Horrible Harvey – No Way to Run a Justice System
How is it that someone accused of dozens of criminal acts can throw millions of dollars at a problem and pay his way out of trouble?
That is what’s happening with Horrible Harvey Weinstein, except if all goes as planned he won’t be paying out anything. His insurance companies will handle the payoffs to the tune of at least $44 million.
I call him Horrible Harvey after accusations of sexual harassment, sexual assaults and rapes by not just 10, 20 or 30 women but by more than 80 women! According to the New York Times over the last three decades Weinstein paid out settlements to at least eight female actresses and other employees. Astoundingly, he never seemed to learn his lesson.
Today scores more women are alleging both creepy and criminal sex acts perpetrated by the now disgraced Hollywood film producer. Included are 18 allegations of forcible rape. As you read this his lawyers continue to try to hammer out even more payoffs to keep details of his horrid past behavior quiet.
Blondes, brunettes, redheads. Caucasians, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Various employees at his production company, documentary film makers, directors, writers, actresses, models, comedians, singers, a professor of psychology, a journalist, a massage therapist. The married-with-children (including four daughters) Horrible Harvey didn’t discriminate. All women were targets to be sexually dominated – by him. He felt entitled, above the law.
I mention the occupations of the women who have come forward because Horrible Harvey also had a habit of badmouthing women all across the globe if they dared to complain about his intimidating groping, grabbing, lecherous grinding, prurient masturbating and forcible sexual acts. Many accusers say their careers were forever harmed by sabotaging comments Weinstein made to other powerful people in the entertainment industry. Actresses Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino are just two examples. A Polish born model is another and she claims she was just 16 years old when Horrible Harvey forced her into unwanted sex acts.
But more on that $44 million settlement Weinstein lawyers continue to fashion: In October 2017, after the New York Times and New York Magazine almost simultaneously broke the story about Horrible Harvey’s predatory ways (winning a joint Pulitzer Prize for their efforts) the Weinstein dynasty began to collapse.
More women came forward and the #MeToo movement was born. Law enforcement in Los Angeles, New York and London began criminal investigations. For some accusers the statute of limitations had run out on the crimes they described, but others were able to file civil suits against Horrible Harvey and his Weinstein Company. Bankruptcy court followed and without going into all the legal machinations, suffice it to say, Weinstein’s lawyers had to do something about the company’s mounting debt and all those civil suits that were piling up.
Last September, a federal judge ordered the women’s suits be joined into one class action case. In a grand maneuver designed to consolidate everything lawyers for Weinstein entered into a complicated mediation so the bankruptcy could go forward. There was talk of a $90 million compensation fund.
Now suddenly that fund is, inexplicitly, reported to be down to $44 million. And get this, off the top of the proposed settlement a reported $14 million will go to pay the legal fees for Weinstein associates who were also named as defendants. Creditors will be paid out of the remaining $30 million, along with the fees of all lawyers representing the accusers. In the end, each of the alleged victims would reportedly get an average $60,000 or less depending on the severity of Horrible Harvey’s behavior against them.
“The proposed deal would provide millions of dollars to the ultra-wealthy directors of the Weinstein Company… and their big firm lawyers,” said the attorneys for one of the female accusers, actress Wedil David.
In a prepared statement they added, “It would also allow Harvey Weinstein and the men who enabled him, including his brother, Robert Weinstein, to escape liability and accountability without, apparently, contributing a dime of their own money.”
It’s been reported that all the plaintiffs must sign off on any pact or the deal is off. At least two of the accusers have said they will never agree to this latest settlement since Horrible Harvey won’t have to pay any money himself. Weinstein has denied all the past and present charges against him.
The only ray of hope for justice in the case of the perennial predator, Harvey Weinstein, is that the state of New York puts him on trial in September on criminal charges of first-degree rape and additional felony sex crimes involving two other women.
If Weinstein was a construction worker or a cab driver do you think he’d be able to pay his way out of the bulk of his predicament? Do you think the law would have tolerated his behavior for so long? Of course not. This is no way to run a justice system.
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Reader Daina Urbaitis writes:
PLEASE do not take trump’s immature example of assigning puerile nicknames to people in the news! It’s bad enough that our “president “ does it, bringing national discourse to a new low, but to follow his precedent just reflects poorly on you – and continues the degrad ation of journalistic standards.
DD replies:
Really? THAT’S what you took away from that column? Not the inequality of the justice system or how women have been subjugated all these years or how lawyers and insurance companies help cover up criminal acts?
Sorry if I offended you.
