Harvey Weinstein’s original contract with an Israeli intelligence firm, published exclusively here, reveals that the disgraced movie executive agreed to pay the company as much as $1.3 million to spy on his perceived enemies – including numerous actresses, fashion designer Kenneth Cole and a prominent AIDS charity.
Weinstein hired Israeli firm Black Cube on October 24, 2016, to carry out the covert operation, known internally as ‘Operation Parachute.’
Weinstein’s work with Black Cube was first reported by the New Yorker on Monday, which published a July contract showing that the firm deployed undercover agents to obtain information from Weinstein’s sexual assault accusers and journalists.
The initial October contract between Weinstein and Black Cube last fall shows that Weinstein was fixated on the idea that he was the victim of a ‘negative campaign’ orchestrated by his enemies – and he was willing to go to great lengths to stop it.
Black Cube was first hired to ‘identify the entities behind the negative campaign against [Weinstein]’ and ‘support [Weinstein’s] efforts to put a stop to it,’ according to the initial contract.
The investigation targeted actresses who accused Weinstein of sexual assault, but it also extended to Weinstein’s supposed friends and allies.
A source familiar with the operation said Black Cube was asked to investigate Weinstein’s long-time friend Kenneth Cole and the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a charity where Weinstein was a donor. Cole is amfAR’s chairman.