Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / Watch now with the PBS App
Harvey Weinstein was once one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. But beneath the glitz and glamour, there was a pattern of sexual misconduct going back to the very start of his career. As Hollywood marked the 90th Academy Awards, FRONTLINE investigates the disgraced mogul’s spectacular downfall, the efforts to silence his accusers, and what Hollywood itself knew.
Drawing on exclusive insider accounts, "Weinstein," a one-hour special co-produced with the BBC, examines how Weinstein used lawyers and private detectives to help him suppress sexual harassment allegations. The film shines new light on what those around Weinstein knew about his behavior, and when.
“I think looking back that I did know and I chose to suppress it,” Paul Webster, former head of production of Miramax, says in his first television interview on Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct. “I think we were all enablers. I think we were we were all complicit.”
“I had no idea of the breadth and enormity of the story. I thought he just preyed on us,” a former Weinstein assistant, Zelda Perkins, says in the documentary. “That was the most shocking thing, realizing he was a predator and he had been seriously abusing people with total impunity for all this time.”
The film traces Weinstein’s alleged predatory behavior all the way back to his very first movie, drawing on interviews with former executives at both Miramax and The Weinstein Company, a former assistant, and some of his accusers — including a woman who worked with Weinstein on his first film and is speaking out for the first time.
Using these firsthand accounts, Weinstein shows how the mogul successfully used non-disclosure agreements over the years to settle sexual harassment allegations — and examines how he hired private intelligence firms to investigate both his accusers, and journalists and actors who might pose a threat to him.
FRONTLINE also sat down with Eric Schneiderman, the New York State Attorney General who filed suit against The Weinstein Company: “[Weinstein] was using the company to advance his sexual interests and there are a lot of employees who were either manipulated or intimidated into helping him along,” Schneiderman tells FRONTLINE.
More than 100 women have now come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, abuse, and even rape. Weinstein denies all allegations of nonconsensual sexual contact and criminal conduct.
Filled with fresh insights from those who worked with Weinstein, those who tried to confront him, and the journalists who ultimately broke the story, "Weinstein" is an in-depth look at the long history of allegations against the powerful producer.
“Any time you have a story like this where people are getting hurt over decades and decades, there are people around who knew enough and could have done more to stop it,” Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker tells FRONTLINE in the documentary.
Related Article: What Hollywood Knew About Harvey Weinstein by Anjali Tsui Abrams Journalism Fellow, FRONTLINE/Columbia Journalism School Fellowships
Related Article: What Happens If Someone Breaks a Non-Disclosure Agreement? by Nicole Einbinder Abrams Journalism Fellow, FRONTLINE/Columbia Journalism School Fellowships
Related Article: N.Y. Governor Orders Investigation Into DA’s Handling of Weinstein Case by Leila Miller Tow Journalism Fellow, FRONTLINE/Columbia Journalism School Fellowships
Related Article: Weinstein Indicted for Rape and Criminal Sexual Conduct by Leila Miller Tow Journalism Fellow, FRONTLINE/Columbia Journalism School Fellowships
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This episode is available on demand on FRONTLINE's website, video.kpbs.org and with the PBS App.
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Credits:
A BBC Current Affairs production for WGBH/FRONTLINE and BBC. It is directed and produced by Jane McMullen and Leo Telling. The co-producer is Nick Verbitsky. The senior producers are Dan Edge and Frank Koughan. The executive producer for BBC is Karen Wightman and the editor is Rachel Jupp. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
