Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company, has recently found himself in hot water after several women have come forward with alleged sexual assault allegations.
The list of women with stories of Weinstein’s alleged assaults continues to grow. Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie have now also come forward to the New York Times to reveal what happened behind closed doors when they were young actresses.
At 22, Paltrow got the role in Jane Austen adaptation “Emma” with Weinstein as one of the producers on the set. Paltrow told The New York Times that before shooting even began, Weinstein tried to get Paltrow into his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a “work meeting”.
This meeting allegedly ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages, according to Paltrow.
Jolie had a similar story, claiming that during the release of “Playing by Heart” in the late 1990s, Weinstein made unwanted advances on her in a hotel room, which she rejected.
LONDON - OCTOBER 20: Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Harvey Weinstein at the 50th Anniversary Gala of the National Film Theatre on October 20, 2002 at The National Film Theatre, in London. (Photo by Getty Images)
“I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,” Ms. Jolie said in an email. “This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.”
The Times also reported that both Rosanna Arquette, star of “Pulp Fiction,” and Judith Godrèche, the leading French actress, also had similar stories to tell.
People Magazine revealed that Italian Actress Asia Argento allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Weinstein in the 90s. Argento claims that the producer invited her to a party at a hotel in France. But when she arrived, at that was found was Weinstein in an empty hotel room.
“He asks me to give a massage. I was, like, ‘Look man, I am no f—–g fool,’ ” Argento said. “But, looking back, I am a f—–g fool. And I am still trying to come to grips with what happened.”
On Tuesday, The New Yorker published a report that included multiple allegations of sexual assault, which included both forced oral and vaginal sex. The article also highlighted multiple accounts of sexual harassment going back to the 1990s.
All the stories seem to have a common thread; Weinstein inviting a starlet aiming for fame back to a private location to discuss films or scripts. According to The New Yorker, the Hollywood producer then tries to initiate massages, touch them inappropriately, take off his clothes or offer explicit work-for-sex deals.
Weinstein was fired from his company on Sunday, following the publishing of the New York Times investigation.
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 07: Donna Karen attends the 2017 Stephan Weiss Apple Awards on June 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Right after the firing, Designer Donna Karan was interviewed on the red carpet at the Cinemoi Fashion Film Awards. Karan mentioned Weinstein's achievements and said she knew his wife, Georgina Chapman, describing the couple as "wonderful people."
Karan questioned the women's role in these sexual harassment incidents, suggesting to the Daily Mail that the women may be "asking for it, by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality."
"I think we have to look at ourselves," Karan said. "Obviously, the treatment of women all over the world is something that has always had to be identified. Certainly in the country of Haiti where I work, in Africa, in the developing world, it's been a hard time for women."
On Tuesday, Karan apologized for the comments after a large amount of backlash. Actress Rose McGowan, who was named in the New York Times story, called Karan "scum" in a tweet on Monday.
"I made a statement that unfortunately is not representative of how I feel or what I believe,” Karan said.
The Weinstein sexual harassment scandal was first revealed by The New York Times on Sunday. Eight women came forward in the NYT story, pointing the sexual misconduct finger at Weinstein.
Since that story has gone live, thirteen other women have come forward to share their stories.
In response to the numerous sexual allegations, the spokesperson for Weinstein stated that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”