Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A8

February 5, 2018

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » World

Thurman details Weinstein assault

Source: AFP | 00:01 UTC+8 February 5, 2018 | Print Edition

Actress Uma Thurman, who is indelibly linked to Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax studio thanks to her iconic roles in “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill,” has broken her silence about the disgraced Hollywood mogul, accusing him of attacking her and threatening her career.

Dozens of Hollywood women — including Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale and Salma Hayek — have accused Weinstein of acts ranging from sexual harassment to rape.

The scandal touched off a deluge of allegations against powerful men in entertainment, politics and the media, forcing many industries to re-examine workplace policies.

Thurman told The New York Times in an interview published on Saturday of two incidents in London that took place after the release of 1994’s Oscar-winning “Pulp Fiction.”

They followed an episode in Paris during which Thurman said Weinstein, dressed in a bathrobe, led her into a steam room during a meeting about a script.

In the first “attack,” in Weinstein’s suite at London’s Savoy Hotel, “he pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things”, she said.

Thurman said she took a friend with her to confront Weinstein not long after, but his assistants pressured her to meet him alone.

Thurman said she told Weinstein: “If you do what you did to me to other people you will lose your career, your reputation and your family, I promise you.”

Weinstein told the paper “she very well could have said this.”

Thurman’s friend Ilona Herman, Robert De Niro’s long-time makeup artist, recalled in the Times that the actress came out of that meeting “very disheveled and so upset.”

Herman said Thurman, 47, told her that Weinstein had threatened to end her career.

Weinstein “acknowledges making an awkward pass 25 years ago at Ms Thurman in England after misreading her signals, after a flirtatious exchange in Paris, for which he immediately apologized and deeply regrets”, his spokeswoman said in a statement. “However, her claims about being physically assaulted are untrue. Mr Weinstein is saddened and puzzled as to why Ms Thurman, someone he considers a colleague and a friend, waited 25 years to make these allegations public.”

Weinstein is reportedly in treatment for sexual addiction. Until now, he has insisted all his sexual encounters have been consensual.

His lawyer Ben Brafman said Weinstein was “stunned and saddened.”

Thurman’s comments to the Times “are being carefully examined and investigated before deciding whether any legal action against her would be appropriate”, Brafman said.

The actress suggested mistreatment by Weinstein on Instagram last November when she said: “You don’t deserve a bullet — stay tuned.”

Thurman said she has complex feelings about her experiences.

“The complicated feeling I have about Harvey is how bad I feel about all the women that were attacked after I was,” she told the Times.

“I am one of the reasons that a young girl would walk into his room alone, the way I did.”

World


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend