She Said (book)
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement is a 2019 nonfiction book written by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, two New York Times investigative reporters who exposed Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women, a catalyst for the burgeoning MeToo movement. The book was published on September 10, 2019 by Penguin Press.
Methodology
The book details the behind-the-scenes and publicly known processes the authors employed to investigate and publish stories uncovering sexual harassment and sexual abuse by high-profile and powerful men including Harvey Weinstein. The book details new information that helped break the Weinstein story, including sources, documents, and chasing leads. It follows the reporters "from the first exploratory phone calls, to a mounting trail of evidence, to a final face off with a belligerent" accused person. The book also deals with the open questions about which behaviors and gray areas should constitute sexual harassment:Kantor admitted that there is “a mounting sense of unfairness on both sides” about a system that no one thinks “works for the accuser, or the accused." Their job remains, as Kantor put it, to ask the three main questions surrounding any allegation: “What is the scope of the behaviors under scrutiny?;” “How do we get the facts right?;” and “What should punishment and accountability look like?”
The authors continue to investigate these questions. To help persuade sources to talk to them, the sources were told that what happened in the past cannot be changed but "together we may be able to use your experience to help protect other people."
Gwyneth Paltrow was instrumental in helping the reporter-authors behind the scenes and whose efforts are chronicled in the book. Near the end of the book, the authors discuss Christine Blasey Ford and the choices that led her to publicly confront Brett Kavanaugh, then a Supreme Court nominee.
Circle of influence
The book chronicles the intersection of executives, companies, lawyers, gossip columnists, tabloid publishers, talent agents, entertainment companies, and public relations companies that became enmeshed in Weinstein's circle of influence which served to hide and bury information about his behaviors, but was an open secret. Quid pro quo took the form of agreeing to buy film rights to books and stories for "high-grossing films", and promising on-screen roles.The focus is on the systemic "structures of power" that enabled Weinstein for decades. The reporting, which followed "whispers and rumors" occurring over 30 years, was supported by large numbers of interviews with actresses, past and present employees, filings in court, corporate records, and "internal company communications that documented a thick web of cover-ups, bullying tactics and confidential settlements."