Ken Auletta discusses his new book on Harvey Weinstein and how the culture of Hollywood enabled him

[@flyingfig12]

25:35 so unless a woman has her clothing ripped and is thrown on the bed it's not considered rape? hm i think he forgets that there is fight flight and _freeze_ and the freeze part has something to do with trying to stay alive perhaps SMH.

[@smudgey1kenobey]

I don’t think he gets it. Writing the book doesn’t seem to have clued him in at all. Ronan Farrow seems much more in tune with the plight of victims.

[@carlo6912]

I have seen this behavior and mentality while working in corporate America for over 30 years. It's just more subtle and slightly more professional.

[@tomasinacovell4293]

Theatricals, yes... How many people made the Weinstein List?

[@afritimm]

Exactly. Hollywood gets more attention since famous people are involved. But it is no different from any other workplace, whether big corporations or tiny businesses. If there are men and women in an employment situation, the same thing will be found.

[@mardikendall2553]

I agree with Katie. I would bet my last dollar that for the vast majority of women who laid on the "Casting Couch" that it was synonymous with rape. I'll also bet that most of them didn't get a part, an advancement or anything else they took the gamble to achieve. It was (is) a power play on the part of the men, pure and simple. The fact that women feel they needed (still need) to succumb to sex they would really rather not have (as in YUK) is still rape to me. Unequal power play, coercion, degrading. Merit is what should replace it.

[@dreamervanroom]

A power play you agree to isnt rape. Rape is when you do not consent. If you consent as a bad bet or for advancement or influence, that is consent. Get the difference?

[@smudgey1kenobey]

I think the term “casting couch” is just an old fashioned euphemism for places where men like Harvey Weinstein do business.

[@smudgey1kenobey]

I lived in SE Massachusetts for many years. For all the times I saw straight men get whistled at or catcalled by gay men in Provincetown, I never saw one who took it very well! Submitting to someone larger and stronger than you on their turf against your will is terrifying and degrading. It doesn’t matter if you get a job or save your life by relenting. Only rarely do men experience that, and frankly, I don’t think Mr. Auletta gets it.

[@EH23831]

@@dreamervanroom depends on what the coercion/threat is… if it’s “f*ck me or I’ll destroy your career” (which Weinstein could and did do) then the consent isn’t valid. Get the difference?

[@jillosler9353]

@@smudgey1kenobey And some women use it in the hope of fame.

[@marikotrue3488]

Great interview. I am glad that Katie Couric mentioned Matt Lauer. I sort of grew up watching him on the today show (you too Katie). I was shocked and astonished when his past was exposed. I have always have felt that the scariest monsters are not found in the movies, books or our nightmares. They live among us, look like us while hiding behind money and/or power.

[@tomnohmy1273]

Katie is masterful with finding the right words

[@dreamervanroom]

If it isnt consensual then it IS rape.

[@EH23831]

Conquest is power, Ken…

[@smudgey1kenobey]

The guy is clueless. He smiles at the wrong times, too.

[@Snippets-of-Mendi]

Thank you for the great interview. I'm off to listen to your Audiobook Katie. It's been on my wishlist for awhile now.

[@jabrown1978]

One of the country's, and perhaps the world's, foremost experts on narciccism and narcicistic behavior and personality styles, Dr. Ramani Durvasala, has often said that if she were to write a guide on how to make it in the Western World, it would be a how-to guide on narciccism. They're everywhere. She says that nearly everyone at some point has been in a relationship with, or impacted by one. She asserts that it is one of the gravest issues we face as a society as it tears up lives on the micro level among families, coworkers, and neighbors and on the macro level with heads of industry, government, and instutions, like Harvey, and of course, the perpetual vortex of chaos and darkness that was Donald Trump, and a frightening number of people in Congress. The signs are all there with any of those examples; the profound lack of empathy, the thirst for power and relevance at any cost, the willingess to break rules of any kind and disdain of laws, social mores, ethical codes, vows, courtesies etc; then there is the grandstanding, invalidation, and gaslighting; and then there is the perpetual victimhood that seethes just beneath the surface of these almost relentless grievance collectors. It's the world's fault that they don't know how great, smart, beautiful, caring, and capable the narciccist is. To be in a very close relationship with one like spouse, child/parent, employee/boss can be nothing short of a fking nightmare. So this the other, and, perhaps, more urgent story here, along with the fact that our society in particular, for whatever reasons, provide the optimal enviornment for a very problematic and even dangerous proliferation of them.

[@cindywilliams3542]

Very interesting, people are multi-dimensional even sex offenders. I have worked with hundreds of them, some very likeable and talented. However, in this situation it makes them more dangerous and screws up their victims more because of the conflicted messaging they give out. Sexual offending is all about power, grooming and manipulation. I thought I was good at my work but trust me on this, there are some offenders that are always better. Harvey had all the props to get away with this for a long time. To bad his enablers can't do some time with him!!!

[@barbara1896]

So disappointing that the person writing such an important biography shows a lack of deep understanding about Weinstein's psychopathy and the culture that enabled him. Seems Katie did her best to help him understand, but it didn't happen.

[@stacylaetsch3672]

why is Ken denying the FACT that rape is about power???

