"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" To Take on Harvey Weinstein Scandal
by Denise Petski
November 22, 2017


No big surprise here, but NBC’s "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", known for its use of “ripped from the headlines” storylines, will use the Harvey Weinstein scandal as inspiration for an episode later this season.

However, the episode won’t be set in the entertainment biz; it will focus on the airline industry.




Executive producer Michael Chernuchin told Entertainment Weekly, which first reported the Weinstein storyline, that the writers decided instead to explore the “boys club” of airline pilots. “It’s a real important episode about the rape culture in an industry,” he said, “and we wanted to try stretch the law to criminalize that sort of environment.”

"SVU" writers were already working on the storyline when the Weinstein scandal broke.

http://deadline.com/2017/11/law-order-special-victims-unit-harvey-weinstein-scandal-episode-1202214092/

"Law & Order: SVU" Harvey Weinstein Episode Adds "Weeds", "Quantico" Alums (Exclusive)
by Jean Bentley
Dec. 14, 2017


"Law & Order: SVU" will be tackling the Harvey Weinstein scandal in an upcoming episode, and the NBC procedural has tapped two TV veterans for the 2018 outing.

Martin Donovan (Homeland, Weeds) will guest star as a commercial airline pilot, and "Quantico" vet Yasmine Al Massri will play his co-pilot, who accuses him of sexual assault. The episode, which is titled "Flight Risk," will air in January 2018.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/law-order-svu-harvey-weinstein-episode-casts-martin-donovan-yasmine-al-massri-1067852

Law & Order: SVU boss: We’ve tackled sexual harassment many times, but we wanted to try something new post-Harvey Weinstein (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/law-order-svu-showrunner-michael-chernuchin-interview-hollywood-harassment-culture-106964)
"We're going to do an episode about an industry where there is some sexual abuse, and we want to show how an industry, a closed society, can become sort of a sanctuary city for predators and abusers,” says showrunner Michael Chernuchin. “Where everybody knows what's going on but nobody turns anybody in.” He adds: “What we like to do is explain the faults of the law and what the law should be and how we could get there to the audience. The laws need to change. We're going to approach it that way."