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http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/bob-weinstein-sexual-harassment-1202592165/
A female showrunner who worked on the Weinstein Co. drama “The Mist” has accused Bob Weinstein of sexual harassment during the production of the Spike TV series.
Amanda Segel, an executive producer of “Mist,” said Weinstein repeatedly made romantic overtures to her and asked her to join him for private dinners. The harassment began in the summer of 2016 and continued on and off for about three months until Segel’s lawyer, David Fox of Myman Greenspan, informed TWC executives — including COO David Glasser — that she would leave the show if Bob Weinstein did not stop contacting her on personal matters.
“ ‘No’ should be enough,” Segel told Variety. “After ‘no,’ anybody who has asked you out should just move on. Bob kept referring to me that he wanted to have a friendship. He didn’t want a friendship. He wanted more than that. My hope is that ‘no’ is enough from now on.”
A representative for Bob Weinstein denied that he engaged in any inappropriate behavior in a statement to Variety.
“Bob Weinstein had dinner with Ms. Segel in LA in June 2016. He denies any claims that he behaved inappropriately at or after the dinner. It is most unfortunate that any such claim has been made,” the statement said.
Bert Fields, a lawyer for Bob Weinstein, also issued a strong denial on Weinstein’s behalf.
“Variety’s story about Bob Weinstein is riddled with false and misleading assertions by Ms. Segel and we have the emails to prove it, but even if you believe what she says it contains not a hint of any inappropriate touching or even any request for such touching,” Fields said. “There is no way in the world that Bob Weinstein is guilty of sexual harassment, and even if you believed what this person asserts there is no way it would amount to that.”
A rep for the Weinstein Co. denied that Glasser was contacted by Segel’s lawyer, a source close to Glasser said in fact the COO had communicated with Segel but his involvement in addressing the situation was minimal.
Spike TV in a statement said: “We take all allegations of this nature very seriously, and are investigating.”
Segel’s revelation about her experience with Bob Weinstein comes on the heels of explosive allegations of sexual assault and harassment by his older brother and longtime business partner, Harvey Weinstein. More than 30 women have come forward with allegations that paint a pattern of behavior by Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual predator. The scandal resulted in Harvey Weinstein being fired by the board of the Weinstein Co. and has sent the company into a tailspin, with creative partners and networks working to distance themselves from the company.
Meanwhile, this week, Bob Weinstein has publicly decried his brother’s actions and claimed that he was unaware of the severity of the allegations, which include at least two allegations of rape. But the disclosure from Segel raises serious questions about Bob Weinstein’s comportment with female colleagues. Segel’s experience on “The Mist” left her shaken and angry.
The intense media focus on disturbing allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein sparked renewed frustration for Segel. She knows from previous experience that sexual harassment and discrimination against female writers is widespread in television. After much consideration of the potential risk to her career, Segel decided to go public with her Bob Weinstein experience in an effort to help raise awareness of the extra burden that women often face and to encourage the industry to put a stop to behavior that has too often been seen as part and parcel of the high-pressure business of producing a TV show.
Segel’s discomfort with Bob Weinstein began in June 2016 when he invited her out to dinner in Los Angeles, at Dan Tana’s restaurant. Segel had been told by coworkers that Bob Weinstein had inquired with them whether she was single. She agreed to go to dinner with him in an effort to establish a professional relationship with the head of the company behind “The Mist.”
During the dinner, Weinstein asked Segel highly intimate questions and made romantic overtures to her, according to Segel. He wanted to know her age because he told her he didn’t want to date anyone younger than his daughter. He told Segel that he was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel because his daughter was staying at his home in Los Angeles.
About halfway through the dinner, Weinstein asked Segel if she would drive him back to the hotel so that he could let his driver go for the night. Segel agreed. When she took him to the Sunset Boulevard hotel, he asked her to come up to his room. She declined.
After that night, Weinstein began sending emails to Segel with questions that were outside the scope of work on “The Mist.” He said he wanted them to be friends. She said that was possible but in a non romantic way, and reiterated that she was not open to dating.
In a scenario that echoes some of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Segel asserts that during this period Bob Weinstein invited her to a house he’d rented in Malibu for a party. When he called Segel to tell her the address of the house, she gathered that it was not a party but an invitation for the two of them to be alone. She did not attend.
Bob Weinstein continued to ask Segel out to dinner between June and August of 2016 joking at times that he was her boss and could fire her if she didn’t agree. Segel agreed to another dinner with him in which she was accompanied by “Mist” executive producer and writer Christian Torpe. Weinstein was clearly unhappy with Torpe’s presence at the dinner, according to Segel.
Eventually, Weinstein stopped the unwanted attention toward Segel. During a notes conference call with network executives about the show, Segel says Weinstein became angry and screamed at Segel over a production issue that she says was out of her control. When questioned about the outburst by others on the call, Segel expressed her view that she had been sexually harassed by Weinstein for three months. After that incident, Segel had her lawyer contact TWC executives with the ultimatum that she would leave the show if Weinstein did not stay away from her.
After much back and forth between Segel, her lawyer and TWC executives, an agreement was reached that Segel would continue her work on the show but arrangements were made that she was never to be in the same room as Weinstein or on telephone calls with him, an agreement that was honored by Weinstein. It was also agreed that TWC would let Segel out of its option to keep her on the show if it was picked up for a second season.
Fox declined to comment, citing “the possibility of litigation involving the Weinstein Company.”
“The Mist,” a fantasy thriller based on the Stephen King novella, had a 10-episode run that wrapped in August. The show was not renewed by Spike TV for a second season.
At present, Segel is working on a new series, in a work environment she described as pleasantly low-key, and focused on developing her own projects. <--- Big Baller World Order
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