Harvey Weinstein and Bill Clinton were thick as thieves and the disgraced movie producer even coached the randy president on how to handle Monica Lewinsky scandal with clueless Hillary, new book reveals
- A new book about disgraced Harvey Weinstein provides insight into his close relationship with Bill Clinton
- According to Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence, Clinton ‘admired’ Weinstein
- Weinstein was so close with Clinton that he gave him advice about how to handle the Monica Lewinsky scandal and what to say to Hillary, the book claims
- Weinstein claimed to be a ‘shoulder’ for Clinton to lean on in the summer of 1997 as they vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard
- Clinton told author Ken Auletta in an interview for the book that he and Weinstein bonded over a ‘deep yearning’ to get a lot of things done in their life
- The book describes how Weinstein relied on the Clintons to demonstrate his ‘political clout’
Harvey Weinstein was so close with Bill Clinton that he gave him advice about how to handle the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a new book about the disgraced Hollywood producer claims.
Weinstein claimed to be a ‘shoulder’ for Clinton to speak to in the summer of 1997 as they vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard following the disclosures by the former White House intern.
After a string of affairs, Weinstein had extensive experience ‘being in the doghouse’ and gave his advice to Clinton – who was also accused of infidelity numerous times – on how to speak to his wife Hillary.
According to Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence, by New Yorker journalist Ken Auletta, Clinton admired Weinstein and the two shared ‘personal insights’ with each other.
Clinton told Auletta in an interview for the book that he and Weinstein bonded over a ‘deep yearning’ to get a lot of things done in their life, a desire sparked by family trauma.
A new book about disgraced Harvey Weinstein provides insight into his close relationship with Bill Clinton. Pictured in 2006
Weinstein was so close with Clinton that he gave him advice about how to handle the Monica Lewinsky scandal
After a string of affairs, Weinstein had extensive experience ‘being in the doghouse’ and gave his advice to Clinton – who was also accused of infidelity numerous times – on how to speak to his wife Hillary
The book reveals that Weinstein’s fundraising prowess for the Clintons was ‘undeniable’ and the money colored their judgment about him.
When Hillary Clinton’s aides were warned about Weinstein’s sexual predation it made no difference to the Clintons’ ‘fealty towards Harvey’ and they remained friends.
According to Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence, Clinton ‘admired’ Weinstein
The book details how the Clintons were among the most high profile people who were part of the ‘architecture of collusion both intentional and unwilling’ that Weinstein built to cover up his rapes and sexual assaults of women.
The book describes how Weinstein relied on the Clintons to demonstrate his ‘political clout’ and he screened movies for them in the White House while Clinton was in office.
One time Weinstein brought Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow – the golden Hollywood couple at the time – to such an event.
Weinstein was so close to Clinton that he invited him to spend a weekend at Camp David and they socialized during the summers in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where Democrats since the Kennedys have spent their vacation.
Weinstein even ‘thought of himself as a confidant of Clinton’s,’ Auletta writes.
According to Marcy Granata, the former president of publicity and corporate communications at Miramax, Weinstein ‘would brag about counseling the President who, as Harvey told it, was in the ‘doghouse,’ something Harvey assured the President he knew a lot about.’
Both Weinstein and Clinton were accused of numerous affairs and those conversations appeared to revolve around how to explain yourself to your wife.
Granata said: ‘And so he would describe himself as a good shoulder for the President in Martha’s Vineyard over the summer of the Lewinsky scandal. We believed him but who knows if any of that is actually true.’
Auletta writes that it was ‘clearly true’ that Weinstein and Clinton were close enough to share ‘personal insights’ with each other.
Clinton told Auletta, in relation to Weinstein’s compulsive behavior: ‘Something happens to you when you’re a child and makes you feel that if you really want to have an impact in life you have to be in a hurry. And you can’t be a milquetoast.
