A new book on the allegations of sexual harassment and abuse lodged against Harvey Weinstein is slated for release on Sept. 10.
Titled She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement, the book is written by the New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Together, they broke the story of Weinstein’s alleged misconduct, which set off the #MeToo movement. She Said also offers accounts from new sources, such as his brother Bob Weinstein and a former Miramax employee, Rowena Chiu, per the Times.
One of the book’s pivotal figures is Irwin Reiter, a former top executive at The Weinstein Company. The book reveals that Reiter—who was Weinstein’s accountant for decades—gave the reporters an explosive internal memo from an employee who detailed Weinstein’s habitual harassment of junior female employees and actresses. Reiter also tipped off Kantor and Twohey about recent accusations against Weinstein, which brought new urgency to the case.
She Said also discloses the identity of Chiu, a Weinstein accuser who remained anonymous for 15 years. A former assistant at Miramax, Chiu received a settlement in 1998 after Weinstein allegedly assaulted her in a hotel room. In the book, Chiu describes being quieted by a confining non-disclosure agreement and being cajoled back to her job at Miramax so that Weinstein could keep her close. Afterward, she dealt with depression and attempted suicide, never telling her husband about the assault or settlement.
For the first time, Bob Weinstein discusses that he wrongly viewed his brother’s issue as sex addiction, logic that derived from Bob’s own unreported recovery from substance abuse, and how he chose to stop intervening.
According to journalist Yashar Ali, in the book, we also “learn just how far [Weinstein's lawyer Lisa] Bloom was willing to go to destroy women who were the targets of Weinstein's predation.”
Bloom worked with Weinstein to suppress the journalists’ investigation and to hinder accusers, and even offered to help him wreck the reputation of accuser Rose McGowan. Bloom justified her actions as “crossing sides to work for Weinstein to encourage him to apologize for his behavior,” per the Times. She later told reporters she “deeply regretted” representing him, calling it a “colossal mistake.”
In May, Weinstein reached a $44 million deal with his accusers and studio board members, but his time in court is far from over. In late August, Weinstein entered a not guilty plea in his latest sexual assault case, which added two additional charges to his legal trouble.
