Harvey Weinstein allegedly used Cipriani bars, hotels and restaurants in the U.S. and abroad as a “hunting ground” to meet women according to a report by The Daily Beast published Sunday.
The Daily Beast‘s in-depth investigation that involved speaking to two dozen people takes a look at the two-decade relationship between the disgraced movie mogul and restaurant magnate and nightlife impresario Giuseppe Cipriani. The investigation found that the two men were exceptionally close, often dining and socializing together as well as investing in each other’s businesses, including the New York nightspot Cafe Socialista and the Beverly Hills hotel Mr. C.
Sources told the Daily Beast that the two men had similar interests, “they both liked power, money and beautiful women,” and that Weinstein would bring stars to Cipriani’s many businesses and Cipriani would introduce women to Weinstein.
Weinstein is accused of committing three sexual assaults at Cipriani properties, and is also facing another assault charge for allegedly raping a woman he met at Cipriani Upstairs, the private Manhattan nightclub, according to The Daily Beast report.
TV reporter Lauren Sivan told the Daily Beast that Weinstein’s relationship with Cipriani and his status within the restaurant group was crucial to the alleged attack the producer committed on her at the Cipriani part-owned Cafe Socialista in New York. Sivan told the Huffington Post last year that Weinstein allegedly masturbated into a potted plant in front of her at the nightspot.
Sivan said that Weinstein seemingly had free rein of Socialista, a venue in which he had also invested. “This was his hunting ground,” she told the Daily Beast.
The report also detailed how Weinstein was given preferential treatment and free rooms at other Cipriani properties around the world, which he allegedly used to entertain and entrap women. A source told the Daily Beast that Weinstein was given free rooms at Mr. C, and that the producer would offer free stays to celebrities at the hotel so that “if they stay there, he had control of the women.”
Weinstein also had free access to a rooftop suite at Mr. C in Beverly Hills, and he would take women there when his favored hotel, the Peninsula, was “too hot.” The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills is where the disgraced producer is alleged to have attacked dozens of women including Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow and others.
Along with Cipriani properties, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Weinstein had a network of luxury hotels around the world where he was given preferential treatment, including The Savoy in London, the Excelsior in Venice, the Ritz in Paris and the Adlon in Berlin.
