Harvey Weinstein called Hayley Atwell a 'fat pig', was scolded by Emma Thompson

Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein called Marvel star Hayley Atwell a "fat pig" on set – only to be reprimanded by Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, according to the New York Post's Page Six column.

An unnamed source claimed that Weinstein criticised Atwell's weight in 2007, during filming for Brideshead Revisited. 

"You look like a fat pig on screen," Weinstein is said to have told her over lunch. "Stop eating so much." Atwell, now best known for playing secret agent Peggy Carter in Marvel's films and TV shows, was 24 years old at the time. The source said her older Brideshead co-star was swift to come to her defence: "Emma called Harvey out for being a misogynist and a bully and really gave him a hard time".

It is the latest in a series of claims of misconduct levelled at the producer, following last week's New York Times report exposing decades of alleged sexual harassment. This Sunday, he was fired by The Weinstein Company, the film production business he co-founded in 1979.

The New York Times has reported that Weinstein paid at least eight women in a series of settlements to avoid litigation, following accusations of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact.

In a written statement given to the newspaper on Thursday, Weinstein said: "I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it."