Where the Men Taken Down With Harvey by #MeToo Are Now

Harvey Weinstein, whose New York rape conviction was just overturned, may have been the biggest #MeToo villain. But there are plenty of other bold-faced names in that rogue’s gallery. In the space of a couple of years, powerhouses of the entertainment, media, culinary, and political worlds would find themselves in disgrace as accusers came forward with stories of harassment, discrimination, and worse.

Despite this week’s court ruling, Weinstein is still behind bars, serving 16-years for a Los Angeles rape conviction. Here’s a look at where some of the other men and their comeback attempts have ended up:

Kevin Spacey

The “House of Cards” star was accused of sexual misconduct in October 2017, when fellow actor Antony Rapp claimed he sexually assaulting him at a 1986 party when he was just 14 years old. Rapp’s allegations in a Buzzfeed article prompted at least 15 men and women to bring forth similar accusations against the Oscar winner. Spacey was booted from House of Cards, his other film work was halted, and his publicist and talent agency dropped him.

He dodged criminal prosecution in the U.S. after two potential cases in Los Angeles and Massachusetts crumbled. In 2022, he was found not liable in Rapp’s federal lawsuit against him, and a year later, he was acquitted of sexual assault charges in London.

Freed of all legal and civil claims, Spacey has been on the path to redemption. He received a lifetime achievement award at the National Museum of Cinema in January 2023 and has been cast in various films—including Peter Five Eight. In October, he received a standing ovation at the University of Oxford Cancel Culture lecture after performing a brief scene from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. However, not everyone is on the comeback bandwagon: Around the same time, a London theater withdrew its offer to host the premiere of Spacey’s film, “Control.” In December 2023, Spacey posted a video in which he portrayed his House of Cards character while in conversation with Tucker Carlson.

Charlie Rose

In November 2017, eight women accused the longtime television host of sexual misconduct across decades in a Washington Post expose. CBS immediately suspended him from their morning show, and PBS and Bloomberg halted the distribution of his nightly interview show, Charlie Rose—with all three news outlets terminating their contracts with Rose.

Rose denied the specific allegations of wrongdoing, but issued an apology for any “inappropriate behavior” during his tenure and accepted responsibility for acting “insensitively at times.” A year later, 27 more women accused Rose of sexual harassment, and his former makeup artist sued him for verbal harassment in a 2019 case that is still pending.

A 2018 Hollywood Reporter profile described Rose as “broken” and “lonely” after the scandal and he faded from the public eye for years. But as The Daily Beast reported last August, Rose is quietly working on a second act that started with a 75-minute interview with Warren Buffett on his website in April 2022 under the title Charlie Rose Conversations. He has done 24 episodes since, the latest one a February interview with controversial author Michael Wolff.

“This is an interesting time in the affairs of the world, and I hope to be part of the conversation,” he told The Daily Beast.

Matt Lauer

The Today co-host was fired by NBC in November 2017 after a female employee filed a complaint alleging he sexually assaulted her at the 2014 Winter Olympics. At least six former and current colleagues went on to accuse Lauer of misconduct, and one former Today production assistant alleged he abused his power when they had a June 2000 sexual relationship. In a statement after he was canned, Lauer apologized for his actions but called some of the accusations “untrue or mischaracterized.”

Since the allegations torpedoed his career and his marriage, after his wife of twenty years filed for divorce in 2019, Larer shunned the limelight for a time. His high-profile friends, including former co-host Katie Couric, cut ties with him and People reported that he is living “a very quiet lifestyle.”

Still, it seems Lauer is hoping that his exile won’t be permanent. In February, he was reportedly looking into a podcast comeback, but sources told The Daily Beast that talks stalled. He has also been stepping out on the town with a new girlfriend, appearing at a Hamptons gala and Don Lemon’s New York wedding in April.

Mark Halperin

Political journalist Mark Halperin’s career went into freefall in October 2017 after women accused him of sexual harassment while he was at ABC News. He denied the claims and apologized in a statement for pursuing “relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me.”

But the damage was done. He was fired from Showtime Networks, where he co-starred in The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, and from MSNBC and NBC as senior political analyst. Soon after, HBO announced it would no longer pursue a planned presidential election miniseries based on Halprin’s then-upcoming book on the 2016 election.

Halperin has attempted to restart his career multiple times since then. The Daily Beast reported in 2019 that he tried to enlist the help of former colleagues, including Michael Smerconish and Joe Scarborough, to kickstart a professional rehabilitation campaign. After a few failed attempts at rehabbing his career, including a political blog, he joined right-wing Newsmax as a contributor and host of its Sunday show, Mark Halperin’s Focus Group.

Mario Batali

Mario Batali, restaurateur and former Food Network star, was accused in December 2017 of sexual harassment and assault by four women in an Eater investigation. The next day, four more women came forward with similar allegations—and even more in a May 2018 60 Minutes investigation, that aired allegations he groped a seemingly unconscious woman in the VIP area of The Spotted Pig.

Batali stepped away from operations of his restaurants, including New York’s Babbo, and was suspended—and later fired—from ABC’s The Chew. The Food Network cut ties with Batali and Target stopped selling his pasta sauces and cookbooks. In 2019, Batali sold his minority ownership in Eataly.

The NYPD declined to press charges against Batali, who has denied the accusations. In May 2022, he was acquitted of indecent assault and battery charges pressed by a woman who alleged Batali groped her at a Boston bar in 2017.

Batali, too, is trying to make a comeback. In December, he launched a virtual $50-a-head cooking class, “Molto A Casa” from his Michigan home, according to the New York Post.

Louis C.K.

Rumors about Louis C.K. 's behavior toward women were whispered in comedy circles for years, but a November 2017 New York Times article about sexual misconduct allegations from five women—including one woman who said he offered to masturbate in front of her—exploded into the public consciousness.

He immediately ’fessed up to his crimes, telling the Times that “these stories are true” and that he initially thought “it was OK because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first.” In the resulting scandal, his film I Love You, Daddy was canceled, he was dropped from several networks, removed from an HBO comedy special, and dropped by his manager. In 2018, he revealed that the fallout cost him about $35 million in lost income.

Nevertheless, he has joked his way back onto the comedy scene. In 2018, he appeared at the Comedy Cellar, reportedly to a standing ovation—and has been performing since. In 2021, he announced a tour and a new stand-up special. The next year, he won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, and last January performed at a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.

Al Franken

The former comedian turned U.S. senator from Minnesota was among the first men in political power to be caught up in the MeToo movement. In November 2017, radio broadcaster Leeann Tweeden alleged in a blog post that Franken forced a kiss during a 2006 USO tour skit rehearsal. Soon after, a photo circulated online of Franken holding his hands above Tweeden’s breasts while she was asleep.

Franken apologized to Tweeden for the photo, and she accepted. But he resigned under pressure from Democratic colleagues after seven more women accused him of inappropriate behavior. (He later said in 2022 that he regretted resigning from the Senate and may one day run again.)

Franken kept a low profile until May 2019, when he launched “The Al Franken Podcast.” Since then, he has done stand-up at the Comedy Cellar, performed a non-comedic show in Massachusetts, and guest-hosted “The Daily Show.” Franken announced in February he is set to play a senator in the forthcoming Netflix series, The Residence.

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