Tom Hanks Doesn't Buy Harvey Weinstein's Response to Sexual Assault Allegations: I Grew Up in the '60s and '70s Too
Tom Hanks is no fan of Harvey Weinstein.
The actor spoke out against the movie mogul to the New York Times in a feature about his collection of short stories, titled Uncommon Type: Some Stories. Hanks, 61, said he didn’t buy Weinstein’s statement in response to the sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by multiple women in the NYT, including actress Ashley Judd.
In the lengthy statement on Oct.5, Weinstein referenced his upbringing in a different time when addressing the allegations.
“I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then,” Weinstein said. “I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office – or out of it. To anyone.”
“I’ve never worked with Harvey,” said Hanks. “But, aah, it all just sort of fits, doesn’t it? Isn’t it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this? Look, I don’t want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. You can’t buy, ‘Oh, well, I grew up in the ’60s and ’70s and so therefore…’ I did, too.”
“Somebody great said this, either Winston Churchill, Immanuel Kant or Oprah: ‘When you become rich and powerful, you become more of what you already are,’ ” Hanks quoted. “So I would say, there’s an example of how that’s true. Just because you’re rich and famous and powerful doesn’t mean you aren’t in some ways a big fat ass. Excuse me, take away ‘fat.’ But I’m not, you know, I’m not the first person to say Harvey’s a bit of an ass.”
In a bombshell NYT report last week, eight women spoke out against Weinstein, accusing him of inappropriate behavior. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan.
Following the initial report, Weinstein said in a statement that he was working with therapists and planned to “deal with this issue head-on.” He has since been fired from his powerhouse studio, The Weinstein Company, and his wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, has announced she’s leaving him.
On Tuesday, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie added their own accounts of alleged mistreatment. Paltrow told the NYT that Weinstein sexually harassed her in a hotel room when she was 22. The encounter allegedly ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting a massage. Jolie also told the outlet that she had a “bad experience” with Weinstein in a hotel room during the release of Playing by Heart in the late ’90s.
Also on Tuesday, the The New Yorker revealed — among 13 different women’s accounts of alleged sexual harassment, assault or rape — that the mogul allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Italian actress Asia Argento two decades ago.
In response to the lengthy allegations made against Weinstein in the New Yorker piece, a spokesperson for Weinstein said, “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
On Tuesday, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Weinstein plans to enter a residential treatment facility.
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