New York Times Reportedly ‘Gutted’ a Weinstein Story in 2004

After pressure from Harvey Weinstein, Matt Damon and Russell Crowe, the paper killed the story.

October 9, 2017 3:32 pm
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein in Tribeca on March 7, 2017 in New York City. (Alo Ceballos/GC Images)
GC Images

A New York Times journalist reported on Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct in 2004, but after intense pressure from Weinstein — including personal calls to the reporter from actors Matt Damon and Russell Crowe —the paper or record reportedly “gutted” the story. 

“I was told at the time that Weinstein had visited the newsroom in person to make his displeasure known. I knew he was a major advertiser in the Times, and that he was a powerful person overall,” the former reporter, Sharon Waxman, recently wrote in a first-person piece for TheWrap.

“But I had the facts, and this was the Times. Right? Wrong,” Waxman recounted, noting that the story that did run focused on Miramax firing an Italian executive — and stripped it of any reference to the allegations waged against the media mogul, including that the fired Italian executive didn’t actually know anything about film. According to multiple accounts, Fabrizio Lombardo was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his “real job,” which was taking care of Weinstein’s “women needs.” 

According to multiple accounts, Fabrizio Lombardo was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his “real job,” which was taking care of Weinstein’s “women needs.” 

Multiple people also referenced nights he hired Russian escorts, Waxman said, and she also spoke to a “terrified” woman who said she was paid off to keep quiet about an unwanted sexual encounter with Weinstein. 

The point of rehashing this, according to Waxman, is in response to a Jim Rutenberg column slamming  Weinstein’s “media enablers.”

“Until now,” Rutenberg wrote, “no journalistic outfit had been able, or perhaps willing, to nail the details and hit publish.”

According to Waxman, that includes the New York Times.

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