Malia Obama’s Internship For Harvey Weinstein Under More Scrutiny As Her Parents Remain Silent Over Scandal
Malia Obama’s internship for Harvey Weinstein has come under new scrutiny as her parents remain silent about the sexual harassment scandal facing the Hollywood mogul. The 19-year-old daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama worked at the Weinstein Company in New York, where she was assigned to the production and development department. She read through scripts before deciding which ones moved on for further review.
Malia’s internship ended months before the harassment scandal against Harvey Weinstein ensued. Although she’s not believed to be one of the women he harassed, the former president and Michelle Obama’s silence is deafening. The Obamas are good friends of Weinstein and benefited with donations received from him during the former president’s campaign.
Newsweek reports that they reached out to the Obama’s regarding Malia’s internship with Weinstein, but they have not heard back.
Conservatives are outraged that so many Democratic officials aren’t doing more to denounce Harvey Weinstein given the fact so many actresses are speaking out against him. He’s being accused of inappropriate touching and wanting other sexual favors in exchange for furthering their careers. He reportedly paid off at least eight women who made these allegations.
As the report notes, Frank Rich, executive producer for Veep and a New York writer, tweeted that Weinstein’s conduct wasn’t a secret and questioned how the Obamas would allow their daughter to work for him.
“Biggest mystery of @nytimes Weinstein story: How exemplary parents like Obamas let their daughter work there. The stories were out there,” Rich tweeted.
The big question is whether Malia Obama’s parents had an inkling about the Harvey Weinstein rumors, and if so, why would they be fine with their eldest daughter working at the company?
Former First Lady Michelle Obama called Harvey Weinstein “a wonderful human being, a good friend and just a powerhouse” when thanking him at a career event in November 2013.
The Obama family is closely connected with Harvey Weinstein https://t.co/AFTf1MkwCo pic.twitter.com/lnfA6zl831
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) October 10, 2017
Weinstein donated to other Democratic candidates as well, including Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign. Many Democrats Weinstein donated to, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, intend to give the same amounts to charity.
The Weinstein Company has fired its founder in light of the sexual harassment allegations. After Fox News‘ Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly were embroiled in the same type of scandal, conservatives are calling out liberals who haven’t yet denounced Harvey Weinstein. The Obamas are among those in that category. Will they eventually release a statement over the mounting pressure to respond?
Update October 10, 2017 at 4:15 p.m., PT
Barack and Michelle Obama released a statement on the Harvey Weinstein scandal Tuesday afternoon, reports The Hill.
“Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein. Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status.
“We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture – including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect – so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future.”
For Malia Obama’s part, she’s currently studying at Harvard University and moving forward with her life.
[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
