A flattering profile of tech grifter Elizabeth Holmes in the New York Times. The messy exit of Jeff Shell from NBCUniversal. And a standoff with Variety over a story about a supposedly globetrotting Jeff Zucker purportedly hell-bent on buying CNN.
Hollywood and media was buzzing about all those stories and the person they all have in common is crisis public relations expert Risa Heller, who represented the principal in all of them.
That’s all the more impressive for someone who lives on the opposite side of the country. But with her rising West Coast profile, Heller, CEO of an eponymous New York-based crisis communications firm, has tongues wagging about what appears to be a growing role in the Hollywood crisis P.R. machine.
Heller’s name has been front and center all year in the entertainment industry. That came into particular focus last month when she stepped up to...
Hollywood and media was buzzing about all those stories and the person they all have in common is crisis public relations expert Risa Heller, who represented the principal in all of them.
That’s all the more impressive for someone who lives on the opposite side of the country. But with her rising West Coast profile, Heller, CEO of an eponymous New York-based crisis communications firm, has tongues wagging about what appears to be a growing role in the Hollywood crisis P.R. machine.
Heller’s name has been front and center all year in the entertainment industry. That came into particular focus last month when she stepped up to...
- 8/14/2023
- by Diane Haithman
- The Wrap
Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday on three charges of rape and sexual assault.
But in a split verdict, the jury acquitted him of one other charge and could not reach a unanimous verdict on three other counts.
The jury convicted Weinstein of raping an Italian model, identified at the trial as Jane Doe #1, at the Mr. C hotel in February 2013.
The jury acquitted him of the felony sexual battery of a massage therapist, identified as Jane Doe #3. And they were split on charges involving two other accusers — Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Lauren Young. The jurors voted 10-2 to convict him on a charge of sexual battery against Young; and 8-4 in favor of conviction on charges of rape and forcible oral copulation of Siebel Newsom.
Judge Lisa B. Lench declared a mistrial on the three charges on which the jury was deadlocked. District Attorney George Gascón said the office would...
But in a split verdict, the jury acquitted him of one other charge and could not reach a unanimous verdict on three other counts.
The jury convicted Weinstein of raping an Italian model, identified at the trial as Jane Doe #1, at the Mr. C hotel in February 2013.
The jury acquitted him of the felony sexual battery of a massage therapist, identified as Jane Doe #3. And they were split on charges involving two other accusers — Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Lauren Young. The jurors voted 10-2 to convict him on a charge of sexual battery against Young; and 8-4 in favor of conviction on charges of rape and forcible oral copulation of Siebel Newsom.
Judge Lisa B. Lench declared a mistrial on the three charges on which the jury was deadlocked. District Attorney George Gascón said the office would...
- 12/19/2022
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister and Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Harvey Weinstein’s case is now in the jury’s hands.
The jury began deliberations on Friday, nearly two months after Weinstein’s trial began in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
The jurors — eight men and four women — will have to wade through testimony from 50 witnesses as they decide whether to convict Weinstein of charges of rape and sexual assault.
Just before the jury began deliberating, in a final plea to convict Harvey Weinstein on rape and sexual assault, prosecutors told jurors, “You have overwhelming evidence of the nature of this man and what he did to these women.”
Prosecutors, in their rebuttal to the defense’s closing arguments to acquit Weinstein, told the jury that Weinstein’s attorneys are using “magic” to try to distract them from Weinstein’s alleged abuse, and urged them to look at the evidence and pattern of behavior to make their determination. They said...
The jury began deliberations on Friday, nearly two months after Weinstein’s trial began in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
The jurors — eight men and four women — will have to wade through testimony from 50 witnesses as they decide whether to convict Weinstein of charges of rape and sexual assault.
Just before the jury began deliberating, in a final plea to convict Harvey Weinstein on rape and sexual assault, prosecutors told jurors, “You have overwhelming evidence of the nature of this man and what he did to these women.”
Prosecutors, in their rebuttal to the defense’s closing arguments to acquit Weinstein, told the jury that Weinstein’s attorneys are using “magic” to try to distract them from Weinstein’s alleged abuse, and urged them to look at the evidence and pattern of behavior to make their determination. They said...
