Tonight on 2020 ` the biggest names in movies on the biggest scandal in years. Those new bombshell allegations against Harvey Weinstein. ...bombshell allegation against... ...sexual harassment allegations... This man has gone from being one of the most powerful people in Hollywood... I just wanna thank Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein, who believed in us. Harvey. Harvey. ...to being shunned by everybody. Powerhouse producer. Predator. Pariah. New accusations of sexual harassment and assault continue to pile up against Harvey Weinstein,... ...grabbed me and started groping on my chest. ...from the super famous, like Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette and Gwyneth Paltrow. I would like to thank Harvey Weinstein. While you're thanking Harvey Weinstein, I think he's a monster. Aspiring actors and others who crossed his path speaking out for the first time on camera. 'What are you doing? 'No! This is not OK!' Parties, women say, with a guest list of just two. 'Where is everybody?' Their fears of his retaliation. This is unfair. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) So why did authorities do nothing as these secret settlements mounted? What Harvey Weinstein was really paying for was silence. Tonight, though, they are silent no more. Men might think it's a game that they're winning, and we've let them win. Copyright Able 2017 Kia ora. I'm Carolyn Robinson. Tonight on 20/20 ` Harvey Weinstein. He rose to become one of the most powerful moviemakers on the planet. Now his fall from grace after a string of women ` some famous, some not ` have come forward in the past month with claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault and even rape. This has been going on, they claim, for decades. So why had it taken so long to bring this dark Hollywood secret out into the light? And a warning ` some viewers may find parts of Elizabeth Vargas' story disturbing. Fade in ` to a Los Angeles skyline. It's 1989, and our telling of the Weinstein scandal saga begins here with, as fate would have it, the premiere of a groundbreaking indie film called Sex, Lies and videotape. John and I don't have sex any more. Did you make one of these damn videotapes? The dark dramedy marks the arrival of Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein, who, with his brother, heads an upstart studio called Miramax. Sex, Lies and Videotape transformed the American independent film industry. It made Miramax the player, and Harvey was the man at Miramax. Cut to Oscar season one year later. Sex, Lies and Videotape is up for Best Original Screenplay. Steven Soderbergh for Sex, Lies and Videotape. At a party before the big night, 20-year-old Paula Williams says she meets the rising mogul. She's a model looking to break into the business. I was very excited to meet him. He said he was having a dinner party with a lot of people that I should probably meet. Now the scene shifts, and so does the mood. Paula says a week later, Weinstein sends her a car to bring her to that supposed dinner party at his home in the Hollywood Hills. I walk in, and it's just Harvey, and he immediately starts massaging my neck. I heard him open a bottle of champagne, and I don't even think I had a sip, and he exposed himself. This was outrageous, and I wanted it to be OK if I saw him again, and I didn't want him to say anything bad about me. Paula says she escapes before anything happens, hopping over fences and running in high heels through neighbours' yards. She ends up quitting the business, but the Harvey Weinstein story is still in its opening act. The next 25 years will see him generate a remarkable string of hits. Check the numbers ` more than $8 billion at the US Box Office; nearly 350 Oscar nominations for his company's films; 80 wins; # All... # that... # jazz. # countless classic movie lines. I'mma get Medieval on your ass. And now a new metric ` at least 35 women accusing Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Harvey Weinstein is one of the most influential and powerful studio chiefs of recent vintage in Hollywood who turned out to be the worst sleazebag we could possibly have imagined. And he apparently is reaping his just desserts. If Weinstein ends up in handcuffs, it will be in large part due to the work of Ronan Farrow. His expose in this week's New Yorker magazine includes statements from a stunning 13 different women, many of them famous actresses who tell different variations of the same harrowing tale. The accusers include two actresses who appeared in Miramax films in the mid '90s ` All right. Count to three. All right. Ready? one. Rosanna Arquette, seen here in Pulp Fiction,... (THUMP!) (GASPS) ...and Mira Sorvino, who won an Oscar for her role in Mighty Aphrodite. Hi. Are you my 3 o'clock? Linda Ash? Yeah, that's right. I'm Lenny. In Mira's story to you, she was in Toronto at the Toronto Film Festival, promoting Mighty Aphrodite. And she had an encounter with Harvey Weinstein. What happened? Mira Sorvino told me that Harvey Weinstein began to try to message her shoulders, that she was very uncomfortable. He began