REVEALED: How NBC execs turned down Ronan Farrow's explosive Harvey Weinstein story that began an avalanche of Hollywood accusations and why he told his sister NOT to write op-ed accusing dad Woody Allen of child abuse
- Ronan Farrow said Harvey Weinstein's team tried to sue him when he started investigating the sex harassment allegations
- The 29-year-old was working for NBC News when he was assigned the story
- Farrow obtained an audio recording of Weinstein harassing actress Ambra Gutierrez in 2015
- He said he managed to get other actresses to go on the record but NBC executives decided the story needed more work
- They eventually decided not to proceed with the story, prompting Farrow to take it to the New Yorker
- Farrow also opened up about how he tried to convince his older sister Dylan not to write a New York Times op-ed in 2014
Journalist Ronan Farrow has opened up on how NBC passed on his explosive Harvey Weinstein story, which resulted in an avalanche of sexual abuse allegations being leveled against the Hollywood producer.
The 29-year-old told CBS News Sunday Morning that Weinstein's team had tried to sue him when he started investigating the sex allegations.
'When Harvey Weinstein threatened to sue me, it was like the scene in Harry Potter where an invitation to Hogwarts is coming in through every window and fireplace and every opening in the house,' Farrow said.
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![Ronan Farrow opened up on how NBC passed on his explosive Harvey Weinstein story, which resulted in an avalanche of sexual abuse allegations being leveled against the producer](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220213858/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/26/23/46B9070100000578-5119619-image-a-3_1511739192894.jpg)
Ronan Farrow opened up on how NBC passed on his explosive Harvey Weinstein story, which resulted in an avalanche of sexual abuse allegations being leveled against the producer
Farrow was working for NBC News when he was assigned the story last year after he obtained an audio recording of Weinstein harassing actress Ambra Gutierrez in 2015.
He said he managed to get other actresses to go on the record about various Weinstein allegations but NBC executives decided the story needed more work.
They eventually decided not to proceed with the story, prompting Farrow to take it to the New Yorker where it was eventually published in October this year.
'In terms of the gravity of the evidence, it would've been impossible for me to live with myself or answer to any of the many women I had already interviewed if I had stopped,' he said.
The New Yorker's editor David Remnick told CBS he immediately said yes to the story when Farrow pitched it.
Remnick said he had been aware of Weinstein allegations for 15 years. One of his reporters Ken Auletta had been working on a similar story but he couldn't get any of his accusers to go public with the allegations.
Farrow appeared to mock NBC News last week for refusing to run his expose on the allegations by posting a photo of one of his interviews with an accuser.
![Farrow appeared to mock NBC News last week for refusing to run his expose on the allegations by posting a photo of one of his interviews with an accuser a year ago](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220213858/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/26/23/46AA79F000000578-5119619-Journalist_Ronan_Farrow_mocked_NBC_News_for_refusing_to_run_his_-a-4_1511739358662.jpg)
Farrow appeared to mock NBC News last week for refusing to run his expose on the allegations by posting a photo of one of his interviews with an accuser a year ago
![Farrow, who is the son of actress Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, said Weinstein's team of powerful lawyers had tried to sue him](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220213858/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/26/23/46B913D300000578-5119619-image-m-6_1511739400823.jpg)
Farrow, who is the son of actress Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, said Weinstein's team of powerful lawyers had tried to sue him
'Thankful for the women and men who have come forward with painful stories and helped to chip away at a culture of silence. When I sat down for this interview almost a year ago, the world was a different place,' he wrote alongside the photo.
Farrow, who is the son of actress Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, said Weinstein's team of powerful lawyers had tried to sue him.
The journalist had also revealed in a second bombshell story that lengths Weinstein and his team would go to silence the accusers.
Farrow said growing up in the spotlight was an advantage for him because Weinstein couldn't easily discredit him.
'It was perhaps an unexpected advantage in one sense that any dirt that could be uncovered on me had already lived in the tabloids for my entire life, which is a painful and unpleasant thing,' he said.
![Farrow said growing up in the spotlight was an advantage for him because Weinstein and his team of powerful lawyers couldn't easily discredit him](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220213858/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/26/23/46B8DD3700000578-5119619-image-a-7_1511739427458.jpg)
Farrow said growing up in the spotlight was an advantage for him because Weinstein and his team of powerful lawyers couldn't easily discredit him
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220213858/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/26/23/46B913DB00000578-5119619-image-a-14_1511739486339.jpg)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220213858/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/26/23/46B913B100000578-5119619-image-m-13_1511739481434.jpg)
Farrow also opened up about how he tried to convince his older sister Dylan not to write a New York Times op-ed in 2014 that repeated the sexual abuse allegations she made against their father Woody Allen as a child
'But in this case, it meant that there were really no surprises to uncover when there were any efforts to discredit me.'
Farrow also opened up about how he tried to convince his older sister Dylan not to write a New York Times op-ed in 2014 that repeated the sexual abuse allegations she made against their father Woody Allen as a child.
'Those are painful family experiences that I, for many years, tried to outrun and avoid,' Farrow said.
'(Woody Allen) has always denied it, has gone very directly after any woman proximate to it - huge, huge public relations apparatus designed to do that.'
He said he tried to 'vigorously' talk his sister out of writing the op-ed.
'I tried to talk her out of it vigorously, saying, 'Stay quiet. You know, you've already lived through this trauma. Why bring it up again? Why hurt your career? Why hurt the rest of our careers?',' he said.
'You know, the logic she articulated to me had a lot in common with the logic raised by women speaking out against Harvey Weinstein. She wanted to make sure that other women were protected.'
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