Disgraced movie producer, Harvey Weinstein and his team have responded to Lupit Nyong’o’s claim of sexual harassment against her by Harvey Weinstein.
Disgraced movie producer, Harvey Weinstein and his team have responded to Lupit Nyong’o’s claim of sexual harassment against her by Harvey Weinstein. According to a spokesperson for Harvey, “Mr. Weinstein has a different recollection of the events, but believes Lupita is a brilliant actress and a major force for the industry. Last year, she sent a personal invitation to Mr. Weinstein to see her in her Broadway show Eclipsed.” His lawyer therefore called the claims false and defamatory.
The Oscar winner recently opened up about her own personal encounter with Harvey Weinstein when she was first becoming a Hollywood star, thus joining the growing list of women who have accused the movie producer of sexual harassment.
“I have been following the news and reading the accounts of women coming forward to talk about being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein and others. I had shelved my experience with Harvey far in the recesses of my mind, joining in the conspiracy of silence that has allowed this predator to prowl for so many years,” she wrote.
Lupita continued, “I had felt very much alone when these things happened, and I had blamed myself for a lot of it, quite like many of the other women who have shared their stories. But now that this is being discussed openly, I have not been able to avoid the memories resurfacing. I have felt sick in the pit of my stomach. I have felt such a flare of rage that the experience I recount below was not a unique incident with me, but rather part of a sinister pattern of behavior.”
Lupita Nyong’o said the Hollywood producer tried to undress in front of her in a bedroom. She says she met Weinstein in 2011 at an awards ceremony in Berlin while she was still a student at the Yale School of Drama, was later invited several months after by Weinstein to join him at his family home in Connecticut for a screening of a film.
Nyong’o says she arrived at Weinstein’s home, met his wife and children and Harvey set her up to watch the film in his private screening room. According to Lupita, Weinstein interrupted the film just 15 minutes in and invited her to his private bedroom. Once in the bedroom, Lupita says Harvey asked if he could give her a massage. The actress says she panicked and offered to give the producer one instead, he obliged, removed his shirt and laid down on the bed.
Nyong’o claims she fled the producer’s home when he tried to remove his pants. The actress says she turned down another advance by Weinstein not long after the massage incident and he threatened her career. It was after she won an Oscar in 2014 that Weinstein approached her once again, begging her to star in one of his films, an offer she declined.
Lupita says she chose to speak out now because, “I know now what I did not know then. I was part of a growing community of women who were secretly dealing with harassment by Harvey Weinstein. But I also did not know that there was a world in which anybody would care about my experience with him. Now that we are speaking, let us never shut up about this kind of thing. I speak up to make certain that this is not the kind of misconduct that deserves a second chance. I speak up to contribute to the end of the conspiracy of silence.”
Other actresses who have spoken out about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault against them are actresses Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, Romola Garai, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevinge, Rose McGowan, Lena Headey, Lauren Holly, Lysette Anthony, Alice Evans and about two others who refused to have their name in print. In total, there are 13 actresses accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.
His wife, Georgina Chapman has since walked out on him.
