New rape allegation

British actress contacts police as Academy expels Weinstein

A BRITISH actress says Harvey Weinstein raped her as the organisation behind the Oscars expelled the film producer over allegations of sexual abuse.

Lysette Anthony said she had told London’s Metropolitan Police she was attacked by Weinstein in her London home in the late ’80s.

Scotland Yard had previously said it had received an allegation of sexual assault without naming the producer.

The Hollyoaks performer’s revelation follows several allegations of rape made by female actors in the US against Weinstein, all of which he has strenuously denied.

At the weekend, the film industry’s powerful Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it was expelling the producer from their ranks. Anthony, 54, told London’s The Sunday Times she met the producer when she starred in 1982 sci-fi film Krull and the alleged assault occurred a few years later. She said it was a “pathetic, revolting” attack that had left her “disgusted and embarrassed”.

Dozens of actors, including Hollywood A-listers Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have made accusations of sex abuse against the 65-year-old movie mogul, prompting the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to call an emergency meeting. They said the board “voted well in excess of the required two-thirds majority” to expel Weinstein.

Actress Rose McGowan – one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment and who has since said he raped her – celebrated the Academy’s decision with a post on Instagram. She wrote: “We slay dragons.”

Weinstein was labelled “sick and depraved” by his brother, Bob, with whom he co-founded the companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, at the weekend. Bob told The Hollywood Reporter: “I have a brother that’s indefensible and crazy. I want him to get the justice he deserves.”