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[Lunaray]

I mean, there are all sorts of allegations about his brother Casey, so between that and this news about Matt Damon, it's hard for me to believe that he's completely clean.

I don't have a high opinion on Ben Affleck but this just stinks of guilt-by-association.

 

[StoOgE]

I doubt the story was about Lombardo. It would have been a story about Weinstein. As she says here



that the phone calls were parallel to intense pressure from weinstein.

But she only mentions chasing down Lombardo and a woman in London. It kind of feels mostly like she didn't actual break a story at all but now wants credit for having done so.

The internet knew the rumors about Weinstein. Proving it is breaking the story. This feels like someone had some rough leads that couldn't be borne out and is now trying to blame the NYT for burring a story. But I don't see any receipts in this piece on the wrap.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Well, at least Stranger Things 2 and Mario Odyssey are almost here.

 

[Briarios]

From the way it was written, it's quite possible Damon & Crowe were just doing a favor for Weinstein in vouching for a producer friend without actually knowing what was on the line or what the story was really about. I'm not sure the story is about them, it's about the lengths Weinstein would go to in order to quash a story (i.e. calling in big movie starts to smooth things over). Maybe there will be clarification later as to their role, but assassinating someone's character before everything is known just seems gross ...

 

[Trojita]

The Times Article from 2004 sheds some lights on why Damon and Crowe would know Lombardo

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/business/media/miramax-sues-exchief-in-italy-saying-he-had-2-jobs.html

In a statement and through company associates, Miramax said Mr. Lombardo filled a useful role while heading Miramax Italy, acting as a handler for talent during shoots in Italy of movies like "Gangs of New York," starting a film distribution operation, helping negotiate production space and the collection of overdue payments, overseeing development deals with Italian directors, and organizing Italian publicity tours for stars like Rachael Leigh Cook, Matt Damon and Russell Crowe. He also arranged the introduction of Miramax to financiers of a computer animation company called Wild Brain, based in San Francisco, which resulted in a co-production deal and gave Miramax the right to acquire a stake in Wild Brain.

But Mr. Crowe, the actor, in an e-mailed statement credited Mr. Lombardo with organizing an Italian premiere for his film "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," which "just happened to include almost every" Oscar voter residing in Italy.

 

[Squire]

https://youtu.be/LkAoZggaWZE?t=7

Exactly what I thought of. Damon showed his ass years ago.

 

[wenis]

https://youtu.be/LkAoZggaWZE?t=7

it was known

I still got hanks tho...

Spoiler

i hope

 

[Arkeband]

This whole time, Matt Damon was the shit potato.

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

What I found just as shameful reading the BBC article earlier is many of these actors/actresses seemingly knew all about what this guy was doing yet did/said nothing. Now they seem proud to be calling him out....

 

[Trojita]

That NYTimes article I posted was the one by Sharon Waxman btw.

 

[Atenhaus]

https://youtu.be/LkAoZggaWZE?t=7

... Fuck.

 

[mjc]

When you learn Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Lawrence, etc. knew, you shouldn't be surprised by it.

Harvey Weinstein's actions weren't some hidden thing nobody knew about. His influence and their financial interests were just too strong until now. And evidently, this all coming out is more about taking away his influence at the company than it is exposing his indiscretions.

Well I mean, it's all but confirmed that Weinstein probably sexually abused Lawrence, right?

 

[Trojita]

Oh, there is this too

The article referred incompletely to the role played by Fabrizio Lombardo, who was to become the head of Miramax Italy, in arranging a party to celebrate the completion of filming for the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Mr. Lombardo organized the party in December 1999, several months before his hiring by Miramax.

 

[whatsinaname]

But she only mentions chasing down Lombardo and a woman in London. It kind of feels mostly like she didn't actual break a story at all but now wants credit for having done so.

The internet knew the rumors about Weinstein. Proving it is breaking the story. This feels like someone had some rough leads that couldn't be borne out and is now trying to blame the NYT for burring a story. But I don't see any receipts in this piece on the wrap.

