Meryl Streep: 'Not Everybody Knew' About Weinstein. Jessica Chastain: 'The Stories Were Everywhere.' | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: This post was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is the most topical news event of the day, it should be published on BCN.

    By Amanda Prestigiacomo    @amandapresto

"I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere."

    On Monday, Actress Jessica Chastain weighed in on the revelations about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment of multiple women and what she had to say was damning to those in the industry who have claimed that they had no idea about Weinstein's notorious behavior.

    "I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again," tweeted Chastain on Monday.

    I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again.    - Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) October 9, 2017

    As The Hollywood Reporter highlights, Chastain has known Weinstein for several years, having starred in multiple Weinstein Co. films, including Lawless and The Disappearance.

    Chastain's comments present a stark contrast to the lengthy statement issued by Streep, who praised Weinstein as "a god" during the 2012 Golden Globes but had taken aim at Donald Trump during the 2017 Golden Globes for abusing his power to "bully others." Amid mounting pressure, Streep finally publicly denounced Weinstein's "disgraceful" actions on Sunday night. In her comments, Streep insisted she had no idea whatsoever about Weinstein's treatment of women:

    One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally. I didn't know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts. And If everybody knew, I don't believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would have neglected for decades to write about it.

    Weinstein's industry and media-protected image crumbled on Thursday when The New York Times published an investigative piece that laid out Weinstein's disturbing pattern of behavior that so many had known about for so long.

    Since, reports have been flooding in, including an allegation by former Times reporter Sharon Waxman that her story in 2004 on Weinstein's sexual misconduct had been buried by the paper after pressure from Weinstein and even some celebrities, including Matt Damon and Russell Crowe.

    Chastain weighed in on Waxman's allegations about Damon and Crowe, retweeting Vulture's report on it and writing, "This is heart shattering."

    On Sunday, the company he helped found officially fired Weinstein and is reportedly planning to change its name in the near future.