00:00Because these stories have come to mean so much to so many people, we wanted to bring
00:07everybody else with us on this journey."
00:10The New York Times' Jodi Kantor and Megan Toohey stopped by The Late Show with Stephen
00:13Colbert to discuss their new book, She Said, breaking the sexual harassment story that
00:18helped ignite a movement and the after-effects of Me Too.
00:21The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who first broke the story on Harvey Weinstein,
00:25which led to Hollywood's crackdown on sexual misconduct, said the book is a detailed
00:29account of their behind-the-scenes experience exposing Weinstein and is shedding new light
00:34on those who enabled the disgraced Hollywood moguls' behavior, including the key sources
00:38who helped the duo break the story.
00:40Kantor and Toohey explained to Colbert that they wanted to tell their side of the story
00:44because there's still a lot more to the investigation than many were aware of.
00:48We needed to go back and find a way to share those secrets and to bring people through
00:53the process and really show you what we witnessed to bring you into our partnership.
00:58The reporters even revealed that Weinstein himself tried to stop the investigation, saying
01:03that he, quote, basically barged into The New York Times himself, surrounded by some of
01:07his lawyers and folders with information that he was hoping to use to smear his accusers.
01:12Weinstein is currently facing a criminal trial on charges of sexual assault and rape, pleading
01:17not guilty, and has denied ever having non-consensual sex.
01:20The two reporters admitted to Colbert that they had no idea of the reckoning that would follow
01:25once they published their investigative piece.
01:27All we knew at The New York Times in 2017 was that we were committed to investigating sexual
01:33harassment across a variety of industries, from Hollywood to Silicon Valley to the restaurant
01:39industry and even the auto plants.
01:42Colbert then mentioned the Me Too movement that followed, saying there was a massive amount of
01:46support, as well as critics that would say there have been casualties along the way.
01:50What we've seen in our reporting is that there's a kind of mounting sense of unfairness on both
01:54sides.
01:55And actually, I don't think anybody feels that our system works for the accused or the accusers.
02:03The host also noted that although their investigation and the Me Too movement brought on a much-needed
02:07sexual misconduct reckoning, it's interesting how President Donald Trump has still remained
02:12untouched, despite facing 17 accusations from women of inappropriate behavior, including
02:18sexual harassment or sexual assault allegations.
02:21When these allegations push into the political realm, whether it's a Democrat, whether it's
02:25a Republican, whether it's Trump, going back over the years, they quickly descend into
02:29holy war.
02:30For more on this story, head to THR.com.
02:33And until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
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