Yeah, true about the receipts and no corroboration. But when she says Weinstein personally visited the Times offices, I am leaning towards the "where there's smoke.." camp as I don't see Crowe and Damon calling in to the press support a random 1 year film producer from Italy, even if they worked together.

 

[D4Danger]

What I found just as shameful reading the BBC article earlier is many of these actors/actresses seemingly knew all about what this guy was doing yet did/said nothing. Now they seem proud to be calling him out....

a lot of people knew the rumours but unless you can prove it (or you're one of the people he actually abused) all you're doing is throwing your career down the pan by picking a fight with one of the most powerful people in hollywood.

 

[Aselith]

Where does it say that in this article? I see nothing about rape but 1 allegation of a payoff that couldn't be proven by the reporter (though I don't doubt) and an accusation that the head of Miramax Italy was exclusively the procurer of women and that Damon and Crowe vouched for the Italian studio head.

It does not appear from this piece that Damon or Crowe were saying anything about the alleged pay-off and it would be pretty standard operating procedure for a journo who is known to be writing an unfriendly piece to be provided information from people familiar with the story.

I wouldn't be shocked to learn that lots of actors were complicit in lots of shitty things, but this particular link feels spurious at most.

an unwanted sexual encounter with Weinstein

I don't see how else that can be interpreted

 

[Derwind]

Never idolize people you don't know personally.

Yep, it should be common sense.

 

[StoOgE]

The Times Article from 2004 sheds some lights on why Damon and Crowe would know Lombardo

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/business/media/miramax-sues-exchief-in-italy-saying-he-had-2-jobs.html

So, this is a total bullshit click bait, right? Damon and Crowe legit vouched for this Italian studio head as having done actual work for films.

Look, Damon and Crowe could *both* be shit heals who knew about everything Weinstein was doing, but in this case they were simply providing relevant background details to the NYT.

This journo had nothing and now that someone else proved Weinstein is who we thought he was, is trying to reverse engineer having been silenced when she broke the story, and I see nothing of the sort going on here.

 

[The Kree]

Matt Damon was in the news a few years ago for whitesplaining racial inequality in Hollywood to a black actor.

Did you all forget about that?

 

[JohnTinker]

Related, just coming out now that Harvey Weinstein sent this desperate email out to studio heads, execs, and CEOs hours before his firing:

Why do you need "heavy therapy" if all the allegations are false

 

[Marty Chinn]

When you learn Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Lawrence, etc. knew, you shouldn't be surprised by it.

Harvey Weinstein's actions weren't some hidden thing nobody knew about. His influence and their financial interests were just too strong until now. And evidently, this all coming out is more about taking away his influence at the company than it is exposing his indiscretions.

Wait, I thought Kevin Smith made a statement that sounded like he didn't know and he's disgusted by it.

Why do you need "heavy therapy" if all the allegations are false

It doesn't say all of them are false; it says a lot of them are false.

 

[StoOgE]

I don't see how else that can be interpreted

The "unwanted sexual encounter" involved the woman in London. She doesn't make a link between Lombardo and this woman.

I also tracked down a woman in London who had been paid off after an unwanted sexual encounter with Weinstein. She was terrified to speak because of her non-disclosure agreement, but at least we had evidence of a pay-off.

Lombardo is accused of lining women up. She doesn't make a link between Lombardo and the payoff. And Damon and Crowe vouched for Lombardo.

Look, I'm all in for Hollywood being exposed, but lets not fall for every person trying to get clicks here and wait for the real sources and evidence before we tar and feather anyone.

 

[Van Bur3n]

White Hollywood elite watching each other's backs, as usual. Only sucks it's coming from two great actors. Fuck 'em, if true.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

https://youtu.be/LkAoZggaWZE?t=7

related video "matt damon says trump tells it like it is"

i guess the only surprise is that i'm surprised

 

[Trojita]

So, this is a total bullshit click bait, right? Damon and Crowe legit vouched for this Italian studio head as having done actual work for films.

Look, Damon and Crowe could *both* be shit heals who knew about everything Weinstein was doing, but in this case they were simply providing relevant background details to the NYT.

This journo had nothing and now that someone else proved Weinstein is who we thought he was, is trying to reverse engineer having been silenced when she broke the story, and I see nothing of the sort going on here.

