In fact, shortly before they turned their attentions to Radar, the pair of them had attempted to buy an entirely different magazine altogether. Not as separate investors. Together. Weinstein and Epstein were part of a rag-tag bunch of billionaires, millionaires and media insiders – a syndicate of sorts – known in the industry as The Coalition. All of whom wanted to buy New York Magazine. Who was in The Coalition, and why does it matter? Weinstein used his influence in the world of print media to attempt to influence the suppression of these types of stories for decades now. For example, in 2003, rumours started circulating around Hollywood that Weinstein was having an affair on his first wife (Eve Chilton) with the woman who would later became his second (Georgina Chapman). Naturally, a story like that could cause a gentleman great embarrassment – so Weinstein was keen to keep it on the down-low. How did he manage to do that in a city that’s crammed full of gossips? By hiring a gossip writer himself, AJ Benza, and keeping him on a monthly retainer to dig up stories about other celebrities and pass them across to Weinstein, so that if journalists ever called Miramax looking to investigate the rumours they’d heard about Harvey having an affair his PR team was well stocked with plenty of juicy celebrity stories they could offer in exchange.

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Aeltri