How Harvey Weinstein wielded his power in Hollywood

ANALYSIS: It’s become crystal clear that Harvey Weinstein has never been any easy man to say no to. This is how he became so influential.

WHEN New York was staging a benefit concert after 9/11, the city turned to Harvey Weinstein to pull it all together.

The powerful film producer and former concert promoter quickly assembled a cast of megastars in his hometown, with a sellout show at Madison Square Garden including Mick Jagger and Elton John, Paul McCartney and The Who, raising almost $40 million in a five-hour extravaganza.

Afterwards, at a party packed with celebrities and his extensive political and business contacts, Weinstein turned to a reporter from The New Yorker who was writing a profile about him and said, as if to prove a point: “I am not an a**shole”.

It’s become crystal clear in the past week that Weinstein — who in 2001 was at the height of his powers — has never been any easy man to say no to. What he wanted the reporter to know was that he wasn’t quite so bad as his reputation would suggest.

Actors Kate Beckinsale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Cate Blanchett and Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein arrive at the UK Premiere of "The Aviator" in 2004 in London. Picture: Getty

As more women yesterday came forward to detail sexual harassment claims against the 65-year-old and his wife met with divorce lawyers, Weinstein’s reputation was in tatters, with his producer credit removed from several upcoming films and TV shows.

Hollywood royalty Jane Fonda said men like him “should all go to jail” and police confirmed they are investigating sex assault claims in both London and the US as he prepared to head into a celebrity rehab centre in Arizona.

Actor George Clooney and producer Harvey Weinstein attend the Critics' Choice Movie Awards in 2013. Picture: Michael Kovac/WireImage

Now many are asking how they could have been blind for so long about Weinstein, one of cinema’s most influential figures and the man behind some of the greatest movies of the past 40 years, including Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Sex Lies and Videotape and My Left Foot.

Some point to the fact that Weinstein — a loud, bullying, cutthroat negotiator who remained proud of his coarse persona — had finally made more enemies than friends. He was also in the twilight of a waning career, after a series of business missteps in the past decade.

To understand how Weinstein was able to wield such power for decades over the women he tormented, you have to go back to where his career started. Weinstein and his brother Robert were raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Queens and after a stint as concert promoters they set up a film studio, named Miramax after their parents Miriam and Max, in 1979.

Focusing on art house films they went on to create an unprecedented winning streak from 1992 to 2003, with at least one best picture Oscar nomination every year.

Ben Affleck and Harvey Weinstein attending the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. Picture: AFP

Feted for their midas touch, the pair received 249 Academy Award nominations and 86 wins, including three Oscars for best picture for The English Patient, Chicago and Shakespeare in Love.

But his success was always tempered by his boorish behavior. While the shocking recent allegations of bribing women for decades, near-constant sexual harassment and even assault of the young women he worked with, have combined to sink his career, he was always known for a quick temper and ruthless business dealings.

As a 2011 Vanity Fair profile said: “Love him or hate him, and there are plenty in both camps, Weinstein is first and foremost a creature of New York, a personification of the city’s best and worst traits: smart, arrogant, foulmouthed, temperamental, undeniably creative.”

Actress Meryl Streep and producer Harvey Weinstein attend the BAFTA Awards Tea Party in 2012. Picture: Getty

A year later, Meryl Streep offered some insight into her opinion of Weinstein in her Golden Globes thank you speech for The Iron Lady.

“I just wanna thank my agent Kevin Huvane and God, Harvey Weinstein, the punisher, Old Testament, I guess,” Streep said. Streep went on to win the Oscar for her portrayal of former British PM Margaret Thatcher, an award which Weinstein lobbied for in his typical, determined style.

Streep is one of a long line of celebrities to condemn Weinstein in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations by more than 30 women and rape claims by at least four more. The attacks took place over the past 40 years and many share familiar elements: an unwanted encounter with Weinstein in his bathrobe, usually in a hotel room to which they were summonsed for a meeting.

Harvey Weinstein and his wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman. Picture: AP

Actress Ashley Judd, his first on the record accuser in an October 5 New York Times story, perhaps best summed up how compromising a position it was for a young woman, particularly for the aspiring actress she was in 1996.

“How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” Judd told The Times she remembered thinking.

In the end, it took 21-years for Judd to summon up the courage to name and shame Weinstein, triggering a tsunami of similar claims from his other accused victims and seeing her labeled a hero.