The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.
Brad Pitt says Harvey Weinstein scandal shook Hollywood as much as Manson family murders
Actor is promoting his new film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is set during the time when the Manson murders took place
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Brad Pitt has suggested that the scandal around Harvey Weinstein shook Hollywood as much as the Manson Family murders.
The actor stars opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino’s new film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is set in 1969.
The Manson murders took place on 8-9 August that year, when four members of the Manson family invaded the rented home of director Roman Polanski and his wife, actor Sharon Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant.
Polanski was working in Europe at the time, but Tate was at home with three friends, who were murdered along with an 18-year-old visitor who was leaving the house as the Manson group arrived.
“When my parents described it,” DiCaprio said in the interview with The Sunday Times, “it was as the end of this idealised revolution. My parents are still hippies, but it was the loss of this dream. As Quentin describes, you sort of portray this utopia, but there is a mildew around the canvas that brought the darkness of humanity into play and ended a lot of my parents’ hopes for how they could infuse that ‘love and peace’ ideology into the rest of the world.
“It all sort of crashed, and ended so much that some talk of it as a conspiracy. It was the total end of an era — immediately.”
When the pair was asked whether anything had rattled Hollywood to a similar extent, Pitt answered: “Harvey Weinstein.”
“Is that bad taste?” he continued then, when asked if his comparison was because of the perceived loss of innocence: “It’s more that I think we’re getting recalibrated. But [this time] in a good way.”
Weinstein was faced with multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse and rape in October 2017 after a New York Times investigation published accounts by a number of high-profile women in Hollywood.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
The story sparked a wave of additional allegations, until more than 80 women had accused Weinstein of some form of harassment or sexual assault, including Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett, Cara Delavingne, Rose McGowan, Uma Thurman and Mira Sorvino. Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
The case sparked two movements, Time’s Up and #MeToo, which saw a wave of allegations against more high-profile men in the entertainment industry, and campaigning against sexual misconduct.
Two of Pitt’s former partners, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, also described encounters with Weinstein. When Paltrow told her then-fiancé Pitt, he reportedly confronted the producer at an industry event.
Weinstein is scheduled to go on trial in New York for charges of rape on 19 September.