Allegations mount against Weinstein as women speak out
Hillary Clinton and former President Obama condemn the movie giant amid the scandal.
Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused in recent days of years of mistreatment of women that included rape, harassment and assault, once claimed that Hollywood had “the best moral compass.”
Weinstein made the statements back in 2009 when he was speaking the Los Angeles Times about a pro-Roman Polanski petition he was promoting. The petition argued Polanski, who pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl, should be released from a detention center in Switzerland.
He told the LA Times he doesn’t agree with the assumption that Hollywood is not moral.
"Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," Weinstein told the newspaper at the time. "We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe."
Around the same time, Weinstein wrote an editorial for The Independent titled, "Polanski has served his time and must be freed."
Weinstein wrote, "Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time. A deal was made with the judge, and the deal is not being honored. . . . This is the government of the United States not giving its word and recanting on a deal, and it is the government acting irresponsibly and criminally."
Weinstein has been the subject of two New York Times exposés and one bombshell New Yorker report that claims he raped three women and assaulted others, using his employees to arrange meetings where he could be alone with women. Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Heather Graham have all said they had uncomfortable encounters with Weinstein.
The movie mogul has been fired by The Weinstein Company.
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