to try to get more physical in other ways. This culminated in her running away from him, and in her words, him chasing her around a room. A few weeks later, when she's back home in New York, she says Weinstein calls her after midnight. And then showing up at her doorstep. And she'd talked about not being able to breathe. She was so terrified of his physical presence, of his power to affect her career. She called a friend and said, 'Come quick to pose as a boyfriend.' She was very very scared. Both Rosanna Arquette and Mira Sorvino ` they do say that they feel that their rejection of Harvey Weinstein led to difficulties in their career paths in Hollywood. Yes. They also felt confident that they were being bad-mouthed after they had rejected him; that people were being told not to hire them. They felt, in the words of Mira Sorvino, frozen out. I remember him saying, 'Welcome to the Miramax family.' The role I'm reading for, though, is brother. I'm reading for the part of brother. Big brother or little brother? Up-and-coming actresses Katherine Kendall starred in the 1996 Gen X comedy Swingers. She has her own story of a promising meeting with Weinstein at the Miramax offices in New York, all a pretext, she says, for her to go over to Weinstein's apartment. He goes to the bathroom or something, and then he comes back out, and he's fully naked. And that's when I just thought,... 'What is happening? 'How is this happening?' and 'What is he gonna do to me?' Kendall says when she tried to run away, Weinstein blocked the door. And says, 'Well, at least just pick up your shirt and let me see your breasts.' And again, I'm like, 'No.' You know, at this point, I'm just shaking, and I'm infuriated and terrified and insulted. It was the first time I really saw that there are people in positions of power in Hollywood that can make or break things. If you're not willing to play the game, then you're not gonna go very far. Kendall says she rejected Weinstein's request and managed to get away from him. Slow dissolve ` it's now January of 1997. Hollywood descends on Park City, Utah, for the annual Sundance Film Festival. Naturally, Weinstein is there, in his element. And so is actress Rose McGowan, who previously starred in Weinstein's blockbuster Scream. (GLASS SHATTERS) Randy, what the hell are you doing? Argh! (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (SCREAMS) I want to go to bed with you. All right. She's promoting her new movie Going all the Way with her co-star Ben Affleck, whose career was launched by Weinstein films. I found the class, you know, rather ele` elementary. Elementary. Harvey Weinstein, who believed in us and made this movie. McGowan claims she found herself alone with Weinstein in a hotel room, where something awful happened. According to the New York Times, Harvey Weinstein paid Rose McGowan $100,000 settlement because of something that happened in Harvey Weinstein's hotel room. The settlement says that it is not to be construed as an admission that something untoward happened. That would be one of eight reported settlements Weinstein would pay out over the years. But there's money to burn. In the late '90s, Miramax is cranking out hits... Really? It's Tom. Tom Ripley. Tom Ripley? We were at Princeton together. ...and Harvey Weinstein bestrides the Earth like a colossus. His ambitions and appetites seem limitless. But as his power grows, so too does his alleged aggression. Did he cross the line from sexual harassment to sexual assault? 20/20 will continue its investigation into those claims about Harvey Weinstein when we return right after this break. 1 Welcome back to 20/20. Today we are focusing on the claims being made against Hollywood superproducer Harvey Weinstein. By the late 1990s, he had a string of smash hit movies behind him. But behind the glitz and glamour, he'd already started paying for the silence of a number of women who say he sexually harassed them. But do his actions go from harassment to assault? Again, here's Elizabeth Vargas. (GRAND MUSIC PLAYS) ANNOUNCER: Gwyneth Paltrow has appeared in nearly 20 films, including Emma and Sliding Doors. This is her first Academy Award. Act Two ` cue applause and tears of joy. It's Gwyneth Paltrow at the 1999 Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love. I would like to thank Harvey Weinstein and everybody at Miramax Films for their undying support of me. Paltrow now claims in the mid-90s, Harvey Weinstein harassed her as well. But this night it's all smiles as Weinstein's films collect an armful of Oscars. And the Oscar goes to... Shakespeare in Love. