In a report in The Hollywood Reporter detailing some of the claims of Ronan Farrow’s new book, , “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators,” which focuses on the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, THR writes that Farrow attests that he was pressured by Hillary Clinton to drop his investigation.
THR writes:
Weinstein also attempted to leverage his long-term relationship with Hillary Clinton to pressure Farrow, he writes. In summer 2017, while Farrow was trying to lock down an interview with Clinton for his foreign policy book — while also still working on the Weinstein story — he received a call from Clinton’s publicist, Nick Merrill, who told him that the “big story” Farrow was working on was a “concern for us.” Then, in September 2017, according to an email cited in the book, Weinstein wrote to Deborah Turness, the ex-president of NBC News who now runs NBC News International, to propose a docuseries on Clinton. “Your Hillary doc series sounds absolutely stunning,” Turness responded.
Insider.com notes, “Weinstein, a major Democratic Party donor, gave Clinton more than $26,000 in contributions since her initial Senate run in 2000, according to the Federal Election Commission.”
Insider.com also notes that Hillary Clinton came forth in October 2017 after The New York Times published their investigation of Weinstein, asserting, “I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.”
Statement from Secretary Clinton on Harvey Weinstein: pic.twitter.com/L1l2wl9l0I
— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) October 10, 2017
Also in October 2017, as Deadline reported, Clinton was interviewed by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, who asked regarding Weinstein, “He donated money to you, directly and indirectly — would you give the money back?”
Clinton answered, “Well, there’s no one to give it back to … What other people are saying, what my former colleagues are saying, is they’re going to donate it to charity, and of course I will do that. I give 10% of my income to charity every year. This will be part of that. There’s no – there’s no doubt about it.”
Zakaria asked if Clinton considered Weinstein a friend. She replied, “Yes, I probably would have – and so would so many others … You know, people in Democratic politics for a couple of decades appreciated his help and support. And I think these stories coming to light now, and people who never spoke out before having the courage to speak out, just clearly demonstrates that this behavior that he engaged in, cannot be tolerated and cannot be overlooked.”
Zakaria commented, “People say people knew.” Clinton shot back, ““Well, I certainly didn’t! And I don’t know who did. But I can only speak for myself, and I think speak for many others who knew him primarily through politics … But the courage of these women coming forward now is really important because it can’t just end with one person’s disgraceful behavior and the consequences that he is now facing. This has to be a wake-up call and shine a bright spotlight on anything like this behavior anywhere, at any time.”