Emma Thompson: Harvey Weinstein Is “A Predator”, Tip Of The Iceberg

Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson calls Harvey Weinstein a predator in a new interview with the BBC, and says the disgraced Miramax co-founder is just “the top of a very particular iceberg.”

In the interview set to air later today on BBC Newsnight, the Howards End actress says harassment is “endemic” to the Hollywood system, and that Weinstein is “at the top of the ladder of a system of harassment and belittling and bullying and interference and what my mother would have referred to in the olden days as ‘pestering.'” (Watch a clip below).

Recalling the euphemism of earlier times, Thompson says, “‘Is he pestering you?’ That’s the word we used to use in the olden days, if you recall. This has been part of our world, women’s world, since time immemorial. So what we need to start talking about is the crisis in masculinity, the crisis of extreme masculinity, which is this sort of behavior…”

Asked whether there are others like Weinstein in the Hollywood industry, Thompson responds, “Of course, many. Maybe not to that degree. Do they have to all be as bad as him to make it count?”

At one point, Thompson also says points to Donald Trump, saying such behavior “is represented by the most powerful man in the world at the moment.”

Here’s a clip from the interview: