A top producer has said “everyone should have joined the dots up” over Harvey Weinstein.

Stephen Woolley worked with the mega producer and is known for Mona Lisa, The Crying Game and Little Voice.

He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “Unfortunately I think … the casting couch has always been a joke. That’s the problem. It’s always been laughed off.”

He said of Weinstein: “There were always rumours swirling around and… they were turned into a joke. ‘Oh, Harvey tried this or we heard Harvey may have done this.’ It’s a problem because we’ve turned it into a butt of humour.”

He added: “What was known was that Harvey was a bully. What went on behind closed doors was what went on behind closed doors.”

Asked whether he felt those in the industry should have done more, he said: “I think we are (saying that)…. We never joined the dots.

“We joked about it. We thought this is what Harvey was like, ‘oh you know what he’s like’.”

He said finding Weinstein in his dressing gown – the way many women allege that he propositioned them – was not uncommon.

“Harvey had meetings in his dressing gown with everyone sadly and this was the problem. We were meeting at 6am at The Savoy hotel or midnight at various hotels around London,” the independent film producer told the Radio 4 show.

He added: “Everyone should have joined the dots up.”