It's weird, because the alleged sexual assault victim from London doesn't appear to have anything to do with Lombardo or as far as we know Damon or Crowe. The way it is put in the article and OP, you'd think they were connected. It's just randomly put in the article before Damon and Crowe are mentioned, but after talking about Lombardo. Then Lambardo is brought up again because of Damon and Crowe's alleged calls. This Lombardo guy seemed to be the guy setting up the parties and events, which knowing this business it wouldn't be surprising if he hired escorts for the parties.....

 

[KINGofCRA5H]

Milkshake Duck strikes again.

Who's next?

 

[Garjon]

I'm not even that surprised, just looking at that video of the standing ovation for Roman Polanski alone shows how interconnected everyone is in Hollywood. If this story is accurate, I'd call it the tip of the iceberg. I've read enough about the sordid, manipulative and sometimes predatory shit that goes on behind the scenes to think that the whole place should be razed to the ground. Failing that, there needs to be a big fucking investigation into a LOT of key players on the scene.

 

[SurrenderDorothy]

Matt Damon? Why man?

Most people I thought of as decent folk turn out like this nowadays..

 

[not psycho]

This is a terribly written article. It is clearly designed to suggest wrongdoing on the part of Damon and Crowe, but:

"After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted."


I was originally going to defend the author, because they may not have been aware of what Damon and Crowe said. But nope, they got a personal call.

Why in the world would they not give a brief description of what they said? Why leave it completely open? Did they voich for Lombardo helping them out making a movie? Or what?

Just awful writing.

 

[entremet]

This is a terribly written article. It is clearly designed to suggest wrongdoing on the part of Damon and Crowe, but:

"After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted."


I was originally going to defend the author, because they may not have been aware of what Damon and Crowe said. But nope, they got a personal call.

Why in the world would they not give a brief description of what they said? Why leave it completely open? Did they voich for Lombardo helping them out making a movie? Or what?

Just awful writing.

I think many of got got with it. Internet journalism strikes again.

 

[StoOgE]

It's weird, because the alleged sexual assault victim from London doesn't appear to have anything to do with Lombardo or as far as we know Damon or Crowe. The way it is put in the article and OP, you'd think they were connected. It's just randomly put in the article before Damon and Crowe are mentioned, but after talking about Lombardo. This Lombardo guy seemed to be the guy setting up the parties and events, which knowing this business it wouldn't be surprising if he hired escorts for the parties.....

Right. It's definitely plausible that Lombardo both hired escorts for parties and was doing legit film work. In fact, this is very likely the normal job description for people who set up these sorts of things in Hollywood.

But Weinstein calling in favors from actors who could corroborate that this guy did real work doesn't seem far fetched and doesn't feel like a horrible implication about either Damon or Crowe.

 

[Curious Puppy]

This is a terribly written article. It is clearly designed to suggest wrongdoing on the part of Damon and Crowe, but:

"After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted."


I was originally going to defend the author, because they may not have been aware of what Damon and Crowe said. But nope, they got a personal call.

Why in the world would they not give a brief description of what they said? Why leave it completely open? Did they voich for Lombardo helping them out making a movie? Or what?

Just awful writing.

No one cares about the actual writing quality of articles anymore, they read the headline and then scroll down to make a comment about the headline.

 

[Aselith]

It's weird, because the alleged sexual assault victim from London doesn't appear to have anything to do with Lombardo or as far as we know Damon or Crowe. The way it is put in the article and OP, you'd think they were connected. It's just randomly put in the article before Damon and Crowe are mentioned, but after talking about Lombardo. Then Lambardo is brought up again because of Damon and Crowe's alleged calls. This Lombardo guy seemed to be the guy setting up the parties and events, which knowing this business it wouldn't be surprising if he hired escorts for the parties.....

It seems like she found this woman in the course of investigating the article about Lombardo but the final article was stripped of everything including the sexual assault.

Sometimes you go fishing for catfish and catch a trout too.

It's unclear if he was involved in the payoff but in helping kill the sexual parts of the story, it seems like Damon and Crowe also helped cover the other allegations.

