Add Madonna to the list of women who have reported being violated by disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
In an interview with the New York Times magazine, the pop icon revealed that Weinstein had “crossed lines” with her while his former company worked with her on distributing her 1991 documentary, In Bed With Madonna.
“Harvey crossed lines and boundaries and was incredibly sexually flirtatious and forward with me when we were working together,” Madonna told the magazine. “He was married at the time, and I certainly wasn’t interested.”
Madonna was aware of Weinstein’s predatory behavior at the time, but, she told the NYT magazine, it was something that people just “put up with”. In the profile of her, Madonna appeared relieved that Weinstein was being held accountable for rape, abuse and harassment but said she wasn’t cheering “for someone’s demise”.
“So when it happened, I was really like, ‘Finally’,” she told the magazine. “I wasn’t cheering from the rafters because I’m never going to cheer for someone’s demise. I don’t think that’s good karma anyway.”
Weinstein’s storied career abruptly crashed in October 2017 after actress Ashley Judd told the New York Times that he had sexually harassed her in a Beverly Hills hotel more than two decades ago.
Soon after, a multitude of women in the entertainment industry ― more than 70, according to Reuters ― accused him of a laundry list of abuses of power, including rape, that span nearly his entire career.
The 67-year-old former producer is now embroiled in several legal battles surrounding these accusations, including a civil rights lawsuit handled by the New York attorney general’s office, which reportedly reached a $44 million settlement deal in May.
Judd also has filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against Weinstein, though a federal judge dismissed the parts of it claiming sexual harassment by Weinstein since it could not be covered under a California statute. Judd’s suit was allowed to proceed with her claims that Weinstein ruined her career after she rejected his advances.