SHE SAID TRIVIA!

A few weeks ago, I took a look at one of the film festival selections She Said. My review for the film is currently available on the website! Here are some interesting tidbits that I compiled about the film and the Weinstein scandal that the film followed!

*** Also if you did not get a chance to see She Said during the Winter Film Festival, the film is available to stream on the Peacock streaming platform!!! Last chance to see the film during the festival is Monday March 6 at 7:30 pm***

• The movie was shot in the real New York Times building and is the first movie ever to use the real offices.

• Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Judith Godrèche, all famous actresses who were important sources for New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey's investigations into Harvey Weinstein, each play themselves in this film. Paltrow and Godrèche only appear as off-camera voices on the telephone, but Judd plays herself onscreen in a role that Variety's Elizabeth Wagmeister called "a key character who enables the reporters to break the bombshell story." Actress Rose McGowan, another pivotal source for the real-life story, also appears as an off-screen voice over the telephone, but McGowan ultimately chose not to play herself (McGowan's voice is portrayed by Kelly McQuail). Two other real-life Weinstein survivors and actresses- Sarah Ann Masse and Katherine Kendall also appear in the film. Masse plays Pulitzer Prize winning NY Time journalist Emily Steel who broke the O'Reilly story shortly before the Weinstein story broke and Kendall plays a former Miramax executive.

• In the immediate weeks after the #MeToo scandal broke, former New York Times journalist Sharon Waxman alleged that The Times had been aware of Harvey Weinstein's sexual assaults of actresses since 2004, but the newspaper had declined to report the assaults following a personal visit to The Times' building by Harvey Weinstein. Sharon Waxman does not appear in the film.

• According to actresses Rose McGowan and Asia Argento, Ronan Farrow's dogged persistence on investigating the allegations against Harvey Weinstein despite attempts by NBC executives and other powerful media figures to silence him was the linchpin which allowed their stories to be told. In several instances, the women assaulted by Weinstein were more comfortable sharing their stories with Farrow rather than Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor due to the The New York Times' earlier suppression of its Weinstein investigation in 2004.

• The journalistic investigation into Harvey Weinstein's sexual assaults spanned several decades. In 2004, the allegations were investigated by New York Times journalist Sharon Waxman, but the Times' management quashed the investigation for fear of libel. Over a decade later, journalist Ronan Farrow attempted to investigate the allegations under the aegis of NBC, but NBC executives likewise squashed the investigation. Finally, in 2017, The New Yorker agreed to publish the results of Farrow's investigation. Upon learning of The New Yorker's imminent expose, The New York Times hurriedly sought to publish the scoop despite sitting on the story for years.

• The 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service won by Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor was shared with journalist Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker. Although The New York Times' upper management had been aware of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein for over a decade, the newspaper chose to report the allegations only after learning that Ronan Farrow's expose in The New Yorker was imminent and thereby reduced the newspaper's legal risk for libel. Despite starting their investigation after Farrow's investigation, the Times article by Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor was published five days earlier than The New Yorker expose.

• The timing and circumstances surrounding the theatrical release of this film in November 2022 are very interesting and controversial. At the time Harvey Weinstein was in L.A facing more charges of sexual assault (having already been sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment in New York in 2020). Although it is likely Weinstein will die behind bars the new charges could add another 140 years, thereby effectively destroying any chance of parole. However, posters and advertising for this film have been spotted close to the court on L.A. where the case is being heard. Weinstein's lawyers have argued that the jury could be influenced by this and even the Judge told the jury to not watch the film or any trailers for it, as it may sway their opinion of Weinstein, even though the story relates to the circumstances that first brought him to trial in 2020. Whether the release of this film at the time of the second trial is a coincidence (filmed in the latter half of 2021) or not is debatable.

• In 2019, Kantor and Twohey published She Said, a book detailing the different processes they employed to investigate and uncover Weinstein's sexual misconduct. The rights to the book were optioned in 2018 by Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment.

• The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 18, 2022, coinciding with the then on-going Weinstein trial in Los Angeles. It premiered at the 60th New York Film Festival on October 13, 2022, and at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14, 2022. It also screened at the TCL Chinese Theatre during the 2022 AFI Fest on November 4, 2022.