Embattled former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is apparently reaching out to friends in what appears to be an appeal for sympathy as he faces legal action from dozens of women accusing him of various degrees of sexual assault and harassment.
“I’ve had one hell of a year,” began an email Weinstein wrote on Monday from his personal email address, The New York Times reported. “The worst nightmare of my life.”
Weinstein goes on to criticize the work of police officers on his case, according to The Times.
The email quickly leaked through Hollywood, sparking outrage from many of his female accusers. Weinstein’s pleas to friends was not part of a legal strategy, his lawyer Benjamin Brafman, said; despite his team’s strategy of attempting to get Weinstein’s version of the numerous stories out into the public.
For months, as The Times notes, Weinstein’s lawyers have been attempting to discredit his many accusers and the case brought against him by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Over 80 women have accused him of sexual assault or harassment.
Weinstein is alleging that all the encounters were consensual. He still faces charges related to two women which Brafman is currently trying to have dismissed.
“We are getting killed by people writing articles, books and creating a sensation out of a case that has been in shambles,” Brafman said. “It’s part of my job to defend Harvey in the public arena where unfortunately the case is being litigated, and in the courtroom. I have a defense strategy, it is not a media strategy.”
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