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) ...Harvey Weinstein. Shakespeare in Love wins Best Picture, and its exuberant producers thank the Academy. For me, this was a great experience ` a passion for five years. Cue the orchestra. OK. I'm off the stage. (GRAND CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS) Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Harvey, it seemed like, could get an Oscar when he wanted it. And he would prove it again and again and again. So what does a man like Weinstein do after he's conquered Hollywood? Conquer Washington, of course. I want to say a special word of thanks to these three extraordinary guys who are up here with us ` Jann Wenner and John Sykes and Harvey Weinstein ` the three divas who have done such an extraordinary job. Weinstein began bankrolling Democratic campaigns. At Shakespeare in Love's premiere, that's Hillary Clinton by his side. But the bad behaviour allegedly continues. You so much as think about touching me, you're gonna find yourself limping back to your mother's womb. I'll take my chances. Yeah? The New York Times reports Angelina Jolie alleges Weinstein made unwanted advances in a hotel room during the release of the film Playing by Heart. Look, pal, and I mean this affectionately, right, scram. Jolie says she rejected the advances and chose never to work with Weinstein again. But now, according to New Yorker magazine contributor Ronan Farrow, the story turns from sleazy to scary. What you outline in your article, though, goes much further. This is rape. Three allegations of rape, and in total, 13 women who talked to me, and, you know, there are assaults in there, and over and over again, there is activity that is highly criminal. Now, Harvey Weinstein gave us a statement saying that all these interactions were consensual and that there was never any retribution. But the women in this tell a very different story. My name is B. B Monkey. Actress and director Asia Argento appeared in the 1999 film B. Monkey. Harvey Weinstein was co-executive producer. She was told that there was a Miramax party and was escorted there by a Weinstein producer. Argento told Farrow that when she found herself alone with Weinstein, he assaulted her. And she recounted how he emerged in a bathrobe, asked for a massage, and then pulled up her skirt and forcibly performed oral sex on her as she said no over and over again. Argento reportedly says Weinstein continued to pursue her afterward. Called her repeatedly, offered her gifts, which she refused initially, but over the years, she did yield to some of those advances, and there were subsequent consensual sexual encounters. Argento never went to the police. She did, however, write about that and put it in a movie that she directed and starred in. That's right. A heavyset powerful film producer makes a pass at her. I'm just really tired, and you know what would be great? Is if you'd give me a massage ` you know, just a little massage to make me just relax. She said the biggest difference between reality and this film was in the movie, her character ran. (SCREAMS) Come on, baby. Look, just give me` (CONTINUES SCREAMING) Hey! Come back here! Transition wipe ` we turn now to 2005. Harvey Weinstein leaves Miramax and launches The Weinstein Company. But the old magic seems to be missing. There's a series of films it seems no one wants to see. I left the coffee pot on again, didn't I? The Harvey movies were feast or famine. You know, Harvey is going for Oscar credibility, and he's trying these big things, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. But it's not all bad. In 2007, Weinstein marries Georgina Chapman, a former model and actress who was launching a new fashion line. (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS) Weinstein is now in his mid-50s, rich and famous, with a young, beautiful wife, but, his accusers say, still not satisfied. He was really flattering. He seemed surprised by how well-read I was, those kind of compliments, which at the time made me feel great. Los Angeles TV anchor Lauren Sivan says she met Weinstein in New York in 2007, the same year he released Denzel Washington's movie The Great Debaters. It's a feel good` It's not a 'feel good' movie; it's a 'feel great' movie. Sivan says Weinstein was charming until, she says, he cornered her alone in the basement of a restaurant. And that's when he exposed himself. She says he pleasured himself. I just was stunned the whole time. Like, in complete shock. I could not believe what I was watching. But as soon as he was done, I said, 'Can I go now? Are we done?' I just wanted to get outta there. 2008. Another year, another accusation. This time the aspiring actress is Louisette Geiss. Oh, no, no, no. I take one bite out of that, I'll come flying out of this dress. A business meeting in a hotel room, a bathrobe, and, Geiss says, a lewd proposition ` a three-picture deal if she would watch Weinstein perform a sex act in a hot tub. And I said, 'This is disgusting,' and, 'I've got to go.' And, like I said, he came very close to me and was kinda trying to kiss me, and I just pushed him away and ran to the door. And when I got to the door, luckily it opened. And I walked out. Still ahead ` is Weinstein the only one in hot water? Did his employees know what their boss was allegedly up to? Could some of them have been complicit? Exactly what did Weinstein's employees know? Stay with us to find out. Finally, the kitchen. Something light. Like... Okarito? Okarito goes well with my favourite ` Opononi. (SPLASHING, YELLING) Ooh, yeah, splash of Opononi, maybe. Oh, look, Alexandra. Whoa, pink. Or... Hot Water Beach. Blue ` very relaxing. Or Alexandra. Hot Water Beach. Mm. Or Alexandra? It's like pinky, bluey. It's not very kitcheny. No, but it is pretty... nursery. Mm. Nursery? Or` Or we could go Rangitikei River. (GASPS) Oh! (LAUGHS) You little beauty! (BOTH CHUCKLE) So the nursery. The colours of New Zealand ` only from Dulux. 