<p>Once this Harvey Weinstein debacle is completely finished, Hollywood will be a haven of racial, gender and financial equality.</p> 
<p>Ha, ha &#8212; right.</p> 
<p>The ongoing saga of Harvey Weinstein&#8217;s downfall continues with news about the former mogul possibly being stripped of his Oscar. As police in New York and London investigate the many complaints against him of sexual assault, rumours persist that Weinstein will be booted from the Producers Guild of America.</p> 
<p>Meanwhile, the name of The Weinstein Company will be changed and Weinstein&#8217;s name will be taken off future projects.</p> 
<p>Even the man&#8217;s political contributions are being returned or handed over to women&#8217;s charities.</p> 
<p>Other industry bigwigs and political leaders are being pilloried for not condemning Weinstein fast enough.</p> 
<p>His wife has left, his adult daughter feared he was suicidal, and people are lining up to savage the guy.</p> 
<p>Soon, he&#8217;ll be drawn and quartered in a public place, no doubt.</p> 
<p>On the business side, it&#8217;s been reported that The Weinstein Company is a shambles, with agents and talent trying to get themselves and their projects away from the bad smell, and upcoming films such as The Current War and The Upside in release limbo. The Financial Times says that Goldman Sachs is &#8220;exploring options&#8221; for its small stake in The Weinstein Company &#8212; and really, people, if the Goldman Sachs is taking the moral high ground, consider yourself toast.</p> 
<p>So why &#8212; just out of interest &#8212; is a 30-year problem coming to light now?</p> 
<p>Did we reach a tipping point? Was Mr. Weinstein&#8217;s career in decline? Is there a power struggle nobody knows about in the offices of the company?</p> 
<p>Have we reached some sort of landmark in the ongoing saga of sexual impropriety and the war between men and women?</p> 
<p>Doubtful.</p> 
<p>Still, it&#8217;s interesting that several formerly untouchable guys have been taken down recently, including Bill Cosby, Bill O&#8217;Reilly, Roger Ailes and Donald Trump, that last dude being just a bit tougher to get rid of than the others.</p> 
<p>Why is the Weinstein case different?</p> 
<p>It&#8217;s not as if Harvey Weinstein varies much from all the other handsy creeps in his business &#8212; oohhh, the names we&#8217;d insert here &#8212; and casting couch stories have plagued the industry since Florence Lawrence first fluttered her eyelashes circa 1906.</p> 
<p>Some of the more interesting fallout from the Weinstein case involves the support weasels &#8212; every Weinstein staffer who knew things were rotten is under a cloud, and so is every agent, manager, casting agent, publicist or assistant who knowingly sent some poor girl to talk to Weinstein in a hotel room.</p> 
<p>And how about the lawyers who handled the hush money all those years?</p> 
<p>Be interesting to see who gets tackled next.</p> 
<p>Since Weinstein is no doubt just a difference in degree, not in kind, it&#8217;s tough to say if this uproar will change anything on a permanent basis in his industry.</p> 
<p>Still, it would be interesting to know why Hollywood is such a sleazy place.</p> 
<p>The movie industry really is a cesspool of sexual harassment and bullying; hard to know how so many people go to work every day in such an atmosphere of fear and loathing.</p> 
<p>Many an analyst has decreed that vast amounts of money and power will do it every time, and maybe that&#8217;s true &#8212; look at Dominique Strauss-Kahn, or Silvio Berlusconi, or even l&#8217;il old home-grown Jian Ghomeshi.</p> 
<p>People will risk a lot to get anywhere near rich and famous, and an industry that allows ordinary people &#8212; capable of memorizing dialogue and playing make-believe &#8212; to be treated like gods is an industry in which every sort of predatory behaviour will no doubt thrive.</p> 
<p>How to explain the sexually predatory behaviour of men in every other industry is a bit more of a mystery.</p> 
<p>Play Video</p> 
<p>Play</p> 
<p>Loaded: 0%</p> 
<p>Progress: 0%</p> 
<p>Remaining Time -0:00</p> 
<p>This is a modal window.</p> 
<p>Foreground --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Opaque</p> 
<p>Background --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent</p> 
<p>Window --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent</p> 
<p>Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400%</p> 
<p>Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow</p> 
<p>Font Family Default Monospace Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Sans-Serif Casual Script Small Caps</p> 
<p>Defaults Done</p> 
<p>Riley Fleming and Wes Heffernan have been going back and forth all year, so why wouldn&#8217;t you expect them to do the same thing in the PGA of Alberta Championship? &#8220;We&#8217;ve been so close, it&#8217;s&#8230;</p>
Why is Hollywood such a sleazy place?