Bill Clinton helped Harvey Weinstein with Oscars campaigns: report

nypost.com:

old friend Bill Clinton to help him with his Oscar campaigns, a new book has claimed.Michael Schulman’s book “Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears” used sourcing from a former Miramax employee to dive deep into the disgraced producer’s Academy Award exploits.The anonymous staffer revealed that Weinstein, 70, asked Clinton, 76, for ideas to help promote Billy Bob Thornton’s 1996 film “Sling Blade,” according to an excerpt shared by IndieWire.

Ultimately, Thornton scored a nomination for Best Actor a year later and won Best Adapted Screenplay for penning the script, which was set in Clinton’s native Arkansas.“I was so appalled that the president of the United States would spend half an hour with us on the phone,” the Miramax worker alleged. “I lost all respect for him well before Monica Lewinsky, because I could see how much access the Clintons were giving to Harvey.”The then 49-year-old president infamously sparked outrage among Americans when it was revealed he had a mid-’90s affair with then 22-year-old White House intern Lewinsky, launching the late Ken Starr’s investigation that led to Clinton’s 1998 impeachment.Clinton and Weinstein reportedlhy became friends in the late 1990s after vacationing together in Martha’s Vineyard.The Weinstein Company founder wanted the Arkansas native to give him “tips on Thornton’s Oscar campaign,” per the new book.When the filmmaker’s project “Shakespeare in Love” unleashed their Oscars crusade in 1998, Clinton’s wife Hillary even gave a speech congratulating Weinstein right before the drama’s premiere.A promo for the Gwyneth Paltrow flick also aired during Barbara Walters’ TV interview with Lewinsky at the time.