- 12/2/2022
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister and Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Harvey Weinstein’s face is never shown in She Said. He is heard—frequently and insidiously, such as when the movie plays a voice recording of the disgraced Hollywood mogul harassing and pressuring Ambra Battilana Gutierrez to stay in his hotel suite. But during this harrowing moment from recent history, director Maria Schrader’s camera only tracks the empty, gilded hotel hallway where the maliciousness took place. The convicted rapist’s demons still haunt this space, as well as our collective consciousness, like malignant spirits. We don’t see them, however. We simply know they’re there.
Also, it must be said, we’ve seen more than enough of Harvey. As the title promises, She Said is a film driven and told by the women of its story, including the array of voices whose accounts were collected by the New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor. And the...
Also, it must be said, we’ve seen more than enough of Harvey. As the title promises, She Said is a film driven and told by the women of its story, including the array of voices whose accounts were collected by the New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor. And the...
- 11/18/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
The new movie "She Said" chronicles the investigation by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor (played by Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (played by Carey Mulligan) into sexual harassment and assault allegations against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The article they eventually published on Oct. 5, 2017, was groundbreaking, and their reporting (along with New Yorker journalist Ronan Farrow's) eventually led to dozens of women coming out with allegations about Weinstein. It also helped spark the #MeToo movement.
The story central to "She Said" involves a lot of famous people, but the movie takes a mixed approach in how it portrays them on film. On screen, the writers talk to Gwyneth Paltrow (just like they did in real life), but the movie doesn't show their conversation, just that they went to her house. Meanwhile, Ashley Judd, who went on the record in Twohey and Kantor's first story, plays herself in the film in multiple scenes.
The story central to "She Said" involves a lot of famous people, but the movie takes a mixed approach in how it portrays them on film. On screen, the writers talk to Gwyneth Paltrow (just like they did in real life), but the movie doesn't show their conversation, just that they went to her house. Meanwhile, Ashley Judd, who went on the record in Twohey and Kantor's first story, plays herself in the film in multiple scenes.
- 11/18/2022
- by Victoria Edel
- Popsugar.com
The prosecution has rested its case in the People vs. Harvey Weinstein.
The Los Angeles trial is expected to last a total of two months, heading into December. On Thursday, the jury was told they would reconvene after Thanksgiving when the defense begins with its case on Nov. 28.
Weinstein — who was already convicted in New York and is in the midst of serving his 23-year sentence — is facing seven charges in the sprawling Los Angeles case: two charges of rape and five counts of sexual assault. On these counts, he faces 60 years, if convicted.
Originally, Weinstein was facing 11 charges and a maximum sentencing of 140 years. Jane Doe #5, who was associated with these charges, is no longer part of the case, so Weinstein won a motion for four charges to be dismissed. Prosecutors said earlier this week that they would not proceed with testimony from Jane Doe #5, but offered no explanation.
The Los Angeles trial is expected to last a total of two months, heading into December. On Thursday, the jury was told they would reconvene after Thanksgiving when the defense begins with its case on Nov. 28.
Weinstein — who was already convicted in New York and is in the midst of serving his 23-year sentence — is facing seven charges in the sprawling Los Angeles case: two charges of rape and five counts of sexual assault. On these counts, he faces 60 years, if convicted.
Originally, Weinstein was facing 11 charges and a maximum sentencing of 140 years. Jane Doe #5, who was associated with these charges, is no longer part of the case, so Weinstein won a motion for four charges to be dismissed. Prosecutors said earlier this week that they would not proceed with testimony from Jane Doe #5, but offered no explanation.
- 11/17/2022
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister
- Variety Film + TV
Harvey Weinstein was a serial predator who used business meetings to sexually assault women over the course of decades, according to prosecutors in the former Hollywood mogul’s L.A. trial, which began opening statements on Monday morning.
Weinstein’s defense team will deliver their opening statement to the jury on Monday afternoon, and will likely paint a very different picture of their client, who denies all wrongdoing, and is facing 11 charges stemming from the accounts of five women whose allegations span from 2004 to 2013.
Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence from his New York rape and sexual assault conviction in 2020. If convicted in the current Los Angeles trial, Weinstein could be behind bars for life.
Nine women will testify throughout the trial, which is expected to last two months. In addition to the five women whose charges are the basis of the sexual assault and rape charges, four women...
Weinstein’s defense team will deliver their opening statement to the jury on Monday afternoon, and will likely paint a very different picture of their client, who denies all wrongdoing, and is facing 11 charges stemming from the accounts of five women whose allegations span from 2004 to 2013.
Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence from his New York rape and sexual assault conviction in 2020. If convicted in the current Los Angeles trial, Weinstein could be behind bars for life.
Nine women will testify throughout the trial, which is expected to last two months. In addition to the five women whose charges are the basis of the sexual assault and rape charges, four women...
- 10/24/2022
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister
- Variety Film + TV
Maria Schrader’s She Said, written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and based on the book by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as the journalists who uncovered a web of secrets, lies, and abuse revolving around famed Hollywood producer (and now convicted felon) Harvey Weinstein.
The story: Twohey (Mulligan), a reporter from The New York Times, talks to Rachel Crooks, who wants to come forward on the abuse she allegedly experienced at the hands of Donald Trump. Of course, the reporter and Crooks are harassed with death threats after going public with the story. When Trump wins the Presidential election, women became even more terrified to come forward with personal stories about abuse.
Also at the Nyt, Kantor (Kazan) gets a lead on a story involving Harvey Weinstein and his past behavior toward women. She heard Rose McGowan had an encounter with him,...
The story: Twohey (Mulligan), a reporter from The New York Times, talks to Rachel Crooks, who wants to come forward on the abuse she allegedly experienced at the hands of Donald Trump. Of course, the reporter and Crooks are harassed with death threats after going public with the story. When Trump wins the Presidential election, women became even more terrified to come forward with personal stories about abuse.
Also at the Nyt, Kantor (Kazan) gets a lead on a story involving Harvey Weinstein and his past behavior toward women. She heard Rose McGowan had an encounter with him,...
- 10/14/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
If, like me, you consider “All the President’s Men” to be one of the most exciting movies ever made, it’s remarkable to consider that it came out in 1976, just four years after the Watergate break-in. The saga of Richard Nixon’s corruption and downfall had saturated the culture, yet every moment in “All the President’s Men” tingled with discovery. That’s why it’s a film you can watch again and again. When a big-screen journalistic drama gets built around a news story that epic, it needs to give you a version of that feeling. “Spotlight,” the Oscar-winning 2015 drama about The Boston Globe’s unraveling of the child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church, wasn’t as great as “All the President’s Men,” yet it, too, was laced with a sense of discovery. It’s there in how the film anatomized not just the horrific behavior of abusive...
- 10/14/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Harvey Weinstein had a mixed day in court Wednesday as he speeds toward the scheduled October start of his serial rape trial in Los Angeles.
Lawyers for the disgraced movie mogul scored a victory when Judge Lisa B. Lench sided with the defense and rejected one of the five “prior bad acts” accusers whom prosecutors planned to call to the witness stand to show Weinstein’s alleged “propensity” for criminal behavior.
The victory was tempered, however, by a related ruling in which Judge Lench denied Weinstein’s request for a...
Lawyers for the disgraced movie mogul scored a victory when Judge Lisa B. Lench sided with the defense and rejected one of the five “prior bad acts” accusers whom prosecutors planned to call to the witness stand to show Weinstein’s alleged “propensity” for criminal behavior.
The victory was tempered, however, by a related ruling in which Judge Lench denied Weinstein’s request for a...
- 8/11/2022
- by Nancy Dillon
- Rollingstone.com
Harvey Weinstein will face one fewer witness at his Los Angeles trial in October, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Prosecutors had previously been granted the right to call five “prior bad acts” witnesses to testify against the disgraced producer, in support of five other women whose claims form the basis of the charges in the case.
But one of those witnesses — known in court only as “Miss I.” — has since decided she does not want to testify. On Wednesday, prosecutors asked the court’s permission to replace her with another witness. But Judge Lisa Lench denied that request, saying the woman’s testimony would be too similar to the accounts of the other witnesses.
Weinstein, 70, is facing 11 counts of rape and sexual assault pertaining to the five alleged victims. He is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted in New York of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.
One...
Prosecutors had previously been granted the right to call five “prior bad acts” witnesses to testify against the disgraced producer, in support of five other women whose claims form the basis of the charges in the case.
But one of those witnesses — known in court only as “Miss I.” — has since decided she does not want to testify. On Wednesday, prosecutors asked the court’s permission to replace her with another witness. But Judge Lisa Lench denied that request, saying the woman’s testimony would be too similar to the accounts of the other witnesses.
