Creating the narrative.
Via WACH:
The case of former Hollywood studio executive Harvey Weinstein is just the latest in a series of alleged high-profile sexual misconduct by powerful men in media that have come to the surface in recent years.
The case shares a number of similarities with the sexual harassment charges against Fox News founder and former CEO Roger Ailes, particularly because of Weinstein’s close political connections. However, the Hollywood producer’s history of contributing to progressive causes, his misconduct seems to be hitting liberal allies particularly hard.
On October 5, The New York Times first broke the story that Weinstein had been paying off women he allegedly sexually harassed on at least eight occasions over the course of three decades. By Sunday, October 8, Weinstein was fired from his company. The Weinstein Company is now looking to change its name.
After actress Naomi Judd and former assistants and employees of the Hollywood mogul shared their stories, additional victims have stepped forward, including actress Rose McGowan, who reportedly received a 100,000 settlement and Lauren Sivan, who met Weinstein as local cable news anchor in New York. […]
Over the years, Weinstein’s “stature as a liberal lion” has grown, the Times reported.
According to Lorraine Bayard de Volo, chair of the gender studies program at the University of Colorado Boulder, this stature may have helped shield him from his accusers, who were already wary to come forward.
“Perhaps not by design, but by effect, it might have helped shelter him from some accusations because he posed himself as a feminist ally,” she suggested.
On top of campaign contributions, Weinstein helped raise money for Planned Parenthood and took part in the January 2017 Women’s March. He contributed $100,000 to Rutgers University toward the Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies, an endowment Rutgers does not intend to return, despite the recent controversy.
The producer of “Shakespeare in Love,” “Gangs of New York” and “Pulp Fiction,” even helped promote “The Hunting Ground,” a 2015 documentary about campus sexual assault, which he helped push onto the short-list of nominees for an Academy Award.