Howard Stern Says He 'Knew' Harvey Weinstein Lied About Sleeping with Actresses in 2014 Interview
With Harvey Weinstein facing several allegations of sexual misconduct, Howard Stern now says he long knew that the movie mogul was not being honest when he denied using his power in the industry to sleep with actresses.
On Monday’s episode of his SiriusXM show, Stern recalled a 2014 interview with Weinstein in which he asked the producer whether he ever used his position to engage in sexual activity with women.
“Howard, the movies are too expensive, the risks are too great,” Weinstein responded in a clip of the interview Stern aired. “It doesn’t happen that way anymore.”
Stern pressed on in the interview: “You can’t walk into the room, pull your pants off and say, ‘Okay, honey let’s talk business?'”
Weinstein responded, “John Frankenheimer, you know the great director, told us stories about his day in the movies. We were born way too late.”
On Monday’s episode, Stern said he never bought Weinstein’s claim, declaring: “I knew he was lying. I knew it.”
Stern’s comments come as Weinstein, 65, finds himself in the midst of an ongoing sexual harassment and abuse scandal with actresses including Cara Delevingne, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie speaking out against Weinstein’s alleged behavior.
In a bombshell New York Times report earlier this month, eight women accused him of acting inappropriately. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan.
As news broke, Weinstein issued a statement in which he quoted Jay-Z lyrics and admitted he needs “to be a better person”
In accounts in the New York Times, the New Yorker and elsewhere, more than 20 women have spoken out against the producer, with allegations including rape, forced oral sex, groping and harassment
In the New Yorker piece, a spokesperson for Weinstein said, “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
The Weinstein Company has since removed the Shakespeare in Love producer from his position — and over the weekend, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences ousted him from the organization.
