Rosanna Arquette has said that powerful men in Hollywood continue to support Harvey Weinstein, and that the allegations against him were just “the tip of the iceberg”.
On the heels of the second anniversary of allegations against Weinstein being published in The New York Times and The New Yorker, Arquette told The Guardian that she has been disappointed with the levels of progress made culture-wide.
“There are very, very powerful men in our business who feel sorry for him and that he lost his career and continue to behind the scenes figure out a way to support him,” Arquette suggested.
“I think [the Weinstein accusations] are the tip of the iceberg in what we are going to see and what will be revealed in the future – as we’ve just seen from Jeffrey Epstein and his horrible network that’s connected to so many powerful men worldwide,” she continued.
“[Men like Weinstein] are everywhere and ultimately my call has not been so much about punishing these individuals – there are always going to be these individuals.
“The real issue is that society and the system needs to change because currently the systems all work in favour of the powerful.”
Arquette was one of a number of women to come forward in 2017 with allegations against Weinstein, claiming that the former Miramax Films mogul had sexually harassed her during a business meeting in the early Nineties.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and non-consensual sex.
Last month, Weinstein’s attorney Donna Rotunno claimed that her client’s “whole life has been ruined” by more than 70 allegations of sexual harassment and rape.
She added that Weinstein “will pay the biggest price there is” regardless of the outcome of a sexual assault case trial that is due to occur next year.
Weinstein’s trial on rape charges is scheduled for January and will take place in New York.
