Harvey Weinstein Apologizes to Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep for Using Their Statements

Disgraced movie mogul says he will not specifically quote former associates in future statements

Harvey Weinstein
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Harvey Weinstein apologized to Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep on Thursday for citing them in a previous statement of defense against a class action sexual misconduct lawsuit.

“Mr. Weinstein acknowledges the valuable input both Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence have contributed to this conversation and apologizes,” read the statement from Weinstein’s legal counsel. “Once again, moving forward, Mr. Weinstein has advised his counsel to not include specific names of former associates; and to avoid whenever possible, even if they are in the public record.”

On Tuesday, Weinstein’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the federal RICO suit filed by six women, claiming that the suit, as drafted, “would include all women who ever met with Weinstein, regardless of whether they claimed to have suffered any identifiable harm as a result of that meeting.”

“Such women would include, presumably, Jennifer Lawrence, who told Oprah Winfrey she had known Weinstein since she was 20 years old and said ‘he had only ever been nice to me,’ and Meryl Streep, who stated publicly that Weinstein had always been respectful to her in their working relationship,” the motion reads.

The quotations prompted a swift backlash from Streep and Lawrence, with Streep saying that while the quotation was true, Weinstein’s attempt to use it to defend him against accusations of abuse from other women was “pathetic and exploitative.”

“Harvey Weinstein and his company are continuing to do what they have always done which is to take things out of context and use them for their own benefit,” Lawrence added in her own statement. “This is what predators do, and it must stop.”

Weinstein is currently under investigation by authorities in Los Angeles, New York, and London, with the L.A. District Attorney’s office currently reviewing three cases sent by the LAPD. A civil rights lawsuit has also been filed against The Weinstein Company by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

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