Harvey Weinstein paid Rose McGowan US$100,000 in a secret settlement, it has been revealed. Photo / Getty Images
Harvey Weinstein has revealed that he has had "really tough conversations" with his family after the allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The Hollywood mogul said that he had to "prove that I'm worthy" to his wife Georgina Chapman and his five children - but they were standing by him.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Weinstein, 65, expressed profound regret for his inappropriate behavior towards women stretching back decades.
He said that "I own my mistakes" and that included frank talks with Chapman, 41, a British fashion designer and actress, and his five children aged between four and 22.
Weinstein also wants to "earn the forgiveness" of actress Ashley Judd who accused him of repeatedly making indecent proposals to her 20 years ago.
Weinstein said: "I have had tough conversations with my family, really tough ones but my family is standing with me.
"I have a journey and I have to prove to every person that's out there that I'm worthy of them and I have to prove to my family the same thing.
"This is going to be a journey, a lonely journey, but a journey where my wife and kids couldn't be stronger and couldn't be standing behind me more."
Weinstein, the multiple Oscar-winning founder of film companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, spoke to DailyMail.com after the bombshell New York Times report revealed his long record of misconduct.
The New York Times said he had reached at least eight settlements with women including one who said she was coerced into giving him a massage while he was naked.
Weinstein is said to have asked a young Judd to watch him shower and paid Rose McGowan US$100,000 under a settlement for an incident shortly before her breakthrough role in Scream.
Speaking on the phone, Weinstein blamed his temperament for why he thought it was appropriate to behave in such a manner to young women who looked up to him as a way to gain a foothold in the movie industry.
He said: "There's a difference between maybe what you're thinking (I was) behaving and anything else.
"The behaviour is more about temperament. I have a temper and it's not a good one so I think I act too imperiously.
"There's a difference between that any anything else."
Weinstein, who has produced films such as Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting, said that he was "very remorseful to women and to men, everybody that I've offended".
He said: "I own all my mistakes and I have to deal with that."
In the New York Times article Judd, 49, said that she was invited up to Weinstein's room 20 years ago where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could massage her or watch him shower.
She remembered thinking to herself: "How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?"
She soon got another invitation and was asked to give him a shoulder rub. When she declined he asked her to watch him shower again.
Judd said: "I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask. It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining."
Asked about her claims Weinstein said: "Here's what I feel about Ashley. She wrote a story in Variety (that did not name Weinstein but described the incident) that was one way, now she's remembering this way.
"My feeling is I read her book about being abused as a child.
"Whatever Ashley wants to say about me, I'm going to be supportive. I need to earn her forgiveness. I thought we had a relationship at one time, the goal is to get that back. I salute her like everybody else does."
McGowan reached a US$100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997 when over the incident in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival. At the time she was 23 years old.
Asked about the incident Weinstein said: "I promised to keep the peace and that's how I feel about it."
He also denied the New York Times' claim that he had reached eight settlements with women and said their reporting was "not right".
He said: "With any company with have non-disclosure agreement and whatever and for all sorts of reasons we don't reveal that. It's in our interests to make sure people feel good, that's what we do."
Weinstein said that Lauren O'Connor, who sent a memo to executives at the Weinstein Company in 2015 detailed his sexual misconduct, ended up settling.
Weinstein said that The Weinstein Company hired Linda Fairstein, the former prosecutor known for investigating crimes against women, but the O'Connor withdrew her complaint and "everybody sent nice letters to each other".
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Weinstein was also keen to point out that he was being targeted by forces that appear similar to those who turned on Hillary Clinton during her failed Presidential campaign.
Outside of the movie business Weinstein is a staunch supporter of liberal causes and has been a major fundraiser for the Democrats.
He said: "There seems to be a group of people who are trying to finance a number of stories against me. I have to find out who they are.
"I'm not just owning my responsibilities, I know that. There are no excuses, but there are no excuses for people who are conservatives, Republicans, who are financing things against me in every area, be it personal, charitable, whatever.
"There's more at risk for the country but I worry about that in an era of fake news and these consortia that are financing news and I find myself a victim of it."
In a statement when the allegations surfaced Weinstein said he has spent spent the last year taking counsel on gender power roles from Lisa Bloom, an attorney who has represented victims of sexual assault in prominent cases like Bill Cosby's trial.
Weinstein has also retained star litigator David Boies and Charles Hader, who represented Hulk Hogan in his lawsuit against Gawker.
Harder said that he was preparing a lawsuit against the New York Times for writing a story that is "saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein".
Weinstein hard harsh words for the newspaper and claimed that their reporting was "sloppy" and "disingenuous".
He said: "I'm very remorseful to women and to men, everybody that I've offend. The New York Times however gave us, they had a six month investigation, they told us all along they would give us time....they said they would not have people off the record and they did.
"They said they would present every allegation to us, they did not, they left out seven or eight allegations.
"I grew up believing in the New York Times. I think now because of the Washington Post and the Wall St Journal being so f****** fantastic they're trying desperately to do things.
"They also have the reputation of being the New York Times, so which is it?
"They made a lot of mistakes in their reporting. They hurt innocent people.
"Me, I'm apologetic, I'm remorseful for all those people, any people that I hurt, I feel terrible but for the New York Times itself, you can't be this disingenuous, this sloppy, the poor an organisation any more.
"You have to hold the New York Times accountable."
I came of age in the 60's and 70's, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then.
I have since learned it's not an excuse, in the office - or out of it. To anyone.
I realised some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed.
I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.
Though I'm trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go. That is my commitment.
My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons. Over the last year
I've asked Lisa Bloom to tutor me and she's put together a team of people.
I've brought on therapists and I plan to take a leave of absence from my company and to deal with this issue head on. I so respect all women and regret what happened.
I hope that my actions will speak louder than words and that one day we will all be able to earn their trust and sit down together with Lisa to learn more. Jay Z wrote in 4:44 'I'm not the man I thought I was and I better be that man for my children.' The same is true for me.
I want a second chance in the community but I know I've got work to do to earn it. I have goals that are now priorities. Trust me, this isn't an overnight process.
I've been trying to do this for 10 years and this is a wake-up call. I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them.
I am going to need a place to channel that anger so I've decided that I'm going to give the NRA my full attention.
I hope Wayne LaPierre will enjoy his retirement party. I'm going to do it at the same place I had my Bar Mitzvah. I'm making a movie about our President, perhaps we can make it a joint retirement party.
One year ago, I began organizing a $5 million foundation to give scholarships to women directors at USC. While this might seem coincidental, it has been in the works for a year.
It will be named after my mom and I won't disappoint her.
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