Harvey Weinstein claims he’s “sorry” in rare interview from prison: “I misled them”
Convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein has issued a public apology in a rare interview from prison, claiming he is “sorry” to the women that he “misled”.
Weinstein is currently serving his sentence on account of his rape charges in Rikers Island in New York. He will then serve a further 16 years for his rape charges in California. A retrial for a further New York case is set to begin on April 14th, having been granted a mistrial on one count last year.
The disgraced producer was giving his first major interview from prison to The Hollywood Reporter, in which he discussed his life behind bars and still protested his innocence despite almost 100 women coming forward to accuse him of sexual assault in both criminal and civil cases since allegations first surfaced in 2017.
When asked if he has ever expressed remorse to any of the women who have ever brought charges against him, Weinstein replied: “I apologised to them generally. You can’t call them when you’re in a trial with them. But I’ll say it here today: I apologise to those women. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been with them in the first place. I misled them.”
The convicted sex offender went on to clarify that he meant his apology was in relation to the fact that he was unfaithful to his two former wives, Eve Chilton and Georgina Chapman, while he engaged in many unconsensual sexual acts.
Being further interrogated on this, Weinstein added: “I misled them. I cheated on both my wives. That’s immoral. But I did not assault them. That is the big lie of all of this. I won’t apologise for something I didn’t do. I will be proven innocent. That I promise you.”
Elsewhere during the extensive interview, Weinstein attempted to claim that his power-hungry nature was rooted in his childhood, watching his “wealthy” uncle mistreat his father.
“I aspired to be like him rather than my beaten-up father,” he said. “That’s where I lost my way. That’s what shaped my values a bit. I didn’t want to be the sucker in life.”
Despite this, Weinstein said “I don’t know” when asked if this influenced his attitude towards women, adding that the process of sexually engaging with them became “too easy” as “a lot of these women came to me.”
At the end of the interview, he claimed: “I’m not a victim. I’m a survivor”.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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