Weinstein responds to accusations

New York: A- lister Salma Hayek on Wednesday joined the scores of actresses to accuse Harvey Weinstein, alleging that the fallen Hollywood mogul sexually harassed her, subjected her to escalating rage and once threatened to kill her.

“For years, he was my monster,” the Mexicanborn star wrote in an essay published in The New York Times, detailing the torturous production of the 2002 movie Frida that eventually earned Hayek an Oscar nomination for best actress.

After reaching a deal for Weinstein to pay for the rights to the movie that would eventually catapult her to household fame, the now 51- year- old actress and producer said it became “my turn to say no.”

“No to opening the door to him at all hours of the night, hotel after hotel, location after location,” she wrote. “No to me taking a shower with him. No to letting him watch me take a shower. No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No to my getting naked with another woman.”

W e i n s t n ’ s “Machiavellian rage” accompanied every refusal and once included “the terrifying e i words, ‘ I will kill you, don’t think I can’t,” she said. After jumping through impossible demands set by Weinstein to keep the movie on track, Hayek said the sexual harassment stopped once filming began “but the Los Angeles: A spokesperson for Harvey Weinstein has responded to actor Salma Hayek’s op- ed in the New York Times. Hayek said Weinstein made her life hell during the making of the film and she had to repeatedly rebuff his advances. To save the film from being shut, she agreed to do a “senseless” sex scene with actor Ashley Judd.

rage escalated.” Weinstein berated her performance, chided her for a role that showed no sex appeal and agreed to let her finish only if she agreed to do a sex scene with another

Weinstein, via his representative, has admitted that there was “creative friction” during the making of the film but denied asking for sexual favours in return. Calling Hayek “a first- class actress”, Weinstein said he chose the actor over Jennifer Lopez, who was interested in playing Frida Kahlo and was a bigger star at that time. woman, and demanded “full- frontal nudity,” she said. When it came to shooting the scene, Hayek said she suffered a nervous breakdown and had to take a tranquiliser.

No to me taking a shower with him. No to letting him watch me take a shower. No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No to my getting naked with another woman... — Salma Hayek, Actor