Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Rose McGowan Says She Turned Down $1 Million In Hush Money From Harvey Weinstein
Rose McGowan. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for TCM)
()
Rose McGowan has claimed someone close to Harvey Weinstein offered her $1 million in late September to sign a nondisclosure agreement after she learned their previous settlement from 1997 did not include any requirements of confidentiality.
In speaking to the New York Times, McGowan said the offer came when several women were speaking on the record with the Times and Ronan Farrow for what emerged as two bombshell reports on decades of Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment and sexual assault. McGowan was named as one of the alleged victims in the New York Times report, which cited McGowan and Weinstein's $100,000 settlement from 1997. McGowan elaborated on Twitter after the report was released, alleging Weinstein raped her.
McGowan tells the Times she had many people encourage her to take the money because her personal funds had grown thin (she both had stopped acting and had to pay for her late father's health bills). She counteroffered with $6 million, explaining how it was never her intention to actually take the money, hoping instead to frazzle Weinstein's team. "I was like—ew, gross, you’re disgusting, I don’t want your money, that would make me feel disgusting," she said.
Support for LAist comes from
Spokespeople for Weinstein have continuously denied any claims that Weinstein attempted to engage women in nonconsensual sexual acts. McGowan's lawyer confirmed to the Times that the offer existed.
McGowan recounts the alleged 1997 encounter to the Times, describing a business meeting with Weinstein at the Sundance Film Festival that year. According to McGowan, she had to take the meeting in Weinstein's hotel room—a consistent pattern across most of the accusations against the producer—and that he brought her attention to the room's hot tub after their brief business exchange ended. She alleges that was the moment when Weinstein proceeded to rape her.
McGowan recalls eventually speaking to a lawyer who specialized in sexual harassment and assault cases. The lawyer told her "[y]ou’re an actress, you’ve done a sex scene, you’re done," according to McGowan.
McGowan has emerged as a prominent critic of Weinstein on social media in recent weeks. She most recently took to the public stage at the Women's Convention in Detroit, telling the audience to take this opportunity to dismantle systems that allow sexual assault and harassment to go unchecked. "What happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in this society," she said.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist