Harvey Weinstein is getting flamed in the news and on social media as starlets tell their stories. Yet, it turns out Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane and others warned us years ago.
During the 2013 Oscars, MacFarlane took the stage with Emma Stone to present 2012’s Best Performance by an Actress award. Then he dropped a bombshell after naming the candidates: Sally Fields for Lincoln , Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables , Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook , Helen Hunt for The Sessions , and Amy Adams for The Master .
“Congratulations,” he cracked. “You five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.”
Since, as The Atlantic points out, Weinstein’s proclivities had long been an “ open secret ” in Hollywood, people assumed he was just being funny. But last Wednesday, Seth MacFarlane posted on Twitter that his joke wasn’t just casual humor. It “came from a place of loathing and anger” because Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed his friend Jessica Barth.
“In 2011, my friend and colleague Jessica Barth, with whom I worked on the Ted films, confided in me regarding her encounter with Harvey Weinstein and his attempted advances,” he wrote in the image he posted to get around Twitter’s character limit.
“She has since courageously come forward to speak out.”
Seth McFarlane then explained this was what he had in mind when he fired his shot across Harvey Weinstein’s bow.
“It was with this account in mind that, when I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction. Make no mistake, this came from a place of loathing and anger. There is nothing more abhorrent and indefensible than abuse of power such as this. I respect and applaud my friend Jessica and those sharing their stories for their decision to come forward, and for being champions of the truth.”
Jessica Barth also told The New Yorker Harvey Weinstein had demanded she give him a naked massage. Here’s the video with Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone. The part with the joke starts at the 3:02 mark.
Courtney Love warns young actresses about Harvey Weinstein back in 2005.
But Seth MacFarlane wasn’t the only one. Courtney Love also warned actresses about Harvey Weinstein’s proclivities way back in 2005. As we reported here at the Inquisitr , she even got banned from the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for it. During Pamela Anderson’s Comedy Central Roast, MTV’s Natasha Leggero asked if she had any advice for aspiring actresses trying to launch their careers in Hollywood. Her answer?
“I’ll get libeled [hit with a libel lawsuit] if I say it,” Courtney Love said hesitantly, then plowed full speed ahead. “If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party in the Four Seasons, don’t go.”
30 Rock character Jenna Maroney: “I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein.”
And then there’s Jane Krakowski, who plays aspiring actress Jenna Maroney on NBC’s 30 Rock . In “ Kidnapped by Danger ” from Season 6 in 2012, she told a friend, “I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions…out of five.” Here’s the video with the scene.
https://youtu.be/0ceNfXrccbQ
Entourage even turned Harvey Weinstein into a character.
Entourage, HBO’s parody of Hollywood, also made pointed references with a recurring character named “Harvey Weingard.” The Washington Post notes, the Harvey Weingard character was “an over-the-top terrifying producer who was a very loosely veiled version of Weinstein.” Furthermore, “On the show, Harvey was portrayed as an extremely influential, verbally abusive power player who threatened to end people’s careers if he didn’t get his way.”
At the time, the Hollywood Reporter wrote the real Harvey Weinstein told Entourage star Kevin Connolly the show’s producers would be “dead” if they pulled that stunt again.
Rose McGowan: “They shamed me while adulating my rapist.”
Rose McGowan also made headlines after her rape accusations against Harvey Weinstein got her booted off Twitter. CBS News reports women from all over the world boycotted Twitter in protest. They finally let her back into her account, then claimed they gave her a time out because she tweeted a private phone number. But given the level of abuse tolerated on Twitter, many of Rose McGowan’s fans aren’t having it.
Women boycott Twitter in wake of Rose McGowan, Harvey Weinstein saga https://t.co/clrExisKRL pic.twitter.com/1b6nnLKR2S
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 15, 2017
Although she didn’t mention Harvey Weinstein by name until last week, Vanity Fair reminds us Rose McGowan “ made waves ” last year when she tweeted that a Hollywood mogul had raped her. Under the hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport , she said she didn’t take action because her lawyer said she’d never win the case.
“A [female] criminal attorney said because I’d done a sex scene in a film I would never win against the studio head,” The Charmed actress explained.
She also wrote, “They shamed me while adulating my rapist.” Then, on Saturday, The Guardian added Rose McGowan said she’d gotten blacklisted after being raped in a 2017 interview. They added Harvey Weinstein settled with her when she was 23-years-old. It turns out David Carr, the late reporter from The New York Times wanted to tell her story for years, but she held back saying, “It’s not time yet, the public consciousness is not there.”
As reported here at the Inquisitr , Rose McGowan also took Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos to task and asked him not to work with Harvey Weinstein.
Rose McGowan, fresh off a Twitter suspension, takes aim at Amazon’s Jeff Bezos pic.twitter.com/T5ICl2Wt9c
— Cristiano Lima (@viaCristiano) October 12, 2017
But some say Rose MacGowan had the stories pulled because she received threats from Harvey Weinstein.
[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]