Lena Headey has opened up about her personal experiences with Harvey Weinstein, detailing two encounters that she’s had with the movie mogul.
The ‘Game Of Thrones’ actress spoke out on Twitter on Tuesday (17 October) night, explaining that she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival, where her movie ‘Brothers Grimm’ - a Miramax production - was premiering.
She wrote: “At one point Harvey asked me to take a walk down to the water, I walked down with him and he stopped and made some suggestive comment, a gesture, I just laughed it off, I was genuinely shocked.
“I remember thinking, it’s got to be a joke, I said something like.. ‘Oh come on mate?!?? It’d be like kissing my dad!! Let’s go get a drink, get back to the others.’ I was never in any other Miramax film.”
Recalling a second incident which took place in Los Angeles, the Cersei Lannister actress added: “I had always carried the thought that he’d never try anything with me again, not after I’d laughed and said never in a million years. I believed that he respected my boundary.
“He asked me a few questions about the state of my love life. I shifted the conversation back to something less personal. Then he went to the loo.
“He came back and said, ‘Let’s go up to the room, I want to give you a script.’ We walked to the lift and the energy shifted, my whole body went into high alert, the lift was going up and I said to Harvey, ‘I’m not interested in anything other than work, please don’t think I got in here with you for any other reason, nothing is going to happen.’
“I don’t know what possessed me to speak out at that moment, only that I had such a strong sense of don’t come near me.
“I felt completely powerless. I got into my car and I cried.”
Lena is one of other 30 actresses to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment or abuse, and others who have done so include Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan and Cara Delevingne.
When the New York Times first reported on the allegations, Weinstein released a statement which included the lines: “I realised some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed.
“I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it.”
His spokesperson maintains that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein”.
Over the weekend, the film Academy behind the Oscars - made the unprecedented decision to strip Weinstein of his lifetime membership.
Bafta have done the same, and Weinstein has also been removed from the board of his own company.