Left without many other viable options for damage control, select members of the Weinstein Company’s remaining staff released an incredibly lengthy The New Yorker statement on Thursday, condemning ousted boss Harvey Weinstein in the harshest possible terms and requesting the immediate dissolution of their non-disclosure agreements. Though they acknowledge that releasing a statement is in open breach of their contracts, the collective also believes that Weinstein “is in open violation of his contract with us—the employees—to create a safe place for us to work.

“We have nothing to hide, and are as angry and baffled as you are at how Harvey’s behavior could continue for so long,” the statement continues. “We ask that the company let us out of our N.D.A.s immediately—and do the same for all former Weinstein Company employees—so we may speak openly, and get to the origins of what happened here, and how.”

Over the past two weeks, allegations of sexual misconduct have been piled upon Weinstein. At least 47 women have made accusations against him, as stars and industry insiders have raced to condemn and distance themselves—turning the once-powerful producer into a pariah, both in the industry and beyond. Weinstein was initially fired by the T.W.C. board a few days after the first allegations came to light; on Tuesday, he officially resigned from T.W.C., though there are reports that he plans to sue the board, arguing that his firing was illegal. He has also denied all allegations of non-consensual acts.

Through the chaos, a handful of former and current T.W.C. employees have anonymously spoken out against Weinstein, alleging that he was an explosive, manipulative figurehead who was known to regularly cheat on his wife. However, most have also denied that they knowingly aided his alleged predatory behavior. In the new statement, the select staffers say that they “unequivocally support” all the women who have come forward, while acknowledging that they all willfully worked for a man with an “infamous temper.” The statement continues:

“We did not know we were working for a serial sexual predator. We knew that our boss could be manipulative. We did not know that he used his power to systematically assault and silence women. We had an idea that he was a womanizer who had extra-marital affairs. We did not know he was a violent aggressor and alleged rapist. But to say that we are shocked and surprised only makes us part of the problem.”

Though they acknowledge that his track record as a producer of extraordinary films was part of what drew them to work for the company, they say that Weinstein’s skills in that regard is also what made him a “monster” behind closed doors: “He created a toxic ecosystem where his abuse could flourish unchecked for decades.”

The statement takes aim at the T.W.C. board as well. “Practically none of us have ever met the board . . . if the board’s job was to keep Harvey in check, financially and otherwise, they failed.”

The staffers end the statement by once again calling on T.W.C. to dissolve their N.D.A.s, so that they can speak freely and begin to heal: “After that we must start to ask hard questions of our industry, so we may do right not only by Harvey’s many victims but also by young film lovers, who, like all of us, just want to work in movies.”