Spies, Wreckers and Weinstein

 [I wrote this in 2018 but it remained unpublished until now. I've added links for those mentioned to update their activities. Louis CK and Garrison Keiler are still performing, and Kevin Spacey is involved in a new sci-fi movie. Tavis Smiley has a syndicated radio interview show. Harvey Weinstein faces a retrial over rape allegations. Matt Lauer keeps a low profile but thinks he can make a comeback. Al Franken is back in the Senate, or, rather, he plays a senator on the Netflix streaming series The Residence. Three women are chasing Russell Simmons for $8 million in settlement funds. Journalist Ronan Farrow, who spurred the #MeToo movement with his articles about Weinstein and other high-profile men, continues to serve as a contributing writer for The New Yorker.}

For months I've tinkered with ideas comparing this fall's wave of accusations against men of sexual assault with the show trials and purges of leaders of the Communist Party in 1936-1938 in the Soviet Union.

At first, I read the coerced confessions of men like Nikolai Rykov and Nikolai Bukharin with the statements of Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer and Kevin Spacey. I lined up excerpts and looked for a common thread:

Bukharin stated: "I have merited the most severe punishment, and I agree with Citizen the Procurator, who several times repeated that I stand on the threshold of my hour of death."

Weinstein stated: "I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office - or out of it. To anyone. I realized some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed. I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it."

That approach didn't work, since Rykov and Bukharin had been tortured and their families threatened and their testimony had been written for them. They knew that in all likelihood they would be executed (spoiler alert: they were). Weinstein, Lauer and Spacey face career disruptions, if not ruin, and some awkward moments when they lunch at Spago in Hollywood. The comparison felt forced and unfair to the horrors experienced by the millions executed or imprisoned by Joseph Stalin in his purge mania.

A new line of investigation became visible when I read an article in the New York Post with the intriguing headline, "Academy members now regret banning Weinstein so hastily."

The article sketched the challenges faced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after the swift boot given to member Harvey Weinstein after his sordid record finally became widely known thanks to articles in The New York Times and The New Yorker. One quote:

“[We] can’t regret [kicking out Harvey] because [we] didn’t really have a choice,” said one male member of AMPAS’ board of governors. “Some members were quite vehement. But [we] didn’t have time to really weigh out the repercussions.”

The Academy is wrestling how to treat other members accused of sexual assaults, including Oscar winner Casey Affleck. The phrase "slippery slope" even arises.

How does this connect to Stalin's USSR?

The purges in the 1930s started gradually, then picked up speed as denunciations and kill lists multiplied. The secret police, the NKVD, had quotas they had to meet. The executioners were themselves executed, and then those that came after them were executed. Stalin finally slowed the process and ended the trials.

He died in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev became the boss.

Spies and wreckers

Imagine living in Moscow in the late 1930s. You skim a fresh copy of Pravda at your factory canteen and emit a low whistle at the sensational news from the latest show trial. Look at all the former loyal Party members exposed at rotten spies and wreckers, Trotskyites in the pay of the British Secret Service since 1918 intent on bringing down the first socialist state! They all confessed and almost all are sentenced to death. You finish reading, close the paper, get back to work and pray the NKVD squads don’t come for you that night.

The American public has glimpsed a tiny, scintillating part of the show-trial process this fall with the unmasking of sexual predators, starting in spectacular fashion in October when the New York Times and then The New Yorker unmasked film executive Harvey Weinstein. Knowing what was rushing at him, Weinstein called on his friends and flunkies to stop the articles, but the facts finally landed like a bunker buster on his secret lair. He fell hard and fast, in good Soviet style, losing his company, his memberships in industry academies and, possibly, his freedom, depending on how investigations proceed.

As the unmaskings (a word favored in the Soviet press of the day) grind on, swallowing targets across entertainment, politics, media and business, I’m intrigued by the theme of confessions. Confessions were essential to the show trial productions, with defendants beaten, threatened, humiliated and coached into saying exactly what Joseph Stalin wanted, prior to the preordained guilty verdicts and executions. Early victims were told they (and, most important, their families) would survive if they confessed to whatever Stalin concocted for them, and they were desperate enough to agree. That didn't save them.

While reflecting different times and pressures (Harvey Weinstein isn’t getting a bullet in the back of his head), the confessions of 1937-38 and 2017-18 bear comparison.

