Bob Weinstein referred to his brother as a “predator,” adding that he was shocked by Harvey Weinstein’s lack of remorse.
“I want him to get the justice that he deserves,” Bob Weinstein said.
The two brothers ran The Weinstein company for nearly three decades, though Bob Weinstein was largely out of the spotlight. His brother meanwhile traveled the globe for award ceremonies and movie promotions.
Two bombshell articles, one by The New York Times and another by The New Yorker, revealed decades of sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein, who settled at least eight lawsuits with victims over the years.
Bob Weinstein expressed shock and disgust about the allegations throughout the interview, saying that he never knew the extent of his brother’s abusive behavior.
“I find myself in a waking nightmare. My brother has caused unconscionable suffering,” Bob Weinstein said. “As a father of three girls I say this with every bone in my body—I am heartbroken for the women that he has harmed.”
Bob Weinstein said that he had little personal contact with Harvey Weinstein over the past five years, saying that the two had “divorced.” Bob Weinstein ran Dimension, a division of the company that made less glamorous but more financially successful films. Only Harvey Weinstein’s biggest hits were more successful than Dimension blockbusters like the “Scream” and “Scary Movie” franchises.
“I know him on a personal level better than anyone,” Bob Weinstein said. “It’s hard to describe how I feel that he took out the emptiness inside of him in so many sick and depraved ways. It’s a sickness but not a sickness that is excusable. It’s a sickness that’s inexcusable.”
Bob Weinstein also said that he was the subject of Harvey Weinstein’s notorious verbal and physical abuse.
“And I am not looking for one bit of sympathy from anyone. I do not put myself in the category at all of those women that he hurt,” Bob Weinstein said. “But it’s a complicated situation when it’s your brother doing the abusing to you as well. I saw it and I asked him to get help for many years. And that’s the truth. He avoided getting the help. We begged him.”
Bob Weinstein said that the statement his brother issued after the investigative articles about his abuse came out “was utter insanity.”
“This hurts, but I don’t feel an ounce of remorse coming from him, and that kills me too. When I heard his written, lame excuse… Not an excuse,” Bob Weinstein said. “When I heard his admission of feeling remorse for the victims and then him cavalierly, almost crazily saying he was going to go out and take on the NRA, it was so disturbing to me.”
Bob Weinstein said he was aware that his brother constantly cheated on his wife, but never knew that Harvey Weinstein forced himself on women and got his way without consent.
“For me, I thought he was literally just going out there cheating in a pervasive way. It wasn’t like he even had a mistress. It was one after another and that I was aware of,” Bob Weinstein said. “But as far as being in a room and hearing the description in The New York Times? No way. No [expletive] way was I aware that that was the type of predator that he was. And the way he convinced people to do things? I thought they were all consensual situations.”
Bob Weinstein is now taking care of the chaos his brother’s situation introduced to the business. He wants to keep his brother from the company and salvage as much of the business as he can. He also plans to ask the Film Academy to kick Harvey Weinstein out.
“I’m mortified and disgusted by my brother’s actions,” Bob Weinstein said. “And I am sick for the victims. And I feel for them. I feel for them.”
