Prior to the publication of bombshell reports, which ignited the #MeToo movement and led to the former movie mogul's downfall, Weinstein kept a list of names of people he was concerned could be talking to journalists in 2017 about his sexual conduct with women. Affleck's name appeared on that document, known as the red flag list, which was reviewed by Variety on Tuesday afternoon.
The list was part of roughly 1,000 pages of documents that were unsealed at the New York City criminal courthouse, ahead of Weinstein's sentencing on Wednesday.
The doc was brought up during Weinstein's seven-week trial, but only accuser Annabella Sciorra's name was revealed to be on the list. The lead prosecutor requested that the list (which included both men and women) be provided to the jury, so they could see all of the names, but the judge denied that plea.
Roughly 70 names are on the list, including Affleck and Sciorra, in addition to accusers Rose McGowan, Zelda Perkins, Lysette Anthony and Rowena Chiu. Also, on the list are former Weinstein Company exec Irwin Reiter; Weinstein's former assistant and "Russian Doll" creator Leslye Headland; and producers Megan Ellison, Donna Gigliotti, Jason Blum and Jennifer Todd.
During the trial, a private investigator testified that he was approached directly by Weinstein to investigate the names on the list, specifically speaking about Sciorra. On the stand, the private investigator said he received an email from Weinstein with an attachment that was referred to as the red flag list, which was a document with names and information about those people. "The red flags are the first to call," Weinstein wrote in the email to the private investigator.
The private investigator testified that he did not conduct the investigation, and was unsure if the investigation was ever completed by another detective.
Reps for Affleck and other public figures on the list didn't respond to Variety's requests for comment.
Affleck rose to stardom with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," which was released by Weinstein's former company, Miramax, and starred in "Shakespeare in Love" the following year. After the Weinstein bombshells broke in The New York Times and The New Yorker, revealing Weinstein's decades of sexual abuse, Affleck said he would be donating all residual profits from his Miramax and Weinstein Company films to charity.
The red flag list was one of many documents unearthed in the unsealed court papers, which included tons of emails, including a nasty message about Jennifer Aniston, and many desperate pleas to powerful agents, network executives and billionaires -- including Michael Bloomberg and Jeff Bezos -- to help save his career.
Weinstein's trial ended on Feb. 24, and he was found guilty of two charges of a criminal sex act and rape in the third-degree. On Wednesday, Weinstein will be sentenced and faces five to 29 years in prison.