Harvey Weinstein's 'secret hitlist' of assault victims has just been revealed


On October 5th, the New York Times published a list of allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein - an action which would cause a snowball effect across Hollywood.

Since then, further accusers have spoken out against Weinstein, with Rose McGowan being the first to publicly accuse the producer of rape. Dozens of actresses and Hollywood personalities took to Twitter to share their own experiences (starting the '#metoo' trend), which eventually led to other prominent names being implicated.

Charlie Sheen, Ed Westwick, Kevin Spacey, Sylvester Stallone and Louis CK are just some of the individuals to have been accused of assault or harassment in the wake of Weinstein's exposure, and there's every possibility that another famous figure could be outed at any time.

While that's been happening, though, even more allegations about Weinstein's horrendous actions have come to light.

A 'secret hitlist' purportedly containing over 90 names of people targeted by Weinstein has been uncovered by The Observer this week. The people on the list are either individuals that had been directly mistreated by the producer, or those who potentially knew enough about the abuse to be a threat to him.

In total, the list contains 91 people - all of whom are either actors, publicists, producers, financiers or others working in the film industry. Weinstein's plan was to hire investigators to target those on the list and gather information about what they knew, presumably either to prepare a legal defense against it, or to bribe them into staying quiet.

The document is shown to have been written up in January this year, long before news of the scandal broke. Many people consider this as evidence that Weinstein's behavior was actually rather well-known in Hollywood, and that action could (and should) have been taken against him long ago.

Most of those on the list are based in the US, but there are at least 10 people from London - one of whom being Sophie Dix, who said her career prospects were “massively cut down” after she accused Weinstein of sexual assault in a hotel.

Of the 43 men and 48 women listed, many are people who have already come forward, and so law enforcement has color-coded those who are to be prioritized during the investigation process. People whose names are written in red are individuals that Weinstein was most intent on targeting, so it is likely that their testimonies against him will be most damning.

Though more than 50 women have already come forward with accusations of rape, harassment, and inappropriate behavior against Weinstein, the producer still denies any wrongdoing.

In addition to claiming there were no "non-consensual" relations between Weinstein and any of the alleged victims, a spokesperson released a statement giving Weinstein's official response to the notion that he hired investigators to spy on potential accusers. “It is a fiction to suggest that any individuals were targeted or suppressed at any time,” he said.

Despite this, evidence shows that Weinstein made at least eight settlements with various women over the last three decades. Anonymous sources have revealed that, of the charges which were leveled against him, at least two cases were for sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact.

A criminal investigation is ongoing.