I wasn't deliberately silent: Meryl Streep on Harvey Weinstein

LOS ANGELES: Meryl Streep says she did not know Harvey Weinstein was allegedly harassing and assaulting women when they worked together.

Streep says in a statement Monday that Weinstein "needed me much more than I needed him and he made sure I didn't know." The Oscar winner says her association with him brought him credibility, which she says he used "to lure young, aspiring women into circumstances where they would be hurt."

Streep says she composed the statement in response to a since-deleted tweet from Rose McGowan, who called out Streep for working with Weinstein. McGowan has alleged that Weinstein raped her.

Streep says she's sorry McGowan sees her as an adversary because they are on the same side in the fight to eradicate the status quo power structure in Hollywood.