Republican Legislator Is Very Sorry About His Harvey Weinstein-Themed Zoom Background

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Some stories make you ask the question, “Why?” This is one of those stories.

Maine state representative Bruce Bickford, a Republican, logged onto Zoom for a tax policy committee meeting Wednesday with a Zoom background of a sign that read “Harvey Weinstein Charm School Rehab Center.” 

Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, was convicted of rape and sexual assault last year in New York. He was accused of sexual abuse ranging from harassment to rape by at least 87 women, and the accusations against him contributed to the rise of the MeToo movement. 

Bickford’s background, which was based on a sign outside of a California bar, was up for less than 15 seconds before he changed it to a much more agreeable photo of a lake. Later, he changed it again to a beach, so that was nice.

Watch his entrance into the meeting below, at 13:43. 

Bickford was asked by the Portland Press-Herald if he thought the sign was funny, and responded: “In a private setting, yeah.” But the six-term state representative also apologized in a statement Thursday. 

“I apologize for the screen image that briefly appeared behind me during a recent committee meeting conducted over Zoom,” Bickford said, according to the Press-Herald. “It was inappropriate and in poor taste. I sincerely regret the event and will ensure that it does not happen again. Please accept my apology."

But it doesn’t look like Bickford’s problem is going away. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat, told Maine Public Radio that Bickford’s background is being investigated for potentially violating the state Legislature’s anti-harassment policy. 

“Harvey Weinstein hurt innumerable women,” Fecteau said in a statement Thursday. “To make light of violence against women, in any setting, is completely wrong and deeply inappropriate.”

Maine Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli also called for a review of the Legislature’s harassment policies and mandatory trainings, according to the Portland Press-Herald.

“It is extremely concerning to me that despite our policies and the hard work that’s gone into developing trainings for members of the Legislature, that a member of our branch clearly does not understand and appreciate the message his background sends to fellow legislators, the hardworking staff and members of the public,” Vitelli told the Press-Herald.