In recent days, the sexual assault and harassment allegations against film producer Harry Weinstein have dominated the news coverage. After initially remaining silence, former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has decided to speak out.
Hillary on Harvey
It's no secret that the majority of Hollywood stars are left-leaning Democrats. From actors and actresses, to film directors and producers, and even many musicians consider themselves politically liberal. For Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of the Weinstein Company and Miramax, he's been one of the biggest donors to Democratic politicians in recent memory.
Weinstein donated big money to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and was viewed so positively that former President Barack Obama's daughter Sasha interned for him at one point. However, that all came crashing down last week when the New York Times broke a bombshell story exposing Weinstein's reported history of sexually assaulting and harassing dozens of women going back decades. The story quickly put pressure on the board of the Weinstein Company, which voted to fire the co-founder as a result. Since then, additional information has been released, including an audio tape of Weinstein begging Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez to watch him shower. As Weinstein's career continues to unravel before the public eye, Clinton finally made a statement that was released, as reported by NBC News on October 10.
JUST IN: Hillary Clinton releases statement on Harvey Weinstein allegations pic.twitter.com/evarlP4q9B
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 10, 2017
In an offical statement to break her silence on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't hold back her opinion. "I was shocked and appalled by the revelation about Harvey Weinstein," Clinton wrote.
"The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated," she continued. Clinton went on to praise the accusers for their "courage" and encouraged others to lend their support to anyone else who needs to speak out.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie said Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed them when they were young actresses https://t.co/O9xBKp45Ye
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 10, 2017
In addition to Hillary Clinton speaking out, her daughter Chelsea also gave her thoughts on social media.
"Horrifying, harrowing, necessary read," the former first daughter tweeted, while linking to the story in question. Clinton initially received backlash from conservative critics who accused her and other liberals of hypocrisy for staying silent on Weinstein, while piling on Donald Trump due to the president's history of being accused of sexual assault and harassment.
🚨AUDIO: Harvey Weinstein BEGS Ambra Gutierrez to be quite about him groping her. Petrified Ambra flees for her life! pic.twitter.com/VXGqLxFxmJ
— 💎STOCK MONSTER💎 (@StockMonsterUSA) October 10, 2017
Moving forward
As the Harvey Weinstein scandal shakes Hollywood to its knees, it's unknown what the next step will be. Several other actresses, such as Rose McGowan, have called for the entire board of the company to resign, accusing them of covering up for the co-founder for years.