NYT Columnist Bret Stephens Gets Slammed For Defending Harvey Weinstein: ‘Worst Human on Twitter’

Joseph A. WulfsohnOct 12th, 2017, 12:00 am
 

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens is taking heat for a new column he admits is a “defense, of sorts” for Harvey Weinstein.

In the op-ed, he called out the “whiff of opportunism” some have taken in the downfall of the film mogul.

It’s in this context that one can mount a defense of sorts for Mr. Weinstein, who inhabited a moral universe that did nothing but cheer his golden touch and wink at (or look away from) his transgressions — right until the moment that it became politically inconvenient to do so. Conservatives are trying to make hay of the fact that Mr. Weinstein donated lavishly to Democratic politicians, backed progressive causes and distributed films such as “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary about campus sexual assault.

Stephens claimed the “important truth” was that Weinstein was “just another libidinous cad in a libertine culture that long ago dispensed with most notions of personal restraint and gentlemanly behavior.”

While many mocked Weinstein’s remarks about growing up in the ’60s and ’70s as his excuse for his behavior, Stephens said it “contains its truth.”

“Like those other libidinous cads — Bill Clinton and Donald Trump — Weinstein benefited from a culture that often celebrated, constantly depicted, sometimes enabled, seldom confronted, and all-too frequently forgave the behavior they so often indulged in,” Stephens elaborated.

He then went after those who are feasting on this scandal.

Hyenas cannot help their own nature. But the work of a morally sentient society is to prevent them from taking over the savannah. Our society, by contrast, festooned Weinstein with honors, endowed him with riches, and enabled him to feast on his victims without serious consequence for the better part of 30 years. The old saw that all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing was never truer than it was in Weinstein’s case.

Twitter did not like what he had to say.

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