This piece originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Kevin Smith recognizes that his career will forever be linked to Harvey Weinstein, the man whose two previous companies — Miramax and The Weinstein Company — have produced the filmmaker’s most notable projects. So, in the wake of the recent sexual misconduct allegations leveled at the disgraced Hollywood mogul, Smith has decided to donate all of his future residuals from Weinstein-connected projects to Women In Film, a non-profit organization advocating for progress and gender parity in the industry.
“My entire career is tied up with the man,” Smith said in the latest episode of his podcast, Hollywood Babble-On. “”It’s been a weird f—ing week. I just wanted to make some f—ing movies, that’s it. That’s why I came, that’s why I made Clerks. And no f—ing movie is worth all this. Like, my entire career, f—k it, take it. It’s wrapped up in something really f–ing horrible.”
When an audience member screamed out that it wasn’t his fault, Smith got emotional, responding, “I’m not looking for sympathy. I know it’s not my fault, but I didn’t f—ing help. Because I sat out there talking about this man like he was a hero, like he was my friend, like he was my father and s—t like that, and he changed my f—ing life. And I showed other people, like, ‘You can dream, and you can make stuff, and this man will put it out.’ I was singing praises of somebody that I didn’t f—ing know. I didn’t know the man that they keep talking about in the press. Clearly he exists, but that man never showed himself to me. It all hurts, and it didn’t happen to me, but it all hurts.”
Two weeks ago a bombshell New York Times exposé reported “decades” of alleged sexual harassment by Weinstein. Since then high-profile actresses including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale, Heather Graham, Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne, and Mira Sorvino have come forward claiming the producer of harassment or assault. Last week in a statement through a representative, Weinstein denied claims of sexual assault: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
Miramax, which Weinstein left in 2005, and The Weinstein Co., from which he was fired as a result of the current scandal, produced many of Smith’s early films, including Clerks, Clerks II, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
“I had a dream and I made it, and I presented it to somebody, and they didn’t make me do something f—ing horrible,” continued Smith. “So I feel like there are so many people that we know of now, and maybe even more, that were made to do horrible things to make their dreams come true and maybe didn’t even get to touch the dreams; this f—ing dude chased them away.”
This led to the filmmaker vowing to give any future income garnered from his Weinstein-made titles to Women in Film. And with the possibility that The Weinstein Co. could go under and fail to yield any additional residuals, Smith says he will give $2,000 per month to the organization for the rest of his life. “That feels like a start,” he concluded, while also offering his mentorship if they’d want him. “Hopefully that goes to people that get to make sh— without having to deal with some f—ing animal saying, ‘Here’s the price.’”
