For months, journalists, Megan Kantor & Jodi Twohey collected hard evidence against Hollywood’s infamous and one of the most powerful producers, Harvey Weinstein, who apart from sexual harassing actresses also systemically abused & raped several of his employees. It took several late nights and early mornings for the two NYT journalists to get witnesses to speak on record. Weinstein’s legacy, his minions holding important positions in the media, the law and in Hollywood itself, kept him shielded. It’s a gross violation of a person’s autonomy, misuse of power that enabled the producer to continue as long as he did. With brilliant narrative spanning credible accounts of victim’s testimony, acquiring the contracts that legally bought the victims’ silence, Megan & Jodi fought to get the truth out in the open. Not just this, they were constantly surveilled & harassed by Weinstein, blocking every move, threatening every victim they spoke to.
Some of the weapons intended to fight sexual harassment were actually enabling it
She Said
News of Harvey’s sexual predatory opened floodgates in several parts of the world. The #MeToo movement exposed powerful men who continued to take advantage of women luring them into the promise of a career. Men like Weinstein thrive because he has supporters who enable this behavior. The lives of these women and several others who have spoken up has tremendously changed. From being threatened to having their careers ruined, women ultimately take the hit. Dr. Ford who was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court Judge, Brett Kavannaugh, still finds it difficult to get out of her house.
Even though Megan & Jodi’s work is monumental, the question still remains; what and how much has changed systemically? It’s also something both the journalists wonder. Were their efforts fruitful? As more and more women speak up, what is being done to ensure proper justice is met? I believe it’s a question we all have no answers to.
I would highly recommend reading She Said. It’s an important book that gives an insight into lives of the accused & their privilege & those who face the brunt of it.
Author: Megan Twohey & Jodi Kantor
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 312
Format: Ebook
Blurb:
On October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an article by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey–and then the world changed. For months Kantor and Twohey had been having confidential discussions with top actresses, former Weinstein employees and other sources, learning of disturbing long-buried allegations, some of which had been covered up by onerous legal settlements. The journalists meticulously picked their way through a web of decades-old secret payouts and nondisclosure agreements, pressed some of the most famous women in the world–and some unknown ones–to risk going on the record, and faced down Weinstein, his team of high-priced defenders, and even his private investigators.
But nothing could have prepared them for what followed the publication of their Weinstein story. Within days, a veritable Pandora’s Box of sexual harassment and abuse was opened, and women who had suffered in silence for generations began coming forward, trusting that the world would understand their stories. Over the next twelve months, hundreds of men from every walk of life and industry would be outed for mistreating their colleagues. But did too much change–or not enough? Those questions plunged the two journalists into a new phase of reporting and some of their most startling findings yet.
With superlative detail, insight, and journalistic expertise, Kantor and Twohey take us for the first time into the very heart of this social shift, reliving in real-time what it took to get the story and giving an up-close portrait of the forces that hindered and spurred change. They describe the surprising journeys of those who spoke up–for the sake of other women, for future generations, and for themselves–and so changed us all.
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