BOOK REVIEW
If Truth Won’t Out, Break Down the Door Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, by Ronan Farrow (Little Brown & Co., 2019). Reviewed by Emma Trombetta
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onan Farrow’s explosive reporting on sexual harassment in Hollywood shook the world when it first appeared in the New Yorker in 2017. In his newest book, Farrow continues to upend the system of serial predators, abuse of power, and the lengths to which these predators will go to cover their crimes. Catch and Kill, published in 2019, two years after Farrow’s article in the New Yorker, details the bravery of the women sources who stepped forward when they had everything to lose in order to expose crimes, coverups, and the institutionalization of sexual misconduct that for too long has been accepted as the norm.
the allegations by the book’s sources are often accompanied by corroboration and evidence, as well as put through an intense factchecking process to the standards of the New Yorker, which has one of the most rigorous vetting standards in journalism. Catch and Kill is the story of brave whistleblowers and the work those whistleblowers are doing to dismantle the system that silences women. The mass network of people who aid and abet predators, the complicit eyewitnesses, and the powerful people covering it all up are just some of the most shocking parts of this book. “It sends a message about who we are as a society, what we’ll overlook, who we’ll ignore, who matters and who doesn’t.” (33)
After attending college at age 11 and graduating at age 15, Ronan Farrow went on to Yale Law School and passed the New York State Bar. Before writing Catch and Kill, Farrow served at the State Department in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and authored his first book War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence. He also recently completed a PhD in political science from Oxford where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Farrow is currently a contributing writer for The New Yorker where his investigative reporting has won a Pulitzer Prize for public service, the National Magazine Award, and the George Polk Award.
Throughout the book, Farrow’s own bosses, including current NBC News President Noah Oppenheim and former NBC News chairman Andy Lack, actively suppress Farrow and his producing partner Rich McHugh’s reporting in an effort to keep the story from seeing the light of day. Former editor-in-chief at American Media Inc. Dylan Howard and the Enquirer inspire the title of the book with their pattern of buying stories exposing powerful men just to make sure they are never published. Men like the 45th president of the United State of America, according to Farrow. As revealed in Catch and Kill, countless lawyers are employed Harvey Weinstein to pressure survivors into signing non-disclosure agreements, burying their claims in exchange for payment. Employees from Weinstein’s own company come forward, in the book, to tell of the predatory pattern of behavior they witnessed from Weinstein and how some employees were even used to lure women in or keep them silent afterwards. Note, these institutions are not just upheld by abusers themselves; they are held up by every single person who allows the abusive behavior to continue without speaking out.
Catch and Kill is an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism that found the world when the world needed it most. Though the #MeToo movement began in 2006, it reignited the airways in 2017 following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein. This book is highly accessible and appeals to the general public because sexual harassment is an issue that plagues more than just Hollywood. Within the pages of Catch and Kill, sexual harassment is exposed in household name companies like NBC and beyond, and sexual harassment continues to be a prevalent issue in contemporary workplaces.
When I speak of these institutions, I am referring to the institutions of discrimination suggested in the Political Economy view of gender inequality. These are institutions that harbor predators with impunity and allow survivors to be silenced and facing the effects of their trauma alone. Not only are individual cases of sexual harassment and abuse a part of institutional discrimination, but the network of people complicit in those acts and covering up those acts as just as much a part of the problem. Even where there are not explicit instances of quid pro quo harassment, people turning the other cheek or actively covering things up create a hostile work environment for survivors. Acknowledging these institutions is the first step to eliminating them.
Throughout the investigation, Farrow is confronted by powerful people claiming he cannot report fairly on the sexual abuse claims against Weinstein due to the well-known allegations of sexual abuse made by Farrow’s sister, Dylan, against their father Woody Allen. It is also revealed that Allen, being a Hollywood director, has made movies in connection with Harvey Weinstein’s company. These facts are held against Farrow to try and quash his reporting, both by Farrow’s bosses at NBC and in a surreal comic book-villain manner by Weinstein himself who claimed, “you couldn’t save someone you love, and now you think you can save everyone.” Farrow, however, is extremely straightforward in his reporting, and 30
“For all the women, the incident had been gross, but unremarkable: they’d all come up in the business with this kind of behavior from men.” (175)
continue upending these institutions and spend each day battling against discrimination until it is truly evident that it is not just all men who are created equal, but everyone.
Other elements of Farrow’s investigation align with the Political Economy view as well. For example, like in many companies across the country, most of the positions of power in Hollywood are held by men. Most directors are men, most studio executives are men, and the highest paid actors on set are most often men. Women lack representation in positions of power and therefore new actresses and Hollywood admin struggle to find female mentors with whom they can connect.
Emma Trombetta is a senior with a dual major in Economics and Linguistics at Hofstra University. REGIONAL LABOR REVIEW, vol. 23, no.2 (Spring/Summer 2021). © 2021 Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy, Hofstra University
Another aspect of the Political Economy view of gender inequality is the existence of non-competitive economic forces. In Hollywood, Weinstein’s influence was ubiquitous. So much so that he essentially had a monopoly’s grip on the industry. For example, as reported in Catch and Kill, it took one call from Weinstein to prevent two of his alleged victims, who are actresses, from receiving parts in a big blockbuster movie. Peter Jackson is cited admitting that when he considered casting the two women, Weinstein “[told] us they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs.” (239) There were very few places in Hollywood in which Weinstein could not exert some sort of control. The sources in Catch and Kill face sexual harassment in their workplace, obstructions of justice when they do report, aggressive legal action in attempt to conceal their story, double agents leaking their information to their abuser, having to retraumatize themselves to explain their stories to reporters, those reporters then being suppressed by powerful people, their credibility tarnished in public by people working for their abuser, and the long-term trauma from being berated and blamed. It sounds unbelievable. Believe it. The evidence presented in Catch and Kill is overwhelming. From eyewitnesses to physical recordings of misconduct, Farrow puts to bed the framing that these stories are fabricated. After being pushed out of NBC news, Farrow finds a home for this reporting at the New Yorker, but it begs the question: how many other journalists tried to investigate this story but were suppressed by higher ups? One guess: it is more than the few mentioned in these pages. The truth is that no amount of exposure or legal repercussions will ever fully heal the trauma that these survivors experienced, which is why it is clear that this kind of behavior needs to be addressed and confronted before more women are victimized. “’We have all spent decades trying to put this thing behind us… You’re smart, you’re talented, you have so many other things you can do,’ I said. ‘But I can’t. Because it’s always there,’ she said” (190) This kind of abuse of power and gender inequality harms us all. Without these courageous sources and ceaseless investigative reporters like Farrow, we would not even know the extent of the damage caused by these institutions. The impetus is on us to 31
