PsychoSoldier
Banned
According to an article on The Wrap by former New York Times journalist Sharon Waxman, an earlier story on Harvey Weinstein was gutted, specifically focused around an Italian executive alleged to have handled getting women for him.
An excerpt, though the whole thing is worth a read.
MOD ABUSE EDIT
We should be clear that there is no claim that Damon or Crowe (at this point) helped bury a story about unwanted sexual advances by Weinstein. They called to vouch for Mr. Lomabardo (the former head of Miramax Italy) relating to if he was doing actual work on behalf of Miramax. From the authors original NYT story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/b...es-exchief-in-italy-saying-he-had-2-jobs.html
An excerpt, though the whole thing is worth a read.
I also tracked down a woman in London who had been paid off after an unwanted sexual encounter with Weinstein. She was terrified to speak because of her non-disclosure agreement, but at least we had evidence of a pay-off.
The story I reported never ran.
After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted.
MOD ABUSE EDIT
We should be clear that there is no claim that Damon or Crowe (at this point) helped bury a story about unwanted sexual advances by Weinstein. They called to vouch for Mr. Lomabardo (the former head of Miramax Italy) relating to if he was doing actual work on behalf of Miramax. From the authors original NYT story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/b...es-exchief-in-italy-saying-he-had-2-jobs.html
In a statement and through company associates, Miramax said Mr. Lombardo filled a useful role while heading Miramax Italy, acting as a handler for talent during shoots in Italy of movies like "Gangs of New York," starting a film distribution operation, helping negotiate production space and the collection of overdue payments, overseeing development deals with Italian directors, and organizing Italian publicity tours for stars like Rachael Leigh Cook, Matt Damon and Russell Crowe. He also arranged the introduction of Miramax to financiers of a computer animation company called Wild Brain, based in San Francisco, which resulted in a co-production deal and gave Miramax the right to acquire a stake in Wild Brain.
But Mr. Crowe, the actor, in an e-mailed statement credited Mr. Lombardo with organizing an Italian premiere for his film "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," which "just happened to include almost every" Oscar voter residing in Italy.