Today has been quite a day for alleged abusers and harassers in Hollywood. From the fallout of yesterday’s interview with the cast of “Arrested Development” to today’s news of multiple victims speaking out against Morgan Freeman (via CNN), the day’s news has been dominated by decidedly non-movie stories.
As a slight digression, for those that don’t know, Freeman has been accused of inappropriate touching and harassment of assistants on multiple film sets. The actor made a statement saying, “I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”
So, how else can we end the day, but with a massive story involving the biggest poster child for inappropriate behavior in the film industry – Harvey Weinstein? According to the New York Daily News, the disgraced producer and studio head is expected to turn surrender himself over to authorities in New York City on Friday.
According to the report, Weinstein is expected to be charged in a case brought against him by Lucia Evans, who claimed that the Hollywood mogul forced her into a sexual situation in 2004. The Daily News is unsure if there will be any other additional charges against Weinstein.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that this allegation is only one of the dozens that have come to light in recent months. And the Daily News is reporting that there are multiple investigations going on concurrently with the Evans case.
In more Harvey Weinstein news, filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell has come forward with his own story about the controversial figure. In an interview with IndieWire, Mitchell says that he was a witness to Weinstein publicly screaming at another filmmaker in the early 2000s.
“I saw him screaming at a brilliant filmmaker,” Mitchell said. “I thought, ‘I’m never gonna work with that guy. I don’t know anything about him, except that he’s a bully, and that he seems to destroy people’s lives.’ So I said to myself, ‘I would rather a film of mine didn’t come out if he was the only distributor interested.’”
When asked if he remembers the identity of the screaming victim, Mitchell says, “I think it was actually Pedro Almodóvar, who’s no pushover, that he was screaming at. I feel like it was at The Plaza or something. I don’t know why I was there. It’s not one of my usual hangouts.” IndieWire says that a rep for the Spanish filmmaker denied that Almodóvar was involved in an altercation with Weinstein.
