A self-confessed spy has admitted helping Harvey Weinstein secretly investigate 91 people as part of his sex abuse case — including numerous “actors and actresses” like rape-accuser Rose McGowan.
Former Israel Defense Forces member Seth Freedman says he worked for intelligence firm Black Cube to help the panicked movie mogul investigate potential accusers he feared were ready to speak out.
Weinstein wanted covert ops on just five people when he approached the secretive firm in 2016 — a number that exploded to 91, including “actors and actresses,” Freedman told the BBC.
Weinstein paid “a seven-figure sum” to Black Cube, which in return “gathered huge amounts of intelligence” for him, Freedman told The Times of London.
The former journalist would then trick his subjects into giving long interviews by pretending to still work for his old UK newspaper, The Guardian, he admitted.
After getting them to open up, he would pass along the often painfully personal details to Black Cube and ultimately Weinstein, giving the producer crucial warning of what could come to light, he said.
That included former “Charmed” star McGowan, now 50, who gave Freedman a 75-minute phone interview assuming it would lead to a large, heartfelt life-story profile in The Guardian, he said.
McGowan admitted to Freedman during their chat that she planned to break a settlement she signed with Weinstein to instead open up in detail about her alleged rape in her then-upcoming memoir, “Brave,” tapes of the interview given to the BBC show.
The trickery was at the heart of a lawsuit McGowan filed in Los Angeles federal court last October against Weinstein, two of his ex-attorneys and Black Cube.
“This case is about a diabolical and illegal effort by one of America’s most powerful men and his representatives to silence sexual assault victims,” her suit alleged. The firm’s role could also play a part in Harvey’s current rape trial.
Freedman remained unapologetic for his involvement in the shady ops blasted by his target.
“I don’t feel guilty about anything I did for Black Cube,” he told the BBC.
“My job is to get a piece of information that isn’t freely available, and as long as I stay within the letter of the law, I’m not worried about your ethics when you judge me,” he insisted.
“I don’t need to sit and stare down the camera and say, ‘I’m so guilty; I’m so sorry’ — because I’m not.”
He insisted there was “no intimidation, no silencing, no harassing” in his work, saying, “All of those things would be illegal, and none of those things happened.”
He insisted he did not owe McGowan an apology for tricking her into opening up about her painful allegations just to help the man she accuses of attacking her.
“I don’t care if people wanna sit and sermonize and say, ‘That’s so awful, she was a survivor’ — I’m totally neutral about the whole thing,” Freedman told the BBC.
Such spying campaigns are now “the new normal,” Freedman insisted to the UK Times, saying his work only appears tarred by the subject matter.
“Had McGowan hired Black Cube to find out what Weinstein was saying about her, they would have been the heroes of the day,” he argued. “For my part, I would have done the same job for her as I did for Weinstein.”
The Brit said that he served for 15 months in a combat unit of the Israel defense forces, before returning home to work for five years at The Guardian. His first taste of spying came when he was hired by a shipping tycoon to probe rival ship-owners, he said.
Saying he does spy work on a “case-by-case basis,” Freedman insisted he no longer works for Black Cube. However, “You’ve got no idea if I’m telling the truth,” he said.
Weinstein is charged with two counts of predatory sex assault, two counts of rape and one count of criminal sex act stemming from the allegations of three women.
Jury selection started last week and openings in the trial are slated to begin Jan. 22.
If convicted, the former Hollywood producer — who now limps back and forth to court with a walker — faces up to life in prison.