Kevin Smith is making the rounds to promote Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, his latest film as well as his latest roundelay with the characters played by Jason Mewes and himself. As he’s wont to do, he’s telling stories — including a chilling one about one of the people who made his career: Harvey Weinstein, the former head of Miramax, which distributed Smith’s debut, Clerks, and who has spent the last two years being repeatedly accused of sexual harassment and assault.
Kevin Smith was speaking to Business Insider when he revealed that the disgraced Hollywood producer contacted him a mere week before The New York Times broke the first wave of accusations. The two reportedly hadn’t spoken since Smith’s 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which had been made by The Weinstein Company and which failed at the box office. So he was a little surprised when Weinstein suddenly floated the idea of a sequel to Dogma.
“I said, ‘Hey, how are you?’ And he goes, ‘You know, we have Dogma, I just realized, and we got to get it out there again,'” Smith told Business Insider, referring to his star-studded 1999 comedy-fantasy, which found him exploring his religious side in his usual cheerfully crass-yet-thoughtful style.
“I said, ‘We do! People online are always asking where they can get it,'” Smith recalled. “And he then goes, ‘You know, that movie had a big cast, we might even be able to do a sequel.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah man, right on. I might think about that.’ And he was like, ‘We’ll talk.’ And a week later The New York Times story breaks. I felt sick to my stomach.”
Weinstein’s team said they weren’t sure if the call ever happened, though Smith also says that, after reading the Times story, he learned that at least one other person in the industry had received a similar call.
Smith has a theory about why Weinstein phoned him up so soon before the scandal broke. “He was starting to circle the wagons,” Smith said. “It was him looking to see who was a friend still because his life was about to shift completely.”
The filmmaker also pointed that he’d defended Weinstein previously, when Peter Biskind’s 2004 indie exposé Down and Dirty Pictures portrayed he and his brother Bob as bullies who intimidated their way to box office and awards glory. “ I wrote a piece in Variety on how he’s still got the edge when people would go after him like, ‘Harvey’s lost his touch,’” Smith pointed out.
Weinstein is currently awaiting a January 2020 trial for charges of rape, predatory sexual assault, and criminal sex act based on two separate allegations. He’s plead not guilty to all charges.
Smith’s latest film, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, hits theaters on October 15.
(Via Business Insider)
