Former Mossad agents hired by Harvey Weinstein posed as women’s rights advocates and secretly recorded meetings with the actress Rose McGowan as part of a wide-ranging attempt by the movie mogul to shut down the investigation into allegations of sexual assault against him, and discredit his accusers.
In a shocking new report for The New Yorker, Ronan Farrow, the journalist who was among the first to expose Harvey Weinstein, records in compelling detail the meticulous manner in which Weinstein sought to suppress allegations that he had sexually harassed or assaulted numerous women.
To collect information on and discredit the women and the journalists trying to expose him, Weinstein paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kroll, one of the world’s largest corporate-intelligence companies, and Black Cube, a similar outfit run by former members of Mossad, the Israeli secret service.
ADVERTISEMENT
Invoices reveal he agreed a $600,000 contract with Black Cube, with a $300,000 bonus if they “completely stopped” the story from being published.
Weinstein had the agencies collect information on dozens of individuals, and compile psychological profiles that sometimes focused on their personal or sexual histories, The New Yorker says.
Agents went through journalists’ personal lives, even profiling their ex-wives, to try and find information to discredit them, and Weinstein monitored the progress of the investigations personally, according to the new report.
In a statement, Weinstein’s spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, denied the allegations, saying, “It is a fiction to suggest that any individuals were targeted or suppressed at any time.”
One of the principal targets of the investigators was Rose McGowan, who ultimately broke the terms of a payoff to accuse Weinstein of rape, thereby opening the floodgates on the abuse claims.
Two private investigators from Black Cube, using false identities, met with McGowan several times, in an attempt to extract information from her., according to The New Yorker.
One of the Black Cube agents, posing as “Diana Filip,” claimed to be the deputy head of “sustainable and responsible investments” at Reuben Capital Partners, a fictional London-based wealth-management firm.
The New Yorker reports that Filip told McGowan that she was launching an initiative to combat discrimination against women in the workplace, and offered McGowan a speaking fee of $60,000 to headline a gala event. She repeatedly told McGowan that she wanted to invest in McGowan’s production company, the report alleges.
Her contact with McGowan continued until recently.
On Oct. 10, the day The New Yorker published Farrow’s story about Weinstein, Filip emailed McGowan: “Hi Love,” she wrote. “How are you feeling?... Just wanted to tell you how brave I think you are.”
Farrow reveals that “Diana Filip” was an alias for “a former officer in the Israeli Defense Forces who originally hailed from Eastern Europe and was working for Black Cube, according to three individuals with knowledge of the situation.”
When Farrow sent McGowan photos of the Black Cube agent, she recognized her instantly.
“Oh my God,” she wrote back. “Reuben Capital. Diana Filip. No fucking way.”
McGowan told Farrow: “It was like the movie Gaslight. Everyone lied to me all the time,” and said that for the past year she had, “lived inside a mirrored fun house.”
