Over the past two weeks, the seemingly endless stream of horrifying stories about Harvey Weinstein systemically sexually harassing and abusing women in Hollywood for decades has come to light, with many powerful voices coming together to denounce the mogul’s behavior. While the common tune among most was that they were unaware (at least of the extent) of Weinstein’s behavior, director Quentin Tarantino admitted in a New York Times interview that he had heard many of the stories and chose to work with Weinstein anyway, which he now regrets.
“I knew enough to do more than I did. There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things. I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard. If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him.”
Tarantino formerly dated actress Mira Sorvino, who informed him of Weinstein’s behavior to her and other actresses. He was also aware of the settlement that Rose McGowan had reached with the producer. Weinstein and Tarantino had worked together on a number of successful films, including Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, the Kill Bill films, Inglourious Basterds, and The Hateful Eight.
“What I did was marginalize the incidents. Anything I say now will sound like a crappy excuse…Everyone who was close to Harvey had heard of at least one of those incidents. It was impossible they didn’t.”
Tarantino continued, expressing his shock at the extent of Weinstein’s alleged behavior, saying that Hollywood was “operating under an almost Jim Crow-like system that us males have almost tolerated.”
“I’m calling on the other guys who knew more to not be scared. Don’t just give out statements. Acknowledge that there was something rotten in Denmark. Vow to do better by our sisters. What was previously accepted is now untenable to anyone of a certain consciousness.”
To their credit, some have done more than just make statements. Kevin Smith is donating all of his residuals from his Weinstein backed projects to Women In Film, and has pledged to personally donate $2,000 a month should the Weinstein Company ever go under.
(Via the New York Times)
