The Harvey Weinstein scandal has exposed pretty much everyone as a hypocrite

THE mounting accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein have exposed an ugly lie at the heart of Hollywood.

OPINION

AS SICKENING accusations of sexual harassment continue to mount against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, hypocrites are everywhere you look.

Weinstein has finally been sacked, days after the New York Times published a story chronicling his alleged misdeeds. Overnight, Academy Award winner Meryl Streep condemned his conduct, calling it “inexcusable” and an “abuse of power”.

“The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported,” Streep said through her publicist. “The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.”

Full credit to her for speaking out, which is more than most actors have done. But it is telling that Streep waited until she knew Weinstein had lost his job to say anything – anything at all – about the scandal.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein. Pic: AFP

For four long days, the news of his misconduct was met with eerie silence from Hollywood’s biggest stars. Most of them still haven’t addressed it and you can bet Weinstein’s accusers, such as actress Rose McGowan, have noticed.

“Ladies of Hollywood, your silence is deafening,” McGowan said over the weekend, going out of her way to highlight a handful of exceptions like Patricia Arquette, Amber Tamblyn, Lena Dunham and brie Larson.

It’s actually unfair of her to single out the “ladies” of Hollywood, because we haven’t heard from the men either. Why? Why are so many stars reluctant to condemn something this monstrous?

And then there is an even more disturbing question – how many people knew about Weinstein’s behaviour and stayed silent?

Harvey Weinstein and Rose McGowan, who is now among his accusers. Pic: Getty Images

Today a former New York Times reporter, Sharon Waxman, claimed Matt Damon and Russell Crowe directly intervened to help Weinstein as she tried to expose him in 2004.

Last night, Kim Masters from The Hollywood Reporter told 7.30 she had chased the story without success for years.

Clearly, rumours about Weinstein have circulated for a long time. His alleged misdeeds, spanning decades, have been called “the worst-kept secret” in Hollywood.

And yet all that time, he was showered with money and praise by an industry that spends so, so much time patting itself on the back.

Tune into any awards ceremony and you can practically feel the smugness radiating from your TV screen.

The rich and famous swagger on stage and say all the right things about women, minorities and whatever social issue happens to be most fashionable at the time – all to rapturous, self-congratulatory applause.

Gwyneth Paltrow became a star thanks to Weinstein’s Shakespeare in Love. Pic: AFP

They are more than happy to throw in a few digs at Donald Trump along the way. When the infamous Access Hollywood tape leaked and Trump’s grotesque sexism was laid bare, the outrage from celebrities was immediate and deafening.

But when one of their own is accused of the same sins? Silence.

In her statement today, Streep insisted at great length not everyone knew about Weinstein, and that is obviously true. But at the very least, plenty of people had reason to suspect him and did nothing.

He was too scary; too powerful; too valuable. Actors knew putting up with his lewd behaviour might win them an award.

“There has always been tension in the movie business over what to tolerate in the name of art or profit or, preferably, both,” Masters wrote after the scandal broke.

“Most in the industry, though not all, preferred to cling to an innocent-until-proven-guilty rationalisation or simply to look away.”

Hollywood portrays itself as an enlightened utopia where everyone believes in equality, and racism and sexism are reviled. Clearly, the reality of the industry remains very different.

Meryl Streep loves to have a dig at the President. Pic: Getty Images

While creatures like Weinstein are not only tolerated, but openly celebrated, the image we are shown will always be a lie – and the celebrities who endlessly lecture the rest of us about morality will be hypocrites.

But don’t think for one moment the hypocrisy is confined to Hollywood. I said it is everywhere you look – and that includes Weinstein’s critics. Many people have pounced on this scandal not with disgust, but with glee.

Take the president’s son, Donald Jr. Like many of Trump’s supporters, he has spent the past several days mocking celebrities and Democrats on Twitter for their failure to denounce Weinstein, with all the relish of a man wreaking vengeance on his political opponents.

It’s not that Don Jr is wrong – underneath his dickish attitude is a perfectly fair point. Weinstein was a prominent Democratic donor and people like Hillary Clinton have been conspicuously quiet about his conduct.

No, the problem here is the staggering, mind-boggling scale of Don Jr’s hypocrisy.

Weird, Hillary has been really quiet about Harvey Weinstein. You would think she would be all Over this. #WhatHappened?

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 7, 2017

Weird. They seem to always have comments about everything else? Maybe they finally moved to Canada??? https://t.co/wgZx8KGGpo

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 6, 2017

During last year’s election campaign, after the “grab ’em by the pussy” tape leaked, Trump faced an avalanche of sexual harassment accusations.

“He put me in an embrace and I tried to push him away,” former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos alleged. “I pushed his chest to get space between us and I said, ‘Come on man, get real.’ He repeated my words back to me, ‘Get real,’ as he began thrusting his genitals.”

Make-up artist Jill Harth alleged Trump sexually assaulted her in 1997 and during an interview told the Guardian: “He pushed me up against the wall and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again.

“And I had to physically say, ‘What are you doing? Stop it.’ It was a shocking thing for him to do this because he knew I was with George, he knew they were in the next room. And how could he be doing this when I’m there for business?”

Those allegations are remarkably similar to the ones Weinstein is confronting. Trump’s supporters responded to them by impugning the motives and integrity of his accusers – and then electing him President.

Just like the actors and directors who wanted to win awards and knew Weinstein could help, Trump’s voters put winning an election ahead of their moral compass.

So when these same people, Don Jr included, try to criticise others for downplaying sexual harassment, it is more than a little bit rich.

President Donald Trump has faced accusations as well. Pic: AP

This brings us to the part of the article where I say: “There is a lesson in this for all of us,” and tell you how to live your life – much like that guy accepting an award for Best Writing in an Adapted Screenplay.

Don’t be like Don Jr. Don’t be like the Hollywood celebrities who are stubbornly ignoring Weinstein. Reprehensible behaviour is still reprehensible if it’s perpetrated by someone who agrees with your politics, or can help you professionally.

There are already enough hypocrites in the world without us joining them.