Harvey Weinstein has hired a team of attorneys in the face of the “bombshell” stories The New York Times and the New Yorker plan to publish that detail sexual allegations and improper workplace behavior against him, Variety reports. It is believed that some of the women who are making the charges spoke on the record.
Jodi Kantor is the investigative reporter working on the piece for the Times. She also wrote about harsh working conditions at Amazon. She is working with Megan Twohey, who wrote a piece about Weinstein’s “questionable” charitable work for amfAR, a charity involved with AIDS research, reports Variety. Meanwhile, Ronan Farrow, who is a former MSNBC host, is working on a story for the New Yorker. According to Variety, one of the stories could be published as early as this week.
In the face of these stories, Weinstein, who is the founder of the Weinstein Company, has retained litigator David Boies, and attorneys Lisa Bloom and Charles Harder. According to Variety, his place is to rebut the claims.
Variety reports that Weinstein would not comment on the charges during a recent interview. When asked if either publication had called him for a comment, he said he was too busy working on The Current War, an upcoming historical drama.
Weinstein later issued a statement through through a spokesperson. According to Variety, Weinstein said, “The story sounds so good I want to buy the movie rights.”
Bloom also released a statement, saying, “Harvey Weinstein is obviously excellent at assembling a legal team,” according to Variety.
Variety writes that even though The Weinstein Co. is preparing itself for these stories to drop, most employees seem unaware of the details. Weinstein is trying to retain the services of Lanny Davis, reports Variety, to advise him on public relations strategy. Davis is a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton.
The New York Times and New Yorker were not immediately available for comment, according to Variety.
The Weinstein Company’s films include well-known hits like The King’s Speech and Silver Linings Playbook.
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