Ronan Farrow: I Was Spied on During Weinstein Investigation

The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow was followed and surveilled by private investigators during his investigation into disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, according to an excerpt from his upcoming book released Tuesday. 

“Hiring the agency was only a part of Weinstein’s larger effort to prevent the disclosure of the sexual-abuse claims. He also hired the private-investigation firm co-founded by Jack Palladino, who was best known for working to undermine women who had accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct,” Farrow writes in “Catch and Kill,” which describes his investigation of Weinstein and the producer’s attempts to spy on the many women who accused him of sexual assault and harassment, as well as Farrow and the other journalists investigating their claims.

“As a part of its work for Weinstein, Palladino’s firm created dossiers on both journalists and accusers. Under the guise of assembling research for a book about his company, Weinstein also hired some of his former employees to compile lists of targets and then contact the people on those lists. The lists included reporters at The New Yorker, the (New York) Times, and New York magazine; the actresses Rose McGowan, Rosanna Arquette, and Annabella Sciorra; and secondary sources who might be able to confirm those women’s stories,” Farrow writes.

Farrow writes that Weinstein hired Palladino and the private intelligence agencies Kroll and Black Cube to spy on his alleged victims and the journalists investigating. Black Cube reportedly hired the Russian private investigation firm InfoTactic to track Farrow’s movements.

Ukrainian private investigator Igor Ostrovskiy, who was hired by InfoTactic, eventually revealed the surveillance to Farrow and assisted his investigation after the publication of a story linking Weinstein to Black Cube.

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