The New York Times expose which brought down Harvey Weinstein and reignited the Me Too movement was made all the more damning when Hollywood actresses, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, came forward to put their names against accusations of sexual assault and harassment against the movie mogul.
At the time, Gwyneth recalled being aged 22 when she was hired by Weinstein to star in Emma. She alleged that before shooting began, he summoned her to his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting. “It ended with Mr. Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages,” the report reads. Gwyneth refused his advances, however, says she “was petrified.” She revealed she told Brad Pitt what had happened (her boyfriend at the time whom she dated from 1994-1997) and he confronted Weinstein. Weinstein then threatened Paltrow not to tell anyone else. “I thought he was going to fire me,” she said at the time.
Now, Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the New York Times journalists who wrote the original piece on Weinstein and won a Pulitzer prize for their reporting, have revealed how crucial Gwyneth was to the initial investigation.
“Gwyneth was one of Harvey Weinstein’s biggest stars, and he had really presented himself as a godfather to her over the years,” Twohey said on The Today Show while discussing the pair’s their new book She Said.
“And so I think many people will be surprised to discover that when so many actresses were afraid to get on the phone and tell the truth about what they had experienced at his hands, Gwyneth was the first on the phone and determined to help this investigation… Even when Harvey turns up at a party at her house early and she was forced to hide in the bathroom.”
Twohey went on to says that “Harvey was extremely aware and extremely scared of what the implications would be if his biggest star ended up going on the record…”
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