1 Welcome back to 20/20 and tonight's look at the claims being made against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. By the mid-2000s, a number of women said they'd been sexually assaulted by Weinstein. But none of those claims had yet become public knowledge. So was he being protected by the people who worked for him? Here's Elizabeth Vargas. A quick-cut montage brings us to the 2010 Project Runway fashion show in New York, where a giant of the entertainment industry surveys the merchandise from the front row. Harvey Weinstein is now a player in the fashion world, and he's found success on TV with the fashion reality show Project Runway. None of you should feel safe. That same year back in Los Angeles, Juls Bindi, a massage therapist to the stars, says Weinstein arranged for a session in his suite at the Montage Hotel. He's like, 'Oh my God, your massage is so good. It's like an art form that you're doing.' And he was like, 'You should write about this.' This is an interesting wrinkle. Bindi says Weinstein then starts texting her constantly about a book deal. Who would not be flattered to have the opportunity to be a published author? But when Weinstein returned for a second massage, Bindi says he wanted something more. He cut the massage short. And he gets up and he just says, 'How big is my penis?' And I was like, 'Excuse me?' Then he followed me into the bathroom; he shuts the door behind him. Then, Bindi says, he proceeds to pleasure himself. I'm like, 'This is not appropriate. I do not feel comfortable. 'No! Do not do this in front of me! This is not OK.' He grabbed me and started groping on my chest. And I pushed him away. I was stunned. What do you do in a situation like that? You have this guy who is overpowering you. What can you do? He said, 'Well, do you want the book deal or not?' Emails show Weinstein's people following up with Bindi about a book proposal. I get the book deal because I allow this man to attack me without telling on him? That's not right. I didn't pursue it. And that's the way that many sexual harassers make these things go away ` is payments, sometimes, I guess, a book deal. She considers pursuing legal action, but says she's advised against going public if she isn't ready to face the fallout. I was terrified. I was scared. How can you not be scared of Harvey Weinstein? He could destroy my career. Meanwhile, Weinstein's career is entering a new enchanted phase. Because I have a right to be heard! I have a voice! The King's Speech garners 12 Oscar nominations, winning four, including Best Picture and Best Actor. The King's Speech! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Winning the Best Picture helps make the night go great. So it's pretty great. (LAUGHS) The media dubbed Weinstein the comeback kid. In 2012, Weinstein's The Iron Lady snags an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Meryl Streep. So I just want to thank my agent Kevin Huvane, and God, Harvey Weinstein. (LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE) The documentary Bully gives Weinstein a chance to strut his social conscience. I've always hated injustice. I might be tough but I hate injustice. And Time magazine names him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He could hep win you an Oscar; he was a figure in political circles. He was a figure to be reckoned with. Jennifer Lawrence ` Silver Linings Playbook! Harvey, thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today. Yet in 2013, the torrent of praises interrupted by this memorable dig. Listen to Seth McFarlane as he announces that year's Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress. Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein. (LAUGHTER) McFarlane says that zinger came from a place of loathing and anger, anger spawned by what McFarlane's friend Jessica Barth had told him. Yet another alleged story of sexual harassment from Harvey Weinstein, right down to the hotel room, the champagne and the invitation to massage. When she tries to leave, he then turns on her, lashes out, insults her and says that she's too fat. So many alleged victims; so many years of silence. There absolutely was a culture of silence around this, and it required many, many actors to aid and abet. This was something that over and over again I was told was an open secret. The only way something like this stays quiet for so long is when there are a number of settlements with a confidentiality agreement. What Harvey Weinstein was really paying for was silence. As for Weinstein's colleagues at Miramax and the Weinstein Company, some accusers are alleging they actively abetted his misbehaviour, arranging and attending initial meetings with Weinstein and then leaving him alone with the woman. When you are