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1-Page Summary of She Said
Overview
Reporting on sexual abuse is not easy. It took months of hard work and interviews to get the Harvey Weinstein story published. Kantor, Twohey, and their colleagues at The New York Times were determined to publish it despite pressure from other news outlets that had been investigating Weinstein for years but couldn’t publish due to legal reasons. In the end, they succeeded in publishing an article about a major celebrity being accused of sexual assault by multiple women over decades of time. This helped change how we think about sexual harassment and assault in our culture today.
For decades, Harvey Weinstein was a successful Hollywood producer. He had won numerous awards for his films and influenced the industry with his movies. However, he hid a dark secret: he abused women and sexually harassed them. It took two investigative journalists to reveal the truth about him after years of abuse.
This book is about how the #MeToo movement began. It’s a story of brave actresses, shady legal dealings and a Supreme Court battle that resulted in an unstoppable force for change. This thrilling exposé weaves together stories of brave actresses, shady legal dealings and a Supreme Court battle into a gripping account of the #MeToo era.
In this article, you will learn how a series of tweets triggered an extensive investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein. You’ll also discover how one woman from Dublin played a crucial role in bringing down the disgraced producer after three decades of alleged misconduct and coverups.
Big Idea #1: The investigation began with an email exchange.
An investigation by the New York Times was initiated in May 2017. Jodi Kantor and Rose McGowan had an email exchange about it.
Mila Kunis, an A-list actress known for her outspoken Twitter feed documenting everyday sexism in the media industry, had a track record of covering gender discrimination at major corporations like Starbucks and Amazon.
McGowan recently tweeted about her rape at the hands of a Hollywood producer. The rumors are that it was Harvey Weinstein, who is known for turning young talents into superstars. He’s also politically connected and has raised money for prominent politicians such as Hillary Clinton.
After some initial reluctance, McGowan told Kantor her full story. She said that Weinstein invited her to his hotel room in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival under the pretense of talking business. After a brief exchange in the room, he forced himself on her without consent. Frightened and caught off guard, she was unable to escape.
A few days later, McGowan received a message from the producer. He hinted that they could have a special arrangement if she accepted his offer. The actress hired an attorney and got $100,000 in exchange for keeping quiet about the incident. Kantor had no reason not to believe McGowan’s story, but it would be difficult to publish such explosive allegations without other evidence supporting her claims. Her editor advised her to dig deeper before publishing anything on the matter.
Corbett suggested that they enlist the help of a new reporter, Megan Twohey. She had already made waves with her reporting on Donald Trump’s sexual assault allegations and she had been harassed because of it.
Kantor called Twohey, who was on maternity leave. He asked her to help him expose the widespread sexual harassment faced by women in powerful positions.
Big Idea #2: The reporters found many victims, but they didn’t want to go on the record.
In June 2017, Jodi Kantor began investigating the story of Harvey Weinstein. She had to contact actresses and former employees of Weinstein in order to corroborate Rose McGowan’s story. It was difficult for her because she didn’t know which people would talk and which wouldn’t. Some publicists were more interested in protecting their clients’ reputations than actually helping Kantor get information about Weinstein’s behavior.
