Harvey Weinstein Recorded A Robocall For Mike Bloomberg In 2005
Few public figures were mourning Harvey Weinstein’s downfall on Monday. The movie producer who was once at the top of the entertainment industry and influential in political circles was found guilty of third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sexual act.
Weinstein’s demise, however, has been uncomfortable for many politicians who once socialized with him and gladly took his donations (and have since returned them and distanced themselves).
Weinstein’s reach even extends into the current Democratic presidential race. In 2005, he recorded a robocall to boost Michael Bloomberg’s bid for reelection as mayor of New York City.
HuffPost was not able to obtain an audio file of the robocall, but there were media reports at the time about it.
“New York City is a great place to make movies,” Weinstein said, according to the now-defunct New York Sun. “And we’ve got a great leader in Mike Bloomberg.”
If you have a copy of this robocall, please email us at scoops@huffpost.com.
Bloomberg has not yet commented on the Weinstein jury verdict, although in 2017, he said Weinstein’s behavior was “disgraceful.”
“It’s not a world that I’m really familiar with,” Bloomberg told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “I certainly never heard stories. I don’t know about rumors or anything, but I never heard stories. I’m not tuned in to the Hollywood thing.”
Although Bloomberg was far from the only politician with ties to Weinstein, the association still isn’t one he wants hanging around.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and other Democrats have questioned Bloomberg’s attitudes toward women, noting past lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and discrimination at Bloomberg’s titular company and Bloomberg’s own history of sexual and off-color quips.
Many accusers have been prevented from speaking out by nondisclosure agreements with Bloomberg LP. But after coming under fire for those agreements ― and for refusing to even say...
