Tom Hanks Blasts Harvey Weinstein's Apology

Tom Hanks is calling bullsh—t on Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced producer who has been ousted [...]

Tom Hanks is calling bullsh—t on Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced producer who has been ousted from his position as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood amid an influx of sexual assault allegations. Hanks, who has never worked with Weinstein, spoke out against the producer in a new interview with The New York Times, who were the first to publish an in-depth investigative piece against the former co-chairman of The Weinstein Company.

"Well, that's a really good question and isn't it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this?" Hanks answered when asked why Hollywood helped shelter Weinstein despite the "open secret" nature of his abusive behaviors. "Look, I don't want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. You can't buy, 'Oh, well, I grew up in the '60s and '70s and so therefore. ...' I did, too. So I think it's like, well, what do you want from this position of power? I know all kinds of people that just love hitting on, or making the lives of underlings some degree of miserable, because they can."

"Somebody great said this, either Winston Churchill, Immanuel Kant or Oprah: 'When you become rich and powerful, you become more of what you already are,'" Hanks continued.

Hanks — known for his lack of scandal and described by the Times as "Hollywood's most decent fella" — says there's no excuse for the kind of abhorrent behavior often exhibited by Hollywood's most powerful.

"So I would say, there's an example of how that's true," Hanks said. "Just because you're rich and famous and powerful doesn't mean you aren't in some ways a big fat ass. Excuse me, take away 'fat.' I'm not the first person to say Harvey's a bit of an ass. Poor Harvey — I'm not going to say poor Harvey, Jesus. Isn't it kind of amazing that it took this long? I'm reading it and I'm thinking 'You can't do that to Ashley Judd! Hey, I like her. Don't do that. That ain't fair. Not her, come on. Come on!'"

Hanks is the latest to join the steadily increasing amount of voices speaking up against Weinstein or general sexual abuse in Hollywood: Gal Gadot, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cara Delevingne, Blake Lively, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, longtime Weinstein collaborator Quentin Tarantino and more have expressed their experiences or thoughts on what is a serious and far-reaching epidemic.

0comments