Movie Producer Accused of Sexual Harassment
Movie producer Harvey Weinstein’s decades-long abuse of women comes to light after the New York Times and New Yorker publish investigations. Rose McGowan and other actresses say Weinstein damaged their careers in retaliation for rejecting sexual advances.
Actress Lauren Holly tells a Canadian talk show that Weinstein invited her into his hotel room during what appeared to be a business meeting. She says he dropped his robe, showered and approached her naked.
Bette Midler
Midler made her debut on the big screen in 1979 with the rock ‘n’ roll drama The Rose. She earned a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for her performance as a drug-addicted rock star modeled after Janis Joplin.
Oliver Stone has been accused of sexual harassment by former “Little House on the Prairie” actress Melissa Gilbert, who says he forced her to perform a sex scene during an audition for a movie in 1991. The director reportedly apologized for his “missteps” in a letter to staffers.
Producer Andrew Kreisberg has been placed on leave by Warner Bros. after 19 staffers, mostly women, accused him of groping their genitals and other unwanted behavior. The producer of hit TV shows including “Arrow” and “Supergirl” denied the allegations.
Geoffrey Rush
A young stage actor who was a co-star with Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush in a Sydney theatre production is at the center of accusations that the actor behaved inappropriately. Yael Stone, who stars in the Netflix hit series “Orange is the New Black,” says that during a two-year run of the 2010 stage play Diary of a Madman, Rush exposed himself to her, danced naked in her dressing room and sent her sexually suggestive text messages.
The allegations are part of a growing movement against powerful older men in entertainment who are accused of inappropriate behavior toward young women. Australia has strict defamation laws and Norvill’s case against Rush, which is being heard by a judge in Sydney, could result in her receiving large compensation.
Lauren Holly
After a series of explosive allegations against Harvey Weinstein, actresses have started to speak out about their own experiences with the disgraced producer. Bristol, Pennsylvania-born actress Lauren Holly (NCIS, Picket Fences) said that in 1996 she was invited to a meeting with Weinstein at a hotel for what seemed like a routine business discussion.
But then, she says, he dropped his robe and went into the bathroom where he showered. When he came out of the shower and approached her, she was “terrified.”
She says that after the incident she didn’t make as many movies and she still has suspicions about why. She’s now speaking out to warn others. Among her claims, she says Weinstein propositioned her for a massage. The alleged incident occurred in 2006. She isn’t the only victim to say this.
Lena Headey
The list of women who say they were sexually harassed or assaulted by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein continues to grow. On Tuesday, Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey shared her own alleged encounter with Weinstein via Twitter.
The British actress, who plays Cersei Lannister in the HBO series, claimed that Weinstein angrily marched her out of a hotel after she rebuffed his advances. Headey first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 while promoting Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm, which Miramax co-distributed.
After the two had breakfast together, Headey says Weinstein invited her to his hotel room ostensibly to show her a script. As the scandal unfolded, Headey joined actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan and Angelina Jolie in calling out Weinstein.
Kadian Noble
Kadian Noble is an aspiring British actress who made her debut in a TV series called ‘Riot on Redchurch Street’ in 2012. She is one of the many women to have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
She alleges that Weinstein lured her to his hotel room in Cannes under the pretense of reviewing a film reel sample of her acting work, but then assaulted her. Noble is suing Weinstein, his brother Bob and their company The Weinstein Co., claiming they all knew of the disgraced producer’s practice of using false pretenses to invite young women into his home under the promise of a role in a movie.
Last week, a US federal judge paved the way for Noble’s lawsuit to proceed by ruling that her 2014 Cannes encounter violated a federal law against sex trafficking. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for pain and suffering.