Actor Matt Damon defended himself against an accusation he helped kill an article in 2004 that sought to expose producer Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment of women.
Damon said he only vouched for Weinstein’s colleague and wasn’t aware what the story was about.
Waxman wrote she tried to file a story in 2004 that claimed Fabrizio Lombardo, head of Miramax Italy, “had no film experience and his real job was to take care of Weinstein’s women needs, among other things.”
She also wrote she tracked down a woman paid off by Weinstein after an unwanted sexual encounter.
Waxman said the story was stripped of any reference to sexual favors or coercion after “intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times.”
Damon said he did vouch for Lombardo, but didn’t know what the article was about.
Damon said he had “perfectly professional experiences” with Lombardo. He also said he never saw the alleged sexually inappropriate behavior of Weinstein.
“If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing and I didn’t see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it,” he said.
“For the record, I would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s not something I would do, for anybody.”
Dean Baquet, The New York Times executive editor, said it was “unimaginable” to him the paper killed a story because of pressure from Weinstein, a longtime advertiser with the paper.
Waxman said Jonathan Landman, then-culture editor at The New York Times, thought her story was unimportant and asked her why it mattered. “He’s [Lombardo] not a publicly elected official,” he allegedly told her.