Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner are other names for the list, and now Ben “Buttman” Affleck is under attack for similar behavior as Weinstein.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/10/12/ben-affleck-dubbed-buttman-groping-allegations-emerge/
I saw HW talking to a reporter on camera saying we all make mistakes. Mistake?? This was decades of deliberate, planned, predatory behavior. He shows no signs of real contrition.
“Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner are other names for the list, and now Ben “Buttman” Affleck is under attack for similar behavior as Weinstein.”
Eliot Spitzer hired prostitutes. There was never anything that was reported to be non consensual. He has never been accused of sexual harassment.
Ben Affleck has been talked about for awhile. It was in the news a fair amount leading up to this year’s Oscars.
If you want to include Clinton on the list, which was movie/tv types anyway, let’s put Trump on the list. He’s had plenty of accusations and the bus tape, plus he is a tv persona.
Kathleen Wiley’s credibility problems were twofold. First her friend Julia Hiat Steele testified under oath that Wiley had asked her to lie to investigators for her and say that Wiley had told her about the incident with Clinton at the time.
Moreover Linda Tripp testified that Willey had confided that she harbored romantic feelings for Clinton and had been sending him notes and flirting with him. When the alleged encounter occurred, Tripp told the grand jury, Willey was excited and pleased.
( The above from The Washington Post archives on the Starr Report)
This is the problem with these cases. They are often not “clean” with witnesses undermined by prior statements. There may be explanations for the behavior but Filing a false affidavit which is what Juanita Broderick said she did is never going to help women. Maybe Wiley felt justified in asking her friend to lie, thinking she needed to strongly back up her testimony,but it was a terrible idea The Weinstein case so far seems pretty clear cut.
The reason Clinton was brought up was because someone included Trump earlier. I’d suggets we leave both of them out. Their merits(?) to be included in the lists are hairsplitting. Not worth the bother for the present discussion.
I wonder if any legally cognizable ( not barred by a statute of limitations) rape or assault claims will be raised against Weinstein. I’m not sure if any have so far based on dates.
It was a sex scandal involving a former attorney general and sitting governor, i.e. a powerful man and a powerless woman. The only difference is that Weinstein sometimes paid off his women after the fact; Spitzer did it before the fact.
Are you saying that all prostitution is consensual? I find that hard to believe.
“Ben Affleck has been talked about for awhile”
– so has his brother Casey!
http://time.com/4645846/what-to-know-about-the-casey-affleck-oscar-controversy/
The whole industry is rife with exploitation, it seems. So many slezoids.
All industries. All. Of. Them. The issue isn’t the industry; it’s the men’s belief that women can be taken advantage of and that they’ll keep quiet.
Not any more.
We’re a misogynistic society. As much as some folks bash other cultures/religions for their treatment of women, we should take a close look in the mirror. We do it in different ways but we are guilty of doing it. It saturates our culture.
It is really hard to find a common denominator for harassers. One thing that possibly links them is narcissistic personality. A hidden ego that gets a boost when they exercise their power.
“It was a sex scandal involving a former attorney general and sitting governor, i.e. a powerful man and a powerless woman. The only difference is that Weinstein sometimes paid off his women after the fact; Spitzer did it before the fact.
Are you saying that all prostitution is consensual? I find that hard to believe.”
There is a huge difference between what Spitzer did - hiring prostitutes, and men who sexually assault women.
The sex between Spitzer and these women was consensual. That is a fact.
IMO, Spitzer never should have resigned. Sen. Vitter didn’t and won re-election in Louisiana after his involvement with prostitutes was uncovered.
Here’s something more interesting than who should be included in H(harassment) list. NYC and London police are looking into rape allegation and possible criminal act.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nyc-police-taking-fresh-look-145143599.html
From the Yahoo article:
" Under New York law, making someone engage in oral sex by physical force or the threat of it is a first-degree criminal sexual act. There’s no legal time limit for bringing charges."
The following in no way condones abusive behavior, casting couch, rape, drugging people, etc
But since the Clinton thing, and then the Spitzer thing, it occurred to me that it must be tough for really famous people who have unmet needs on the home front.
Hook up with a prostitute? Newspapers
Try to hook up with someone at work, or at your office, but it turns out they are not interested? Newspapers
Put an ad on a dating website? “Governor seeks discrete relationship”?
Weiner’s approach obviously didn’t work either.
It is often still the case that guys only get something (relationship or otherwise) if they initiate it. That is often not perceived as a problem if the pursuit is wanted. Heck ,Weinstein got two wives that way. If it is unwanted though, as it turns out, it can easily be construed as harassment, if the guy is powerful. And if he’s famous it is likely to get out.
So what’s a poor lonely famous & powerful guy to do??
(Note: certainly NOT what Weinstein, or Cosby did…)
A lonely, famous and powerful guy is supposed to do what everyone does: take no for an answer, don’t approach people who work for you or who are seeking work from you because they don’t feel like they can say no. This is not difficult to understand for anyone who wants to understand it.
Spitzer spend $80,000 on prostitutes while he was Attorney General and Governor, and you don’t think that is an offence worthy of resigning over? It is amazing that people are willing to defend creeps like this.
Did he spend $80K of his own money, or of government money? If the first, no he should not resign. If the second, yes he should resign.
@Zinhead, no I don’t. Why should I care what he spent his personal funds on? He didn’t use government funds and I’m not his wife.