‘And I don’t know much about his life before he got involved with politics but there’s something there that planted a deep yearning in him that would let him define the work of his life, at least in part, by how much he got done and how quick. And I think guys like him – and me – if you’re not careful you miss a lot of the other things in life.’
For Weinstein, the trauma as a child would likely have been his domineering mother Miriam, who used to berate him and call him fat.
Clinton has spoken of the challenges of living with an alcoholic stepfather who was both verbally and physically abusive.
Hilary told Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lucinda Franks during an interview in 1999 that her husband was ‘abused’ by his mother and it affected him ‘forever.’
The book reveals that Weinstein’s fundraising prowess for the Clintons was ‘undeniable’ and the money colored their judgment about him
For Weinstein, the trauma as a child would likely have been his domineering mother Miriam, who used to berate him and call him fat. Pictured in 1996
The book describes how Weinstein relied on the Clintons to demonstrate his ‘political clout’ and he screened movies for them in the White House while Clinton was in office
According to the book, Weinstein gave Democratic candidates a total of $750,000 between 1998 and 2002 when he was at the height of his powers.
Over the same time period he raised $14million for the party, with a sprinkling going to Republicans like Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York.
Weinstein also raised $1.4million for Cinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
That included a party in Roseland, New Jersey, where Weinstein was so keen to impress the Clintons that he micromanaged the event and told the master of ceremonies Nathan Lane that he had to cut a risqué joke out or he would ‘ruin your career.’
In 1998, the year after the Lewinsky scandal, Weinstein invited Hillary to the premiere of Shakespeare in Love in 1998 in the hope that her presence would boost the film.
The tactic worked and ensured the film got ‘massive press interest.’
Auletta writes that Clinton filmed a video tribute for Weinstein that was among those screened at his 2004 wedding to his second wife, Georgina Chapman.
Weinstein also schmoozed Barack Obama and let his daughter Malia do an internship at The Weinstein Co. in 2017.
When Weinstein caught wind that Ronan Farrow (left) was reporting on him, he recruited Clinton’s crisis manager, Lanny Davis (right) who also defended Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings
After the revelations about Weinstein in 2017, Hillary took five days to issue a statement about him, a delay which sparked intense criticism. Pictured in 2012
In an especially stinging passage, Auletta writes: ‘Over the years when Hillary Clinton’s aides were reportedly warned of Harvey’s abusive ways, particularly with women, those warnings had no obvious effect on the Clintons’ fealty towards Harvey.
Those warnings reportedly included director Lena Dunham and magazine editor Tina Brown, who did so in 2016 and 2002 respectively.
When Weinstein caught wind that Ronan Farrow was reporting on him, he recruited Clinton’s crisis manager, Lanny Davis, who also defended the former President during his impeachment hearings.
The book claims that in 2017 Davis visited the offices of NBC when Weinstein heard their reporter Ronan Farrow was investigating him and got an assurance from a top editor that their story wasn’t going ahead.
After the revelations about Weinstein in 2017, Hillary took five days to issue a statement about him, a delay which sparked intense criticism.
She said: ‘I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by the women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior’,
More than 80 women came forward to allege sexual impropriety and in 2020 Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault, for which he was sentenced to 23 years
Hillary later defended herself in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
She said: ‘How could we have known? He raised money for me, for the Obamas, for Democrats in general.
‘And that at the time was something that everybody thought made sense. And of course, if all of us had known what we know now, it would have affected our behavior.’
Through his film companies Miramax and The Weinstein Co., Weinstein won 81 Academy Awards and got 341 Oscar nominations.
He helped to make stars out of actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and during the 1990s he turned independent films into box office gold.
But for years there had been rumors about his behavior with women and in 2017 the dam burst with explosive stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker.
More than 80 women came forward to allege sexual impropriety and in 2020 Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault, for which he was sentenced to 23 years.
His fall from grace however is still not complete and he faces separate charges in Los Angeles – with police in London charging him as well with indecent assault.
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