Almost one month after the world learned of the alleged sexual abuse and sexual harassment suffered by countless victims at the hands of film producer Harvey Weinstein, it is now being reported the 65-year-old hired journalists, highly trained ex-spies and military personnel to try and stop accusers from going public with their sexual misconduct claims.
In an article written by The New Yorker journalist Ronan Farrow - who originally helped expose the Harvey Weinstein scandal - the film mogul reportedly hired private security agencies in autumn 2016 including Black Cube, an agency largely run by former officers of Israeli intelligence agencies, and Kroll, which is one of the world's largest corporate-intelligence companies.
Farrow also claims that two private investigators from Black Cube - using false identities - met with actress Rose McGowan (who publicly accused Weinstein of rape) to 'extract information from her'.
Farrow explains: 'One of the investigators pretended to be a women's-rights advocate and secretly recorded at least four meetings with McGowan. The same operative, using a different false identity and implying that she had an allegation against Weinstein, met twice with a journalist to find out which women were talking to the press.
'In other cases, journalists directed by Weinstein or the private investigators interviewed women and reported back the details.'
The article goes on to suggest that over the course of a year, Weinstein hired the agencies to 'target' and collect information on dozens of individuals, and 'compile psychological profiles that sometimes focussed on their personal or sexual histories'.
The publication reports Weinstein sought the assistance of ex-employees from his movie businesses to help in his efforts collecting names and placing calls and his lawyer, attorney David Boies.
Boies has since said that his firm's involvement with the investigators was a mistake.
'We should not have been contracting with and paying investigators that we did not select and direct,' Boies told The New Yorker.
'At the time, it seemed a reasonable accommodation for a client, but it was not thought through, and that was my mistake. It was a mistake at the time.'
The newspaper reports that on 28 October 2016, Boies's law firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, wired Black Cube a hundred thousand dollars, toward what would ultimately be a six-hundred-thousand-dollar invoice.
One contract with Black Cube dated 11 July 2017 bearing Boies's signature, states that the project's 'primary objectives' were to 'provide intelligence which will help the Client's efforts to completely stop the publication of a new negative article in a leading NY newspaper'.
It was also hired to 'obtain additional content of a book which currently being written and includes harmful negative information on and about the Client,' who is identified as Weinstein in multiple documents.
The report states that techniques and personnel provided by Black Cube for Weinstein included a project manager, intelligence analysts, an investigative journalist, linguists, and 'Avatar Operators' specifically hired to create fake identities on social media, as well as 'operations experts with extensive experience in social engineering'.
Black Cube declined to comment on the specifics of any work it did for Weinstein. The agency said in a statement: 'It is Black Cube's policy to never discuss its clients with any third party, and to never confirm or deny any speculation made with regard to the company's work.'
In a statement, Weinstein's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, dismissed the allegations, claiming: 'It is a fiction to suggest that any individuals were targeted or suppressed at any time.'
Read the full New Yorker investigation here.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
