Harvey Weinstein’s ‘forgotten man’ comments anger accusers

Harvey Weinstein’s accusers hit back at the disgraced Hollywood mogul after he complained that the world has forgotten how he “pioneered” women-led films, following dozens of sex-crime allegations.

The once powerful US producer, whose case sparked the #MeToo movement, gave a rare interview just three weeks before the start of a criminal trial that could see him jailed for life.

Weinstein, 67, told the New York Post tabloid, speaking in a hospital following a back operation, that he felt “like the forgotten man.”

“I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker and I’m talking about 30 years ago,” said the producer of “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.”

“I’m not talking about now when it’s vogue. I did it first! I pioneered it! It all got eviscerated because of what happened,” he added.

Twenty-three women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including actresses Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, say the comments are an attempt to “gaslight society again.”

“He says in a new interview he doesn’t want to be forgotten. Well, he won’t be,” they say in a statement posted on the Time’s Up Twitter page. “He will be remembered as a sexual predator and an unrepentant abuser who took everything and deserves nothing. He will be remembered by the collective will of countless women who stood up and said enough.”

— AFP