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Virginia Madsen calls on Hollywood men to share abuse experiences

2:59am IST - 01:45

Oscar nominated actress Virginia Madsen calls on Hollywood actors to share their experience of harassment and abuse in consolidation with women. Rough cut - no reporter narration.

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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) Hollywood actress Virginia Madsen has called on her male counterparts to speak out about their own stories of abuse in the industry. "I do wish that more men would come forward with not just a statement" she told Reuters, adding "I can guarantee that a good amount of them have also been sexually harassed or found themselves in a position which was embarrassing or frightening. I would say give them time because yes, they should all just come out with outrage but what I'd like them to do is come out in support and I would like them to share their stories." On Sunday, "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed that Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance towards him in 1986 when he was just 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner who is now 58, said he did not recall the incident. But in a tweet he said that if he did behave as Rapp described then he apologized and it would have been due to "inappropriate drunken behavior." Madsen, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the movie "Sideways" in 2005 and more recently starred as a lead in the hit ABC TV show "Designated Survivor", explained why she wanted more males to speak out, saying "Oh I know many men when I was a younger person that really awful things happened to them but I find that my male counterparts were less likely.... in fact, I don't think any of them ever told except for me, I was a close friend, I was always easy to talk to but they're not going to be public about what happened. Well, most of us aren't public about it but they're not as likely to share that story. There's a different type of shaming that goes on with men that have been sexually assaulted or sexually harassed and they're digesting this in a much different way than women are so I hope that this is also helping them and it would nice to be able to share those stories publicly," she said. Sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood came to light after numerous allegations were made against producer Harvey Weinstein. Reuters has been unable to independently confirm any of the allegations. Weinstein, 65, has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone. Since the first allegations, other people in positions of power have had accusations made against them, mainly by women. Only a few male Hollywood stars have said on record they have experienced abuse. "We now know that this isn't just one splashy salacious story about a big bad producer, this is a whole conversation now," Madsen said. "This is something that isn't going to go away like we were asked to. This is something that men can understand and participate in so I'd like to see that happen and I think it will."

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Virginia Madsen calls on Hollywood men to share abuse experiences

2:59am IST - 01:45