Two fought back, one directly and another obliquely. Nikolai Krestinsky, diplomat and former Soviet ambassador to Germany, jammed the prosecutorial works in 1938 with his court statement: “I do not recognize that I am guilty. I am not a Trotskyite. I was never a member of the 'right-winger and Trotskyite bloc,' which I did not know to exist. Nor have I committed a single one of the crimes imputed to me, personally; and in particular I am not guilty of having maintained relations with the German Secret Service.” He recanted the next day, after more torture.

Nikolai Bukharin, on trial with Krestinsky, took a dual approach, admitting full guilt to preposterous charges but arguing against details:

In Court I admitted and still admit my guilt in respect to the crimes which I committed and of which I was accused by Citizen the State Prosecutor at the end of the Court investigation and on the basis of the materials of the investigation in the possession of the Procurator. I declared also in Court, and I stress and repeat it now, that I regard myself politically responsible for the sum total of the crimes committed by the ”bloc of Rights and Trotskyites.”

I have merited the most severe punishment, and I agree with Citizen the Procurator, who several times repeated that I stand on the threshold of my hour of death.

Nevertheless, I consider that I have the right to refute certain charges which were brought: a) in the printed Indictment, b) during the Court investigation, and c) in the speech for the prosecution made by Citizen the Procurator of the U.S.S.R.

Both confessions are notable, Krestinsky for boldness and Bukharin for an effort to both admit and refute.

In the 2017 confessions, we see a literary genre emerging that for the most part covers common themes: contrition, shock at their behavior, robust career-long support for women, determination to get to the bottom of their aberrant actions and, in some cases, defiance

Harvey Weinstein’s October 5 statement said in full:

I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then.

I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office--or out of it. To anyone.

I realized some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed.

I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.

Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go. That is my commitment. My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons. Over the last year I've asked Lisa Bloom to tutor me and she's put together a team of people. I've brought on therapists and I plan to take a leave of absence from my company and to deal with this issue head on. I so respect all women and regret what happened. I hope that my actions will speak louder than words and that one day we will all be able to earn their trust and sit down together with Lisa to learn more. Jay Z wrote in 4:44 "I'm not the man I thought I was and I better be that man for my children." The same is true for me. I want a second chance in the community but I know I've got work to do to earn it. I have goals that are now priorities. Trust me, this isn't an overnight process. I've been trying to do this for 10 years and this is a wake-up call. I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them.

I am going to need a place to channel that anger so I've decided that I'm going to give the NRA my full attention. I hope Wayne LaPierre will enjoy his retirement party. I'm going to do it at the same place I had my Bar Mitzvah. I'm making a movie about our President, perhaps we can make it a joint retirement party. One year ago, I began organizing a $5 million foundation to give scholarships to women directors at USC. While this might seem coincidental, it has been in the works for a year. It will be named after my mom and I won't disappoint her.

Meanwhile, Kevin Spacey tweeted:

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I'm beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.

"This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fuelled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.

Charlie Rose said this in a statement to the Washington Post:

In my 45 years in journalism, I have prided myself on being an advocate for the careers of the women with whom I have worked. Nevertheless, in the past few days, claims have been made about my behavior toward some former female colleagues. It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior,” he continued. “I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken. I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too. All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past, and have come to a profound new respect for women and their lives.

And Matt Lauer:

There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC.  Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I'm committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full time job. The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It's been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace.

Louis C.K.:

I want to address the stories told to the New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.

These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.

I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.

I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.

There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.

I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.

The hardest regret to live with is what you’ve done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. I’d be remiss to exclude the hurt that I’ve brought on people who I work with and have worked with who’s professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I’ve brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie. and every other entity that has bet on me through the years.

I’ve brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.

Thank you for reading.

Garrison Keillor on his website:

I am deeply grateful for all the years I had doing ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ and ‘The Writer’s Almanac,’ the summer tours, the outdoor shows at Tanglewood and Wolf Trap, the friendships of musicians and actors, the saga of Lake Wobegon, the songs and sketches, Guy Noir, Dusty & Lefty, the sheer pleasure of standing in the warmth of that audience. A person could not hope for more than what I was given. I’ve been fired over a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard. Most stories are. It’s some sort of poetic irony to be knocked off the air by a story, having told so many of them myself, but I’m 75 and don’t have any interest in arguing about this. And I cannot in conscience bring danger to a great organization I’ve worked hard for since 1969. I am sorry for all the poets whose work I won’t be reading on the radio and sorry for the people who will lose work on account of this. But my profound feeling is that of gratitude, especially to my wife Jenny, and for this painful experience that has brought us even closer together.

Al Franken:

The first thing I want to do is apologize: to Leeann, to everyone else who was part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women. There's more I want to say, but the first and most important thing—and if it's the only thing you care to hear, that's fine—is: I'm sorry.

