Back in November, The Diplomats released a single that featured one very interesting part in which Cam’ron referenced a purported incident involving rap executive Damon Dash and infamous Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The song was released shortly after dozens of women began speaking out with accusations of sexual assault and rape against Weinstein, and Cam’s lyrics alleged that Dash—Roc-A-Fella co-founder and one-time Weinstein business parter—had once “smacked” Weinstein for disrespecting women on the set of the 2002 film Paid in Full.
In an interview with TMZ over the weekend, Dash confirmed that “somebody” got smacked on the movie set, but played coy as to whether it was Weinstein. Dash also revealed that the incident resulted in a lawsuit, which may explain the evasiveness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qStQccpB-Gw
Said Dash:
“I can definitely say someone got smacked on the set of Paid in Full. But, you know, I never really liked the way Harvey treated my culture. I didn’t like the way he was talking to people and I didn’t like the way he was treating my film… Somebody did get smacked on that set. I got sued over it but I won. Harvey is someone who was trying not to put out my movie. And I had to really get aggressive with him and make sure he did right by it. Had I not fought for the movie, you would have never seen it.”
Note that Dash did not suggest, as Cam’s lyrics had, that the incident was a result of Weinstein’s treatment of women. If anything, it seems like it was instead business-related—a result of Weinstein potentially refusing to honor Miramax’s distribution deal for the film and/or a general feeling of disrespect.
Dash also later admits the obvious hole in the theory that he assaulted Weinstein in the name of women, noting that he was not exactly a champion of women at the time of the incident. “When I was young and in hip-hop, I [knew] that with disrespecting women, you got a positive response from it,” he says.
“I look at the things like ‘Big Pimpin” and I’m embarrassed by it,” he continued. “I wouldn’t want my daughter to go through that, and if I ever saw my son Boogie doing that we would have some serious issues. When I had daughters, I realized that I wouldn’t never do anything to a girl that I wouldn’t want done to my own daughter.”
