| | | | THE WEINSTEIN SCANDAL WORSENS | | Ashley Judd. Rose McGowan. Asia Argento. Lauren Sivan. Rosanna Arquette. Jessica Barth. Emma de Caunes. Dawn Dunning. Lucia Evans. Louisette Geiss. Judith Godreche. Katherine Kendall. Laura Madden. Emily Nestor. Gwyneth Paltrow. Angelina Jolie. Mira Sorvino. These are just some of the women who have courageously spoken out about encounters with Harvey Weinstein. Many of their stories were told for the first time on Tuesday through stories in The New Yorker and The New York Times. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit for speaking out.
Credit also goes to Ronan Farrow and Jodi Kantor for getting these stories published. This special edition of the newsletter has all the latest updates about the Weinstein scandal... | | Hmm: Weinstein Co. board says they didn't know | | The board is no longer holding a meeting on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, this statement was issued by the company:
"The Weinstein Company's Board of Representatives -- Bob Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar -- are shocked and dismayed by the recently emerged allegations of extreme sexual misconduct and sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein. These alleged actions are antithetical to human decency. These allegations come as an utter surprise to the Board. Any suggestion that the Board had knowledge of this conduct is false. We are committed to assisting with our full energies in all criminal or other investigations of these alleged acts, while pursuing justice for the victims and a full and independent investigation of our own." | | So let's get this straight... | | | Harvey's brother Bob is saying, through this group statement, that he didn't know about Harvey's abuse? Seriously? | | -- Weinstein's wife of ten years Georgina Chapman says she is leaving him...
-- TMZ reports that "Harvey Weinstein is boarding a private jet Tuesday night, bound for a rehab center in Europe for sex addiction." Weinstein's spokeswoman confirmed to me that he's heading to rehab, but refused to comment on the "when" or "where..."
-- Police in NYC and L.A. say there are no open investigations into Weinstein's behavior...
-- Famed litigator Patty Glaser is now representing Weinstein in negotiations with Weinstein Co., Eriq Gardner reports...
-- Plans to change the Weinstein Co. name are moving along...
-- Amazon tells THR that "we are reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co..."
-- Weinstein is hoping for a "second chance" from the Hollywood community... | | -- Farrow's article (10:47am) revealed that Weinstein stands accused of rape by three women... and assault by some others... The article also asserted that many Weinstein Co. employees knew about some of the alleged misconduct...
-- Kantor's article (a couple hours later) revealed that Paltrow and Jolie said they were harassed in the 1990s. A source close to Brad Pitt, who was Paltrow's boyfriend at the time of the alleged incident, confirmed to CNN that Pitt confronted Weinstein about it...
-- Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama issued statements denouncing Weinstein...
-- A long list of celebs spoke out, including Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Jennifer Lawrence...
-- Fashion designer Donna Karan apologized for her "asking for it" comments...
-- Via Variety: "The USC School of Cinematic Arts is rejecting a $5 million pledge from Harvey Weinstein..."
-- Jake Tapper reported that "a self-described 'email prankster' who has fooled a number of White House officials also managed to fool" Weinstein and Lisa Bloom... | | Asia Argento told Farrow that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her, and she's been haunted by the encounter ever since. "When I see him," she said, "it makes me feel little and stupid and weak. After the rape, he won."
Argento confirmed her account to me by phone. Commenting on the mountain of allegations against Weinstein, she said, "This is our truth."
-- When the story came out, Argento's boyfriend Anthony Bourdain tweeted support for her: "I am proud and honored to know you. You just did the hardest thing in the world." | | Accuser says "I'm just surprised it has taken this long for it to all come out..." | | | Via Hadas Gold: Dawn Dunning, one of the women interviewed in Kantor's latest story, said to CNN: "I'm just surprised it has taken this long for it to all come out. When I knew him, it was clear by the way he (and his staff) acted this was a regular occurrence..." | | Allred says she's hearing from more women... | | Gloria Allred said Tuesday that she is representing actress Louisette Geiss, "who accused Weinstein of trying to masturbate in front of her at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008."
