Piers Morgan has described disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein as a "fascinating character" who believes he "will be forgiven".
Morgan compared Weinstein to Braveheart star Mel Gibson, who was welcomed back into the Hollywood fold despite a conviction for domestic abuse in 2011 and a drunken anti-Semitic rant in 2006.
Morgan told GQ magazine he spoke to Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women such as Rose McGowan, pictured, and is being investigated by police in London, New York and LA.
Weinstein, 66, has apologised for his past behaviour but denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.
Morgan told GQ magazine he met Weinstein at a clinic in Arizona, where the producer is seeking treatment. He said: “I’ve spoken to Harvey in the clinic in Arizona, for about an hour. He’s fighting. He’s a fascinating character. The apocalyptic symptom of the whole thing – the casting couch finally brought to judgment. I can’t express the same level of shock as some people in Hollywood. Listen, this has been the system since Hollywood existed. It’s been a moral cesspit since the 1920s, and the idea that Harvey Weinstein is the only villain? Do me a favour. Look at Mel Gibson: ultimately Harvey believes he will be forgiven.”
Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant was recorded by a police officer following a drink-driving arrest in 2006. Gibson was also recorded making threats to his former girlfriend and he pleaded no contest to court charges that he hit Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of his daughter, in 2010.
However, Gibson has been welcomed back to Hollywood in recent years, with a best director nomination for his film Hacksaw Ridge in 2017, and he starred in a family comedy, Daddy’s Home 2, released in November. The full interview with Morgan is in the June issue of GQ, available on May 3.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel