She Said,the film about Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s reporting on Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual predation for The New York Times, opens on November 18. The timing works for award season and it’ll be really interesting to see whether or not Hollywood is, as Clayton Davis wrote in Variety this week, willing to “face its complicity”. After all, there were a lot of people in the industry who knew that Harvey Weinstein was abusive. But Harvey also ruled over the Oscars for many years. That was one of the ways he wielded power. He was an Oscar kingmaker and a lot of people either chose to ignore or condone his f-cksh-t or they were afraid to take him on. TheShe Saidtiming is also convenient because Harvey Weinsteinis currently on trial.
Here are Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey, Carey Mulligan, and Dede Gardner at the WIF Honors: Forging Forward Gala last night in Beverly Hills. This year’s Oscar race feels pretty open right now. There seems to be space for contenders to surge, and there’s more than enough time forShe Saidto build momentum.
Leading up to the release, we’ll likely see more of Carey in the coming days, alongside co-star Zoe Kazan, as I can’t imagine they won’t be out there campaigning.
But… will we see Brad Pitt? He’s a producer on the film, with Dede Gardner, through their production company Plan B. As Sarah wrote back in July though,She Saidhas a Brad Pitt problem. And that was before he was big in the headlines for allegations coming out of the legal dispute between him and Angelina Jolie that he was abusive with her and the children on that private plane.
But also remember, two of Brad Pitt’s partners were sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein – Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Both women told him about what Weinstein did to them. In Gwyneth’s case he confronted Weinstein and initially, when that story came out, he was touted as a white knight. But as Angelina pointed out, despite the fact that she shared with Brad her experience, and refused to work with him ever again, Brad worked with Harvey Weinstein not once but TWICE during their relationship.
So, yeah, we are probably not going to see Brad Pitt on theShe Saidpress tour. But as Sarah covered a couple of weeks ago,Plan B is looking to be acquired. And Plan B’s track record is for sure what will attract potential investors and or buyers with all the prestige and award-winning projects they’ve produced. That said, Brad’s presence would also likely be an asset during any negotiations. So even though he’s not showing his face on camera and on carpets, I would imagine that he’s involved in whatever potential deals. Which means he’ll be leveraging this film, pointing toShe Said, as a selling feature. And if the company sells, he’d be benefiting from the success of the film. Just as he benefitted from associating with Harvey Weinstein despite his wife at the time telling him that the man is a monster.
