'I feel like the forgotten man': Defiant Harvey Weinstein makes the jaw-dropping claim he's 'done more for women than any other filmmaker' in extraordinary interview granted to prove he is unwell
- Weinstein spoke to the New York Post from a Manhattan hospital on Friday, one day after undergoing spinal surgery
- The disgraced movie mogul bemoaned how his reputation has been decimated by sexual harassment, assault and rape allegations from more than 80 women
- He boasted about his dedication to furthering the careers of female film stars, including Felicity Huffman and Gwyneth Paltrow, one of his accusers
- 'I want this city to recognize who I was instead of what I've become,' he said. 'I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker'
- 'It all got eviscerated because of what happened. My work has been forgotten' he added
- Weinstein refused to discuss any of the allegations against him with The Post
- At multiple points he threatened to terminate the interview when asked questions he did not like, the outlet reported
- He claimed he only agreed to participate to end speculation that he was feigning frailty when he hobbled into Manhattan court last week with a walker
An unrepentant Harvey Weinstein insisted that he's done more for women than any other filmmaker in history in a rare interview as he bemoaned how his reputation has been decimated by sexual harassment, assault and rape allegations from more than 80 women.
The disgraced movie mogul defiantly defended his four-decade career in Hollywood in an interview with the New York Post from his Manhattan hospital bed on Friday, one day after he underwent spinal surgery.
He evidenced his dedication to furthering the careers of female film stars by touting a lucrative $10million contract he gave to Gwyneth Paltrow, one of his accusers, and rattled off a list of social justice films he helped bring to the big screen over his four decades in Hollywood.
'I want this city to recognize who I was instead of what I've become,' Weinstein said.
'I feel like the forgotten man. I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker, and I'm talking about 30 years ago. I'm not talking about now when it's vogue. I did it first! I pioneered it!
'It all got eviscerated because of what happened. My work has been forgotten.'
An unrepentant Harvey Weinstein insisted that he's done more for women than any other filmmaker in history in a New York Post interview at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan on Friday, one day after he underwent spinal surgery
Weinstein evidenced his dedication to furthering the careers of female film stars by touting a lucrative contract he gave to Gwyneth Paltrow, one of his most high-profile accusers. 'I want this city to recognize who I was instead of what I've become,' he said. 'I feel like the forgotten man.' Weinstein and Paltrow are pictured together at the Academy Awards in 1999, where the actress won an Oscar for Shakespeare In Love
The interview took place at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Weinstein was recovering from a three-hour spinal surgery the day before to fix damage he said he sustained in an August 17 car accident.
The Post noted that Weinstein was housed in an 'elite wing' of the hospital that is designed to look like a posh hotel with marble bathrooms, Italian linens and original framed artwork, along with a private chef and concierge for patients.
Dressed in loose jeans and a black T-shirt, the 67-year-old looked pale and weary as he sat alongside his walker, which held a container of blood drained from a tube in his bandaged incision site.
Weinstein said he agreed to talk to The Post to prove false reports that he was exaggerating the extent of his health problems when he hobbled into Manhattan Supreme Court last week hunched over a walker.
He said his procedure the day before was a 'major operation' in response to a recent worsening of his back injury - decrying speculation that he had feigned frailty to avoid being remanded to jail after prosecutors accused him of violating the terms of his bond by altering his ankle monitor.
He also condemned Manhattan prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon's assertion that he tampered with his ankle monitor to hide his whereabouts.
'I think they wanted to embarrass me,' he said.
Weinstein said he agreed to talk to The Post to prove false reports that he was exaggerating the extent of his health problems when he hobbled into Manhattan court last week with a walker
The 67-year-old decried speculation that he had feigned frailty to avoid being remanded to jail after prosecutors accused him of violating the terms of his bond by altering his ankle monitor
Weinstein's bail was increased from $1million to $5million at Wednesday's hearing, where a judge warned him not to let his health get in the way of the upcoming trial for sexual assault on January 6.
He is charged with five counts of predatory sexual assault, criminal sex act and rape over a pair of incidents involving two women, one who claims he raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013 and another, Mimi Haleyi, who claims he forced her to perform oral sex on him at his townhouse when she was his production assistant in 2006.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Last week reports emerged that Weinstein and his shuttered production company, The Weinstein Company, had reached a tentative $25million settlement with more than 30 accusers.
Under the settlement, which has reportedly received preliminary approval from all major parties involved, Weinstein would not have to admit any wrongdoing or pay his accusers out of his own pocket.
Weinstein refused to comment on that settlement when asked about it by The Post, which reported that the 'characteristic bully' repeatedly threatened to end the interview when asked questions that he didn't like.
While he refused to comment on any of the allegations against him, Weinstein did bring up one of his most high profile accusers, Paltrow, to support his assertion that he dedicated his career to promoting women.
Paltrow claimed that Weinstein, then the head of Miramax, lured her to his hotel room under the guise of a business meeting and tried to massage her in 1994, when she was 22.
Five years later Paltrow won an Oscar for the 1999 film Shakespeare in Love, which Weinstein produced and Miramax distributed.
Touting his contributions to Paltrow's career, Weinstein bragged about how he paid the actress $10million for her role in the romantic comedy View from the Top in 2003.
'She was the highest-paid female actor in an independent film. Higher paid than all the men,' he said.
The movie received dismal reviews, and even Paltrow herself branded it a flop.
Touting his contributions to Gwyneth Paltrow's career, Weinstein bragged about how he paid the actress $10million for her role in the romantic comedy View from the Top in 2003
Paltrow is pictured in a scene from View From The Top, which was widely panned by critics
Weinstein also bragged about helping Felicity Huffman win a Best Actress Oscar for the 2005 film Transamerica. Contrary to the producer's claim, Huffman (pictured in the film) was nominated but did not win
Weinstein also boasted about the long list of social justice films he produced and distributed with Miramax and The Weinstein Company.
He recounted how in the early 90s Madonna sent him to see Paris is Burning, a documentary about New York City's drag ball culture that has since become a cult classic.
'I understood the celebratory nature of the film and bought the distribution rights,' he said.
'The same thing is true for Transamerica, [for] which Felicity Huffman got an Academy Award.'
Transamerica was one of the first films released by The Weinstein Company after Harvey and his brother formed the production firm in 2005. Huffman was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar but did not win, though she did clinch a Golden Globe for her role.
'This was a company that took social issues and tackled them,' he said of The Weinstein Company.
Referencing his modest upbringing in Queens, Weinstein said: 'I made a success out of myself. I had no money, and I built quite an empire with Miramax and decided to give back.
'If you remember who I was then, you might want to question some of this.'
When asked whether the flood of sex abuse allegations against him had cancelled out his charitable deeds, Weinstein told The Post: 'I'll move on.'
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December 15, 2019 at 05:06PM
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