Oh no, Harvey Weinstein Is Having a Bad Time in Prison. Boo Hoo: “I’m Constantly Threatened and Derided”
Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault by multiple accounts in both Los Angeles and New York. Currently, he is serving a sentence at Rikers. We have had to hear about how hard it is for him over and over again and now he did an interview.
The interview itself isn’t a bad thing. Conducted by Maer Roshan for The Hollywood Reporter, a portion of it dictated the dark history that Roshan had with Weinstein prior to his conviction, including first hand accounts of using his power to get his way. Roshan even details a story of Weinstein taking bagels from 9/11 first responders. But the fatal flaw of this interview is thinking anyone cares how Weinstein is doing. Or at least, that anyone should care.
There is a joy to reading Roshan’s writing because he does not hold back when it comes to Weinstein’s idea of himself versus what the public (and Roshan) think of Weinstein. I just keep coming back to the fact that I don’t care that Harvey Weinstein is in prison. Good. Stay there.
Much of Weinstein’s “remorse” about the situation comes from his own victimhood. He thinks he did nothing wrong but thinks because he apologized for ever “being” with his accusers that he is an innocent man. Just because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong doesn’t mean that’s the truth. And his entire interview is him trying to make people feel bad for him.
Luckily, Roshan doesn’t back down but still, the icky feeling I had reading this interview isn’t something I want to endure again. And all it did was make me hate Weinstein more.
Harvey Weinstein really thinks he’s a victim
Through the interview, Weinstein whines about the fact that he has been limited to his cell for nearly all hours of the day. It is a mix of his health and celebrity that put him there. And he made sure to complain about it over and over again. When asked about his celebrity, he shared his upset over where it put him at Rikers.
“Here at Rikers, it hurts me because it forces me into isolation. It’s too dangerous for me to be around anyone else. Other inmates get to go to the yard. But every time I’m out there, I feel like I’m under siege. They come up and say, ‘Weinstein, give me some money.’ ‘Weinstein, give me your lawyer.’ ‘Weinstein, do this.’ ‘Weinstein, do that.’ I’m constantly threatened and derided. I wouldn’t last long out there,” he said. Oh no, you have money and people are asking you for some of it? How will you handle it?
But Weinstein went on to talk about how he’d rather be in state prison because he can talk to other inmates so he wasn’t lonely. Oh and he shared that he was willing to teach people a class on book to movie adaptations but none of them wanted to learn about it. Shocking.
The part that made me the angriest though? Saying what he “did for society” all while talking about how he doesn’t want to die in prison. “It’s scares the s*** out of me. Cold and heartless. It’s incredible to have the life that I had and the things that I did for society and not have the leniency to deal with me in a kinder way. Whatever they think I did bad in my life, I didn’t get the death penalty. I’m going to be 74 in March. I don’t want to die in here.”
Weinstein claims everyone loved working for him
As the piece goes on, Weinstein continues to claim that his relationships were consensual. He even goes as far to as that all the NDAs in place were because he was simply cheating on his wife. Okay dude, but the thing that is very interesting to me is that he claims that his employees loved working for him. All accounts from those who did work for him say otherwise. He literally calls himself a bully!
“I overstepped my boundaries. That’s for sure. I could be a horrible bully. I used power in an arrogant way. I was pushy and insistent, and I feel terrible. I’m ashamed of that behavior, and I see it now in ways that I couldn’t before. Ironically, I distributed a movie called Bully, and GLAAD gave me an award for it. In my acceptance speech, I said, ‘The irony of me distributing Bully is not lost on anyone.’”
But throughout this entire piece, one thing is clear: Weinstein just sees himself as some victim and it is gross. Anyway, you can read the play Assistance if you want insight into what it was like working for Harvey Weinstein.
(featured image: Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)
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