- Juda Engelmayer, the PR executive who has been working for Harvey Weinstein, said he believes his client is innocent of the criminal charges and that his interactions with his accusers was consensual.
- Engelmayer — a 30-year veteran of crisis PR who charges up to $30,000 a month for his services — gave his first lengthy interview on the convicted rapist after his trial ended with conviction on two sexual assault charges Feb. 24.
- He said while the verdict wasn't entirely in Weinstein's favor, he believes he was able to shape the press coverage somewhat despite strong animus against the fallen director.
- Weinstein accusers point out that there's still a huge power imbalance today between Weinstein and his accusers, as evidenced by his press and legal entourage.
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Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Miramax cofounder, is gearing up to spend the next 23 years in prison. His sexual assault conviction is the most high-profile criminal case to come out of the #MeToo movement. A trial in Los Angeles is pending. His reputation is in ruins.
But Juda Engelmayer, Weinstein's head of crisis PR, has never been in more high demand.
"There's always someone in trouble," he told Business Insider, adding that business executives and A-listers have been flocking to him as a result of his Weinstein ties.
Engelmayer was hired by Weinstein in the spring of 2018, after The New York Times and The New Yorker published bombshell allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein. The two were introduced by Ben Brafman, one of Weinstein's lawyers.
Engelmayer felt intimidated during their first phone call because of Weinstein's larger-than-life image, but was surprised to find him charming and personable.
"He started talking about movies, Brad Pitt, the glorious past, and I'm like, 'Harvey, that's all great. We have other risks; we can talk about your movies later.'"
Unlike classic PR, Engelmayer's job is to keep clients out of the press
Engelmayer had already made a name for himself helping companies and high-profile people in crises, including when celebrity TV chef Paula Deen who was exposed for using racial epithets.
Unlike classic public relations, where you try to get attention for a client or product, Engelmayer's job is to keep his client out of the press — or at least minimize the damage. He stresses that every case is different, but in general, his playbook involves building good relationships with reporters and trying to steer journalists toward alternate story angles.
With Deen, he got her to record a second, amateur video to soften her image after a first, professionally done apology video was widely criticized for sounding disingenuous.
In Weinstein's case, he shared a 57-page document with reporters showing photos of accusers smiling with the movie mogul after the alleged assaults took place, according to The Cut.
Another part of that job is managing the expectations of clients, often big personalities who are used to getting their way.
"The biggest mistake I see clients make is thinking they can help themselves," Engelmayer said during a late February lunch at a Times Square steakhouse, Le Marais.
"You can call yourself a multi-millionaire or billionaire who thinks they know everything. Nothing bad can happen. The minute it happens, everything changes, and you need to rely on others. Your heart is racing, you're not thinking properly. You freeze."
Engelmayer thinks the jury faced social pressure to convict
Engelmayer, now free to openly ponder Weinstein's trial, said he didn't think the evidence warranted convictions, but that the jury faced social pressure to convict.
"Everyone knew who he was going into it. That said, I think the jury had a hard job," he said. "I don't think they were going to walk out of there and tell their wife, children or coworkers that they let Harvey go. So they went on the lowest. They weren't going to acquit him, but they weren't going to stick it to him either."
Engelmayer has honed his approach over a 30-year career in PR. His first experience with crisis came while working with the Anti-Defamation League when the Crown Heights race riots broke out. Up next was a job with state comptroller Carl McCall, where he schmoozed Jewish communities up and down the state to wrangle votes for McCall. The fast-paced work fit his personality.
"I am not good at sitting at my desk, staring at the walls," said Engelmayer. "I like tinkering, I like working on my feet. I'm always much better on the fly. I live for the rush."
New York spinmaster Howard Rubenstein was a mentor
Engelmayer went on to work for the longstanding New York PR firm Rubenstein, where he learned from the master of spin himself, Howard Rubenstein, whose clients have included the Yankees, Rupert Murdoch, and Donald Trump.
Three years ago, he left a gig at the controversial 5W Public Relations, which is known for taking on polarizing clients like the Eric Trump Foundation and Sinclair Broadcasting, to start his own firm, HeraldPR.
Engelmayer quickly became known for taking the cases others might not touch — Russian oligarchs, evangelical Christian churches,and a real estate developer accused of sexual assault. He charges $15,000 to $30,000 a month for crisis work. (Engelmayer said Weinstein paid "on the high end" of the range.)
Last year, Engelmayer did damage control for two kids whose parents were caught up in the college admissions bribery scandal. Part of his tactics included pushing the students' names far down in Google search results.
