Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

A disturbing read, but not a surprising one. With the pacing of a thriller writer, Ronan Farrow recounts the story behind first his investigation into Harvey Weinstein's career of sexual assault, harassment, and bullying, and NBC News' attempt to block the findings of that investigation and of other ones into the assaults committed by Matt Lauer and other NBC staff. Farrow's journalistic experiences do fit quite naturally into the thriller genre—he was, after all, being digitally and physically surveilled by a cut-throat international private espionage firm hired by Weinstein.

Some other parts of the story feel like a less natural fit. The scenes where Farrow recounts the effects which the stress of it all had on his relationship with show more his boyfriend have a slightly queasy feel, as if the result of an editor's red pen telling Farrow that he needs to humanise himself more. This is not to discount the very clear toll that his work took on Farrow and on his family, but he would clearly much rather that the book remain focused on the survivors, the abusers, and their enablers. There are depressingly many in the latter two camps.

Catch and Kill is an indictment of predators and the people who cover for them (whether out of fear, greed, or misogyny) that will leave you wanting a shower once you've finished reading—all the more so because its publication hasn't brought anything to a close. Neither Weinstein nor Lauer are in jail; Noah Oppenheim and his ilk are still in charge at NBC; and the patterns of complicity that Farrow lays out here prevail in so many other industries. show less

***NO SPOILERS***

“Catch and kill” is a term from the tabloid world that refers to tabloids’ purchase of scandalous stories with the express intent of burying them. Ronan Farrow used the term more generally here as he detailed the accusations of abuse surrounding Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Donald Trump.* Countless people “caught and killed” to protect these men.

This book does three things well, pulling them together to paint a complete picture of what happened behind the scenes: It details the stories of abuse; it illustrates how power is abused and how common that is; and it highlights the extensive protections afforded those who are powerful, beloved, influential, or a combination of these. Had these men been regular show more joes, they would have been caught earlier (although not necessarily punished accordingly, or at all). They are just three of many famous figures accused of hideous crimes, but what happened with them can be applied to so many of the others. With great power comes the benefit of the doubt, denial, and protection.

Throughout my reading, what stood out to me was Harvey Weinstein’s bizarrely wide reach; the man had friends and supporters everywhere. He was involved in politics, charities, and a large percentage of movies made. He had many contacts in the legal world and even the fashion world. Farrow was double-crossed more than once because he confided in someone he assumed didn’t know Weinstein, or knew him but didn’t support him. Weinstein’s contacts everywhere most definitely helped protect him—directly and indirectly.

On the greater level, I was struck by how much those close to Weinstein, Lauer, and Trump bent over backward to protect them. This is where the subtitle of Catch and Kill comes in. Spies scared victims into silence (and attempted to with Farrow); endless lies from lawyers and coworkers protected the perpetrators; and a huge network of people conspired to suppress the stories. The litigation teams were stunningly ruthless, terrorizing victims and doing everything in their power to thwart Farrow’s investigation.

Ironclad non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) figured prominently in these stories as they were used liberally to shut up victims forever. I’ve been frustrated over the years to note that many people think that when victims are “paid off,” it’s proof that victims were blackmailing the perpetrator. This book explains how this reasoning is wrong. The NDA preserves the perpetrator’s reputation while allowing for continued abuse.

Readers who think they already know all about the abuses need to think again. Behind the scenes, so much happened that news outlets wouldn’t have the space to report on, if they even wanted to. It took this meticulous 448-page book to do that. Additionally, as a (now former) employee of NBC, Farrow was in the unusual position to be able to speak from an insider’s point of view. He interacted with Matt Lauer, who was a kind of mentor, and was close to the bigwigs protecting him. His characterization went a long way toward making Catch and Kill page-turning.

I do have one criticism that concerns crucial word choice. At least two times, Farrow used the word “consent” or “consensual,” saying something along the lines of, “The interactions eventually became consensual…” Given the power differential in the encounters, the perpetrator’s harassing persistence, and the victim’s fear of extensive retribution, she never consented. He means she relented. She resigned herself to the situation. She surrendered.

Nevertheless, Catch and Kill is superb, thorough, dedicated to the truth. I admire Farrow’s courage and greatly respect his personal ethics. He worked to exhaustion every day for months to expose these scandals, eventually getting the story published in The New Yorker. And although The New York Times broke the story before The New Yorker, Farrow was the one who began investigating first and refused to back down despite significant obstacles. Really, given the numerous roadblocks, it’s astonishing these accusations ever came to light.

