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Kate Beckinsale Says A Bathrobe-Wearing Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Her At 17
Beckinsale at a New York movie premiere in 2017. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
English actress Kate Beckinsale is the latest in a long, long, long list of women who have come forward to accuse producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Beckinsale claimed Weinstein invited her to a meeting at the Savoy Hotel when she was 17 years old, then 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," Beckinsale wrote, adding that she "declined alcohol" and got out of the situation by announcing that she "had school in the morning."
Beckinsale said the Savoy Hotel encounter was not her last experience being sexually harassed by Weinstein.
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 - I said no to him professionally many times over the years-some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a cunt and making threats, some of which made him laughingly tell people oh "Kate lives to say no to me ."
In her Thursday statement, Beckinsale spotlighted the wide reach of Weinstein's influence in the entertainment industry, sharing the story of a a male friend who allegedly warned a young actress to be careful around Weinstein, then received a threatening phone call from the producer warning him he would "never work in another Miramax film." Beckinsale ended her statement by pointing out the systemic nature of sexual abuse in Hollywood, writing, "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."
Weinstein was fired from the company he co-founded on Sunday.
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