Ronan Farrow says Harvey Weinstein 'hired spies to suppress sexual harassment stories'

Farrow details alleged surveillance in his book 'Catch and Kill'

Harvey Weinstein leaves court after his arraignment on 26 August, 2019 in New York City. (Getty)

Ronan Farrow has alleged that he was subjected to extensive surveillance by spies as part of efforts to stifle his investigation into sweeping allegations of sexual harassment made against Harvey Weinstein.

The journalist details the alleged surveillance in an excerpt of his upcoming book about the Weinstein scandal, Catch and Kill, published by The New Yorker on Monday.

In the excerpt, Farrow says Weinstein and his lawyers allegedly “hired Black Cube, an Israeli private-intelligence agency”, as reporters began looking into the Weinstein allegations in October 2016. He singles out Black Cube, an Israeli private intelligence agency that he says Weinstein and his counsel allegedly hired.

Farrow has previously discussed Weinstein’s alleged resort to private investigators in the lead-up to the 2017 scandal, but this new excerpt sheds light in more detail on how the surveillance allegedly unfolded.

“Black Cube, whose staff included former members of Mossad and other Israeli intelligence and military agencies, specialised in deception, including the use of front companies and operatives with false identities,” Farrow writes.

He adds: “Hiring the agency was only a part of Weinstein’s larger effort to prevent the disclosure of the sexual-abuse claims.” Farrow goes on to say that another private-investigation agency allegedly ”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 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,” he adds.

Farrow says two men, one Russian and one Ukrainian, were allegedly hired by Black Cube as subcontractors and would allegedly meet “at dawn” near his apartment building in the summer of 2017 (Farrow’s reporting of the allegations against Weinstein was published in October of that same year). He says one of the men would allegedly follow him if he left his home, while another kept surveying his flat.

Weinstein has denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.

The Independent has contacted Weinstein’s counsel and Black Cube for comment.