The news about Harvey Weinstein’s multiple sexual harassment accusations and subsequent firing from The Weinstein Company has sparked a lot of reflective debate about the abuses of power that take place in Hollywood.
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In addition to the obvious discussion about how females are treated in the industry, both as a standard and when harassed, there has also been a lot of discussion about subjects like awareness and complicity when it comes to the power structures that allowed this sort of harassment to take place for an extended period of time.
Well, one person who is feeling the weight of complicity right now is apparently Kevin Smith, who made this statement on the Harvey Weinstein matter to a fan on Twitter today:
He financed the first 14 years of my career – and now I know while I was profiting, others were in terrible pain. It makes me feel ashamed. https://t.co/T0hInW7EqJ
โ KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) October 9, 2017
Indeed, it was Weinstein who helped Kevin Smith find a career as a successful director; Smith was a one of the leading brands of Weinstein’s Miramax studio throughout the ’90s, starting with Clerks (1994) and running through Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). Smith worked with the Weinstein Company on several films, like Clerks II, as well.
While Smith may not have done anything directly, he isn’t all that wrong in pointing out that he was indeed benefiting from a studio system that simultaneously allowed multiple women to be harassed.
You can currently catch Kevin Smith on his Smodcast podcast and in AMC’s Comic Book Men TV Series.