HARVEY WEINSTEIN The rise and fall of Miramax Films is a rags to riches to rags again Hollywood story, through which runs a horrifying vein of sexual abuse and intimidation on the part of its supremo, Harvey Weinstein. Even in an environment as infamously sleazy as Tinseltown, the extent of Weinstein''s corruption and depravity are shocking. The Weinstein brothers -- Harvey and Bob -- formed the Miramax Film Corporation in 1979. Their intent was primarily to distribute movies. This was born from their love of independent films, particularly the work of filmmakers based overseas. At first, the Weinsteins weren''t looking to make movies themselves. They were interested in putting obscure films in front of a wider audience, and they began picking up small, lesser-known movies for distribution throughout the United States. Throughout the 1980s, Miramax slowly grew into a powerhouse of a company.

The Weinsteins became increasingly involved with some of their pet projects, such as 1981 slasher movie The Burning , which he had a hand in producing. This was early in his career, and Weinstein didn''t yet wield the power of making or breaking the career of any actress who didn''t accede to his demands. Still, it was during the shooting of The Burning that some of Weinstein''s more disturbing tendencies would surface. In a 2017 interview with the Buffalo News, Paula Wachowiak recounted an ugly situation she found herself in while making the movie. Twenty-four years old at the time, Ms. Wachowiak was an intern on the movie and one day found herself taking checks to Weinstein''s room to be signed. Weinstein opened the door wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, which he dropped to accept the folder full of checks. After an awkward conversation centered on the checks, during which the folder was the only thing covering his genitals, Weinstein asked the horrified intern to give him a massage.

Much to her credit, Ms. Wachowiak refused, and she stood her ground when the producer tried to cajole and coerce her. She finally left the room with the checks signed, and in a state of deep upset. Based upon reports from women who encountered him during his time as a music promoter, which pre-dated his involvement with movies, Paula Wachowiak was not the first woman to be sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein. She was most definitely not the last. Weinstein''s M.O. was often to be naked, or nearly naked, when a female entered the room, and then to ask her to massage him, wash his back, or perform some other sexualized service.

The assaults took place most often in hotel rooms, and they happened in different countries all around the world as he traveled on business for Miramax. His chosen targets were invariably women who were within his control or subject to his sphere of influence -- women he judged had a high chance of giving in to his demands and then not talking about it afterward. Many were actresses and felt pressured because, if they rebuffed Weinstein''s advances, he would make sure they would no longer get work in the motion picture industry. According to statements made by many of Weinstein''s victims, if a woman didn''t take the hint, he would get more physical, trying to kiss or undress her against her will. Stories circulated among Miramax employees, particularly females, who sometimes went to meet with Weinstein in pairs to provide a measure of protection. As the 1980s faded into the 1990s, Miramax was going from strength to strength. Stephen Soderbergh''s relatively low budget Sex, Lies, and Videotape was a smash hit and helped really put the company on the map. Thanks to financing and investment opportunities, the Weinsteins were able to take a more active hand in producing movies.

Miramax was a major player in putting independent or arthouse movies out in both theaters and on home video, which was exploding in both sales and rentals. In 1993, the brother sold the company to Walt Disney, with the proviso that they continued to run things their own way. They made millions of dollars on the deal. Miramax''s profile was catapulted into the stratosphere when the company picked up Quentin Tarantino''s seminal Pulp Fiction , which would be nominated for seven Academy Awards (it won one). Over the years, Weinstein-backed movies have garnered hundreds of Oscar nominations. As Harvey Weinstein''s power and influence grew, he became bolder and more brazen with his various abuses. The movie-making business is renowned for its cut-throat nature, yet even by those standards, he acquired a reputation for using bullying tactics to get what he wanted. Weinstein had a volatile temper and was easily provoked when things weren''t going his way.

