Harvey Weinsten insists he is innocent in his first-ever interview after MeToo accusations: ‘I’m wrongfully convicted'
In his first on-person camera interview, producer Harvey Weinstein insisted he did not commit any crimes.
Controversial Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein insists he hasn’t done anything illegal. “I did not commit these crimes,” he said in a new interview with journalist Candace Owens. “I swear that before God and the people watching now and on my family. I’m wrongfully accused. But justice has to know the difference between what is immoral and what is illegal,” he said in the interview.
Harvey’s interview, aired on Tuesday, comes as his retrial continues on rape and two criminal sexual act charges stemming from alleged incidents in 2006 and 2013. The sit-down was also Harvey’s first on-camera interview in eight years and it aired on the same day as a third and final accuser, Jessica Mann, testified in court about an alleged 2013 rape.
Harvey is also facing charges related to Miriam Haley, who says he forced oral sex on her in 2006 at his Tribeca apartment, and Kaja Sokola, who alleges a similar assault in a Manhattan hotel that same year.
In an unusual move for a defendant in the middle of a trial, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Harvey went public while testimony is still being heard. A source close to the matter said his legal team wasn’t aware of the interview project until after it had already been arranged.
Harvey began the interview by reading from a written statement, acknowledging personal failings while denying criminal behavior. “I mean, I made mistakes. There’s no question about it. I hurt my family. I hurt my friends. I cheated on my wife, and that was a mistake, a terrible mistake. And I apologize to friends, family, all the innocent people who inadvertently I hurt, and especially to the Messick family, Jill Messick and her family. But I did not commit these crimes.”
He continued: “I believe women should be heard, but I’m wrongfully convicted. And right now, I’m not convicted, and I’m on a retrial. An appeal overturned my conviction. But justice demands a clear, honest look at each case, and I am here for fairness and the truth.”
While Harvey stated there was little he could discuss due to the ongoing trial, he did comment on how former friends have distanced themselves. “They are frightened to death. They are frightened that they’re going to be canceled, that they’re not going to be able to work. I tried to get my people to stand up and even testify in the trial. And nothing,” he said during the interview.
When asked specifically about actor Gwyneth Paltrow—who had claimed that Harvey made a pass at her and that Brad Pitt warned him to back off—Harvey dismissed her account. “At the end of the meeting, we had a glass of Champagne. As I was walking out the door, I said to her, ‘I’d love you to give me a massage’. And she went, ‘Yeah’ [said dismissively], and that was it. I didn’t put my hand on her. I didn’t touch her. I definitely made a pass. I guess, you know, you could call it that, but that was the sum total of that situation,” he said, adding that Brad told him to not “do that again.”.
Harvey also criticized the way he’s been portrayed as the face of the #MeToo movement. “They wanted me, and they wanted me in jail forever.”
He took aim at The New York Times’ reporting on allegations from actresses like Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, and spoke derisively about She Said, the 2022 film about the newspaper’s investigation. "The movie grossed $2.5 million dollars on its opening weekend, which is a disaster. I think it went on to gross $4 or $5 million. So maybe it showed there’s no interest in me but there certainly was no interest in the case.”