Diane Dimond
Reader Dara Bradley wrItes:
Unbelievable
Reader Jackie Morin writes:
Truly disgusting!
Reader Beth Krebs Onesi writes:
Just horrible!
Reader Jim Reynolds writes:
Unfortunately, money talks! /// How about the scumbag paying off the accusers to cement their silence BUT he spends a couple of years in the slammer AND contribute several $M to programs for abused women?
DD replies :
Well, his criminal trial on two sex related cases is coming up in September here in New York. Perhaps he will be sentenced to prison….like Cosby.
Reader Jeff Jayson writes:
Unacceptable
Reader Donna Hayes writes:
…..And then he will make a movie about it.
Reader Kyla Thompson writes:
Pig
Reader Richard Hydell writes:
It only takes one but by taking his cash you become his hooker .
Reader Lyn Novosel writes:
He makes me want to vomit.
Reader Diane Clehane writes:
What the hell was this all for if he is allowed to do so?
Diane Dimond replies:
Well, he DOES still face sex crime charges later this year at a trial in NY. Two women who still had the statute of limitations on their side who said HELL NO to a payoff.
Reader Roy Merritt writes:
Is it legal for a perp to payoff a vic to insure silence? For one, the perp committed rape. On the other hand, isn’t the vic using the threat of criminal prosecution as blackmail?
Diane Dimond replies:
Exactly. It has happened before. See the Michael Jackson child molestation case(s) or the Bill Cosby case(s). For the wealthy it has become a cost of doing business it seems.
Roy Merritt replies:
I would like the implementation of a law from the Torah. A perp is required, upon successful prosecution, to pay the vic double for any theft. Since rape is theft of part of ones soul, the perp would lose everything, and his vics would receive it all.
Pete Fogel writes: When did this become ok? November 8, 2016.///The day our current president became the President-elect
Reader Rosalie Bollen writes:
Sleazy
Reader Zoey Roosevelt writes:
This is a strong story, Diane. Is someone filing anything to invalidate the NDA’s?
Diane Dimond replies:
We don’t know yet if any of those women who would take a payout under this proposed deal might be called to testify at his criminal trial. A hearing was held on that matter but it was held behind closed doors. Under law an NDA cannot stop someone from testifying in a criminal matter….But the reality is that after someone agrees to a monetary settlement the defense attorney can paint them as “greedy” or “opportunistic”.
Joya Colucci Lord repplies:
I’ll take greedy and opportunistic. Show me the cash! There are no guarantees they’ll find him guilty. At least this extracts something from him.
Reader Rick Black writes:
Common practice of predators. Keeps their next victim completely in the dark and mitigates the victory for anyone who actually puts the perp in a precarious position. A winless win.
Reader Fred Mizzi writes:
There’s different justice for who you know and how much you got ,look at the kid in ca and the judge got recalled for slapping him on the wrist he didint even get 6 months for college rape,trumps billionaire, buddy did a year in jail but left 8hrs a day to run his business, the girls were 14,trump before going in to office was accused of rape of a minor 13 yr old same time he had to repay students and poof like magic both incident s disappeared from public eye,Americans need to face the truth!
Reader Linda Blair writes:
What the f????
Reader Steve Schwartz writes:
If nothing comes out of this all legally he will still spend the rest of his life in a prison of sorts. He will no longer have any power to intimidate anyone again and that will be a great loss to him. He will no longer travel in glitzy circles, and he will be an outcast in his own world. But, I really hope he spends some time in jail.
Reader Lori Nelson replies to Steve Schwartz:
Doubtful.
His only jail will be the one you described.
And he has plenty of money to make that hell chilled to his comfort.
Plus plenty of women who won’t care either.
Money, honey.
Isn’t it awful?
But it’s true.
Reader Lori Nelson writes:
I had to sign one from a former employer who settled a serious grievance . It still stings.
I want to sing. I want to tell the world what a scam this MAJOR organization is, but cannot.
It is the legal norm.
And it stinks.
My only other option was to endure years of stress in courtrooms…I completely understand why nobody would want to do that.
#followthemoney.
Whoever has it, wins. Period.
Welcome to our world. It sucks.
Rick Black replies:
Lori, within the legal community power is more important. Your fear wasn’t their money it was the power of the attorneys to use the court to bury you emotionally and financially. I am sure you made a wise choice but attorneys never should wield this level of power to exploit the vulnerable.
Reader Jim Paymar writes:
Diane it’s just like OJ! You got the big bucks you get the best attorney’s and you buy a “get out of jail free card.”