The Observer has gained access to a secret hitlist of almost 100 prominent individuals targeted by Harvey Weinstein in an extraordinary attempt to discover what they knew about sexual misconduct claims against him and whether they were intending to go public. (The Guardian)
The list would seem to corroborate many of the accusations already leveled against the former Weinstein Company chief. Rose McGowan and Laura Madden, two actresses featured in Ronan Farrow’s initial New Yorker report and the first New York Times report, are both on the list, as are Sophie Dix, Zelda Perkins, Annabella Sciorra and Katherine Kendall, all of whom have come forward in the last month and a half with horror stories about the former producer. (Vanity Fair / HWD)
A surprise bidder for The Weinstein Co. has emerged who is seeking to keep the embattled studio in business with new, majority-women leadership. Maria Contreras-Sweet, who led the Small Business Administration under President Obama, has submitted an offer to acquire The Weinstein Co., according to a letter to the board of directors viewed by The Wall Street Journal. It is the first bid to be publicly reported. (WSJ)
Meanwhile, additional allegations have been made against Brett Ratner. Keri Claussen Khalighi was a 17-year-old fashion model from a farm town in Nebraska when she met Ratner and Russell Simmons at a casting call. Khalighi said Simmons, who was then about twice her age, tried to force her to have intercourse. “I fought it wildly,” she said. He eventually relented and coerced her to perform oral sex, she alleged. “I guess I just acquiesced.” Ratner, meanwhile, “just sat there and watched,” she said. (LA Times / Company Town)