The two women spoke to Don Lemon on "CNN Tonight." Lemon asked if Allred has been contacted by other accusers, and she said: "Absolutely. I spoke to some today. And I spoke with some over the weekend." But "many do not want to speak out publicly." However, "some may..." | | Why did NBC let this scoop get away? | | Farrow's reporting on Weinstein began about ten months ago. At first, the story was for NBC News. He conducted interviews and obtained the chilling NYPD tape of Weinstein begging a young woman to come to his hotel room in 2015. But at some point over the summer, NBC began encouraging him to shop the story elsewhere. Was the expose simply better suited to a longform/print format like The New Yorker? Or were there other reasons behind NBC's move?
I'll be reporting more on this on Wednesday, but MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, to her credit, asked Farrow about it on Tuesday night. Mediaite has a recap of the (awkward?) exchange... | | | The New Yorker EIC David Remnick was involved every step of the way. Farrow's direct editor for the piece was Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn, a senior editor who joined the magazine last year after editing the California Sunday Magazine. And as you can imagine the fact-checking team was also very involved... | | Parallels between Weinstein and Ailes | | | Former Fox commentator Kirsten Powers, now at CNN, said on "AC360" that when she read Farrow's story, she was struck by the similarities to "what happened at Fox News with Roger Ailes. That you had women that were basically terrified. Very similar climate, in the sense that, if you went up against Harvey Weinstein, they would possibly ruin you, plant bad things about you in the media..." | | -- Jeffrey Katzenberg has shared the email he sent to Weinstein: "You have done terrible things to a number of women over a period of years..."
-- Tucker Carlson's banner on Fox: "HOLLYWOOD'S DIRTY SECRET"
-- Jake Tapper on "The Lead:" "It's impossible to read these stories... about this vile setup that Weinstein had in his office, at restaurants, in hotels, at film festivals, all over the world, with his own staffers helping to bring these women into his lair and then leave... It's impossible to read all this and think, oh, no one really knew..."
-- Jeffrey Toobin on "AC360:" "Where is law enforcement on this? I think they've been totally asleep at the switch..."
-- Chris Hayes tweeted: "It was a year ago we went through a news cycle similar to this with Trump and then he was elected President..." | | Michael Eisner tweeted... | | | Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner tweeted that he fired the Weinsteins "because they were irresponsible, and Harvey was an incorrigible bully. Had no idea he was capable of these horrible actions..." | | Barack Obama's statement -- specifically the part that says "any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable" -- is an implicit critique of Trump, given Trump's history...
-- Jonathan Alter tweeted: "Clinton impeached. Cosby, Ailes, O'Reilly, Bolling, Weinstein humiliated. Only President Pussy Grab has escaped accountability." | | Turkey convicts WSJ reporter of terrorism | | "We will work tirelessly to overturn this preposterous conviction," Gerard Baker said Tuesday, after a "Turkish court sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Ayla Albayrak to two years and one month in prison." Thankfully Albayrak is in New York right now. The case "is a rare instance of terrorism charges brought against a reporter working for a Western media outlet," the WSJ said.
-- "This was an unfounded criminal charge and wildly inappropriate conviction that wrongly singled out a balanced Wall Street Journal report," Baker said. "The sole purpose of the article was to provide objective and independent reporting on events in Turkey, and it succeeded." Read more...
-- Per the Committee to Protect Journalists: "Dozens of journalists are imprisoned for their work in Turkey and this conviction is a signal that conditions for the press are continuing to deteriorate..." | | | Hadas Gold emails: A Reporter Without Borders spokesperson told me it's a particularly brazen step by Turkey to imprison a reporter working for a U.S. news outlet. This all happens as relations between the U.S. and Turkey further deteriorate. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that his country does not recognize the authority of the current U.S. ambassador, John Bass, after the U.S. decided to suspend visa services within Turkey on Sunday... | | Trump's misleading tweet about ESPN | | | "With Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have 'tanked,' in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!" POTUS tweeted Tuesday morning. ESPN officially declined to comment... But execs privately pointed out the strength of the network's ratings... As CNNMoney's Aaron Smith noted here... | | | Michael Smith solo-hosted "SC6" on the second day of Jemele Hill's two-week suspension. Before the show, she tweeted: "I love you @michaelsmith for being my biggest supporter, a great friend, terrific husband & father. I truly don't deserve you. See you soon..." | | "Trump scores a win in the culture war — NFL asks players to stand for national anthem" | | | That's the headline via the WashPost's David Nakamura. If you missed Roger Goodell's memo saying "we believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem," here it is... | | Lots of other Trump news on Tuesday... | | | But the media team was consumed by the Weinstein news. For a recap of Trump v. Corker, the "IQ test" joke/not-a-joke, and all the rest, click over to CNN's The Point newsletter... | | -- Time Inc. is "cutting back on the circulation and frequency of some of its biggest titles, part of a far-reaching cost-reduction and restructuring program meant to ensure the profitability of its core brands..." (WSJ)
-- WashPost reporter/CNN analyst Abby Phillip is joining CNN full time... She'll be a W.H. correspondent for the network...
