Actress Rose McGowan has sued Harvey Weinstein, two of his ex-attorneys and a private intelligence agency — all of whom she claims colluded to silence her when she came out with rape allegations against the disgraced movie mogul.
“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,” says the suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court. “And it is about the courageous women and journalists who persisted to reveal the truth.”
In her suit, she also names lawyers Lisa Bloom and David Boies — as well as the private Israeli spy and intelligence firm Black Cube Strategies, Agence France-Presse reported.
McGowan was one of the first women to make public allegations about Weinstein’s abuse, leading to his 2017 downfall and the launch of the #MeToo movement.
The former “Charmed” star claimed that Weinstein did all he could to put a lid on the story — enlisting a team of “fixers” to make sure her story about the alleged 1997 rape “never saw the light of day, and — if it did — that no one would believe her.”
“Weinstein’s campaign against McGowan and others involved some of the most powerful forces that money could buy,” the suit said. “He enlisted prominent, media-savvy representatives David Boies and Lisa Bloom. He hired the international spy agency, Black Cube.”
The suit also accuses Weinstein and his team of working to suppress both his victims and journalists who reported on the cases.
In a statement issued to Fox News, Weinstein’s civil attorney Phyllis Kupferstein said that McGowan’s suit is simply a ploy for a payout.
“Once and for all, Rose McGowan will be shown to be what she is: a publicity seeker looking for money,” Kupferstein said. “From the moment she sought a $6 million payout in return for not making these baseless allegations, which we rejected at the time, we knew that she was waiting for an opportune time such as this to begin her suit. We will demonstrate that this case has no legal merit.”
And a Bloom representative ripped apart the actress’ claims in a statement also provided to the network.
“It is inexcusable that Ms. McGowan chose to include my client in her lawsuit,” the rep said. Facts matter. “There is simply no credible factual or legal basis for her claims against my client. We look forward to our day in court to set the record straight.”
Last month, it emerged that the explosive new book “She Said,” by Weinstein news-breakers Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, reports that Bloom wrote a memo suggesting a way to quash the actress’ claims.
“We can place an article re her becoming increasingly unglued … and she’s discredited,” Bloom wrote about McGowan, according to the book.
Edward Evans, a spokesman for Boies’ firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, told The New York Times that the “progress of the #MeToo movement is essential” but that McGowan’s suit “inappropriately includes our firm and we have no choice but to defend ourselves against allegations that are simply untrue.”
In a late Thursday tweet, after the news first emerged of McGowan’s suit, she tweeted that she anticipates some backlash.
“I’m preparing for the smear campaign to begin again,” the star wrote. “If you start reading horrible things about me on Instagram, Twitter or FB, understand that they are likely bots being paid for to damage my reputation. If you start reading sites that trash me, know where it’s coming from, an indicted rapist and his fixers. I tell the truth to power, I’ve done it my whole life. I’m not perfect, but I know I am a good person who fights for the voiceless. If it’s happening to me, it can happen to all of us. Here’s to justice, yours and mine.”
With Post Wires
Source: Read Full Article
