Keith Urban to debut Weinstein-inspired song at CMAs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The buzz around Harvey Weinstein is even seeping into Wednesday's Country Music Awards. Keith Urban will debut a new song at the awards show inspired by the allegations of sexual assault and harassment hurled against Harvey Weinstein.
BMI country songwriter of the year Ross Copperman said that the widening sexual harassment crisis that has developed after multiple women accused the top producer and film executive inspired him to write a song and record it with Urban.
"We actually wrote a song three weeks ago called 'Female,'" Copperman said during the red carpet Tuesday for the annual BMI Country Awards. "It's from the Weinstein announcement. We're in a room and we're like, 'What can we do about this?' And that's the one thing we can do is write songs."
Urban, who was honored by BMI for his philanthropy, said the song was so important that he immediately recorded it.
"I think it's just time for a recalibrating of the past, you know? Things have been a certain way for a long, long time, and I think you're seeing a turning of the tide for that," Urban said. "This song just spoke to me. I just wanted to get in and record it right away."
Urban, who is married to actress Nicole Kidman, said as a father and a husband, the topic has struck him.
"I am surrounded by females in my life. I grew up in a house with boys, no sisters. Now I am in a house that's all girls. So this song speaks to me on a lot of levels," he said.
On Monday, a new report published in The New Yorker said Harvey Weinstein used a so-called "army of spies" to try to block the reporting of sexual misconduct allegations against him. The report claimed that Weinstein hired a team of lawyers and private investigators, including former Israeli intelligence officers, to subvert and intimidate his accusers.