Assault, rape, and misogynistic conduct have been going on for years, and no amount of opposition can stop them. Harassment affects women in all sorts of jobs, from the corporate sector to Hollywood. This problem is persistent, and it has been so for a long time. But the bigger issue is the law that defends individuals with a filthy mentality and silences the victims who speak out against harassment. Even with a legal system, there are still instances of sexual harassment everywhere. The film “She Said,” directed by Maria Schrader, follows the real story of two New York Times journalists who successfully expose a famous Hollywood producer for misconduct. The journey was not simple since the legal system had often protected the powerful men even though they were criminals, but Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey proved that crime never goes unpunished, and the criminal must bow to his fate.
Spoilers Ahead
‘She Said’ Plot Summary: What Happens In The Film?
Two competent journalists from the New York Times, Megan Twohey (played by Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (played by Zoe Kazan), were working on several issues in 2016, including exposing predators in New York. At the time, Megan interviewed Rachel Crooks before Trump won the presidency. One of the many accusations made against Trump was Rachel Crook, a receptionist at Trump Tower. She came up about Trump’s inappropriate behavior with her. Megan wanted to assist her, so she requested that she publicly condemn Trump. Rachel agreed, but she backed off when she received a threat in the form of an envelope containing human waste. Megan had also received threats of rape, making it impossible for her to write an article on Trump. Trump continued to dismiss these accusations in the meantime, and he eventually won the election. Megan was broken by the defeat, and at the same time, she gave birth to a beautiful girl. On the other side, a story written by the New York Times disparaging Bill O’Reilly forced him to leave his well-known program, The O’Reilly Factor, on Fox News. This was a win-win situation for the NYT team, but they didn’t stop there. The editor, Rebecca Corbett (played by Patricia Clarkson), was interested in pursuing the numerous instances of sexual harassment at work and learning why these problems were so prevalent and challenging to address. Therefore, Jodi Kantor, a fellow journalist, began investigating these allegations of physical misconduct and discovered information about a prominent Hollywood producer and Academy Award winner, Harvey Weinstein. Even though he was accused two years ago, the NPD could not find any reason to arrest him. Meanwhile, Rose McGowan, a Hollywood actress who claimed to be a victim of Weinstein, refused at first to assist Jodi because of her unpleasant experience with the New York Times, but later she talked about how Weinstein treated her and sexually abused her in his hotel room. During that time, Kantor asked Megan Twohey for assistance, and the two of them began an inquiry to establish the case’s legality.
Who Was Protecting Harvey Weinstein?
Ashley Judd, another Hollywood actress, spoke with Kantor about her encounter with Weinstein, and it was kind of similar to Rose’s account. Ashley mentioned that it was at the Peninsula Hotel where Weinstein usually called the actresses and molested them. Kantor grew to believe these ladies and realized that it was not a fake accusation, but when it came to exposing Weinstein, none of the victims stepped out to go on the record because they did not want their lives jeopardized. They were aware that they might lose their work or possibly their lives. They couldn’t be forced, so Kantor and Twohey began gathering information. They called an ex-assistant of Miramax Films (the production company created by Bob and Harvey Weinstein that had produced several successful films), but she, too, refused to talk. In the meantime, Lisa Bloom, an attorney, had contacted Kantor and sent her an email, but she did not wish to assist her. Soon after, Kantor discovered that Weinstein was aware that they were working on a story on him since Lisa Bloom was his attorney, and Harvey Weinstein was producing her book. Lisa Bloom wrote to Kantor to tell her not to believe McGowan’s comments since she was a pathological liar. Megan attempted to probe deeper into the police reports in search of any legitimate claim against Weinstein, but the authorities categorically refused to provide her with any information, including the identities of anyone who had filed the complaint against him. She contacted Miramax’s former finance manager, John Schmidt, to inquire about recent payouts, but he was unsure whether to assist her. Megan called the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), but they also refused to offer any information on complaints against the harassment, and it shocked Megan to see that an employee has no right to check on the employer’s history of sexual harassment. According to the findings of Kantor and Twohey’s investigation, there were three cases of settlements, but it was nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), and they are never scrutinized or arise in open court, and the attorneys who defend the victims can take 40% of the settlements, which is the largest amount that might keep the system alive. They also learned that the majority of these harassment cases were handled out of court and that most of them had privacy issues, meaning that even the women making the allegations had to turn over all of their personal belongings, including phones, diaries, emails, and other items. The victims were therefore silenced with money since they didn’t want to be accused of lying. The abuser was able to continue their misbehavior toward the women because the law prohibiting sexual harassment was so weak and even sometimes nonexistent. Megan and Twohey concluded that it was not only the abusers who were to blame but a whole system that protected these guys, allowing them to continue victimizing women since they were confident that no one would listen to these victims.
How Was Harvey Weinstein Finally Exposed? What Happened To Him Afterwards?