acting as the honey pot and you are luring another woman into a room, shouldn't you bear some of the responsibility? Are you not complicit in that? And Farrow says when internal complaints about Weinstein's behaviour made it to Human Resources, they went nowhere. Multiple women in this story talked about how ineffectual that HR office was, that they felt there was no purpose in going to that HR office, and they know that if they did, they might be retaliated against. Dip to black. In one of this stories many towering ironies, in 2015, The Weinstein Company distributions a documentary called The Hunting Ground. It's about sexual assault on college campuses. I trust people. I trusted what he said. But within a month of that film's release date, Weinstein will find himself in the crosshairs of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit. One of his accusers wants him charged with sexual assault, and she thinks she has the recording to prove it. 1 Welcome back to 20/20 and tonight's look at the biggest scandal to hit Hollywood in decades. Despite women now accusing Hollywood mega producer Harvey Weinstein of years of sexual harassment and assault, by 2015, not a single charge had been brought against him. But are things about to change? New York police have a witness and a recording of her harrowing conversation with Weinstein. Here's Elizabeth Vargas. Exterior shot, night ` a New York police precinct; the year, 2015. A young woman walks into the precinct's front door with a harrowing tale of sexual assault. And the police noticed that first of all, she was upset. And they thought she was distraught. The person who the shaken woman told police had assaulted her was none other than movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. I'm told they found her completely believable. You gotta remember, they're New York people. They know who Harvey Weinstein is. And they knew this was a significant allegation against a significant guy. Columnist Michael Daly of The Daily Beast spoke to police sources who worked the case and compiled a blow-by-blow scenario of the woman's alleged encounter with Weinstein. She first met him on Thursday, Radio City. Act One of this drama unfolds on March 26, 2015 at the premiere of the Spring Spectacular show produced by Weinstein. Here he crosses paths with 22-year-old Ambra Gutierrez, a beautiful model from Italy. And he says, 'Come down. We'll talk to you about, you know, your future in the business.' And so, why not? The very next day, the location shifts to Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood as Gutierrez walks into Weinstein's offices for that scheduled meeting. His assistant shows her in, I'm told, so she's got no reason to worry, right? Then the assistant steps out of the room, and she's there with him. And the story that she will later say is that he asked her if her breasts were real and then felt them without her consent, and then tried to grope her under her skirt. Police say the shaken Gutierrez leaves the building and goes directly to a friend, who then takes her to that NYPD precinct house. The Special Victims Unit is called in. They know that this is not 'he said, she said'. This is 'he said, she said.' But she is very convincing. So in their minds that makes her like this. Then in a major plot twist, even as she's talking to detectives, her phone rings. it's Harvey Weinstein. He talks to her on the phone about, 'Well, maybe come tomorrow night.' And then the cops, they urged her to go ahead and meet with him. And she agrees to meet him. Cut to the following night ` the location: a chic SoHo hotel. Gutierrez walks in and heads to the bar for the meeting with Weinstein in an undercover sting straight out of one his movies. They set themselves up so they can keep an eye on her. And they're also recording the conversation with two cell phones, one of which is her phone. He offers her a drink; she says she's drinking water. She takes a picture and puts it on Instagram ` of the water glass. That's like saying, 'I was not drunk. I was not drinking.' Under the watchful eye of police officers, Gutierrez goes with Weinstein upstairs to his room but stops in the hallway outside his door. Now listen closely as Gutierrez confronts Weinstein about his alleged groping of her the previous day. This is a man admitting to a sexual assault and also describing it as a pattern of behaviour. Pretty chilling and disturbing. But also it's disturbing audio to hear. You know, this is a woman saying no again and again and again that she doesn't want to go into this room, and, you know, it appears this is a man who does not want to take no for an answer. Police have heard enough. They confront Weinstein and bring him into the station for questioning. News of the incident quickly becomes public, but curiously, lurid articles about his accuser soon begin popping up in the tabloids. The New York Post reports that Gutierrez had asked Weinstein for a film role after the alleged incident and that as a teenager, she had accused her older, wealthy boyfriend of sexual assault. Other tabloids go to town with details of how Gutierrez once attended one of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's notorious sex parties. It's my opinion all of his high-powered team started putting out stories about my client that would have weakened her, would have emotionally impacted her, would have caused her to recoil. And, sure enough, Heller says Gutierrez soon stops cooperating with authorities. She eventually reaches a financial settlement with Weinstein, signs a non-disclosure agreement and leaves the country. When you have the ability to be compensated with a lot of money, and on the other hand, you say, 'Oh my God',if you're a victim. 