What I didn’t know about Harvey Weinstein

Everyone is talking about Harvey Weinstein right now. I am too. His actions are despicable.

But I’m also seeing many people blame everyone in the entertainment industry for supposedly, and knowingly, staying quiet and conspiring to protect his horrendous attacks and thus hurting women.

I’ve seen posts that say “There’s no way everyone in Hollywood didn’t know what he was doing, shame on them.”

While I’m sure some people did know, most probably did not.

Why do I think that? Because my company worked with Harvey. One of my story artists boarded the opening of his movie My Week With Marilyn and worked directly with Harvey who directed the sequence.

I didn’t know.

Harvey was a total dick to my artist. When they sat down for their first production meeting, Harvey looked at my artist and said with a condescending attitude, “OK, you have ten minutes to impress me.” And this was AFTER art samples had been approved. It was clear he was a bully. But a sexual pervert?

I didn’t know.

I have worked in the industry for over 30 years. A very good friend of mine was an executive with the Weinsteins for many years. We talked production all the time, including about his experiences with Harvey.

I didn’t know.

So my only assumption is that many other also did not know.

But did he get away with it for too long? Hell yes.

Did other people know? Probably. I’m sure some others he associated with probably try the same shit with women. I don’t associate with people like that, so those actions and those stories never reach me.

As my friends know, I also don’t drink. So I’m often not at functions where powerful media moguls ply their ugly trades. In fact, most working stiffs in Hollywood are not invited to those high-level functions either.

How could they know?

But for even those who may have known, and those who were his victims, it’s not as easy as simply speaking up. Powerful men in any industry maintain a silent control on their surroundings.

They control who gets jobs and who has reputations as troublemakers. They instill fear in those who need a steady paycheck.

The audio recording captured of Harvey admitting to illicitly fondling an actress details his manipulation. Horrible.

Far too often, when a single person stands up to a mogul, the mogul wins.

The mogul wins by intimidation.

The mogul wins with influence.

The mogul wins by holding a carrot.

The mogul wins by funding a long court case that the victim can’t afford.

The mogul wins because the victim can’t afford to lose.

It takes more than a single person to stand up and be heard…and believed. Luckily for many, a number of brave women did stand up together.

Together they were heard. Together they were believed. Together they won.

The one thing that can beat a wealthy mogul, is bad publicity and public opinion.

Those women spoke out. More women spoke out. And I’m sure we will hear from even more women.

But I didn’t know. And neither did many other people.

Now I know. And so does the rest of the world.

While it may be a too little and too late, at least some justice is being served and hopefully other women will be spared his unwanted advances.

#HarveyWeinstein

Mark Simon is a seasoned story artist whose company has worked on over 4,000 productions. His course on using the Storyboard Pro software is online at www.Lynda.com/MarkSimon.