After leaving the South as a young man and finding employment at an elite hotel in Washington, D.C., Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is hired as a butler at the White House. Over the course of three decades, Cecil has a front-row seat to history and the inner workings of the Oval Office. However, his commitment to his "First Family" leads to tension at home, alienating his wife (Oprah Winfrey) and causing conflict with his anti-establishment son.The Butler / Film synopsis

The Weinstein Company, LLC (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein on March 10, 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America as well as in the United States.

Loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen, who worked in the White House for decades, the film stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, an African-American who is a witness of notable political and social events of the 20th century during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House butler.

Allen and other workers who served presidents were featured in a 32-minute documentary, Workers at the White House, directed by Marjorie Hunt and released on a 2009 DVD, White House Workers: Traditions and Memories by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Allen's life was the inspiration for the 2013 film The Butler.

It's a powerful look at the struggle for equal rights, a little unevenly paced but still a well made film. Whitaker plays Cecil Gaines in the film, a butler who served eight different presidents at the White House during the 20th century.

The film ends with Cecil returning to the White House to meet President Obama. I can't tell if Allen ever actually met the president, but he did get a VIP invitation to the inauguration in 2009, and was in attendance on that historical day.

Actress Kadian Noble accuses Weinstein of luring her into a hotel room in Cannes and assaulting her in 2014. In a civil action filed in New York, she accuses Weinstein, his brother Bob and The Weinstein Company of violating US federal sex trafficking laws.

Julia Ormond sues Harvey Weinstein, accusing him of sexual assault. Ormond's lawsuit also names Weinstein's former employers, Miramax and Disney, as well as the Creative Artists Agency.

Much of the film, though, has been fictionalized, including his name (which was changed to Cecil Gaines) and childhood background. The film also gives the butler a second son who is a civil rights activist, and who, in real life, did not exist.

What the Butler Saw is a mutoscope reel, and an early example of erotic films dating from the early 1900s. It depicted a scene of a woman partially undressing in her bedroom, as if some voyeuristic "butler" were watching her through a keyhole.

“Lee Daniels' The Butler” is a film that highlights important historical moments during the civil rights movement and calls into question both the United States' governmental role in reaching racial equality as well as the public's ability to implement change.

With his position as a servant inside the White House, Cecil watches historical events unfold such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War, and the resignation of Richard Nixon.

He was found guilty of 3 of 7 charges (four of the initial 11 charges were dropped) on December 19, 2022. Convictions included charges of rape, forced oral copulation and third degree sexual misconduct. On February 23, 2023, Weinstein would be sentenced to 16 years in prison for these convictions.