In October , The New York Times and The New Yorker reported that dozens of women had accused the American film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape , sexual assault and sexual abuse over a period of at least 30 years.
Over 80 women in the film industry eventually accused Weinstein of such acts. Weinstein himself denied "any non-consensual sex". In May , Weinstein was arrested in New York and charged with rape and other offenses. The details of the indictment remained sealed following the announcement. The scandal triggered many similar allegations against powerful men around the world, and led to the ousting of many of them from their positions.
It also led a great number of women to share their own experiences of sexual assault, harassment, or rape on social media under the hashtag MeToo. The scandal's impact on powerful men in various industries came to be called the Weinstein effect. Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein , formed the film production company Miramax and led the company from to Rumors of Harvey Weinstein's " casting couch " practices soliciting sexual favors from a job applicant in exchange for employment circulated in Hollywood for years, and entertainment figures at times alluded to them.
The incidents described were in her office when she was alone with Harvey Weinstein, and in her home when a female friend of hers was present. She wrote that she "knew about Harvey's reputation as a womanizer; tales of his trying to seduce every young actress in town were infamous". Journalists wrote or attempted to write about Weinstein's alleged behavior. David Carr found that no one allegedly assaulted by Weinstein would speak on the record; Ken Auletta and his editors decided he could not mention an assault allegation without cooperation from the victim.
The Clintons continued longstanding close relationships with him despite alleged warnings about Weinstein to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign from Lena Dunham and Tina Brown.
