When the truth is held hostage
Oct 11, 2017, 6:35 AM | Updated: 6:37 am
Harvey Weinstein. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
What’s amazing about the Harvey Weinstein case is the sheer volume of evidence that has been kept secret for so long. The reason this happens is because rich people can pay their victims not to talk.
The latest expose in the New Yorker mentioned that a female executive was warned by her lawyer that she could be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars for violating her non-disclosure agreement by telling the truth about Harvey Weinstein.
We know that these agreements are common in these cases, but at some point, you have to ask why?
What kind of system allows a victim of sexual abuse to be sued for telling the truth?
Well, Dave, you say, she took the money. Yes, she did. And she should get to keep it. It’s her compensation and a fair exchange for his being spared the expense of a trial. But why should it buy her silence? It’s like giving him a government permit to strike again.
Did you hear the undercover police tape of Weinstein trying to get a young model into his hotel room?
“I’m telling you right now, get in here,” he says.
“What do we have to do here?”
“Nothing. I’m going to take a shower. You sit there and have a drink.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Then have a glass of water.”
“Can I stay on the bar?”
“No. You must come here now.”
You can read a full transcript of the interaction here.
A non-disclosure agreement is the justice system saying that never happened!
Weinstein is a private citizen. It’s not like he’s running for public office (so far, anyway) and yet people in his position — the people who sign the paycheck — exert far more power over most of us than any government official.
Why should any court deliberately hide the fact that a boss is unfit to serve?
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