'All my history is gonna come up', I don't blame her at all. I understand it. But remember, even without Gutierrez's cooperation, prosecutors still have that audio recording... WEINSTEIN: ...I'm used to that. ...of Weinstein seemingly admitting to sexual assault. They routinely lock up, prosecute, convict and jail subway gropers on a lot less evidence than that. But in the end, the district attorney drops the case against Weinstein, saying his prosecutors just didn't have enough evidence to convict. I, like they, were very disturbed by the contents of the tape. Our sex crimes prosecutors made a determination that this was not gonna be a provable case. I don't think that it should have been any reluctance on the part of the district attorney. There would've been two years of victims that might have been spared the anguish of going through what we see coming out of the woodwork now. Coming up ` talk about coming out of the woodwork. The female stars of Hollywood will be silent no more. Harvey Weinstein's house of cards collapses. The New York Times reporting allegations by numerous women who say the Hollywood mogul sexually harassed them. Don't follow. How far will Weinstein fall and what of the women who claim he assaulted them? Stay with us to find out. 1 Welcome back. Tonight on 20/20, we are looking at the allegations of sexual harassment and assault by Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. After nearly three decades of allegedly abusive behaviour, where numerous women have been bought off or bullied into silence, Weinstein's house of cards is about to come crashing down. His power is waning, and some big Hollywood names are going to make sure that the culture of silence ` well, that it starts to change. Again, here's Elizabeth Vargas. Time lapse ` sunset, Los Angeles 2017, and Harvey Weinstein is in a familiar routine, gearing up and campaigning for the 89th Academy Awards, executive producer of another critical darling and Best Picture contender ` SCREAMS: Guddu! Lion. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) I have to find my way back home. And his now decades old secret ` allegations of sexual harassment and assault ` is still safely guarded from the public. (PEOPLE CLAMOUR) The culture of silence exists became it is a scary thing to go public. But that culture is changing. In fact, a kind of cultural climate change is underway. Even as Weinstein walks the Oscars' red carpet, equally powerful media titans are suddenly being toppled for allegations of sexual misconduct ` Bill Cosby, Fox CEO Roger Ailes,... And late today, word of a major change at Fox News. ...Bill O'Reilly. Bill O'Reilly, fired by Fox News. Even a 10-year-old recording of a boastful future president Trump has come to light. And now the facade around Weinstein begins to slip. Lion loses,... Moonlight ` (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Best Picture! ...and according to some of his alleged victims, the feeling in Tinsletown is, at last, Weinstein's power is waning. Goliath may finally be defenceless to his David. He's weaker. He's weaker. In the words of one producer I talked to, he was the second or third most powerful person in that business, and now he is the 200th. On Thursday, October 5th, at 2.07 in the afternoon, The New York Times harpoons their white whale ` (REPORTERS CLAMOUR) the Weinstein story breaks. The New York Times reporting allegations by numerous women who say the Hollywood mogul sexually harassed them. When the Times dropped their story, it was seismic. It was a culture-changing moment, I'd say. For some of Weinstein's accusers, like Paula Williams, it's a sigh of relief. I was very happy. It's the shame. I could feel it lifting. It made me feel normal, almost, and amongst good company. In that article, the Times brings forth allegations of incidents spanning nearly three decades, reported payoffs to at least eight women and the first boldfaced names ` Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. (TENSE MUSIC) 2.26 that same day, Weinstein's first response to the allegations, saying in part: But it was followed up an hour later with a more defiant Weinstein telling The New York Post and Daily Mail he's suing the Times for an... I don't know where that came from. I don't know why he thought that was a good idea when you have all of these women coming forward. In fact, Lauren Sivan says, it's that response by Weinstein that brings her out of the shadows. I don't think I would have