Weinstein, 70, is facing 11 counts of rape and sexual assault pertaining to the five alleged victims. He is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted in New York of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.
One...
- 8/10/2022
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Ronan Farrow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, is releasing a book about the scandal called Catch and Kill — and it looks like it will be as damning as his original story.
“Catch and Kill is a true account of the extreme tactics powerful men use to cover up crimes and abuse—and of the sources who took huge personal risks to expose the truth,” Farrow, 31, told People in an exclusive statement about the book, which will be released on Oct. 15. (See below for the cover reveal.)
“I’m grateful to have the chance to tell this story,...
“Catch and Kill is a true account of the extreme tactics powerful men use to cover up crimes and abuse—and of the sources who took huge personal risks to expose the truth,” Farrow, 31, told People in an exclusive statement about the book, which will be released on Oct. 15. (See below for the cover reveal.)
“I’m grateful to have the chance to tell this story,...
- 8/23/2019
- by Sam Gillette
- PEOPLE.com
The world premiere tonight at the Sundance Film Festival of the Harvey Weinstein documentary Untouchable didn’t mention the Park City gathering itself where the now disgraced producer held court for years but some drama of its own.
Initially delayed by “technical difficulties,” as one Sundance staff told the line of hundreds waiting to get in, the Marc Theatre screening itself was actually interrupted three times on Friday to the obvious irritation of attendees. On each occasion and with no explanation given, the house lights came up in full for nearly 20 seconds as the Ursula Macfarlane directed film played to groans from the packed venue.
Filled with paparazzi footage of self-described NYC “sheriff” Weinstein threatening and cajoling with cameramen over the years, the film doesn’t unveiled anything new. The fairly comprehensive effort does feature heartbreaking on-camera interviews with alleged victims such as Boardwalk Empire alum Paz de la Huerta.
Initially delayed by “technical difficulties,” as one Sundance staff told the line of hundreds waiting to get in, the Marc Theatre screening itself was actually interrupted three times on Friday to the obvious irritation of attendees. On each occasion and with no explanation given, the house lights came up in full for nearly 20 seconds as the Ursula Macfarlane directed film played to groans from the packed venue.
Filled with paparazzi footage of self-described NYC “sheriff” Weinstein threatening and cajoling with cameramen over the years, the film doesn’t unveiled anything new. The fairly comprehensive effort does feature heartbreaking on-camera interviews with alleged victims such as Boardwalk Empire alum Paz de la Huerta.
- 1/26/2019
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Five months after Harvey Weinstein was first indicted on sex crimes charges in New York, The New York Times reports that prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office are struggling to hold together their case against the disgraced Hollywood producer. In May, Weinstein was charged with first- and third-degree rape for an incident with one woman in 2013, and first-degree criminal sex act — forced oral sex — with another in 2004; then, in July, he was indicted on three additional felony sex charges for an incident involving a third victim, who claims Weinstein...
- 10/29/2018
- by Amelia McDonell-Parry
- Rollingstone.com
While awaiting the start of his rape trial in New York, on Friday Harvey Weinstein was served with his third class-action lawsuit from a group of his alleged victims. Three plaintiffs filed the new complaint — obtained by Variety — in Manhattan’s Southern District, citing three incidents that occurred in as many countries, between 1996 and 2011. Charges including assault, civil battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent supervision were filed against not only Weinstein, but also his brother and former business partner Bob Weinstein; their first studio, Miramax; Miramax’s first buyer, The Walt Disney Company; and board members from the brothers’ The Weinstein Company.
Caitlin Dulany, an actress who appeared on “ER” and “Ally McBeal,” claims she had a pair of unnerving encounters with the former studio chairman. In March 1996, Weinstein picked her up at her New York apartment for what she thought was a platonic dinner. She used the bathroom before they left,...
Caitlin Dulany, an actress who appeared on “ER” and “Ally McBeal,” claims she had a pair of unnerving encounters with the former studio chairman. In March 1996, Weinstein picked her up at her New York apartment for what she thought was a platonic dinner. She used the bathroom before they left,...
- 6/1/2018
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
Updated with comment from Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer and video:
Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was arraigned today on felony sex crime charges in New York Criminal Court, where the judge set bail at $1 million cash. However, the Oscar winning producer’s lawyer says he plans to appeal to get the case tossed out.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said Weinstein has been charged with two counts of rape — one involving force — as well as criminal sexual act in the first degree, for alleged assaults against two women that occurred in 2013 and 2004. (You can read the charging document here).
