A Deep-Dive Into The Fall Of Hollywood’s Ultimate Sex Predator, Harvey Weinstein

It’s been a great week for sexism. Swedish model and artist Arvida Bystrom was threatened with rape, after she appeared in an Adidas advert with hairy legs; a senior writer at Vice’s women’s channel, Broadly, was fired after leaked e-mails revealed that he had been lobbying alt-right ‘media personality’ Milo Yiannapoulos to bully ‘fat feminists’; and then, well, there’s Harvey Weinstein. The 65-year-old American producer, considered to be one of, if not the most powerful man in Hollywood, has been fired from his own company, dumped by his wife and dispatched to ‘sex addiction rehab’ (obviously) after it was sensationally revealed by The New York Times and a dizzying further array of publications, that he had sexually harassed dozens of women in Hollywood, from A-Listers such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, to journalists, assistants and models. You’ll never look at a pot plant in the same way again…. How was Weinstein’s behaviour tolerated, as an open secret, for so long? Why are women expected to come forward, more than men? Was he fired because he sexually harassed women - or because the public found out? And, as we discuss at length, will the demise of Harvey Weinstein finally lead to the dismantling of the systemic sexism upon which Hollywood’s very foundations are built? Time can only tell. On a trivial note, did you know pesto pasta has more salt than a McDonald’s burger? Pandora’s happy, veggies not so much. Please do e-mail us thehighlowshow@gmail.com or tweet us @thehighlowshow if you have any thoughts on the episode. BIG NEWS! The High Low has signed a shiny new partnership with Google, in collaboration with their Google Pixel 2 Phone. To kick off the partnership, which stars in November, we are doing a live episode of The High Low at Selfridges (as part of a shiny roster of speakers including Adwoa Aboah and Riz Ahmed) in their Curiosity Rooms installation, on Friday 20th October. You can sign up for a free ticket here: https://events.withgoogle.com/curiosityrooms/ READING & LISTENING Nothing To Envy: Real Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-Envy-Lives-North-Korea/dp/184708141X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507757675&sr=8-1&keywords=barbara+demick Gaga: Five Foot Two, on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/80196586 Uncommon Type: Some Stories, by Tom Hanks https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncommon-Type-Stories-Tom-Hanks/dp/1785151517 Lullaby by Leila Slimani (out in January) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lullaby-Leila-Slimani/dp/0571337538/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507757742&sr=1-1&keywords=lullaby+leila+slimani The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel https://www.amazon.co.uk/State-Affairs-Rethinking-Infidelity-anyone/dp/1473673542/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507757760&sr=1-1&keywords=esther+perel WTF Podcast Episode 242 with Russell Brand (from 2012) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4w0U84v6ik Here’s Why So Many Women Knew The Rumours About Harvey Weintein, by Anne Helen Petersen for Buzzfeed https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/women-believe-other-women?utm_term=.qhOjRo5Kwb#.djKA49B3g6 Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey for The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories, by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories Why The Weinstein Sexual-Harassment Allegations Didn’t Come Out Until Now, by Rebecca Traitor for The Cut https://www.thecut.com/2017/10/why-the-weinstein-sexual-harassment-allegations-came-out-now.html