The sex predator Harvey Weinstein did not spare Salma Hayek too. Harvey Weinstein tried to destroy biopic Frida after Salma Hayek rejected his absurd demands.
It feels sometimes aren’t these 50 women’s voice alleging Harvey Weinstein for sex advances and misconduct enough to put him behind the bars? Harvey Weinstein, oftenly referred as moghul of Hollywood is currently facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Adding to the long list of women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, Salma Hayek becomes the prominent name who is raising her voice and calling Harvey Weinstein as ‘my monster too’ in NY Times Op-Ed section published yesterday.
Salma Hayek essays in Times oped her experience while working on the 2002 Miramax-produced film Frida, calling out Harvey Weinstein her “monster”. She even recalls in her writings that Harvey did threaten to kill her saying, “I will kill you, don’t think I can’t.”
Also Read: CBS Fired Legend TV Host Charlie Rose Over Sexual Harassment Allegations
Hayek outlined various demands Harvey made in her essay which is as long as the list of allegation against Harvey Weinstein is. It included, – showering with him, letting him watch her take a shower, giving him a massage, performing oral sex on him and opening the doors to him at all hours of the night.
I don’t think he hated anything more than the word “no.” The absurdity of his demands went from getting a furious call in the middle of the night asking me to fire my agent for a fight he was having with him about a different movie with a different client to physically dragging me out of the opening gala of the Venice Film Festival, which was in honor of “Frida,” so I could hang out at his private party with him and some women I thought were models but I was told later were high-priced prostitutes.
The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, “I will kill you, don’t think I can’t.”
I arrived on the set the day we were to shoot the scene that I believed would save the movie. And for the first and last time in my career, I had a nervous breakdown: My body began to shake uncontrollably, my breath was short and I began to cry and cry, unable to stop, as if I were throwing up tears.
Since those around me had no knowledge of my history of Harvey, they were very surprised by my struggle that morning. It was not because I would be naked with another woman. It was because I would be naked with her for Harvey Weinstein. But I could not tell them then, she wrote.
Dozens of women have accused Harvey Weinstein of raping them. He is under investigation for multiple allegations of sex assault cases in four different cities. However, he has denied all the allegations saying it happened with a mutual consent.
Salma Haak ended her letter with a strong message for every woman.
“Why do so many of us, as female artists, have to go to war to tell our stories when we have so much to offer?”
“Why do we have to fight tooth and nail to maintain our dignity?
“I think it is because we, as women, have been devalued artistically to an indecent state, to the point where the film industry stopped making an effort to find out what female audiences wanted to see and what stories we wanted to tell.”
Also Read: Richa Chadha On Sexual Harassment in Bollywood: ‘We Will Lose a Lot Of Heroes, Film Makers’
The #MeToo hashtag campaign on social media went viral after the Harvey Weinsten case into the light. The campaign also won Time Person Of The Year 2017.
