Graham Norton has revealed that disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was the worst guest he has ever had on his BBC chat show. The 59-year-old Irish presenter, who has hosted The Graham Norton Show since 2007, made the disclosure at an event at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to promote his new book, Forever Home.
Recalling a 'chilling' experience with Weinstein, Norton said: 'I often talk around who my least favourite guest was, but now, someone reminded me, I have a really good answer to this now. It's Harvey Weinstein. He's in jail, so he gets the prize for the worst guest ever.'
Weinstein appeared on a 2015 episode of the show alongside David Tennant, Olivia Colman and Jessie J. Norton described how Weinstein had persistently emailed him to secure a spot on the programme, even after being told the show was fully booked. 'And he e-mailed back again, 'But I think...', and I just had to turn to my booker and say 'Can you please deal with this?'' Norton said.
Reflecting on the incident, Norton added: 'At the time, I thought that sort of attitude, that kind of 'Oh no, I'm going on', that is what makes you a very good producer. But of course, now that we know what we know, that is what makes him a predator. It was that kind of weird, tunnel-vision thing. And it was sort of chilling in retrospect.'
Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of sex crimes in New York. He is set to go on trial next week in Los Angeles, charged with sexually assaulting five women between 2004 and 2013.
