
Despite the big bucks and big support that Hillary Clinton has received from Harvey Weinstein for decades, don’t expect the 2016 Presidential candidate to say anything significant soon about the extensive sexual harassment allegations swirling around the much-accused Oscar-winning producer.
“She’s damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t now in this situation,” a deep-pocketed Tinseltown donor to the Democrats told Deadline of any statement by Clinton about the scandal that has seemingly buried now ex-The Weinstein Company boss.
“You’d hope for better, but this is so typical Clinton denial, isn’t it?” the insider added of the delay by the ex-First Lady in addressing claims by Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, former local FOX TV reporter Lauren Sivan and others. “With her history with Harvey, her husband’s history, nothing she can say will suffice at this point.”
Having given a keynote address at Stanford University and continuing her “What Happened” book tour in San Francisco the day after the New York Times published a detailed piece on Weinstein’s behavior and six-figure settlements, Clinton made no mention of the reports or the producer.
After first taking a leave of absence and threatening to sue the NYT, Weinstein was toppled from his co-chair perch by TWC on Sunday. As the company is contemplating a name change, Harvey Weinstein’s name is being scrubbed off the credits for TWC’s TV properties. At the same time, more claims of deeply inappropriate behavior over the decades by the now former TWC co-chair are emerging and condemnations of Weinstein are coming from the likes of Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, and Glenn Close.
Active on social media today, the former Secretary of State has still said nothing about the scandal, which was quite unlike her fast and extended online response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas late on October 1. Clinton does still calls herself a “women+kids advocate” on her Twitter bio and says “To all the little girls watching…never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world” on a pinned tweet dated November 9, 2016.
Thanks to @parentsmagazine for a great chat about what it was like to work on It Takes A Village with @MarlaFrazee. https://t.co/UXlIV1JuOF
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 9, 2017
Clinton is scheduled to appear in Davis, CA tonight for “What Happened” event.
An early supporter of Bill Clinton back in the 1990s, Weinstein was outspoken on the then 42nd POTUS’ behalf during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and the subsequent unsuccessful impeachment proceedings. Having backed Hillary Clinton’s NY Senate run and her 2008 race against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, Weinstein was a major donor and bundler for the ex-SecofState’s Hollywood cash vacuuming 2016 campaign
With the candidate there in person, a June 20, 2016 fundraiser at Weinstein’s Manhattan home snared $1.8 million for the Clinton campaign. The Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick attended event was one of many Weinstein was involved in last year in Clinton’s battle for the nomination and then against Donald Trump in her effort to become America’s first female President. Pushing others to write hefty checks, Weinstein himself gave thousands personally to Clinton campaign and $30,000 to the Clinton Victory Fund.
An October 6 editorial by the NYT advocated that Clinton and Obama, who once in office was also was the recipient of support, big donations and a summer internship for one of his daughters from Weinstein, should speak out about the allegations. It’s been crickets from former President Obama so far.
A regular donor to Democrat candidates and incumbents, many of whom are now giving away the money they received to women’s groups and charities, Weinstein additionally gave $250,000 to the Democratic National Committee over the last decade and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation. The former has said it will give the $30,000 it received from Weinstein in the last quarter to Emily’s List and others. The latter, like Hillary Clinton, has said nothing.
Which is unlike actor Jessica Chastain, who today revealed how she was cautioned about Weinstein’s behavior early in her career:
I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an enviornment for it to happen again.
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) October 9, 2017
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