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Harvey Weinstein Says He Deserves A Pat On The Back For Helping Women In Hollywood

   DailyWire.com
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Movie producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at criminal court on December 11, 2019 in New York City. Weinstein returned to court for a ruling on whether he will remain free on bail or if his bail will be raised to $5 million before his trial starts January 6 . (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Disgraced movie producer and accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein believes he should be lauded — not potentiall convicted and jailed — for how he treated actresses he worked with and other women in Hollywood, according to an interview he gave the New York Post ahead of his criminal trial.

Weinstein has been accused of sexually harassing, sexually assaulting, and even raping upwards of 80 women, most of whom are or were aspiring young actresses and models, and some of whom were accomplished in their field before reportedly turning down Weinstein’s sexual advances.

He’s about to face a criminal trial in New York City — he’s out on bail pending a “major operation” for back injuries sustained in an August car crash — and could face other charges in California and London, but Weinstein doesn’t appear even the least bit sorry for his actions, maintains his innocence, says his affairs were consensual, and believes he should be lavished with praise and awards for the contributions he made to dispelling sexism and evening the playing field for women looking to make it big in the movie industry.

“I feel like the forgotten man,’’ he told The Post. “I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker, and I’m talking about 30 years ago. I’m not talking about now when it’s vogue. I did it first! I pioneered it!”

“It all got eviscerated because of what happened,’’ Weinstein continued, referencing the dozens of accusations of sexual impropriety leveled against him. “My work has been forgotten.’’

Indeed, Weinstein’s movie studio is now bankrupt (though he is not), and his insurance company is on the hook for a nearly $100 million settlement he and his lawyers inked with dozens of his alleged victims — a settlement that includes a fund operating in perpetuity in case more victims come forward seeking redress against the movie mogul.

Weinstein spoke with the Post from a posh hospital room in New York, where he’s recovering from a three-hour surgery for compressed discs in his spine — a condition many in the media speculated was “overblown.” Weinstein used a standard, hospital-issue walker in his bail hearing last week, and appeared heavily styled to maximize sympathy, with dishelved hair, an oversized and wrinkly polyester suit, and cheap sneakers.

“I want this city to recognize who I was instead of what I’ve become,” he told Post reporters.

What he “was,” he says, was an expert career-creator. In the interview, he took credit for a number of successes, including Gwyneth Paltrow’s Oscar-winning performance in “Shakespeare in Love.”

“Gwyneth Paltrow in 2003 got $10 million to make a movie called ‘View from the Top,’” Weinstein said. “She was the highest-paid female actor in an independent film. Higher-paid than all the men.”

Paltrow, for her part, says she narrowly survived being blacklisted in Hollywood after resisting Weinstein’s efforts to grope her in a hotel room when she was just 22.

He also claimed to have paved the way for “woke” culture, greenlighting films about drag queens and television shows about transgender individuals and projects with a “social justice agenda.” He raised money for victims of 9/11, he said.

The Post reports that Weinstein threatened “to terminate the sit-down each time a question was posed that he didn’t like,” and that he accused prosecutors of trying to “embarrass” him.

Weinstein goes on trial for rape in early January.

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