Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein threatened an AIDS charity years ago because he thought a lawyer affiliated with it was looking into the former studio executive’s sex life, according to an NBC News report.
NBC News obtained a document showing the recorded minutes of an October 2016 amfAR board meeting that reveal Weinstein exploding when he learned lawyer Tom Ajamie was looking into a deal between designer Kenneth Cole and himself.
“He called furious and said how dare you after 25 years, tens of millions I’ve raised, all I’ve done for amfAR, how dare you stick your lawyers on me to do what they’re doing,” the minutes read. The minutes are a summary of Cole’s comments on the situation.
The memo on the minutes added that Weinstein had gotten a letter about a lawyer “representing a famous nonprofit to investigate Harvey’s financial irregularities as well as his sex life. Harvey reiterated that it was inappropriate and slanderous and that he would personally investigate each person on the amfAR board and the committee,” according to the minutes.
Ajamie had been hired to examine a deal between Weinstein and Cole, the board chairman of amfAR, that reportedly split money from a charity event between amfAR and the American Repertory Theater so Weinstein could settle a financial obligation with the theater. Cole released a statement on the situation, saying he was focusing on “strengthening the governance” of the charity.
However, Ajamie said he never sent a letter of notice to Weinstein. Cole confirmed the contents of the minutes memo to NBC News, saying that Weinstein was furious about the background investigation.
“In typical Weinstein fashion — he exploded with threats,” Cole said in an email to NBC News. “I don’t believe we understood what was really behind his anger at the time and I for one did not know of his predatory activities until they were revealed in media reports. We thought it was Weinstein with his typical angry, litigious response.”
Ajamie alleged that he found reports of sexual misconduct on Weinstein’s part and that he passed those along to Cole, who denied that he even had a conversation with Ajamie about it.
Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by approximately 40 actresses through a series of bombshell reports from multiple media outlets. A spokesperson for Weinstein denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex.
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