Harvey Weinstein Personally Drags Oprah Into His Sexual Assault Scandal
Harvey Weinstein has been the main topic of Hollywood headlines for the past week with several starlets coming forward claiming the high-powered executive made sexual advances at them.
While only a handful — if that — of figures have come forward showing support for the famed producer, none of them hold the stature of the one who the man, himself, claims to be his closeted ally: Oprah Winfrey.
According to TMZ, Weinstein said that the queen of all media personally called him to say she was ready to publicly declare her support of him. However, Oprah's people have responded to his claims, clarifying that they hold absolutely no truth.
The site reports that Weinstein told his team and friends on multiple occasions that Oprah called him earlier this week urging him to speak out and "defend himself," and once he did that, she would come out and support him. While he claimed that several powerful figures in Hollywood have voiced their support of him, he repeatedly highlighted Oprah.
Clarifying these claims, Oprah's spokesperson told TMZ, "Oprah has not spoken to Harvey Weinstein directly. Someone from his team reached out to her to see if she would talk to him, and she said she would if it was for an interview. There are no plans for an interview at this time."
Her people went on to clarify that she was only interested in conducting a 60 Minutes interview with the fallen Hollywood exec, but clarified that "she was only interested if he'd look in the mirror and give her the honest, bone marrow truth."
The only statement the Greenleaf actress has made on the situation as of late is as follows: "I've been processing the accounts of Harvey Weinstein's behavior and haven't been able to find the words to articulate the magnitude of the situation... This is the story of one predator and his many victims; but it is also a story about an overwhelming systematic enabling, and until that story is fully told we will fall far short of stopping future depredations on a similar scale."
Get more details on the scandal with BET Breaks, above.
