incredibly adept at creating a culture of secrecy surrounding their behaviour, from insisting upon non-disclosure agreements being signed to a general climate of fear forcing victims into silence, out of concern about what it could do to their careers and their reputations.

What surprised Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor when they reached out to women in the entertainment business about this story wasn’t their silence however, it was their willingness to speak out.

Twohey and Kantor were the first people to write about the allegations against Weinstein, allegations which he responded to by hiring a private investigator to find dirt on them.

In their new book, She Said, the two journalists look at the culture of power surrounding sexual assault and rape, and how that power is used to silence victims.

We spoke to them about how they helped bring one of Hollywood’s most prolific predators to justice.