come out publicly until he issued that statement. It angered me so much because it just showed me how... how delusional he is about his own behaviour. Time lapse ` New York City, night. It's Sunday, October 8th, 7.35pm. The Weinstein Company announces Harvey Weinstein has been fired from the very company he founded. By late Monday October 9th, an increasingly vocal chorus of A-listers who once sung his praises come out to condemn him. Meryl Streep, Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, and by the next morning, Jennifer Lawrence has issued her own condemnation. And at 9.18am, after five days of public silence, Ben Affleck, a Weinstein protege, denounces him on Facebook, writing in part that he was... But his response has an unintended consequence. Rose McGowan calls out Affleck on Twitter, accusing him of knowing for years about Weinstein's alleged incident with her. She claims Affleck once said, 'I told him to stop doing that.' She adds in her tweet: 'You said that to my face. You lie.' You can just see in her words what a life-transforming event her encounter with Harvey Weinstein was for her. The level of trauma is spectacular. She would later tweet a bigger bombshell, not naming Weinstein directly, but claiming 'HW raped me.' Tuesday, October 10th, 10.50am. Another explosive report publishes online, this one in The New Yorker by Ronan Farrow. Did you ever imagine when you wrote this article, the fallout as huge, and as far-reaching as it's been? You know, the very first interview I did for this story was an on-the-record actress with an allegation of rape. From that very first moment of reporting this, it was apparent that this was something historic. His story raises the bar higher. His figures accuse Harvey of raping them, in some cases accuse Harvey of sexual assault. And that changes the nature of the conversation overnight. Weinstein, this time through a spokesperson, issues a statement: The ink on his response isn't even dry, and the story has blown past his apology. By 7.15pm that night, with his storied career in a spectacular five-day freefall, the chickens have literally come home to roost. That evening, his wife, Georgina, announces she is leaving him after 10 years of marriage. Even his own brother and partner Bob Weinstein castigates him publicly, calling him 'a very sick man'. I don't see this as a grand Shakespearean fall in the sense that was not someone we placed great love and affection for who fell. He was feared, he was admired, and in some ways it's the kind of thing that only happens in the movies. Wednesday, October 11th. Weinstein makes his final public comments to reporters in this video before allegedly heading to a treatment facility. I'm not doing OK, but I'm trying. I gotta get help, guys. But he might need more than rehab. ARCHIVE: From its primitive days, the 50-year-old motion picture industry has grown to giant stature. Long before there was Harvey Weinstein, there was Louis B Mayer, the powerful studio chief at MGM during Hollywood's golden era. Louis B Mayer, former studio chief ` he is said to have engaged in inappropriate activities with a very young Judy Garland back in the day. And other actresses, from Shirley Temple to Marilyn Monroe to Joan Collins, all said they were victims of sexual harassment. Many of the stories that were told about the moguls of the past were whispered or never were spoken publicly or were sort of handed from person to person. People talk about there being a culture of secrecy. But secrecy is not silence. I think it's a heroic act to go through something humiliating and share that story with a friend who might be able to share it in a discreet way also, to help the next person who came along. Women who have long suffered in silence are now coming forward to share their emotional turmoil. I didn't tell anyone. I had shame thinking that a man ` a powerful man ` thought of me in a degrading way, didn't try to get to know me and just made me feel like trash. Every single time I go to a movie, I see his name on that big screen, it brings me back to the moment where he sexually assaulted me in that bathroom. We all make mistakes. Worst case for Harvey Weinstein is that more women come forward now with allegations about sexual abuse or sexual assault. That could mean Harvey Weinstein goes to trial and potentially goes to prison. What will change inside of myself ` getting an apology from him and him doing jail time like any normal person would get. Fade up ` final scene. The question is whether Harvey Weinstein will be just another tawdry milestone for Hollywood or a possible breaking point. I hope the casting couch will be a thing of the past. This is a movement. I don't want the next generation to do this, and I don't want this to be swept under the carpet. And it doesn't feel good, and we're better than that. Since that story was completed, even more women have come forward with claims against Harvey Weinstein. As yet, no charges have been laid against him. Well, that's our show for tonight. Thank you for joining us. Kia ora. Nga mihi. Captions by June Yeow. www.able.co.nz