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This Week In 'Seriously, F*ck That Guy': Weinstein And Beyond

By Kristy Puchko | Celebrity | October 27, 2017 |

By Kristy Puchko | Celebrity | October 27, 2017 |


The Harvey Weinstein scandal has unearthed a deep vein of ugliness, misogyny, and abuse in Hollywood and beyond. So much so that we’ve done two round-ups in a week, one Weinstein-specific, one a broader FTG. But heads keep rolling, so here’s another round-up full of bad men and the occasional silver lining.

The number of women who’ve come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault, and rape is now over fifty. Among them are actress/model Natassia Malthe and former production assistant Mimi Haleyi. With the support of their lawyer Gloria Allred, they shared the horrific details of their respective rapes at the hands of Weinstein. (Variety, THR)

Actress Dominique Huett is suing TWC, alleging the company was complicit in their notorious leader’s conduct, and so is responsible for the abuse she suffered at his hands. (Vulture)

Allred is demanding The Weinstein Company to set up a fund for the victims of their former founder. “They made many, many, many millions of dollars while Harvey Weinstein was behaving in the most egregious and reprehensible acts imaginable,” she told the press. “It’s easy to weep crocodile tears for Harvey’s victims. Action and concrete steps are needed.” (THR)

ICYMI: Allred is the mother of Lisa Bloom, a civil rights attorney who initially defended Weinstein when the allegations hit. In the wake of defending Weinstein, Bloom is having a tough time. Somewhere, even the world’s tiniest violin won’t play for this former “champion of women.” (Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast)

Meanwhile, The Weinstein Company is trying to save their Oscar chances by removing their name from the well-reviewed Wind River. They also pulled the prestige biopic The Current Wars from the Thanksgiving schedule, which is an obvious attempt to distance the Benedict Cumberbatch vehicle from the blackhole that has become Weinstein’s name. (Pajiba, Deadline)

And here’s an update on director/rampant creep James Toback:

Kevin Sorbo joined the growing list of male actors (that includes James Van Der Beek and Terry Crews) who are speaking out by sharing their own run-ins with sexual harassment. (THR)

Corey Feldman is once more attempting to out pedophile sexual predators in Hollywood by crowdfunding an expose doc. This should be the next front in the fight for the future of Hollywood. (Vulture)

Here’s his video for Truth Campaign.

Alice Glass was co-founder and frontwoman of the electronic band Crystal Castles, but left three years ago with an ambiguous statement. She’s now revealing that she walked away because former bandmate Ethan Kath (real name Claudio Palmieri) was a physically and verbally abusive rapist, who’d tormented her for nearly ten years. (Alice Glass)

Shortly after Scarling singer Jessicka Addams publicly accused her ex-boyfriend Twiggy Ramirez (A.K.A. Jeordie White) of physical assault and rape, Marilyn Manson cut the bassist from his band. (Vulture)

We already talked about Mark Halperin this week. But seriously, fuck that guy. (Pajiba)

Then there’s Rolling Stone journo Matt Taibbi, who rose to prominence in 2008 traveling on the campaign trail with John McCain and was there to witness all the Sarah Palin shit. He got REALLY big because he started writing about the bullshit the banks were doing right after the crash. He’s the one who called Goldman Sachs a vampire squid. His financial writing is VERY good. He’s also a very bad guy. Jesus. Here’s a passage from a book — The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia — he co-wrote with Mark Ames about their time running a newspaper in Russia (from Reddit):

“You’re always trying to force Masha and Sveta under the table to give you blow jobs. It’s not funny. They don’t think it’s funny,” Kara complained. “But… it is funny,” Matt said. We have been pretty rough on our girls. We’d ask our Russian staff to flash their asses or breasts for us. We’d tell them that if they wanted to keep their jobs, they’d have to perform unprotected anal sex with us. Nearly every day, we asked our female staff if they approved of anal sex. That was a fixation of ours. “Can I fuck you in the ass? Huh? I mean, without a rubber? Is that okay?” It was all part of the fun.”

That’s the gross bro-y bullshit. But it gets worse. There’s a passage in the book about threatening a woman’s life if she didn’t get an abortion, and another passage about how Russian women expect to be raped. It’s messed up.

When ruling on a trial where a 49-year-old cab driver was accused of forcing kisses, face-licking and groping on a 17-year-old girl, Quebec judge Judge Jean-Paul Braun said the victim is a “little overweight” and so should have been “flattered.” The judge is now the subject of an official complaint for being a grotesque fuck. (Vice)

This is a lot to take in. I know. We need to let the pus and ugliness out to heal. But there are positive things. Women are speaking out about industry sexism, and they are being heard, like at the Women and Hollywood’s celebration of female directors. (NYT)

We’re looking to directors with reputations for bullying and abuse, and examining why audiences and the press accept that, and what it means when we do. (Buzzfeed)

And more and more people are reaching out for help. The anti-sexual assault organization RAINN (The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) reports that their helpline has seen a 21% increase in calls. A RAINN spokesperson said, “The coverage of this (Weinstein) story and the many courageous voices that have spoken out have helped survivors [of sexual abuse] feel that they are not alone.”(Fox News)

It’s a lot. But let’s take heart in the changes we’re seeing coming, and the victims who are learning they are not weak, unloved, or alone. Let’s draw this dark round-up to a close with, Westworld star and rape survivor Evan Rachel Wood, who offers a message of thanks and hope in this very personal video.


UPDATE RE: Taibbi: