Harvey Weinstein reportedly hired private investigators to discredit accusers

Prepare to be even more disgusted by Harvey Weinstein.

The disgraced movie mogul hired multiple international private investigative firms to "extract" information from his victims, including Rose McGowan, in an attempt to squash negative stories being written about him, according to a sprawling and deeply reported new Ronan Farrow piece in The New Yorker titled "Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies."

McGowan said she was contacted by a woman calling herself "Diana Filip" in May. The woman said she worked at a wealth-management company called Reuben Capital Partners, and was working on an initiative to fight sexual harassment in the workplace.

She offered McGowan $60,000 to speak at a gala to kick off the initiative. But it turns out "Diana Filip" was really a former officer in the Israeli Defense Forces working for a private investigative agency called Black Cube.

The woman offering McGowan a sympathetic ear, and a chance to speak out against sexual predators, was hired by the man who McGowan has accused of rape to get dirt on her. McGowan recounts to Farrow that Filip seemed "very kind" and that they met several times.

"I took her to the Venice boardwalk and we had ice cream while we strolled," McGowan said.

Also, in January 2017, a freelance journalist called McGowan, recorded their conversation without permission, and then reached out to Black Cube, Farrow reported, citing several sources.

The year before, Dylan Howard, chief content officer of National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., shared information from one of his reporters with Weinstein to help the Hollywood producer discredit McGowan.

Another firm, PSOPS, sent Weinstein a report that "ran for more than a hundred pages and featured McGowan’s address and other personal information, along with sections labelled 'Lies/Exaggerations/Contradictions,' 'Hypocrisy,' and 'Potential Negative Character Wits,' an apparent abbreviation of 'witnesses.' One subhead read 'Past Lovers.'"

The entire New Yorker story also details how firms hired by Weinstein investigated reporters who were working on stories about the sexual assault allegations against him.

Sallie Hofmeister, who has been operating as Weinstein's spokesperson since the scandal broke, told Farrow that "It is a fiction to suggest that any individuals were targeted or suppressed at any time."

Overall, it's a deeply disturbing account of a man who used his power and influence to try to silence a woman who accused him of rape, and then spent money to deceive and discredit her.

Reprehensible, yes, but sadly, at this point, not at all surprising.