"I grew up in a world where every school I went to had a building named after a kid. Now all of a sudden we're shocked. You might not like it. It might not be ethical, but it didn't just start happening yesterday," Engelmayer said. "Everyone in my industry, everyone in Hollywood, pays to get their kid into a school."
Engelmayer said Weinstein may have done bad things but that didn't make him a criminal
Engelmayer had to take a far different strategy with Weinstein. First, he had to believe Weinstein was innocent of the criminal charges before agreeing to take him on as a client. He talked over the case with Brafman and pored over the evidence. He said he also discussed Weinstein with his wife, daughters, employees, and clients.
Ultimately, he concluded that Weinstein may have done bad things but wasn't guilty of the crimes he was accused of — the view his lead attorney Donna Rotunno is known for taking.
"Since getting to know the evidence and allegations, and getting to know him, I believe that what happened between him and these accusers were choices; either tender or transactional in nature," Engelmayer said.
"There is a difference between unlawful conduct and bad behavior – I represent Harvey because I believe that he is innocent of the criminal activity he was charged with."
Once word got out that he was representing Weinstein, Engelmayer's office received angry emails; he stopped using social media to cut down on the online blowback.
But Engelmayer said that, except for a few expressions of disappointment within his social circle, no one shunned him.
"One of my biggest clients, a law firm in the city, said, 'We're all mercenaries. That's fine. Just don't put us in the same sentence.'"
Engelmayer started out thinking he could shape Weinstein's image as he had done with other clients. But he soon realized he had to change tack. He couldn't expect to get reporters to tell a pro-Weinstein story in the face of what he called "oppressive anger" against Weinstein and reporters who were "intentionally misleading to make Harvey look worse."
"If I would show them evidence to the contrary, the word I would get back is, 'There's no interest in seeing that right now,'" he said.
Gene Maddaus, a Variety reporter who covered the case, told Business Insider that Engelmayer was "responsive, humble," pushing for some balance in the coverage, but ultimately "respecting the reality of what it was."
One accuser said the media coverage is still too soft on Weinstein
It didn't help Engelmayer that Weinstein was a client used to managing his own image. A month before going to trial in January, he gave an interview to the New York Post, in which the paper said he "whined" that he wasn't getting enough credit for all he'd done for women. The Post ran the interview under the headline "Harvey Weinstein: I deserve pat on back when it comes to women."
Lauren Sivan, a TV reporter who alleged that Weinstein masturbated and ejaculated into a potted plant in front of her in 2007, called the article a "giant train wreck."
"It just seemed so tone deaf to say that ahead of a rape trial,'" Sivan told Business Insider. "I think he's completely delusional about the pain he's caused. That's what that interview showed."
Engelmayer wouldn't comment on whether Weinstein went against his counsel in doing the interview. But it's hard to imagine anyone on his team thinking it was a great idea. Arthur Aidala, one of Weinstein's lawyers said he "wasn't thrilled about" the article.
Despite the piece, Weinstein accusers, including Rowena Chiu, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Weinstein while working as his assistant in 1998, said the media coverage has been too soft on Weinstein.
"Who gives a shit what he's eating," she said regarding reports of his living conditions in prison. "Personal details humanizing Harvey are still inappropriate."
As for whether Engelmayer's spin helped Weinstein, it's hard to say. On one hand, Weinstein was convicted of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act, and got a 23-year sentence. On the other, he was acquitted of the more serious charges — two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count of first-degree rape.
Engelmayer maintains that he was able to shape the narrative to a degree. He pointed to an article in The Hollywood Reporter headlined "Harvey Weinstein Criminal Case May Be Crumbling, Experts Say."
Aidala added that he saw a "palpable change" in opinion while representing Weinstein, which he credits in part to the PR effort.
"When I first joined the legal team, there couldn't have been a worse guy I was representing. After the second or third week of the trial, people were saying, 'He may be a bad guy, but I think he's really getting railroaded. This isn't right,'" Aidala said.
Weinstein still calls Engelmayer regularly, at odd hours, from prison. Engelmayer gives encouragement, updating him on what's being written about him in the news.
"He's not doing great," Engelmayer said. "He is physically breaking down, emotionally depressed. He's hoping that people still believe in him. But he doesn't get many phone calls. He is lonely, isolated. 'I could use a friend,' he says. It always makes me so sad."
Engelmayer sees a time, after the court process ends, when Weinstein's public perception could soften as public anger wanes and he settles in, maybe starts writing scripts or coaching inmates on their Hollywood pursuits.
"That's where I can see him. The best way to look like you're a model citizen in prison is to look like you're trying to help people."
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