With Eric (Martin)'s help, Judy was able to contact another key witness: Irwin Reiter, the former Executive Vice President of Finance at Miramax.
What shocked Judy even more was that after Harvey had been ousted from Miramax by Disney, Reiter had followed him to the newly founded Weinstein Company. By all accounts, he should have been one of Harvey's closest allies.
And yet, even this man was now willing to step forward and speak out against him.
She subconsciously glanced at Eric, who remained smiling and silent, her curiosity deepening about the man behind it all.
What a brilliant move...
Reiter confirmed that many of them had tried to warn Harvey.
"We were all aware of how damaging these accusations could be to the company. We tried to talk him down, but he wouldn't listen."
Judy sneered inwardly. Of course he didn't. And I'm sure you didn't speak up without getting something out of it either.
She gave Eric another sidelong glance.
Reiter continued, explaining that in December, Harvey had even harassed a female employee named Emily Nestor.
According to him, Harvey's younger brother, Bob, had a very different style. While Harvey was brash and reckless, Bob was known for his caution and restraint.
The two brothers had left Miramax in 2005 to start the Weinstein Company, but the new venture was plagued with financial troubles from the start.
Bob had been aware of Harvey's misconduct for years. In fact, some of the early checks used to settle harassment claims had been written by Bob himself.
Their relationship eventually soured as the company's struggles mounted.
In late 2005, during a heated board meeting, Harvey had punched Bob in the face. Many executives had witnessed the blow, and Bob had been left bleeding.
From that moment on, although the brothers continued to work together publicly, their partnership had become a cold war.
Bob repeatedly expressed his desire to branch out on his own, but Harvey refused to let him go.
…
Malibu – Inside a private mansion.
Bob Weinstein paced furiously as he spoke into the phone.
"Damn it! This is Harvey's mess, not mine. You can't just strip me of equity because of what he did!"
"Frank—yeah, yeah, he's my brother, but I've never done any of that crap!"
"You bloodthirsty vultures are just waiting for an excuse to take control of the board. I won't stand for it!"
He hung up and kept muttering curses under his breath—some aimed at Harvey for his recklessness, others at the company's main investors: WPP and Goldman Sachs.
These investors were using Harvey's scandal as leverage to limit his power, pressuring him to sign new agreements, restructure the board, and even impose fines for every complaint filed.
But this had all started because of Harvey—why should Bob pay the price?
His resentment toward his brother had grown deeper than ever.
Maybe it's time to let him go...
A dangerous thought crept in—and refused to leave.
…
New York – A small ferry terminal in Manhattan.
Judy boarded a ferry bound for Roosevelt Island, a small stretch of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens with a population of around 12,000 permanent residents.
She was on her way to interview a former Miramax employee now living on the island.
Onboard, she noticed a street performer wearing a clown mask, hawking Batman-themed merchandise out of a box—bat masks, clown masks, Batarangs, keychains, dolls, all tied to the recent Batman film.
It was already February. Batman had been out for nearly two months, and its North American box office haul was nearing $400 million, with $500 million clearly within reach.
A box office smash.
Judy wasn't a fan of these types of films. In fact, she wasn't much of a movie fan at all.
Her favorite pastime was reading—everything from children's literature to classics, from contemporary fiction to poetry. She read widely and voraciously.
She stepped around the masked vendor and found a quiet seat on the ferry, pulling a book from her bag: the fourth installment of Martin's The Hunger Games series.
Martin had already released six volumes of Harry Potter. The Twilight Saga had concluded in 2003 after four volumes. Now The Hunger Games was on its fourth.
Judy was a loyal fan of Martin's writing, and of all his books, The Hunger Games was her favorite.
Although some feminist circles hailed Twilight as the work that marked Martin's emergence as a champion of feminist literature, Judy disagreed.
To her, Twilight was hardly feminist. At best, it was female-centered—a romance with an overwhelming focus on love and emotional entanglement.
The Hunger Games, however, was something else entirely.
It didn't just tell a girl's love story. It charted a young woman's growth, her awakening, her rebellion.
"This world used to belong to men," Judy thought. "Women were just decorations in their stories. Who would've thought a film told entirely from a female perspective—with a female lead—could deliver such a grand, epic tale?"
Before The Hunger Games, no one had dared attempt it.
What, Tomb Raider?
In Judy's opinion, Tomb Raider was too shallow. Adapted from a video game, it was heavy on adventure, fantasy, and sex appeal—but it lacked real character growth.
When The Hunger Games first debuted, some critics compared it to the Japanese film Battle Royale.
Judy watched Battle Royale just to see if the comparison held up. It didn't.
"Battle Royale thrives on blood and violence. The Hunger Games is about growth and self-discovery. They're not even in the same genre."
To her, The Hunger Games wasn't just a dystopian epic. It was a modern Cinderella.
Yes—Cinderella.
"When that rough, coal-dusted girl stepped onto the stage wearing a flaming gown and the crowd erupted in awe and admiration—it was no different than Cinderella putting on the glass slipper."