ABIGAIL DISNEY: "PREDATOR LOOSE AT DISNEY", WITH VICTIMS PAID OFF FOR YEARS, SAYS LAW SUIT
In the murk of the #MeToo movement, Disney, the largest entertainment producer in the world, seemed to come out relatively unscathed.
In the years since, the company has fallen over itself to be more inclusive of diversity and women, taking its woke crusade so far that viewers are hard-pressed to find a new film or franchise that doesn't have a face-smacking social justice message.
But its squeaky-clean image was soiled this week with the admission by maverick heiress Abigail Disney that not only did the company know about Harvey Weinstein's prolific sexual abuse, it did nothing about it and may have even helped him pay off women who came forward.
'It was an open secret. I mean, it wasn't even a secret. Everyone knew what Harvey was about, and that was just fine as long as everybody saw it as, "well, this is just how business is done." 'Nobody had the moral clarity to step up and say, 'well, not here. we don't do it that way here,' Abigail, Walt Disney's black sheep great-niece, said.
Her comments to Rolling Stone were published on Wednesday alongside others by Kaja Sokola, a former model who says Weinstein assaulted her in 2002 when she was 16. She is suing Weinstein and Disney, alleging that the company failed to stop him from harming her. Disney has, so far, been silent on her claims.
Whether the company can be held liable for Weinstein's conduct remains to be seen (Sokola's case is still pending in New York's Supreme Court), but Abigail's remarks raise serious ethics questions for a company seems to have made its mission making the world a safer, fairer, woker place.
'Ms. Disney's comment raises important questions. What did Disney know, and when did they know it? Did they receive reports of sexual misconduct?' Gloria Allred, a prolific attorney who represented other Weinstein victims, told DailyMail.com on Friday.