Kate Beckinsale has claimed she was sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein.
Kate Beckinsale (c) Instagram
The 44-year-old actress issued a statement on social media on Thursday (12.10.17) claiming the disgraced producer - who has been accused of sexually harassing a number of female employees over a 30-year period - made inappropriate advances when she was a teenager at The Savoy Hotel in London, and she believes refusing to succumb to his sexual pursuits "undoubtedly harmed" her career.
Alongside a photograph of her when she was younger, which has been shared on her personal Instagram account, she wrote: "I was called to meet Harvey Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel when I was 17. I assumed it would be in a conference room which was very common.When I arrived ,reception told me to go to his room . He opened the door in his bathrobe . I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older ,unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him .After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left ,uneasy but unscathed. (sic)."
The 'Pearl Harbour' star has claimed Harvey "couldn't remember" whether he had "assaulted" her, and asked her if he had ever acted inappropriately towards her in the past.
She continued: "A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting .I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not .I had what I thought were boundaries (sic)."
Kate has claimed she had always denied Harvey's advances, but in rejecting him Harvey only grew angrier and she alleges that he would reportedly hurl verbal abuse at her.
She added: "I said no to him professionally many times over the years-some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a c**t and making threats, some of which made him laughingly tell people oh 'Kate lives to say no to me.'"
She continued: "It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things,while it did allow me to feel uncompromised in myself,undoubtedly harmed my career and was never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family. (sic)."
Kate is proud of every woman who has spoken out about the 'The Crying Game' creator, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne, and has urged anyone else who has suffered under the hands of Harvey to speak out.
She concluded her lengthy post: "I would like to applaud the women who have come forward , and to pledge that we can from this create a new paradigm where producers,managers,executives and assistants and everyone who has in the past shrugged and said " well, that's just Harvey /Mr X/insert name here " will realize that we in numbers can affect real change.For every moment like this there have been thousands where a vulnerable person has confided outrageous unprofessional behavior and found they have no recourse, due to an atmosphere of fear that it seems almost everyone has been living in .I had a male friend who, based on my experience,warned a young actress who said she was going to dinner with Harvey to be careful. He received a phone call the next day saying he would never work in another Miramax film ;the girl was already sleeping with Harvey and had told him that my friend had warned her off.Let's stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder,and let's remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick,and that we have work to do. (sic)."
Tagged in Angelina Jolie Kate Beckinsale Harvey Weinstein