“Today’s charges reflect significant progress in this active, ongoing investigation,” Vance said in a statement. “I thank the brave survivors who have come forward, and my Office’s prosecutors who have worked tirelessly on this investigation.”
Court documents charge that one woman, believed to be Lucia Evans, an...
Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was arraigned today on felony sex crime charges in New York Criminal Court, where the judge set bail at $1 million cash. However, the Oscar winning producer’s lawyer says he plans to appeal to get the case tossed out.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said Weinstein has been charged with two counts of rape — one involving force — as well as criminal sexual act in the first degree, for alleged assaults against two women that occurred in 2013 and 2004. (You can read the charging document here).
“Today’s charges reflect significant progress in this active, ongoing investigation,” Vance said in a statement. “I thank the brave survivors who have come forward, and my Office’s prosecutors who have worked tirelessly on this investigation.”
Court documents charge that one woman, believed to be Lucia Evans, an...
- 5/25/2018
- by Dawn C. Chmielewski and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
In moves reminiscent of how the FBI brought down Al Capone over tax evasion, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is sending out subpoenas focusing on Harvey Weinstein’s finances as part of a grand jury investigation.
While much attention has been given the past month to The Weinstein Company’s bankruptcy proceedings in federal court, several writs have gone out to the producer’s business associates and advisors from Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr.’s team over the past few weeks, Deadline has learned. Casting a wide net, this portion of the effort led by prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon has put the spotlight on Weinstein’s backing of Broadway productions including the musical Finding Neverland and his personal expenses.
“They are following Harvey’s money and investors to connect the dots and make a financial misconduct case,” one insider told Deadline of the flurry of subpoenas coming out of the D.
While much attention has been given the past month to The Weinstein Company’s bankruptcy proceedings in federal court, several writs have gone out to the producer’s business associates and advisors from Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr.’s team over the past few weeks, Deadline has learned. Casting a wide net, this portion of the effort led by prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon has put the spotlight on Weinstein’s backing of Broadway productions including the musical Finding Neverland and his personal expenses.
“They are following Harvey’s money and investors to connect the dots and make a financial misconduct case,” one insider told Deadline of the flurry of subpoenas coming out of the D.
- 5/7/2018
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Ronan Farrow and New York Times writers Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service in recognition of their bombshell reports on Harvey Weinstein, which brought to light decades of alleged sexual misconduct and sexual assault.
The scandal surrounding the producer, which went on to launch the larger #MeToo movement and Time’s Up movements, began in October of last year, after Kantor and Twohey published a feature in The New York Times, in which eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, accused the actor of sexual harassment and assault.
Following the allegations, the movie...
The scandal surrounding the producer, which went on to launch the larger #MeToo movement and Time’s Up movements, began in October of last year, after Kantor and Twohey published a feature in The New York Times, in which eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, accused the actor of sexual harassment and assault.
Following the allegations, the movie...
- 4/16/2018
- by Maria Pasquini
- PEOPLE.com
Today’s issue of New York magazine reveals that “deep-seated mistrust” between two supposed city law enforcement allies — the NYPD Special Victims Division and the office of District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. — may have helped Harvey Weinstein evade prosecution for sex crimes. In response the story, anti-sexual harassment collective Time’s Up is imploring New York governor Andrew Cuomo to launch an investigation into Vance and his staffers, via an open letter published on The Cut.
The article, “To Catch a Predator,” explains that Svd Commander Michael Osgood “believed that Vance and his office were actively working to discredit” model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who filed a police report against Weinstein after he allegedly groped her in his Weinstein Company office in March 2015. Osgood initially oversaw Gutierrez’s case. After the Da’s office was notified of the complaint, Gutierrez was rebuked in the tabloids, and Osgood hid the victim in...
The article, “To Catch a Predator,” explains that Svd Commander Michael Osgood “believed that Vance and his office were actively working to discredit” model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who filed a police report against Weinstein after he allegedly groped her in his Weinstein Company office in March 2015. Osgood initially oversaw Gutierrez’s case. After the Da’s office was notified of the complaint, Gutierrez was rebuked in the tabloids, and Osgood hid the victim in...
- 3/19/2018
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
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