I asked Hollywood insiders what happens now after Harvey Weinstein's convictions in New York. Almost all of them were too afraid to speak

Sexism and harassment 'is still accepted [but] it's like, 'Let's not take it too far, you know, I'm not Weinstein''

Today a jury in New York convicted former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and rape in the third degree. He was acquitted on three other counts of five.

Three thousand miles away in Hollywood, the place he once owned, some industry leaders are struggling to come to terms with how to address his crimes.

I emphasize “struggling”, because while the former kingmaker has to reckon with his damaged reputation and career, Hollywood finds itself on trial as well. The New York case exposed systemic harassment within parts of the industry — so much so that some people declined to be named in this piece, or even speak to me about the topic, for fear of retribution. Some who I reached out to implied that they had stories of ongoing harassment, but could not go any further than that and were unwilling to go on the record.

As Nancy Wang Yuen, the author of “Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism” told me, people who work for big studios these days “distance themselves from Weinstein, [but] the every day sexist commenting still exists.” She adds: “The impression I have from folks working in the industry is that it's still accepted [but] it’s like, ‘Let’s not take it too far, you know, I’m not Weinstein’.” This worrying development means that while Weinstein’s horrific behavior is being condemned, other, similar behaviors are being given a pass because they’re seen as “not as bad” as decades of abusive behavior.

Hollywood means to use Weinstein as a cautionary tale. And there are a lot of high-level decision-makers out there who still have a lot to lose. Cheryl L Bedford, a producer and the founder of the group Women of Color Unite, told me that "there are a lot of people who have invested in not only Weinstein, but that type of behavior, in keeping the status quo. And some of those people are still in power.” It seems this is an open secret.

Later this year, Weinstein will face trial in Los Angeles on charges of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another; charges that could result in 28 years in prison. Unlike the trial in New York, this will bring Weinstein’s scandal to the industry’s doorstep. There will be renewed pressure for the industry to reckon with the skeletons in its closet.

Relationships are the currency of Hollywood.Trust is the reason deals are made; it’s the key to getting and keeping a job. The downside is that loyalty can blind us to the faults of others — and there’s no general consensus on what it means to be complicit. One source I spoke to about these issues shared an exchange she had about an executive who was forced to resign because of harassment claims: “I actually ended up seeing him at a film festival. I ended up talking to a woman and she was like, ‘Oh, well he's totally innocent. There's not a problem. The person that accused him, it was her fault. She's making it up. I know him, I've known him for years. He's totally innocent.’ I obviously was not a witness to any of it, but it just struck me as, there's always going to be people that believe the other side.”

So much for believing women.

According to some, people on the other end of the food chain feel like the decision-makers “keep winning” because they control the narrative — and the people who tell them. We witnessed how this sort of far-reaching power works during Weinstein’s New York trial. One day before the jury was set to deliberate, an op-ed by his lawyer Donna Rotunno was published in Newsweek. The piece urged jurors in the New York case to “look past the headlines” and explicitly stated that Harvey Weinstein was “innocent”. A defense lawyer writing and placing an article in a major publication during an ongoing trial should have been scandalous — but somehow Weinstein’s team made it happen anyway.

Between this, and the controversial firing of Gabrielle Union-Wade from the show America’s Got Talent, reportedly for raising allegations of racially insensitive and sexist behavior, and it’s no wonder the people who work for the studios feel queasy.

As we reflect on what lies ahead for Weinstein, the industry is bracing itself for more intense scrutiny. On Tuesday — the same day jurors started deliberating on Weinstein’s case, “Breakdown Services,” a major casting company, was hit with a lawsuit from a former employee, for — amongst other things — sexual assault, employee rape and highly negligent management methods. Crucially, this case holds a company to task for hiring “a convicted sex offender to a supervisory position where he harassed, threatened and raped [the] plaintiff,” according to court documents. Those people at the bottom of the food chain are now biting back at companies rather than simply individuals. What that might mean financially for the industry is important, and could force those at the top to start taking action against sexism, whether or not they feel morally that they should stand up for women’s rights.

There is a world in which the industry comes out of the Weinstein affair stronger and better than ever before. Let’s hope that enough insiders take up that opportunity — so that I never again have to report on a scandal where most people are too afraid to go on the record.