Ronan Farrow published his blockbuster exposé on the alleged sexual assault transgressions of Harvey Weinstein in The New Yorker almost a year ago. When it was released, people in the media and entertainment industries wondered how NBC News had missed the story, since Farrow had spent months gathering material on the disgraced mogul while Farrow was with the network. But now, according to a story in the New York Times, a producer who worked closely with Farrow has accused the network of actively obstructing the reporting and claims the order came from “the very highest levels of NBC.”
NBC News is facing fresh claims that it tried to stop Ronan Farrow from reporting on Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults. pic.twitter.com/4B3oDLEJQN
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) August 31, 2018
Rich McHugh, Farrow’s co-producer, recently left his job at the investigative unit of NBC News. He is the first person affiliated with the network to publicly say NBC News impeded his and Farrow’s efforts to nail down the story of Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct. McHugh said that the network’s handling of the matter is “a massive breach of journalistic integrity,” according to the Times.
“Three days before Ronan and I were going to head to L.A. to interview a woman with a credible rape allegation against Harvey Weinstein, I was ordered to stop, not to interview this woman,” Mr. McHugh told the Times. “And to stand down on the story altogether.”
NBC has denied these claims and said that Farrow’s work did not have an on-the-record source accusing Weinstein and so the report was not broadcast-ready when the journalist took the story to The New Yorker.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
