Yes, you read that headline correctly. Harvey Weinstein said that. The same Harvey Weinstein that fled the country to receive “Sex addition therapy” in Europe in the wake of the deluge of allegations that have come out since a New York Times article detailing the sick history of his abuse of power over the past thirty years first appeared. The same man whose wife announced that she was leaving him shortly after the floodgates opened and the endless parade of skeletons came busting out of the closet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de6kPAIRhyI

I feel uniquely qualified to answer this man’s assertion that “We all make mistakes“. Yes, that is accurate Mr. Weinstein but what you did was no mistake. What you did was a pathological, long-term pattern of abusive behavior that allowed you to feel powerful over your victims. I despise calling these women victims-not because so many of them are rich and did not appear to suffer after their run in’s with Weinstein, even early in their careers (as was the case with Gwenyth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie). Because I am a survivor of sexual assault myself I know that despite their supposedly privileged lives we share a horrible side effect that will be lifelong. I know that no matter how hard they try to force the “replay” of those moments out of the deep recesses of their minds, they won’t ever be able to. Those thoughts won’t pop up all the time of course, but sometimes they will sneak in and start up like a bad video in their minds. Actress Katherine Kendall explains in the video below how a naked Weinstein chased her around his apartment after he intimidated her into coming upstairs with him. You can tell at the end of the interview that his actions affected her profoundly, and still do.

When those memories come back his survivors may experience what psychologists call a Traumatic Memory. I did not believe in this concept for years. I was proven wrong when I got an email that shook me to my very core. I was working for a mental health agency and we had training with some of our caregivers. In one of those classes, I was seated next to a young man who worked on a unit with young children. The email I referred to was sent out to alert employees that the same young man had been discovered to have a criminal history which included predatory sexual behavior with children. I read the email and began to shake and cry in my office. My head literally swam and I was sick to my stomach. For the next few months, I remembered the details of my own abuse like it happened a day ago instead of decades ago. I had a hard time sleeping and was hypervigilant. That explains actress Ashley Judd’s body language in the photo below. Clearly, she was not feeling any love for Mr. Weinstein at the 1997 Oscars.

So I absolutely refuse to accept your description, Mr. Weinstein, of your abhorrent behavior as a “mistake”. A mistake is putting mayo instead of ketchup on my child’s burger. A mistake is ordering vanilla when I wanted chocolate. What you did, you howling shitgibbon, was predatory and abusive behavior. You do not deserve to co-exist with decent people in polite society. You, sir, deserve a special place in hell. Burning next to all of the other horrid refuse of the dregs of humanity-like pedophiles for example.  In the words of one of my favorite authors, Anne Rice, “May flights of devils wing you to your rest.”