Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul arrested on rape charges last May, has responded to a story on actress Gwyneth Paltrow's "Shakespeare in Love" casting story.
The profile centres on Paltrow in the 20 years since winning the Academy Award for best actress for "Shakespeare in Love", produced by Weinstein. In the story, Paltrow talked about Weinstein's bullying ways and how she had to stand up to him. And in 2017, in an interview with the New York Times, Paltrow joined dozens of women who accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein has not commented on the allegation, and is kept out of spotlight on a $1 million bail. But he decided to weigh in on an anecdote from Paltrow about the casting of Joseph Fiennes as the lead of "Shakespeare in Love".
In an interview earlier, Gwyneth had said, “At the last minute, Harvey wanted Ben Affleck to take over and play Shakespeare (In the movie Shakespeare in Love), “I said, ‘No, you can’t do that. You have to have an English person’.” Weinstein eventually conceded, and Affleck joined the cast as Ned Alleyn. (The film’s director, John Madden, and producer, Donna Gigliotti, both confirmed that Weinstein suggested Affleck to portray Will.)
Weinstein has strangely come back into the limelight with a statement. “Gwyneth Paltrow is an excellent actor and a fantastic person, who does so well when on the right project. The only other contenders for the role of Will Shakespeare were Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke, no one else. Ben Affleck did a terrific job as Ned Alleyn, which is the role he was considered for.”
Weinstein has been away from the limelight ever since he has been out on bail. His trial is scheduled in the coming months.
