Being Harvey Weinstein's P.R. Guy Has Its Perks

New York Times

2 days ago

Juda Engelmayer, a former owner of Kossar's Bagels & Bialys on the Lower East Side, first met Harvey Weinstein in early 2018.
A few months earlier, Mr. Weinstein had been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women. The list of his accusers ultimately ballooned to more than 80.
As Mr. Engelmayer tells the story, Mr. Weinstein asked him to come on as his spokesman and made him a promise: 'He said, 'You know, Juda, I'm going to make you the most powerful P.R. person in Hollywood.''
This, to Mr. Engelmayer, sounded delusional. 'I said to him: 'You know what, Harvey, you have problems to deal with. We can worry about me when we get through yours.''
The five days a week Mr. Weinstein has spent in Manhattan Criminal Court for the past month serve as a pretty good indication the issues are still being worked through.
When they started, Mr. Engelmayer did have experience in the field of crisis communications. In the 1990s, he worked for Democratic politicians. He later represented a range of Israeli and Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish Congress. But he knows that he got the job with Mr. Weinstein because no one higher on the call sheet said yes.
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