Males and females alike were subjected to outbursts of rage, although men were spared his unwelcome sexual advances and assaults. Rumors circulated among actors, producers, and crew, but for decades he seemed untouchable, pure Teflon. Weinstein was powerful, and understandably feared. Speaking out against him could end a career, or worse, which explains why so few people attempted it over the years. For his part, Weinstein came to regard himself as untouchable. Time would ultimately prove him wrong about that. Weinstein was almost outed in 2015 by a model named Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. After Weinstein grabbed her breasts and her thighs in a New York City hotel, she reported him to the police.

Although the Manhattan district attorney''s office did not file charges against the movie producer, time was running out for Harvey Weinstein. In October of 2017, the deluge of accusations against Weinstein had reached critical mass. Until then, journalists had found it difficult to get Weinstein''s victims to go on the record. A story published in the New York Times , written by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, finally remedied that. Here it was, laid out in black and white, for all the world to see: a piercing insight into Weinstein''s sordid world. The revelations it contained were explosive, and they were supported by the testimony of numerous reliable witnesses, most of whom had suffered indignity, abuse, and even outright assault at his hands. Former actress Rose McGowan spoke out publicly against Weinstein and wrote about Weinstein''s assault on her in a memoir, titled Brave . McGowan recounted being attacked when Weinstein pushed her into the hot tub in his Utah hotel room, took off her clothes, and performed oral sex on her without her consent.

(Weinstein denied that the assault ever happened.) Ashley Judd stated that Weinstein used a variation of his frequent "give me a massage/let me give you a massage" routine, then tried to make her watch him while he showered. She made her excuses and left but never forgot Weinstein''s appalling behavior toward her. Weinstein sought retribution by having Judd blacklisted from major film projects, such as Peter Jackson''s The Lord of the Rings . Jackson was told that Judd, along with fellow actress (and spurner of Weinstein''s advances) Mira Sorvino, were both "a nightmare to work with." As a result, Jackson avoided casting them in his fantasy epic. Although she did not go into specific detail, actress Angelina Jolie experienced a disturbing encounter with Weinstein which she said "was beyond a pass, it was something I had to escape." She refused to appear in future projects that Weinstein was involved with, such as Martin Scorsese''s TheAviator .

Weinstein attempted damage control by paying off some of his accusers, requiring in return that they refrain from discussing the settlement in public. Yet there were so many accusations and allegations against him that it became impossible for him to silence them all. Weinstein''s lawyers were quick to point out that in many cases, settlements are agreed to by the defendants to prevent themselves from being dragged through a lengthy court proceeding . and that Weinstein''s offering to settle does not necessarily indicate his guilt. While this is true to a certain extent, the argument becomes increasingly less credible when one considers the sheer number of individuals accusing him of sexual predation -- a figure that has been reported as close to, or even exceeding, one hundred women. October 2017 was a bad month for Harvey Weinstein. The "Me Too" movement, founded in 2009 by Tarana Burke in support of survivors of sexual violence, gained global attention when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted: "If you''ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ''Me too'' as a reply to this tweet." Milano replied "Me too" herself, and she penned a scathing indictment of Weinstein for Rolling Stone magazine the following January, stating that "Harvey Weinstein ripped a whole generation of actresses from society.

An entire generation of talented, amazing, smart women that did not comply with his horrific demands was erased from the entertainment industry." Milano''s Tweet was retweeted more than 20,000 times. Tens of thousands of women used "Me too" as a response to indicate that they had been victims of sexual predation. Many male supporters stood in solidarity alongside them. One positive side effect of the Weinstein exposé was that a frank, long-overdue conversation about widespread sexual harassment and assault was finally beginning to take place. Predictably, Harvey Weinstein apologized, his reason being, "the way I''ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it." Considering the severity and enormity of the accusations against him, it''s difficult to see this as being anything other than public relations spin. Few people believed it, particularly those he had victimized.

Weinstein''s name became toxic overnight. He had become such a public liability that even his own company, th.