As we’ve noted previously, the least believable element of the entire Harvey Weinstein scandal is the Weinstein Company’s bullshit narrative that they all had no idea the scumbag running the company was a sexual predator, and the rest of the board (including said scumbag’s own brother) were all entirely unaware of this culture of sexual assault and harassment, and the multiple payoffs it entailed. They’re as shocked as we are! Riiiiiiiight. Well, the New York state attorney general is going to find out exactly how much they did, in fact, know.
Variety reports that NY AG Eric Schneiderman has launched an investigation into the Weinstein Company, and its possible violations of state or city civil rights laws. “No New Yorker should be forced to walk into a workplace ruled by sexual intimidation, harassment, or fear. If sexual harassment or discrimination is pervasive at a company, we want to know,” Scheiderman said in a statement, and Variety also reports that the AG has subpoenaed “all documents, records, and correspondence related to all complaints, whether formal or informal, relating to sexual harassment or other discrimination on the basis of gender or age, against any employee or management employee.”
And Schneiderman’s not the only one investigating. THR notes that Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, directors of the military sexual assault exposé The Invisible War and the campus sexual assault exposé The Hunting Ground , have already begun work on their next documentary, an as-yet untitled Hollywood sexual assault exposé.
“Documentaries, more than any other medium, bring an intensely moving investigative lens to controversial subject matter,” Dick tells THR. “What our film will capture, especially at this pivotal turning point in Hollywood history, is the underlying current of abuse and manipulation at the hands of power. Our film will also underscore the courage it takes to come forward and be a catalyst for change.” He also explained that he and Ziering were already working on the film, but were having trouble finding distributors and financiers, due to fear of retribution. “Then the Weinstein stories broke,” he said, “and it’s like an invisible dam collapsed.”
However, once the project is completed, they’ll have to find a new distributor: The Hunting Ground, their last film, was handled by The Weinstein Company’s Radius division.