After things started to hit a peak in 2017, Harvey Weinstein unsuccessfully tried to put together several plans to keep himself out of jail and retain his entertainment empire.
On Tuesday, Manhattan court papers regarding Weinstein's criminal case were unsealed and revealed to the public. Per Vulture, these papers document Weinstein's life in the days following the New York Times investigation and how he was scrambling to save himself. In a drafted public statement obtained by the court, Weinstein blames his behavior on his PTSD and claims that he's a suicidal sex/anger addict.
"Three months ago I could never say the following words, nor even think them to myself: I’m an addict. I’m a sex addict. I’m an anger addict," a draft dated Dec. 21, 2017 reads. "To medicate, I comfort myself with bad food. My mind sees despair. My body has trauma. Vets tell me I have PTSD. Doctors tell me I’m lucky to be alive … but lucky is not how I feel. I have only despair. I have lost my family. I have daughters that will not talk to me. I have lost my wife. I have lost the respect of my ex-wife and generally almost all of my friends. I have no company. I’m alone. ... And I will be honest with you: I’m suicidal."
Weinstein's statement went on to explain that there are "two sides" to every story and that he feels like people don't understand the difference between "assault and cheating." The statement is filled with self-pity, leading his PR team to shelve it. Although most of the focus is on himself and his behavior, Weinstein did write that he wanted to create a version of the St. Jude's hospital but for addicts.
"When I was a boy, there was a TV series with Danny Thomas called Make Room for Daddy. Danny Thomas built a hospital called St. Jude. It’s a place where kids from all around the world go and get care for free. I thought to myself, 'Why don’t I build a St. Jude’s for Addicts? For alcoholics. For sex addicts. For those struggling with opioids, drugs, food, etc. Why don’t I build a St. Jude’s run by women?'" the statement reads.
"I’ll finance it with my connections and turn it over to the women. They will have the best physicians from all over the world. It will be a place where women can talk, have groups, explain their experiences and talk to men directly. It wouldn’t be just men having group therapies, but women confronting them, talking to them, understanding why they acted out," he continued. "I asked some female opioid addicts for a name for this version of St. Jude’s for addicts. One lonely young heroin addict looked up at me. 'Athena,' she said. 'Who?' 'Athena, the Goddess of War.'"
The documents also include Weinstein's emails. He contacted wealthy associates like Michael Bloomberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and other power brokers for letters of support to keep him from being removed from his business ventures. There is also an email exchange with his brother during which Bob Weinstein referred to Harvey as a "sexual preditor."
"U deserve a lifetime achievement award for the sheer savagery and immorality and inhumanness, for the acts u have perpetrated. Oh I forgot. They were all consensual. Then what are u in rehab for? Sex addiction. Don’t think so," Bob wrote in November 2017. "You wouldn’t have harassment, assault and rape charges u have now received, from 82 women for active consensual sex. U must be being treated for something. I guess sexual predator comes to mind."
"U have been a sexual predator and abusive person for over fourty [sic] years," Bob continued. "Fuck u Harvey Weinstein. I pray there is a real hell. That’s where u belong. I suppose being you, is its own hell, if u could feel it, but no chance. OJ, didn’t kill Nicole Simpson and u had consensual sex with all those poor victimized women."
Additionally, the document touch on Weinstein's complicated relationship with Jennifer Aniston. During the 2017 investigation, there were rumors Aniston claimed Weinstein tried to make sexual advances towards her. Aniston and her rep denied this happened, but it didn't stop Weinstein from urging his rep to tell a reporter "Jen Aniston should be killed."
Although she was never groped by Weinstein, Aniston told Variety about a time when the producer tried to bully her into wearing a dress. "I remember, right when [Weinstein's ex-wife] Georgina’s clothing line Marchesa was starting. That’s when he came to visit me in London while we were shooting. He’d be like, 'Ok, so I’d like you to wear one of these to the premiere,'" Aniston said when explaining the interaction during a recent interview. "And I went through the book, and at the time, it wasn’t what it is today. It was not for me. He was like, 'You have to wear the dress.' That was my only bullying. And I was like, 'No, I will not wear the dress.' ... Well, what was he going to do? Come over here and make me wear it?!"
