Harvey Weinstein is weighing in on why Gwyneth Paltrow speaking out against him was particularly bothersome.
“Because she was a good friend of mine,” Weinstein, 73, explained to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Tuesday, March 10. “I don’t know what drove her to do what she did. To make such a big deal over nothing. I walked out of a nice meeting with her and said, ‘How about a massage?’ And she just went, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I got the message. I never put my hands on her.”
Weinstein claimed that Paltrow, 53, then told then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, who wanted to speak with him.
“Brad Pitt came to me and said, ‘Don’t do anything like that with my girl.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, Brad. I got it.’ But then Gwyneth goes on Howard Stern and The New York Times and makes a big deal about it all,” Weinstein alleged. “She knows that nothing happened. But this person who was a friend, who owes her career to me, just stabs me in the back. She wanted to be part of the crowd. I won’t forgive her for that.”
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Weinstein, who was at the center of the #MeToo movement in 2017, was accused of harassment, abuse and rape by multiple women. He has denied the allegations.
In 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault charges in New York and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Two years later, Weinstein went to trial for misconduct claims in California, where he was found guilty and sentenced to 16 additional years in jail.
Four years after Weinstein’s verdict in New York, the state’s Court of Appeals overturned his rape convictions because of “egregious errors” of procedure after the judge allowed alleged victims to testify about allegations that were not part of the case. A retrial was ordered.
Weinstein has remained behind bars due to his California conviction, which was not affected, and has continued to maintain his innocence.
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“Did I make a pass at some of these women unsuccessfully? Did I overplay my hand? Yes. Was I pushy or overly seductive? Yes to all of that,” Weinstein said when asked whether there was “any part” of him that “acknowledges that [he] wronged” his accusers.
“Look, I should never have gone out with the people I went out with,” he continued. “I was married to a fantastic woman who had no idea what I was doing. I lied all the time. I improperly used my staff to hide these things. But did I ever sexually assault a woman? No. I never did that.”
When asked whether he would have “sought to punish” any of the women who had refused him, Weinstein replied, “Absolutely not.”
“I may be a tough guy, but I’m not deranged,” he said. “Just the threat of Harvey was enough — maybe more than enough. But it didn’t go to the point of blackballing anybody. If the camera’s on, I’m just going to say Rosanna Arquette, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie — they just exaggerated. They wanted to be part of the club. And they destroyed me.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
