Harvey Weinstein’s Chauffeur Tells All about his Former Employer

Harvey Weinstein’s Chauffeur Tells All about his Former Employer
Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 26, 2016. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)
Holly Kellum
10/22/2017
Updated:
10/22/2017

The chauffeur who worked for film producer Harvey Weinstein alleges that the media giant regularly picked up girls in their 20s, and that when several escorts didn’t show up, Weinstein took out his anger on him.

Mickael Chemloul, 56, worked as Weinstein’s chauffeur in Cannes, France, from 2008 to 2013.

He told The Sun that Weinstein regularly picked up girls while he was in town for film festivals, despite being married and having kids.

“Weinstein was a terrible man to work for,” he told the paper. “Everyone knew him as le porc [the pig] because of his size and because he sweated so much. When he came to Cannes we all knew what to expect.”

He recalled one occasion where Harvey got in the car after a festival with a woman “around 25 to 30, who had clearly had a few drinks.”

He said Weinstein’s wife, Georgina Chapman, who was pregnant at the time, was back at the hotel resting.

Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Company with his wife, Georgina Chapman, in New York City on Nov. 9, 2010. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Weinstein Books)
Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Company with his wife, Georgina Chapman, in New York City on Nov. 9, 2010. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Weinstein Books)

He heard the girl in the back of the car say to Weinstein, “Don’t hurt me,” then turned around to see Weinstein pulling her hair.

“This was a fairly familiar sight for me, but even I was shocked,” he said.

They went back to Weinstein’s hotel, but instead of going back to his wife, Weinstein got another room with the young woman.

Chapman called Chemloul at about 4:30 a.m. to ask where Weinstein was.

“I was in an awkward spot. All I could think of was he had gone for a meeting with some business friends. I felt forced to lie,” he told The Sun.

Weinstein emerged from his other room at 5 a.m. looking disheveled with his shirt out, Chemloul said, and went back to the room he shared with his wife.

“It was so stressful working for him—I was taking him to parties and I know he was going to orgies as well but I had to keep quiet,” he told The Sun.

He quit working for Weinstein in 2013 and filed a lawsuit against him in 2014 after Weinstein allegedly attacked him. He said Weinstein took out his anger on him while he was driving after two Eastern European hookers failed to show up.

“He went crazy and hit me. At that moment, there was no question I'd never work for him again,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

The injuries were severe enough that Chemloul didn’t work for four days.

A local prosecutor in Draguignan, France, dismissed the case despite Chemloul having medical records to prove he had been injured, according to the Nice-Matin, a media based in Nice, France.

A spokesperson for Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter that Chemloul was fired because of his poor driving.

A bartender who worked at the Hotel du Cap, the luxury resort on the Cote d'Azur just outside of Cannes where Weinstein would stay when he was in town, said that the reports surfacing about Weinstein’s predatory behavior didn’t surprise him.

Hotel du Cap-Ferrat in France on April 12, 2016. ("Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat" by CucombreLibre/Flickr)
Hotel du Cap-Ferrat in France on April 12, 2016. ("Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat" by CucombreLibre/Flickr)

“[With Weinstein] it’s everything you have read, and worse,” the bartender, who has worked there for 20 years, told the Reporter.

“He was always in here with one or two young girls,” he said.”But we are always polite because he is a guest.”

A housekeeper at the Majestic Hotel, another of Weinstein’s Cannes haunts, said she didn’t know who Weinstein was, but when shown a photo, remembered him vividly.

“He was the ugly one who thought he was God,” she told the Reporter. “I didn’t even know who he was, but he was very bossy.

“Men like George Clooney or Brad Pitt, they were such lovely men and so handsome. But not him. He was a mean pig.”

Chapman, a British fashion designer with whom Weinstein had two children, announced her separation from the movie mogul on Oct. 10.
Former co-chairman of the Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein (L) and his fashion designer wife Georgina Chapman at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Former co-chairman of the Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein (L) and his fashion designer wife Georgina Chapman at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Weinstein, 65, faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, including from well-known Hollywood actresses. The company he co-founded and co-chaired, Weinstein Co, announced on Oct. 6 he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the business. Then, on Oct. 17, he was also forced off the company’s board of directors.
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