Rose McGowan sues Harvey Weinstein and attorney Lisa Bloom

Actress Rose McGowan has sued disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, attorneys Lisa Bloom and David Boies, and the firm Black Cube. From the Hollywood Reporter:

McGowan’s claims include racketeering, violations of the Federal Wiretap Act, invasion of privacy, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“This case is about a diabolical and illegal effort by one of America’s most powerful men and his representatives to silence sexual-assault victims,” states the opening sentence of the complaint, which is posted below. “And it is about the courageous women and journalists who persisted to reveal the truth.”

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The details of how Weinstein hired Black Cube to spy on McGowan in an effort to gain access to her autobiography were conveyed in a story Ronan Farrow wrote back in 2017.  Here’s a summary of some of that material as it appears in McGowan’s lawsuit:

In 2016, nearly two decades after WEINSTEIN raped her, MCGOWAN began working on a memoir and motivational book called Brave, which HarperCollins published in January 2018. The book was not all about WEINSTEIN; it was about MCGOWAN’s life, including challenges throughout her childhood and as a young woman. To be sure, however, MCGOWAN intended to write about the painful episode in her life involving WEINSTEIN. She intended to describe the rape, in detail, and to discuss how WEINSTEIN’s conduct toward her and others poisoned the film and television industry.

When WEINSTEIN learned of MCGOWAN’s plans, he tapped into his team of fixers. The goal was to ensure that MCGOWAN’s story never saw the light of day, and—if it did—that no one would believe her…

He enlisted prominent, media-savvy representatives DAVID BOIES and LISA BLOOM. He hired the international spy agency, BLACK CUBE. Together, they worked in concert for more than a year to silence WEINSTEIN’s victims and the journalists who were reporting WEINSTEIN’s abuses. With MCGOWAN specifically, Defendants tried steal MCGOWAN’s unpublished book, attempted to buy MCGOWAN’s silence, and planned—in the event that they could not intimidate MCGOWAN into withholding her book—to undermine MCGOWAN’s reputation, such that she would not be believed.

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People working for Black Cube made several contacts with McGowan under false pretenses in which they tried to convince her it would be a bad idea to say anything about Weinstein:

In early January 2017, MCGOWAN’s literary agent Lacy Lynchconnected her with Seth Freedman, whom she described to MCGOWAN as afreelance journalist from London, who was allegedly working on a story about menin Hollywood. MCGOWAN spoke to the journalist by phone. Freedman was inEngland at the time, and MCGOWAN was in the United States…

Many of Freedman’s statements to MCGOWAN seemed designed tointimidate her. For example, he suggested to MCGOWAN that others might beafraid to go on the record with allegations about WEINSTEIN because “if they dosay it, then they’ll never work again.” He also suggested that MCGOWAN wouldsuffer if she named WEINSTEIN because someone could “come back at” her.Freedman ultimately asked MCGOWAN what would make her “call it quits,”meaning refrain from going public with her allegations against WEINSTEIN.

MCGOWAN did not know it at the time, but would learn much laterthat Freedman was being paid by BLACK CUBE to get information aboutMCGOWAN and her book, and that he was recording their call withoutMCGOWAN’s consent. BLACK CUBE was likewise using Freedman to try toobtain information about other possible WEINSTEIN accusers and “unfriendly” journalists.

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Seth Freedman and another Black Cube operative using the fictitious identity Diana Filip were also in contact with reporters who were working on the Weinstein story, trying to find out what they knew so Weinstein could get ahead of the story.

There’s so much more to McGowan’s story. It really does read like a paperback thriller. But McGowan, thanks in part to work by Ronan Farrow, seems to have the goods to prove it happened. She is requesting an unspecified amount in damages and a jury trial.

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Stephen Moore 8:30 AM | December 15, 2024
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