According to an email published by The Hollywood Reporter (as well as other outlets), Harvey Weinstein reportedly made a last-ditch attempt to save his job at the Weinstein Company by asking fellow “high-level Hollywood executives at the studios, networks and talent agencies†to put their support in writing. “My board is thinking of firing me. All I’m asking, is let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling,†Weinstein pleads in an email sent this weekend. “Whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance.†According to THR, former DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and WME-IMG co-CEO Ari Emanuel were among those who received the email.
However, despite the responsibility Weinstein claimed to take in his initial response to last week’s New York Times report outlining the many sexual-harassment allegations leveled against him, Weinstein’s email to his peers seems somehow both to acknowledge his deeply inappropriate behavior and to suggest the accusations made against him are fabricated. Writes Weinstein, “A lot of the allegations are false as you know but given therapy and counseling as other people have done, I think I’d be able to get there.â€Â Needless to say, the email did not work; Weinstein was fired from the Weinstein Company on Sunday. At least two more women, British actress Romola Garai and executive Louise Godbold, have since come forward with their own harassment stories involving Weinstein. You can read his full email, in which Weinstein asserts his termination from TWC would be “not only wrong but might be illegal and would destroy the company†below:
My board is thinking of firing me. All I’m asking, is let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling. Whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance. A lot of the allegations are false as you know but given therapy and counseling as other people have done, I think I’d be able to get there.
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I could really use your support or just your honesty if you can’t support me.Â
But if you can, I need you to send a letter to my private gmail address. The letter would only go to the board and no one else. We believe what the board is trying to do is not only wrong but might be illegal and would destroy the company. If you could write this letter backing me, getting me the help and time away I need, and also stating your opposition to the board firing me, it would help me a lot. I am desperate for your help. Just give me the time to have therapy. Do not let me be fired. If the industry supports me, that is all I need.Â
With all due respect, I need the letter today.