As you surely know by now, Hollywood big wig Harvey Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company following multiple accusations of sexual harassment spanning back decades.
In the days following the explosive New York Times report, several actors and actresses have spoken out against the filmmaker’s abuse of power — and now the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Glenn Close, and Judi Dench all have something to say about their colleague.
Related: See Lauren Sivan Tell Her Harvey Story On TODAY!
J.Law said she never experienced any harassment from the 65-year-old during their time working together on Silver Linings Playbook back in 2013 — but she’s supportive of all the courageous women speaking out now:
“I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior. I worked with Harvey five years ago and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting. My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward.”
Close admitted to hearing “vague rumors” of Harvey’s gross treatment of women, and how furious she is he was able to get away with it for so long:
“I’m sitting here, deeply upset, acknowledging to myself that, yes, for many years, I have been aware of the vague rumors that Harvey Weinstein had a pattern of behaving inappropriately around women. Harvey has always been decent to me, but now that the rumors are being substantiated, I feel angry and darkly sad. I’m angry, not just at him and the conspiracy of silence around his actions, but also that the ├óΓé¼ΓÇ╣’├óΓé¼ΓÇ╣casting couch├óΓé¼ΓÇ╣’├óΓé¼ΓÇ╣ phenomenon, so to speak, is still a reality in our business and in the world: the horrible pressure, the awful expectation put on a woman when a powerful, egotistical, entitled bully expects sexual favors in exchange for a job. Ours is an industry in which very few actors are indispensable and women are cast in far fewer roles than men, so the stakes are higher for women and make them more vulnerable to the manipulations of a predator. I applaud the monumental courage of the women who have spoken up. I hope that their stories and the reportage that gave them their voices represents a tipping point, that more stories will be told and that change will follow.”
She went on:
“The changes must be both institutional and personal. Men and women, in positions of power, must create a work environment in which people, whose jobs depend on them, feel safe to report threatening and inappropriate behavior, like that reported in the Times. No one should be coerced into trading personal dignity for professional success. I feel the time is long and tragically overdue for all of us in the industry, women and men, to unite ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ calmly and dispassionately ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ and create a new culture of respect, equality and empowerment, where bullies and their enablers are no longer allowed to prosper.”
Dench, who has credited much of her career to Weinstein, said in a statement:
“Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying, and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out.”
He had it coming.
[Image via Clemens Niehaus/Future Image/Mario Mitsis/WENN.]
Related Posts
-
Categories
