New York Times Fires David Boies' Law Firm Over 'Reprehensible' Work For Weinstein
The New York Times responded to the latest bombshell report about Harvey Weinstein’s efforts to silence accusers, along with the Times journalist working to tell their stories, by firing the law firm that the studio executive used to employ private investigators.
The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow reported Monday that lawyer David Boies, working on behalf of Weinstein, contracted with a team of private investigators, including former Mossad agents, to try to kill a negative New York Times story about Weinstein. Boies firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, has represented the newspaper three times in the last 10 years. The firm was reportedly defending the Times in a libel suit at the same time it was hiring private investigators to target its journalists.
“We never contemplated that the law firm would contract with an intelligence firm to conduct a secret spying operation aimed at our reporting and our reporters,” the Times said in a statement obtained by Politico’s Michael Calderone.
“Such an operation is reprehensible ... we should have been treated better by a firm that we trusted,” the statement continued.
NYT terminates relationship with David Boise over his “reprehensible” work for Weinstein to spy on paper’s reporters pic.twitter.com/sjiUPpyxeF
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) November 8, 2017
Boies ― best known for representing Al Gore in the disputed 2000 presidential election and for fighting California’s same-sex marriage ban all the way to the Supreme Court ― told Farrow that working on the two matters did not present a conflict of interest. But contracting with private investigators was a mistake, he said.
“We should not have been contracting with and paying investigators that we did not select and direct,” Boies told Farrow. “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.”
In a statement released on Tuesday obtained by the Times, Boies clarified his relationship with Weinstein, whom he no longer represents. He said he executed the contract with the investigators, but he did not select them or direct their work, nor was he formally representing Weinstein in this matter.
“Had I known at the time that this contract would have been used for the services that I now understand it was used for, I would never have signed it or been associated in any way with this effort,” Boies said.
Though the Times signed a broad waiver acknowledging that Boies’ firm could do work for other clients adverse to the paper’s interest, the hiring of agents directed to surveil their reporters was crossing a line, the newspaper’s statement made clear.
Farrow’s New Yorker story detailed how one of the agents, posing as a women’s rights advocate named Diana Filip, emailed Times reporter Jodi Kantor in an effort to learn about a story she was writing about Weinstein’s accusers. Kantor, along with Megan Twohey, first reported that Weinstein had been settling sexual harassment and assault claims for decades.
The most chilling detail about "Diana Filip," the Harvey spy who tried to trick me, Rose and Ronan: she posed as a women's rights advocate.
— jodikantor (@jodikantor) November 7, 2017
Here's the thing about the ex-Mossad agents, the $$$, the deception and intimidation: they were no match for people speaking the truth.
— jodikantor (@jodikantor) November 7, 2017
Over the span of one year, the agents targeted Weinstein’s accusers and other journalists working to share their stories, including Farrow.
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Craziest story I’ve ever reported, and a rare professional experience that made me fear for my safety (even including time in Afghanistan).
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) November 6, 2017
Also on HuffPost
Ashley Judd
She told the Times that she thought, “How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?”
Gwyneth Paltrow
“I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified,” she said, noting that when Weinstein found out she told her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, "I thought he was going to fire me."
Angelina Jolie
Kate Winslet
"I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naïve," she said. "And it makes me so angry. There must be ‘no tolerance’ of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world.”
Meryl Streep
“The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported," she said in a statement.
Rose McGowan
After The Weinstein Company fired Harvey, the actress and director called on the rest of the studio's board to resign.
"They knew," she said in a tweet. "They funded. They advised. They covered up. They must be exposed. They must resign."
Ben Affleck
Actress Rose McGowan denounced Affleck for implying that he didn't know of the abuse before this week, saying that the pair had previously discussed Weinstein's treatment of her.
"You lie," she tweeted.
Lena Dunham
"Abuse, threats and coercion have been the norm for so many women trying to do business or make art," she wrote. "Mr. Weinstein may be the most powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator, but he’s certainly not the only one who has been allowed to run wild. His behavior, silently co-signed for decades by employees and collaborators, is a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere."
George Clooney
"A good bunch of people that I know would say, “Yeah, Harvey’s a dog” or “Harvey’s chasing girls,” but again, this is a very different kind of thing," the actor told the Daily Beast. "This is harassment on a very high level. And there’s an argument that everyone is complicit in it. I suppose the argument would be that it’s not just about Hollywood, but about all of us—that every time you see someone using their power and influence to take advantage of someone without power and influence and you don’t speak up, you’re complicit. And there’s no question about that."
Jennifer Lawrence
"I worked with Harvey five years ago, and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting," Lawrence said in a statement. "My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward."
Hillary Clinton
Clinton said that she "was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."
Barack and Michelle Obama
"Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein," the Obamas said in a statement. "Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture -- including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect -- so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future."
Judi Dench
"Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and whole-hearted support to those who have spoken out," she said in a statement.
Leonardo DiCaprio
"There is no excuse for sexual harrassment or sexual assault-- no matter who you are and no matter what profession," DiCarpio said in a Facebook Post. "I applaud the strength and courage of the women who came forward and made their voices heard."
Jessica Chastain
"I was warned from the beginning" about Weinstein, she said in a tweet. "The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again."
Julianne Moore
Colin Firth
“It must have been terrifying for these women to step up and call him out. And horrifying to be subjected to that kind of harassment. I applaud their courage."
Tamron Hall
Blake Lively
The actress said that she was unaware of the abuse but admitted that "it's devastating to hear."
"It's important that women are furious right now. It's important that there is an uprising. It's important that we don't stand for this and that we don't focus on one or two or three or four stories. It's important that we focus on humanity in general and say, 'This is unacceptable.'"
Julia Roberts
Ryan Gosling
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
