Kate Beckinsale Alleges Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Her as a Teenager
Kate Beckinsale is the latest actress to allege that Harvey Weinstein made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
On Thursday morning, Beckinsale posted a photo to Instagram of herself at a young age, and claimed in the caption that the Hollywood movie mogul sexually harassed her when she was a teenager.
"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," she wrote. "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," Beckinsale 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."
The 44-year-old actress said over the course of her career she repeatedly refused to work with Weinstein, and while she stands by that decision, she said it "undoubtedly harmed" her professionally.
"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," she wrote. "Some of which made him laughingly tell people, 'Oh, Kate lives to say no to me.'"
Beckinsale praised all the other women who have shared similar stories of allegedly being sexually harassed by Weinstein, and hopes that gone are the days when "producers, managers, executives and assistants" can say, "'Well, that's just Harvey.'"
"Let's stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder," she concluded her post. "And let's remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick, and that we have work to do."
Beckinsale's allegations against Weinstein comes just days after both Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie claimed they too were sexually harassed by the movie producer.
Paltrow told The New York Times that when she was 22, Weinstein summoned her to a suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting, which ended with him allegedly placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages.
"I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified," Paltrow said.
In a statement to the Times on Tuesday, Weinstein's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister said: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. He will not be available for further comments, as he is taking the time to focus on his family, on getting counseling and rebuilding his life.”
Here's more of Paltrow's story:
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