[@englandcalling9721]

Indeed. He also seems to struggle with what constitutes consent. Almost toying with the notion that sex for a job is 'tolerable' but rape is when you force yourself on someone. But as you say, it's down to power, and it may only need words, to make the threat clear.

[@AvsFan32]

My immediate impression on Kens take on this was the same. Not okay.

[@EH23831]

@@englandcalling9721 agreed

[@katiehettinger7857]

He's a guy, duh.

[@smudgey1kenobey]

He missed his chance to learn something from the experience of writing his book. It sure came out in this interview. If I’d been one of the people who he spoke with in making the book, I’d be so let down.

[@konowd]

Read all three books on Harvey and they’re all good but Ken wrote the best one. He did a great job at weaving it all together into a great dramatic narrative

[@helenhaubensack-bitterli3733]

Using the word flawed utterly minimizes the extent of his depravity and devastation he caused to so many women!

[@violet.louder]

How would survivors *now* be able to "blow the whistle" when the resources don't exist? There are so many serial predators currently doing these things in every position of power, and we've seen again and again *today* how little is done and how little functional support is available to victims.

[@Sweet.Mother.of.Cheesus]

Sure wished Katie would spend some money on better audio recording equipment. Plus the obvious bad connection/bandwith. Quality is so low at times :-(

[@BrigidFitch2112]

I don't comment much, but love your episodes, Katie.

[@carolechetwynd-bryant534]

I have experienced it myself more than once and trust me, there was nothing professional about it. I am glad this awful thing is being exposed, no pun intended. 🙁

[@afritimm]

Fran Lebowitz said when she came to NYC in the early 70s almost every young woman she knew was or had been a waitress. But she refused because she said it was absolutely inevitable that working in that job required sexual favors to a male manager.

[@kristinsewell1441]

I read Ken's book and I thought it was amazing. I want to clarify for Ken (even tho he will never see this) and any other men who might read this... "Believe women" isn't about just accepting a woman's whole account or claim against a man. It is about starting from an assumption of truthfulness like we do with other victims. When a person calls the police and says "my house has been robbed" we start from a place of believing them until we hear something that doesn't gel. We know some people lie about being robbed. They lost money gambling. They are committing insurance fraud. They're funding an addiction. They gave away something they shouldn't have. Whatever. But we don't immediately ask "How did you contribute to being robbed? What were you wearing when you were robbed?" That's what we mean. Start from a place of benefit of the doubt until you have a reason to be skeptical... which is not "a woman lied and a guy killed himself once" when you know that a woman is raped every few minutes in this country.

[@tjbeep]

#believeher is horrible because it plants the idea that women are good and truthful while men are liars and rapists. It is not comparable to reporting one's house was burglarized because a rape claim points the finger at a specific man, and harsh consequences accrue immediately to that man. There is no defending the #believeher movement which is despicable sexism.

[@afritimm]

"Assumption of truthfulness"??? So that also means assumption of guilt for the other party. No, accusations, whether robbery or rape, are investigated unless the accusation is so absurd on its face as not to warrant investigation (yes, this happens).

[@LondonEE16]

Great comment Kristin. I think women are believed it's just that their speaking up challenges male dominance and therefore all women who speak up are a threat to that. There is a "we've got to shut this down" mentality when women tell their stories.

[@jeffkaplan4540]

Great interview. Have you thought about and reached out to Justin and Haley and do follow up interview of the interview you did of him in 2010? I think it would be a home run. I know he is doing very few interviews to protect his mental health yet I think he and Hailey would say yes since you showed him so much love and respect.

[@tjbeep]

'he said she said' even with 5 complainants is not "unassailable". It is backed with no actual evidence.

[@eftsoulpath333]

Great show.. Very informative. And by the way I really like your haircut and I love your glasses. They are feminine and classy!

[@LondonEE16]

I find it hard to believe in Weinstein's second marriage. There is no way those two were ever a couple. I don't even believe that she was faking it for money or advancement in her career. (Weinstein browbeat actors to wear his wife's dresses at award shows.) There is no way a monster like him becomes Mr. Nice Guy at home. No one could live with him, and certainly not love him. Not to mention that she was young and beautiful and, kid yourself all you want guys, ain't no way on earth she fancied him. I believe this was an arrangement where she played his wife. And this would make her complicit in providing him with cover, making him appear like a kinder human being, which it is so clear he is not. I haven't read the book (yet), but I wonder if this aspect is touched upon.

[@afritimm]

Need to more carefully define your terms. 100 cases of "sexual assault." I believe most statutes define that as an unwanted sexual touching (but not penetration). Is touching an arm or back or cheek sexual assault? We know non-consensual penetration is rape. But how about just insistence and bribing with promised career favors or walking around naked in front of someone? To my knowledge that is neither a crime or even civil harassment, which occurs in an employer-employee situation. Virtually all these cases were BEFORE anyone was employed.

[@tomasinacovell4293]

I thought that was Roger Rosenblatt at first, sounds a lot like him.

[@patternrecon5271]

Hollywood putting shiksas in their place

[@joannekucks4343]

I love easy she is to talk to. I wonder what questions she would ask if she interviewed me?

[@abeach5420]

#Pantene #pantenehair . . . hook this epic comedian up with a promo gig and/or commercial !!!