UPDATE: Seth MacFarlane has posted an explanation on Twitter about his 2013 Harvey Weinstein joke.
Apparently, MacFarlane’s friend and colleague, Jessica Barth, confided in him about her experiences with Weinstein, and he delivered the joke as a “hard swing” at the media mogul.
https://twitter.com/SethMacFarlane/status/918193451006431232/
Barth also defended MacFarlane after he received a lot of backlash online.
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
While the majority of figures in Hollywood are denying knowledge of sexual harassment by former movie executive Harvey Weinstein, clips of Weinstein jokes made years ago are resurfacing online, calling celebrities’ honesty into question.
Some stars are saying they’d heard rumours of Weinstein’s behaviour, but never actually witnessed anything themselves. Regardless, there was obviously some awareness of the situation if jokes were being made — and laughed at — years before these accusations were made public in the New York Times and the New Yorker.
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One example of a joke making the rounds took place at the 2013 Oscar nominations ceremony. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, along with Emma Stone, onstage announcing the nominees for Best Supporting Actress, cracked a joke about Weinstein. (You can watch in the video clip, above.)
“Congratulations,” quipped MacFarlane. “You five ladies no longer have to pretend you’re attracted to Harvey Weinstein.” Cue the laughs from the attending audience.
Another Weinstein reference was made on comedy 30 Rock, when Jane Krakowski’s character Jenna Maroney makes a reference to sleeping with Weinstein for gigs.
“I’m not afraid of anyone in show business,” states Krakowski. “I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions… out of five.”
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And that’s not all. There’s yet another riff on Weinstein in HBO bro dramedy Entourage. A character by the name of “Harvey Weingard,” depicted as a heavyset, vulgar, aggressive and intimidating figure, bears a striking resemblance to the disgraced Hollywoodite.
In one scene, “Weingard” (played by late, great Canadian actor Maury Chakin) yells, “Do you know who I am? You’re gonna beg to get back into the pizza business.”
On Tuesday, A-list actors Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow joined a chorus of female celebrities accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment over decades.
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The alleged stories told by the women all share alarmingly similar elements: Weinstein, 65, purportedly takes the women to his hotel room, where he guilts and forces them into oral sex, intercourse, massages and showers in exchange for roles. None of these accusations has been proven in court, and Weinstein denies them.
Georgina Chapman, Weinstein’s wife of 10 years, announced Tuesday night that she’s leaving him. They have two children, aged seven and four. He was also fired from The Weinstein Company.
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