-- NPR's Geoff Bennett is joining NBC News as a W.H. correspondent... (TVNewser)
-- Molly Ball is jumping from The Atlantic to Time... She'll remain a CNN analyst...
-- Jessica Bennett is the new gender editor at the NYT... | | Spielberg to produce "Amazing Stories" for Apple | | The WSJ's Joe Flint and Tripp Mickle scoop: Apple is "betting on acclaimed director and producer Steven Spielberg for its first major foray into creating original video content. The tech giant has struck a deal with Mr. Spielberg's Amblin Television and Universal Television, a unit of Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal, to make new episodes of 'Amazing Stories,' a science fiction and horror anthology series that ran on NBC in the 1980s..."
--> Here's Peter Kafka's analysis... | | A piece of news connecting Apple and Weinstein... | | | On Monday Apple "scrapped plans for a 10-part Elvis biopic produced by The Weinstein Co.," THR's Lesley Goldberg reports. This mega-deal predated Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht's arrival at Apple... | | NEW "Reliable Sources" podcast | | | Starbucks exec chairman Howard Schultz and the company's "chief storyteller" Rajiv Chandrasekaran sat down with me to talk about the second season of the company's web video series "Upstanders..." why the coffee company is making content in the first place... and what void it's supposed to fill in the media world. Of course, I also asked the very presidential-sounding Schultz about his 2020 aspirations, and I asked Chandrasekaran if he misses the WashPost... You can hear the full podcast on iTunes... | | | Hadas Gold emails: A notable personnel move across the pond: BBC's Head of News and Current Affairs James Harding announced that will be stepping away from the organization in January. Harding said in a memo to staff he's going to start a new media venture -- one that's notably different from the journalism the BBC produces because it will have "a clear point of view." More here... | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- The American Society of News Editors' annual newsroom diversity survey says some progress is being made, but white males are still the dominant demographic in newsrooms. (Poynter)
-- Nieman's headline about the survey: "The share of women in newsrooms has increased barely 1 percentage point since 2001, ASNE data shows..." (Nieman)
-- A highly recommended read: Nina Berman talks to people who have been the victims of misinformation and "fake news," covering stories ranging from Sandy Hook, to Pizzagate, to the death of Seth Rich... (CJR)
-- The Mondelēz snack brand Véa is sponsoring a "residency for emerging journalists" within the NYT's travel section... (NYT PR) | | Russia threatens 'restrictions' in letters to U.S.-backed media | | | Hadas Gold writes: Russian threats against American media outlets based in Moscow reached a new level this week, when officials sent letters to news organizations backed by the U.S. government and warned them of possible "restrictions." The letters and increasingly intimidating rhetoric from Russian officials are retaliation for what they allege is the Justice Department's crackdown of state-funded news organizations like RT and Sputnik in the U.S. It's the latest in an escalating war of words... Read more here... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Medium is opening up its partner program... meaning all publishers can now post behind Medium's paywall... (TechCrunch)
-- "It's a time of pragmatism, not panic, in advertising:" Seb Joseph says most advertisers are actually OK with a Facebook-Google duopoly... (Digiday)
-- Over at Wired, a refreshing ode to the often disparaged comment section... (Wired)
-- Here's an excerpt from Tim O'Reilly's latest book, advocating for a reinvention of social institutions in the digital age... (NiemanLab) | | The private lives of DACA's "public faces" | | | An Phung emails: Splinter's David Uberti compiled the stories of several DACA recipients who have become the public faces of their cause. Their PR efforts have resulted in overwhelming public support for DACA kids, but telling and retelling their stories to scores of journalists for one of the year's biggest national stories takes an emotional toll on the storytellers. "You choose your words carefully," said Tomas Evagelista. "You have 800,000 or more people who rely on you to get it right." | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
TKTK | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. The feedback helps us craft the next day's newsletter! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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