In a New York Times story published on Saturday, Rose McGowan offered new details about her alleged encounter with Harvey Weinstein, including that she was recently offered $1 million to stay silent about her experiences with the mogul. McGowan, who has accused Weinstein of raping her during a 1997 hotel room meeting, says she turned down an offer made through her lawyer by “someone close to Mr. Weinstein” just one day before the explosive Times exposé about Weinstein’s alleged predatory behavior was published. (Weinstein denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex.) McGowan was in the midst of writing her memoir, Brave, at the time the offer was made.
McGowan reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein 20 years ago but says that she learned over the summer that that previous settlement “had never included a confidentiality clause.” She shared new information about the circumstances surrounding the encounter with Weinstein—though she declined to reveal more about the encounter itself—with the Times, including that it was set up by her then-manager, Jill Messick, of Addis-Wechsler & Associates (now Industry Entertainment). McGowan says Messick also comforted her afterward: “ ‘She held me,’ Ms. McGowan said. ‘She put her arms around me.’ ”
Other members of McGowan’s management team say they met with Weinstein in ’97, at Messick’s request, to discuss McGowan’s claim and received assurances that he was seeking therapy for his “sexual behavior.” But the biggest revelation from the report might be that Messick accepted a job from Miramax, which was founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, shortly afterward. From the Times:
Ms. McGowan initially asked for about $25,000, enough money to cover her therapy; by the time she signed the settlement, the amount had been raised to $100,000. Both Ms. Woodward and Ms. McGowan were shocked when, only a few months afterward, Ms. Messick accepted a job working as vice president for development at Miramax, then run by Mr. Weinstein.
According to her LinkedIn page, Messick worked at Miramax for five years, during which time she reported “directly to Bob and Harvey Weinstein.” Messick did not respond to the Times’ request for comment.
Read more in Slate about Harvey Weinstein.
Update, Oct. 30, 9:33 p.m.: Jill Messick has removed the phrase “reporting directly to Bob and Harvey Weinstein” from the portion of her LinkedIn profile describing her time at Miramax.
