Kevin Smith Says Harvey Weinstein Cried Watching “Chasing Amy”, Laments He 'Can't Undo' Career Being 'Tied Up with' Him

Smith reflects on working with the disgraced film mogul in Sav Rodgers' documentary 'Chasing Chasing Amy', in select theaters now

Kevin Smith is reflecting on working with Harvey Weinstein on his 1997 sleeper hit Chasing Amy — and the complicated feelings he now has about their association.

Speaking about the disgraced film producer in Sav Rodgers' documentary Chasing Chasing Amy, Smith recalls screening the movie for Weinstein, 72, and feeling overjoyed at his reaction.

"He's crying, Harvey," say Smith, 54, in the documentary. "And he goes, 'That's a Miramax movie.' Which I loved at the time. Loved hearing that."

"You know, I thought he was who I thought he was," the filmmaker continues. "Now, put through the filter of what we know, tough to f---ing feel sentimental about it."

"Maybe that's how I do feel sentimental — I go, 'How sweet.' Like, that naive, 26-, 27-year-old, he just believed everything he was presented," Smith adds of his past self.

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When Chasing Amy premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1997, Weinstein — who is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault — "had dollar signs in his eyes," Smith recalls in the documentary.

"Everybody was happy. And it would've been great if it stayed that way," he continues. "This is Sundance '97. So if you follow the Harvey Weinstein case... that's the year with Rose McGowan."

"All of this was happening while we're doing Chasing Amy — showing this movie to the world that's very feminist and kind of forward-thinking," Smith says.

He goes on to lament having worked with Weinstein on a number of films, including his 1993 directorial debut, Clerks. "I can't erase the past," he says. "I can't go back and take his name off the f---ing movies. I don't even own the movies."

"I can't undo the fact that my career's tied up with him," Smith adds.

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Joey Lauren Adams, who starred in Chasing Amy as Alyssa Jones opposite Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil, also took part in the documentary and discussed her own experience with Weinstein — saying that he "treated me like s---."

"I was a young actress in Hollywood going through all those stories that you've heard," says Adams, now 56, who also appeared in Smith's Mallrats (1995) and, most recently, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019). "Sundance for me was like, 'Oh, Harvey doesn't wanna f--- me.' There was that energy there."

"I mean, we all knew who Harvey was," she continues. "You'd be in a room with him, and you could feel it."

"I don't wish we were back doing Chasing Amy," adds Adams, who, in her documentary interview, also opens up about some of the difficult parts of her romantic relationship with Smith during the period. "That was not the best time in my life."

Chasing Chasing Amy, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, is in select theaters now.