Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein faced a backlash from his alleged sex abuse victims today after bragging in an interview that he had championed women in Hollywood.
Weinstein, 67, claims his work has been ignored amid the scandal over abuse allegations by women including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd.
“I feel like the forgotten man,” he told the New York Post. “I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker... I did it first! I pioneered it!
"It all got eviscerated because of what happened.”
Weinsten said he gave the interview to refute claims that he was exaggerating illness after appearing at a New York court with a walking frame.
But Gloria Allred, the lawyer representing some of his alleged victims, said: “Everything that Harvey Weinstein has done professionally for women is overshadowed by the serious allegations of sexual misconduct made by more than 60 women.
“He states, ‘I feel like the forgotten man.’ He is not forgotten.
"He is a defendant in a high-profile criminal case in which he is charged with serious crimes against women including rape, criminal sexual assault and allegations of predatory sexual assault.”
In a statement, 23 of Weinstein’s accusers said: “He says in a new interview he doesn’t want to be forgotten.
"Well, he won’t be. He will be remembered as a sexual predator and an unrepentant abuser.”
He is set to go on trial on January 6 at Manhattan Supreme Court for sexually assaulting two women in 2006 and 2013.
He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