In order to assist Kantor and Twohey in exposing Weinstein, Gwyneth Paltrow finally spoke up. She related the identical incidents that had occurred to her involving the hotel room and the same pattern of Weinstein’s inappropriate behavior. Gwyneth, however, was also reluctant to speak out in public because she feared a scandal would be brought against her, given that she was so young when the assault had occurred. Kantor and Twohey learned that Ambra Gutierrez, an Italian model, had filed complaints against Weinstein in 2015 and obtained a recording of her and Weinstein’s conversation (which was played in the film to show how Weinstein used to convince his victims to come into his hotel room to see him taking a shower). Based on that accusation in 2015, Megan called Linda, the former district attorney, to inquire about the complaints and the reason why Harvey had not been charged. Linda responded that there was no criminal conduct in the case, which shocked Megan because there was a recording that clearly explained how Weinstein had mistreated his female employees. Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow received threats from Weinstein and sought to withdraw her name from the story, but Megan got a tip about three former Weinstein assistants, Zelda Perkins, Rowena Chiu, and Laura Madden. Kantor confronted Zelda and learned that Weinstein had done the same to his assistants and had raped Rowena. Rowena, on the other hand, did not immediately approach Kantor. Even Laura Madden, who had breast cancer, initially refused to speak with Megan since they were all ordinary women who were afraid of losing their lives and families. Even Gwyneth Paltrow, an Oscar-winning successful actress, was facing threats, so it was obvious that Zelda, Laura, and Rowena were much more prone to danger. But they knew that if they didn’t, they’d be included in the same system that had shielded the abusers. Rowena came out to speak about her horrible experience, and Laura spoke to Kraton as well because she didn’t want to encourage these abusers by remaining silent. She had girls who would grow up, and she didn’t want them to grow up in a hazardous atmosphere as she had in her profession. So, they had all come out about their experiences, but none of them were on record, which was still insufficient to print an article on Weinstein. Finally, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, contacted the New York Times and stated that Harvey rejected any allegations of sexual harassment, but he was conscious of his bad behavior toward women and was working on it. When Megan queried him about the number of financial settlements Harvey had made, Lanny refused to provide it in order to protect his privacy. However, Kantor made contact with a former Miramax accountant, Mr. Irwin Reiter, who despised Harvey. He covertly met with Kantor and briefed her about a memo from a former Miramax employee, Lauren O’Connor, who stated in that memo that she was just 28 years old when she was physically abused by the company’s leader, Mr. Harvey Weinstein. However, as soon as the memo was received by the NYT, Lauren notified them that she did not want to be named, which was the largest obstacle that the entire reporting team was having in order to publish their article because no one was stepping forward to speak up publicly. During this time, Megan learned that Harvey had reached eight to twelve settlements in the previous several years, according to Lanny Davis. So, the team agreed to have Harvey Weinstein answer, and he called within two days with his lawyer, Charles. He was continually curious to know the source of information and the name of the accuser who was advocating for the story to be published, but the NYT refused to tell him. They considered publishing the article with the victims’ statements anonymously, but Ashley phoned Kantor to say that she was willing to go on the record and share her story. That was really helpful, but they were still waiting for a response from Harvey Weinstein and his attorneys. A meeting with the attorneys was stressful because they kept calling these charges untrue and attempting to discredit the victims. But because Harvey had previously spoken to Variety about the New York Times, the NYT contacted and asked for his statement, which Harvey refused to issue until he knew if Gwyneth Paltrow was in the story. But the New York Times informed him that she was not and refused to reveal any details regarding any sort of source of information. Harvey ignored the rape allegations but eventually stated that he was sorry for his actions that had caused these women pain and that he wished to take a leave of absence from the Weinstein Company. In the meantime, Laura Madden wanted to be mentioned in that article. She was going to get a mastectomy and felt it was important to speak out publicly against Harvey. The New York Times had finally extracted the quotes from the statements, and the piece was finally ready for publication. The whole team at the New York Times read the final piece together and pushed the button to publish.
Following the publication of the report on October 5, 2017, 82 women came forward to speak out against Harvey Weinstein. Finally, in May 2018, Harvey Weinstein was arrested for rape and assault and was sentenced to serve 23 years in prison in New York. Kantor and Twohey became role models for truth seekers, and their efforts to expose Weinstein sparked a global campaign, the #MeToo movement against such harassment.
Final Words
We see flashbacks of Zelda Perkins, Rowena Chiu, and Laura Madden, who once had a dream and followed their impulses to make it in the industry, but their dreams were dashed by Harvey Weinstein. From Rose McGowan to Laura Madden, everyone was included in the film “She Said” to demonstrate their battle to convince the world of their story. It was often upsetting to watch how Weinstein pushed all the charges for these years and only got away with it because of money. However, he was arrested because someone felt the need to tell the story and unmask his filthy face; but there is still no end to such instances appearing, as there are millions of Weinsteins all around the world who are getting away with allegations every day because no one believes the victims and there is no accurate investigation based on their statements. As a result, the revelation of the truth lacked the participation of victims who lacked power and money. So, who will tell us their stories?
“She Said” is a 2022 historical drama film directed by Maria Schrader.
