Weinstein: I'll Reach Out to Ashley Judd 'in a Year'

Fallout from the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal, which broke in the New York Times Thursday, continues to rain down, and it's now hit congressional Democrats. The Times reports at least four senators—Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Patrick Leahy, and Martin Heinrich—will give money to charity equal to the amounts Weinstein has donated to them, all in the $5,000 range. Their decision comes after pressure from the RNC and other GOP-tied groups began on Thursday. "If Democrats and the DNC truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning this dirty money should be a no-brainer," RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement, per CNN. Variety notes Weinstein has made more than $1.4 million in political donations since 1990 (an accounting here). More:

• Slate looks at some of the "most bonkers sentences" from Weinstein's public statement on the story, including his revelation that he's making a movie about Donald Trump, plans on directing his "anger" (at himself?) toward the NRA instead, and has found inspiration in a Jay-Z quote (which Slate notes is not an actual Jay-Z quote). Vox adds its own "deciphering."
• Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, two high-profile actresses who were allegedly harassed by Weinstein and named in the Times expose, quietly tweeted out their own responses: Judd with a simple retweet of the story, and McGowan with a post that read: "Anyone who does business with __ is complicit. And deep down you know you are even dirtier. Cleanse yourselves." Her current pinned tweet, as of Friday morning: "Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies. #bebrave."
• Jezebel has reaction from other prominent celebrities, including Lena Dunham, Rosie O'Donnell, and Amber Tamblyn, who tweeted: "Fellow women: Come. Forward. I will stand beside you."
• Weinstein has already given his first interview to Page Six, in which he calls the Times' reporting "reckless"; notes he knows "Ashley Judd is going through a tough time" and that he plans on reaching out to her "in a year from now"; and says his wife, Georgina Chapman, is standing by him. E! News Online calls their marriage "mysterious."
• Over at the Cut, Rebecca Traister asks the question on everyone's minds: Why did it take so long for these decades' worth of allegations to be exposed? "Something has changed," she writes of the current climate in which more women are coming forward and "our consciousness has been raised." She's also got her own personal anecdote about Weinstein to tell, and it isn't pretty.
• Is Harvey Weinstein finished because of this? Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle write for the AP that, while in the past a scandal like this may have been pushed under the rug, there appears to be a "dearth of forgiveness" for Weinstein. "The problem is there's going to be a cost to association with him," says Richard Rushfield, editor of the Ankler, an industry newsletter.

(More Harvey Weinstein stories.)