 

[Oppo]

it may well be true but this one has a whiff to it, IMO. i hate the shoot the messenger climate, these days, but what can i say. spidey senses.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Matt Damon already showed himself to be a fucking asshole just a year or two ago.

 

[B.O.O.M]

Fking hell..EVERYONE is a milkshake duck

 

[Trojita]

It seems like she found this woman in the course of investigating the article about Lombardo but the final article was stripped of everything including the sexual assault.

But she states that she tasked with looking into the rumors about Weinstein which could have landed her in London besides talking to Lombardo. There is nothing concrete here tying the two things together. If there is, the journalist would have to say it, because she isn't right now. There's nothing stating she was paid off or had contact with Lombardo. She could have been paid off by one of Weinstein's other people, possibly his people that work in the U.K.

 

[TS-08]

No one cares about the actual writing of articles anymore, they read the headline and then scroll down to make a comment about the headline.

Yep. News by headline. How many people commenting in here actually read the full article? How many people sharing or commenting on it on Twitter or Facebook have? The headline is spreading and the narrative is set. Most people won't even bother sticking around for any explanation or clarification.

 

[Famassu]

People in Hollywood aren't your friends.

They don't care about you.

They could at least care about not protecting horrible shitbag sexual harassers/assaulters/rapists.

 

[Infinite]

Although he apologized, I was "suspicious" of Matt Damon being a fuck boy since he downplayed the importance of diversity while talking over a black woman on a TV show. Needless to say this isn't a good look at all

 

[KHarvey16]

He was killing the story on Weinstein's rape in this case so them vouching for him meant they were covering a rape

they vouched for the producer which cast doubt on his real role of enabling Weinstein's behaviour.

At the end he says "Today I wonder: If this story had come to light at the time, would Weinstein have continued his behavior for another decade, evidenced by the scathing 2015 memo by former staffer Lauren O’Connor unearthed by Kantor and Twohey." which is the point because had that story come out then instead of being buried by industry favours it would've spared an unknown number of women a decade of abuse.

I don’t see anything justifying these leaps here.

Yeah, this feels like the former times writer is trying to conflate two different stories about Weinstein being a dirtbag.

Having people vouch for the credibility of an Italian producer over reports he may have hired escorts doesn't seem to be the same thing.

I mean, this story hinges on the head of Miramax Italy being a sex peddler exclusively for Weinstein with no other job functions which seems far fetched even for Hollywood.

This is my take as well. I don’t see any lines between the dots yet.

 

[Aselith]

But she states that she tasked with looking into the rumors about Weinstein which could have landed her in London besides talking to Lombardo. There is nothing concrete here tying the two things together. If there is, the journalist would have to say it, because she isn't right now.

There isn't a link at least in the article but by helping kill the article about Lombardo, they helped kill everything in it including the Weinstein stuff. Unclear how much infpunece they had but they involved themselves so they are part of it.

 

[Ducarmel]

Without receipts the article kind of leaves it ambiguous what Damon and Crowes involvement was in this.

Was it just to vouch for this Lombardo guy or did they specifically know what Weinstein was doing and helped get the article buried

 

[KHarvey16]

There isn't a link at least in the article but by helping kill the article about Lombardo, they helped kill everything in it including the Weinstein stuff. Unclear how much infpunece they had but they involved themselves so they are part of it.

What is Lombardo’s connection to the payoff?

 

[JigglesBunny]

Even better:

Never idolize people you don't know personally.

This still churns my stomach. Cannot fucking believe the amount of slime in the industry. Makes me second guess my career path at times to be perfectly honest.

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

https://youtu.be/LkAoZggaWZE?t=7

I knew Matt Damon wasn't shit after this.

 

[Stinkles]

Russell Crowe I can see. Matt tho.


Wonder how they'll respond.

 

[Crimson_Echidna]

Someone already posted the gif..

 

[Garlador]

Sigh...

I like the puppet version more.

 

[ZiggyPalffyLA]

Damon always seemed shady to me, especially after the Project Greenlight scandal. He's the living embodiment of white privilege