"I respect women. I don't respect men who don't. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.

"But I want to say something else, too. Over the last few months, all of us—including and especially men who respect women—have been forced to take a good, hard look at our own actions and think (perhaps, shamefully, for the first time) about how those actions have affected women.

"For instance, that picture. I don't know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn't matter. There's no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn't funny. It's completely inappropriate. It's obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture. And, what's more, I can see how millions of other women would feel violated by it—women who have had similar experiences in their own lives, women who fear having those experiences, women who look up to me, women who have counted on me.

"Coming from the world of comedy, I've told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive. But the intentions behind my actions aren't the point at all. It's the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come to terms with that.

"While I don't remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women's experiences.

"I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.

"And the truth is, what people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories. They deserve to be heard, and believed. And they deserve to know that I am their ally and supporter. I have let them down and am committed to making it up to them."

Russell Simmons:

I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.

I am blessed to have shared extraordinary relationships, whether through work or love, with many great women; and I have enormous respect for the women’s movement worldwide and their struggle for respect, dignity, equality and power. I am devastated by any reason I may have given to anyone to say or think of me in the ways that are currently being described. In recent weeks, some former business, creative and romantic partners have aired grievances as claims I categorically reject. In some of these instances, financial motives and direct contradictory witness testimony has been supplied to the media, which has been completely left out of stories. In the last few days, one woman attempted to extort me for $500,000 only to recant her ridiculous claim. The current allegations sent to me by The New York Times range from the patently untrue to the frivolous and hurtful. The presumption of innocent until proven guilty must not be replaced by “Guilty by Accusation.”

I have already apologized for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations. I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction. I have re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working on behalf of the communities to which I have devoted my life. I have accepted that I can and should get dirt on my sleeves if it means witnessing the birth of a new consciousness about women. What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done. I have conducted my life with a message of peace and love. Although I have been candid about how I have lived in books and interviews detailing my flaws, I will relentlessly fight against any untruthful character assassination that paints me as a man of violence.

Tavis Smiley:

“I have the utmost respect for women and celebrate the courage of those who have come forth to tell their truth. To be clear, I have never groped, coerced, or exposed myself inappropriately to any workplace colleague in my entire broadcast career, covering 6 networks over 30 years.”

Then on GMA:

“I want to make sure we don’t lose all sense of nuance and proportionality in this conversation because if we do, people end up being guilty simply by accusation,” he said. “I’m not an angry black man and this notion of a hostile environment just doesn’t fit.”

Smiley was harshly critical of PBS’ actions. He maintained he was never informed that PBS had brought in an outside law firm to investigation what the network has called “multiple” and “credible” allegations of harassment. Smiley said he met with PBS executives and lawyers for three hours but was never informed of specific allegations. He said that meeting was scheduled “only under the threat of a lawsuit.”

Smiley was also critical of the fact that news of his suspension from PBS broke on Dec. 13 in Variety just minutes after the conclusion of that meeting.

“I’m human. I’m not perfect but this doesn’t rise to the level” of sexual misconduct, Smiley said of his past relationships. “PBS made a huge mistake here and they need to fix it.”

PBS released a statement through a spokesman following Smiley’s interview, which stated in no uncertain terms that the broadcaster continues to back its actions.

“Tavis Smiley needs to get his story straight,” the statement begins. It goes on to highlight Smiley’s difficulty in the “GDA” interview remembering the exact number of current employees with whom he has had sexual relationships.

“This contradicts his Facebook post from last week, where he cited only one previous relationship with an employee. Mr. Smiley even told viewers ‘I don’t know where your heart’s going to lead you.’ PBS is certain that it should not lead to multiple sexual relationships between the owner of a company and subordinates over many years particularly where employment decisions may be linked to sex.”

The statement also slammed Smiley for claiming he applauds women who have come forward with despite his company requiring current and former employees to sign non-disclosure agreements, and added that PBS “stands by its decision to respect the anonymity of those who are afraid to come forward publicly.”

“Mr. Smiley’s own words today coupled with the information discovered during the investigation confirms PBS’ decision to indefinitely suspend the distribution of  ‘Tavis Smiley.’”

Walmart has backed away from its sponsorship of Smiley’s programs while PBS’ investigation is ongoing. Walmart and Mills Entertainment have also dropped out of plans to back a 40-city live tour “Death of a King: A Live Theatrical Experience,” based on Smiley’s 2014 book of the same name about Martin Luther King Jr.