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truth_machine's avatar

"Oops, seems Weinstein was a producer, not an agent. But producers serve a related role of evaluating and matching actors. A big part of the demand for him as a producer would be his ability to do those well."

Oops, you're a grossly intellectually dishonest buffoon.

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Peter Shenkin's avatar

This is something very much like a song publisher demanding a share of the writer's royalty in addition to the publisher's royalty in return for prioritizing their promotion of the song. This common practice in the music biz, and in that case it is so widely accepted (for a new writer) that it is barely even viewed as unseemly. Indeed some publishers have gotten a very bad rep for doing it excessively, but it's not illegal in any way.

It seems that Weinstein was demanding sexual favors in return for prioritizing the actresses who would grant them. We're shocked and outraged, but at least one actress who granted the favor said that at the time she viewed it simply as a rite of passage.

I personally agree that though Weinstein might be what I would consider a pig, the actresses who agreed ought to have understood this as a quid-pro-quo that they had a right to accept, with its benefits, or turn down, with its consequences. Weinstein is or was one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, and someone you want on your side. Also, the actresses in question may already have been under contract to him, making it hard to work for someone else.

After all, it is now de rigeur to respect sex workers who take money for sex, and I don't see this as particularly different. Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer cherce.

Implicit in the above is my belief that the allegations are true, and not mere gossip. Except for outliers, of course, or other kinds of liars. But in this situation, I believe they are few, in part because of substantial verification by women who say they rejected the advances but managed to succeed in the grand manner anyway. I especially admire these women, because I admire success, especially by those who do it their way.

Just a little coda: Randy Hughes, Patsy Cline's agent, said that the advice given him by a senior colleague at the start of his career was quite valuable. The advice was, "Keep your cock out of the cash register." It appears in retrospect that poor Harvey would have benefited from said advice.

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