Tom Hanks thinks Harvey Weinstein is an "ass".

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks

The 61-year-old actor has blasted the disgraced movie mogul - who has been the subject of a damning expose in the New York Times and hit by multiple accusations of sexual misconduct by the likes of Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Kate Beckinsale and Cara Delevingne - and insisted being "rich and famous and powerful" was no excuse.

He said: "Just because you're rich and famous and powerful doesn't mean you aren't in some ways a big fat ass. Excuse me, take away 'fat.'

"But I'm not, you know, I'm not the first person to say Harvey's a bit of an ass.

"Poor Harvey -- I'm not going to say poor Harvey, Jesus. Isn't it kind of amazing that it took this long? I'm reading it and I'm thinking 'You can't do that to Ashley Judd! Hey, I like her. Don't do that. That ain't fair. Not her, come on. Come on!' "

And the 'Sully' star also hit out at the 65-year-old producer, who previously cited his upbringing in the 60s and 70s when there was a different office "culture", when discussing the allegations.

Tom grew up around the same time so insisted that was a poor explanation.

Speaking to the New York Times newspaper, he said: "I've never worked with Harvey. But, aah, it all just sort of fits, doesn't it?

"Isn't it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this? Look, I don't want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. "You can't buy, 'Oh, well I grew up in the '60s and '70s and so therefore...' I did, too.

"So I think it's like, well, what do you want from this position of power? I know all kinds of people that just love hitting on, or making the lives of underlings some degree of miserable, because they can.

"Somebody great said this, either Winston Churchill, Immanuel Kant or Oprah: 'When you become rich and powerful, you become more of what you already are.' So I would say, there's an example of how that's true."

In the wake of the scandal, Weinstein is believed to have checked into rehab in Arizona, has split from his wife Georgina Chapman and been sacked from his own Weinstein Company, while he has also been slammed by big names in Hollywood, including Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, and Dame Judi Dench.

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