John Oliver has spoken about the complicity of the people surrounding predatory producer Harvey Weinstein.
On his HBO show Last Week Tonight, he spoke of the “horrifying details” that continue to emerge about the disgraced mogul’s alleged behavior towards women in Hollywood.
But it wasn’t just the ongoing list of stories from those who claim impropriety that bothered Oliver. “It’s not just his behavior that was troubling, it’s the way that people around him excused it,” he said.
He then played footage of actor Angie Everhart, who claimed that she was sleeping on a boat in Cannes and woke up to find Weinstein masturbating in front of her. When she told others, they brushed it off by saying that’s just what he’s like.
“What the fuck?” he said. “So everyone knew and they just went with it. ‘Oh yeah Harvey’s gonna burst in your room and masturbate, that’s just Harvey.’ He’s like a sex criminal version of the Kool-Aid Man.”
While many have come out to criticize Weinstein, Donna Karan’s initial interview was one that placed blame on the way women are presenting themselves.
“One, that is absolutely appalling and two, how would Donna Karan know how women are dressing right now?” he said. “It’s not 1993.”
Over the weekend, Weinstein was also expelled from the Academy, who released a statement to say that sexually predatory behavior in the workplace was no longer acceptable in the film industry.
“Yes, finally,” he said. “The group that counts among its common members Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby and Mel Gibson has found the one guy who treated women badly and kicked him out so congratulations Hollywood! See you at the next Oscars where, and this is true, Casey Affleck will be presenting best actress.”
