Tom Hanks is the latest actor to speak out against Harvey Weinstein after numerous women have come forward claiming the producer sexually assaulted or harassed them.
In an interview with The New York Times, Hanks, whoâs never worked with Weinstein, shared his thoughts on why so many in Hollywood seemingly protected the Miramax co-founder when they were aware of his behavior. He also called BS on Weinsteinâs bizarre statement addressing the allegations, in which the producer claimed his conduct was a result of growing up in the â60s and â70s.
âWell, thatâs a really good question and isnât it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this?â Hanks told the outlet. âLook, I donât want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. You canât buy, âOh, well, I grew up in the â60s and â70s and so therefore. ...â I did, too. So I think itâs 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.â
âSomebody great said this, either Winston Churchill, Immanuel Kant or Oprah: âWhen you become rich and powerful, you become more of what you already are,ââ he continued.
âSo I would say, thereâs an example of how thatâs true. Just because youâre rich and famous and powerful doesnât mean you arenât in some ways a big fat ass. Excuse me, take away âfat.â Iâm not the first person to say Harveyâs a bit of an ass. Poor Harvey â Iâm not going to say poor Harvey, Jesus. Isnât it kind of amazing that it took this long? Iâm reading it and Iâm thinking âYou canât do that to Ashley Judd! Hey, I like her. Donât do that. That ainât fair. Not her, come on. Come on!ââ
Hanks joins the growing list of actors, including Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Glenn Close and Ryan Gosling, among others, whoâve condemned Weinsteinâs actions.
As the allegations continue to surface, Weinstein is deservedly facing consequences. The producer was fired from his production company, The Weinstein Company, which reportedly plans on changing its name. Itâs also been reported that TWC will remove Weinsteinâs executive producer credit from future TV and film projects. Aside from that, Weinsteinâs wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, has decided to leave her husband, and the NYPD has opened a criminal investigation into Weinstein regarding a 2004 sexual assault.