After confronting Harvey Weinstein at a young actors’ event in New York on Wednesday, a female comedian and two audience members were escorted from the premises.
Weinstein — who is currently facing criminal charges for predatory sexual assault, first-degree rape and third-degree rape — was making a rare public appearance at a variety show, sponsored by Actor’s Hour, being held at Manhattan’s Downtime Bar.
When comedian Kelly Bachman spotted the disgraced producer seated at a table with a group of his friends, she took to the stage to address “the elephant in the room,” calling him “Freddy Krueger” to a round of both boos and cheers.
“I didn’t know we had to bring our own Mace and rape whistles to Actor’s Hour,” she said, after which one male audience member shouted back, “Shut up!”
She responded, “This kills at group therapy for rape survivors. I have been raped, surprisingly by no one in this room, but I’ve never gotten to confront those guys. So, just a general f–k you.”
Later in the show, comedian Andrew B. Silas took to the stage, and appeared to mock Bachman for addressing Weinstein: “I’d like to address the elephant in the room. Who in this room produced Good Will Hunting? ‘Cause that sh-t was great.” Those at the event took to Twitter to say they saw Silas go up to Weinstein after his bit and the pair shared a laugh.
In a message to Buzzfeed , Silas said he’d actually meant to provide Bachman support with his set, and had considered making a joke about asking Weinstein where he might be able to find chloroform “but something told me that would be in poor taste. I swear I’m not a piece of sh-t.”
In fact, Bachman remained the only performer to directly address Weinstein. During intermission, audience member Zoe Stuckless demanded Weinstein be asked to leave, shouting, as evidenced by a video posted to Facebook, “Nobody’s going to say anything?”
In the post, Stuckless explained, “I was kicked out of the bar tonight. His bodyguards herded me out. The event organizers were happy to see me go. In some ways, tonight was a horrible, painful reminder of the power a man like Weinstein holds even now. It was a reminder that even in this time of relative awareness, it is hypnotically easy to be pulled into a culture of silence.”
Bachman, too, was then asked to leave and exited the event with Stuckless who, in an interview with Buzzfeed, said those who ushered them out kept repeating “due process, due process” to the pair.
In a statement to CNN , a spokesman for Weinstein claimed it was actually the venue staff who had asked the women to leave: “Harvey Weinstein was out with friends enjoying the music and trying to find some solace in his life that has been turned upside down.” Conspicuously, he added, “This scene was uncalled for, downright rude and an example of how due process today is being squashed by the public, trying to take it away in the courtroom too.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
