Inside the luxury exiles of Harvey Weinstein and the men of #MeToo

Where is Harvey Weinstein?
Cate Blanchett has joined the ranks of his accusers, telling entertainment website Variety she wants to see him behind bars: “Statutory rape is a crime, last time I looked.”
The Australian star’s words echoed those of actress Jennifer Lawrence, who told 60 Minutes in February, “I want to see him in jail.”
Instead, seven months after investigations by The New York Times revealed dozens of allegations of sexual harassment and assault against the Hollywood mogul, he has settled into a new life in the desert.
Living mostly in Arizona, Weinstein, 66, reportedly rises early to check in with his lawyers then ambles down to a juice shop for a green detox mix of kale and cucumber.
During his exile from Hollywood’s inner circle, the father of five has “lived with a roommate who was his sponsor during a truncated stint in sex rehab”, according to the Times.
His #MeToo ‘jail’ is a furnished apartment in a modern complex next to “a mid-range shopping mall”, local residents said.
Weinstein’s juice runs may have been less zen than usual this week.
Before Blanchett spoke out, actress Ashley Judd filed a lawsuit against him on April 30, claiming he “torpedoed” her career after she rejected his advances.
The next day, Alexandra Canosa, an associate producer on Netflix series Marco Polo, also sued Weinstein alleging he raped and physically and verbally assaulted her multiple times between 2010 and 2015.
He is also facing additional civil suits, including a class action filed against the Weinstein Company for violating racketeering laws in conspiring to cover up Weinstein’s alleged serial sexual misconduct.
Through a spokesperson, the Miramax co-founder has repeatedly denied “any allegations of non-consensual sex”.
In March, reports claimed Weinstein was “on the verge of arrest” by the NYPD. Many of his accusers have asked why it is yet to happen.
Instead, as his empire and reputation crumbled, Weinstein – and other powerful men accused of sexual harassment or assault – has served his time in social and professional purgatory bunkered down in what have been dubbed “#MeToo gulags”.
After settling his divorce from Georgina Chapman for an estimated $20 million, Weinstein has abandoned his New York townhouse and Hollywood cottage for the dry landscapes of Scottsdale, Arizona.
In January, while he was eating at the luxe Elements restaurant at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort in Arizona’s Paradise Valley, Weinstein was punched in the face by another diner, TMZ reported.
Wearing a black T-shirt and fedora, he has also been spotted at a fancy Italian restaurant in Scottsdale and a café in Phoenix.
In March a spokesman said Weinstein had sought treatment for sex addiction at a number of US locations, including Gentle Path at The Meadows in Arizona.
A 45-day stint at the centre, which is big on meditation and tai chi, costs $77,000 but Weinstein reportedly failed to stay the course.
Meanwhile, after being fired by NBC in November when multiple women accused him of years of harassment and serious abuse, former Today host Matt Lauer committed himself to “soul-searching”.
That meant spending months at one of his compounds in the Hamptons, often described as a playground of the rich and famous.
Lauer, 60, bought waterfront Strongheart Manor from Richard Gere for $44 million in 2016. The 2.5-hectare gated estate has 12 bedrooms and bathrooms, an 18-metre heated pool, an “island-inspired” teahouse and a private dock.
Also choosing a water vista, former CBS and PBS anchorman Charlie Rose, 76, decamped to his “sanctuary”, a mansion in Long Island, last year after he was accused by multiple women who worked for him of walking around in an open bathrobe.
Rose “enjoys panoramic views of the water from his house and can see Fire Island in the distance”, the Hollywood Reporter said, adding Rose has made “occasional, mostly disastrous forays into Manhattan”.
As to whether the luxe exiles will turn into prison bars, “as frustrating as it is, and in some ways undermining of the #MeToo movement, one has to really let the criminal process take its course”, professor of law at New York Law School Rebecca Roiphe said.