Former Disney Studios chairman: Weinstein ‘a monster’ in ‘pack of wolves’

Jeffrey Katzenberg says disgraced movie mogul ‘masked’ his actions from him when they worked together

Film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg speaks at The Wall Street Journal's three-day D.Live technology conference in Laguna Beach, California, October 16, 2017. (AFP/Glenn CHAPMAN)
Film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg speaks at The Wall Street Journal's three-day D.Live technology conference in Laguna Beach, California, October 16, 2017. (AFP/Glenn CHAPMAN)

LAGUNA BEACH, California — Hollywood titan Jeffrey Katzenberg branded fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein “a monster” who was far from alone in sexually preying on actresses.

“Make no mistake about it, he is a monster,” Katzenberg said of Weinstein during an on-stage interview late Monday at the Wall Street Journal D.Live conference in Laguna Beach, California.

“The problem is there is a pack of wolves; he is not a lone actor in this. That is what we really need to find a way to deal with.”

More than two dozen actresses including marquee stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Mira Sorvino have come forward saying they were sexually harassed by the producer.

Since the allegations emerged this month, Hollywood has largely turned its back on Weinstein.

This combination of pictures shows US producer Harvey Weinstein and (1st row from L) US actress Rose McGowan, US actress Angelina Jolie, Italian actress Asia Argento, US actress Gwyneth Paltrow, US actress Ashley Judd; (2nd row fromL) French actress Lea Seydoux, US actress Mira Sorvino, US actress Rosanna Arquette, US actress Louisette Geiss, British actress Kate Beckinsale; (3rd row fromL) Television reporter Lauren Sivan, US actress Jessica Barth, US producer Elizabeth Karlsen, French actress Emma De Caunes, and French actress Judith Godreche (AFP PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA AND AFP PHOTO / STAFF)

“I am a hundred percent certain Harvey Weinstein was not alone in this,” said Katzenberg, who was chairman of Walt Disney Studios for a decade until 1994. He was even Weinstein’s boss for a while after Disney bought the Weinstein brothers’ Miramax production company in 1993.

Katzenberg said he did “a lot of soul-searching” regarding how he could have missed any clues that Weinstein was abused his position when it came to actresses getting roles in films.

“There are two Harveys,” Katzenberg said.

“Somehow or other, this behavior was masked from me by him.”

He lauded the courage of women who have spoken out, and said that “anyone in a leadership position in Hollywood today” is thinking about how to address the problem the situation has spotlighted.

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