Harvey Weinstein spoke with the conservative political commentator Candace Owens for an interview revealing the prison camera, in which the defammed producer maintains his innocence and resumes the claims of his Hollywood accusers.
Weinstein opens the interview by saying that it was “wrongly”, denouncing the fact that he was found guilty of sexual crimes: the first in 2020 in a first degree criminal sex and rape in the third degree, and the second in 2022 of rape. His conviction in 2020 was canceled in 2024 because the trial judge authorized the testimony based on accusations which were not included in the case, a point that Weinstein evokes several times, apparently as proof in support of his innocence. He describes his actions as “errors” and says that he has done nothing “illegal”.
“I injured my family. I injured my friends. I cheated on my wife. And it was a mistake, you know, a terrible error,” said Weinstein. “But I did not commit these crimes. I swear to God, and the people who look now and on my family. ”
Infidelity, he says, has been triggered by the pressures of his work. “Oh, I was not a good boss,” he admits. “I was hard and I was asking, and I should have been better in this area, but I was not. I had a temperament. You know, I should have controlled myself better. And the pressures of this work were my excuse for cheating. ”
Owens then encouraged Weinstein to discuss some of his former accusers, including Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2017, Paltrow said that Weinstein invited her to her hotel room, had put her hands on her and suggested a massage after having launched her in the 1996 “Emma” film. The imprisoned Weinstein called on the accusation “complete manufacturing”. Although he admitted that he “had definitely made a pass”, he said that he “had not touched him”.
“She thought that the relationship was abusive. Whoever was there, who witnessed this relationship with (Paltrow), it turned into total friends,” said Weinstein. “There are photos of his embrace when I was sick and in the hospital and I did not think I was going to arrive in 1999. Gwyneth, at the Golden Globes, said:” We miss you. ” She got up and made a speech on me.
Weinstein argues that his fall with Paltrow occurred rather because he did not like the script of “Secret History” of Donna Tartt that Paltrow and his brother Jake Paltrow wrote after having opted for the bestseller.
Weinstein also addressed Rose McGowan, who presented himself in an article by Bombshell New York Times published in 2017, saying that Weinstein paid him $ 100,000 to remain silent on a sexual meeting at the Sundance Film Festival. The article cites a legal document in the context of money, which stipulates that money should “not be interpreted as an admission” by Weinstein, and should “avoid disputes and buy peace”.
Weinstein said the money was to make sure that his infidelity to his wife, Eve Chilton, remained a secret.
“I settled with Rose McGowan,” he said. “I gave him $ 100,000, you know, to say … don’t tell my wife, don’t cause me any problems.”
As for what Weinstein has done since his historic fall in Hollywood royalty, he said to a clearly sympathetic Owens that he helps some of his industry connections to develop their films from prison.
“I have friends who are still in the industry that slips their scenarios and ask me for notes,” said Weinstein. “You know, can I do something for that? Can I help? I improve it? And I just give them my honest thoughts. So I don’t do anything for me, but I do things for others.”
Weinstein is currently tried in New York and is accused of two charges of having committed a “criminal sex” in the first degree and a third -degree rape. The accusations arise from the accusations of the former model Kaja Sokola, the former television production assistant Miriam Haley and the former aspiring actor Jessica Mann.
Part of the Owens-Weinstein interview will be presented on Tuesday on YouTube. The full interview, available now, can only be accessible via Owens’ paid subscription service.