Anyone with the slightest interest in these cases will want to read Catch and Kill. This may be the definitive work on what happened.

*Focused on in that order. Farrow devoted most attention to Weinstein, then Lauer, then Trump.

Read-alike: [b:She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement|44767249|She Said Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement|Jodi Kantor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573830483l/44767249._SY75_.jpg|69397793]

Complementary viewing: The documentary "Untouchable"

Update, March 4, 2020: Shame on Hachette. Ronan Farrow Cuts Ties With Publisher Hachette Over Woody Allen Memoir show less

Gripping and enormously difficult at the same time. Also, often, absurd. The enormity of the networks in which men like Weinstein and Trump move and hide is staggering, and at the same time, the individual foibles of these men, and the people who helped them--their egos, their prurience, their certainty that money and power really can make anything disappear--all of that lends itself to a rich and ridiculous tapestry that almost makes you forget what's at the center of this story (these stories, this unending matryoshka doll of stories). Farrow doesn't forget it though, and he doesn't let you either. I can't write in any real way what reading the accounts these women give felt like, as a survivor. It's bigger than belongs on Goodreads, show more at the very least.

I did laugh at the National Enquirer's brief period of constantly soliciting dick pics from Ronan Farrow. show less

There isn't a whole lot that can be said about CATCH AND KILL that hasn't been said by numerous glowing reviews already, so I'll keep it brief.

If you thought you closely followed everything with Weinstein (and Matt Lauer, and several other offenders mentioned in this book), allow CATCH AND KILL to prove you wrong. The scandals and cover ups go so deep. Incredibly, horrifyingly deep, in fact. It's the stuff you want to think only exists in fiction, which is exactly how this book reads, like a crime thriller. That's not something you want to be able to say about events that actually happened.

Farrow makes it a point to say he doesn't want this story to be about him, but I do admire the amount of dedication and courage it took to see it show more through. Even more importantly, I admire the courage of the victims to speak out even at a great personal cost.

Overall, an extremely important, well done book. Highly recommended. show less

Although non-fiction, it reads like & has the pacing of a thriller. I sped through the pages. Fortunately, I had the benefit of hindsight in knowing that Weinstein was convicted & has been sent to jail (at least temporarily). His sentencing is Wednesday & he faces up to 29 years in jail.

While quite a bit of the story is public now & you are probably familiar w/ lots of it, the book provides so many more details. Not only is it infuriating to read about the multiple assaults & rapes, but also the pervasive culture of cover-up among the rich/powerful/political/media. For Pete's sake, there was an undercover investigative group w/ Mossad training who worked on a psy-ops & smearing campaign to discredit victims & journalists working on the show more story. And that's just one piece of many. Weinstein's friendships & area of influence & bribery were so vast that even the prosecuter's office (at one point) was ok looking the other way. The sheer level of complicity & cover-up is just staggering. Staggering.

I, of course, applaud the victims who have come forward to share their stories & to help pursue finding justice. I applaud Ronan Farrow & his NBC producer, Rich McHugh, for sticking with the story through threats & more, ultimately ensuring the story made it to the public. Farrow's legal background w/ his journalistic chops make him a formidable & fierce force to be reckoned with. I can only hope he continues to pursue the hard stories like this one during a long, long career.

It's pretty obvious that there are many, many more guilty parties. Many more people need to go on trial & head to jail. Weinstein's case is just the tip of the iceberg. show less

If it were fiction, I’d call Catch and Kill a tightly plotted psychological thriller with twists and turns so crazy it will make your hair stand on end. The fact that it’s nonfiction is horrifying.

Ronan Farrow’s reporting is excellent: candid, precise, empathetic. It is also so devastatingly heartbreaking I’ve been able to think of little else since finishing the book.

So good. So necessary. So pantshittingly scary…

What a story. Want to hate the patriarchy and doubt television news even more? This is your book. Farrow lived and breathed this story, and his experience is chilling and fascinating. Farrow never makes this about him, its about the women, but a lot of people were trying to shoot the messenger and that story needs telling too. Impossible to stop listening. Btw Farrow reads and does it well.