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Johannesburg - At least 30 women have come forward with explosive allegations of sexual harassment, assault and in some cases rape by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Early this week The New York Times and The New Yorker published damning accounts of the Hollywood bigwig’s alleged unwanted sexual advances.
Oscar winners Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Mira Sorvino claimed that Weinstein sexually harassed them in hotel rooms around the world.
Other actresses alleged that he had sexually assaulted and raped them.
Weinstein was fired by the board of The Weinstein Company following the allegations.
His attorney Charles Harder claimed last week that the initial New York Times story, which also included allegations that Weinstein had reached confidential settlements with some of his accusers, was “saturated with false and defamatory statements” and said that he was preparing a lawsuit.
The disgraced Hollywood executive has reportedly checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic for behavioural issues, including sex addiction.
Weinstein is now the subject of criminal investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.
After police in New York confirmed they were reopening an allegation of sexual assault from 2004, the Metropolitan Police in London said it was also looking into an alleged assault said to have been carried out by Weinstein 30 years ago.
Here are just some of the women who spoke out on the record, along with their allegations against Weinstein:
Kate Beckinsale: “He opened the door in his bathrobe.
"I was incredibly naive and young, and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him.
"After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed.”
Ashley Judd: She said that about 20 years ago she was invited to a Beverly Hills hotel, where Weinstein asked for a massage or to have the young actress watch him shower.
Mira Sorvino: “He started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around,” she said, adding that she then left the room.
Rosanna Arquette: She said Weinstein grabbed her hand and pulled it towards his penis which was “visible and erect … My heart was really racing. I was in a fight-or-flight mode”.
Gwyneth Paltrow: She was 22 when Weinstein invited her to join him for massages in his hotel room. She said she refused and felt petrified. “I was expected to keep the secret,” she said.
Angelina Jolie: She rejected unwanted advances from Harvey Weinstein in the 1990s and, from that point forward, made a point to warn other women against working with him.
Rose McGowan: In 1997, Weinstein reached a settlement with Rose McGowan, then 23. The R1.3 million settlement was “not to be construed as an admission” by Weinstein, but intended to “avoid litigation and buy peace”.
– CNN, ABC, The Independent, BBC
WHO IS HARVEY WEINSTEIN?
He is an American film producer and former film studio director.
He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded Miramax, which produced several popular independent films, including Pulp Fiction; Clerks; The Crying Game; Sex, Lies, and Videotape; Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Django Unchained.
He won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love.
