Weinstein made me massage him on his bed when I was a student
»»Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave actress on ordeal »»Lupita: He said I had to do this sort of thing or fail
ACTRESS Lupita Nyong’o has told how she was lured to Harvey Weinstein’s bedroom under false pretences before being subjected to his sexual advances. The Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave star, 34, is one of the biggest names to accuse the movie mogul of harassment after Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie spoke out. Lupita claimed she gave him a massage to stop him touching her but stopped when he started to take off his trousers. She told how she first met Weinstein during a 2011 awards ceremony in Berlin. She was a student at prestigious Yale School of Drama at the time. Lupita found him “very direct and authoritative, but also charming”. It was not long before she was invited to a film screening at his home in Westport, Connecticut. Lupita claims she met Weinstein’s driver in the town before being told she and the producer would be having lunch at a restaurant first. Weinstein allegedly became frustrated when she refused to drink alcohol. After lunch they went back to Weinstein’s home, where he assembled his family and put the film on. Lupita alleged it was 15 minutes later when Weinstein “came for me, saying he wanted to show me something”. Writing in the New York Times, she recalled: “Harvey led me into a bedroom – his bedroom – and announced that he wanted to give me a massage. I thought he was joking at first. He was not. “For the first time since I met him, I felt unsafe. I panicked a little and thought quickly to offer to give him one instead: It would allow me to be in control physically, to know exactly where his hands were at all times.” Lupita, who said she had learned massage techniques as part of her drama training, continued: “I began to massage his back to buy myself time to figure out how to extricate myself from this undesirable situation. “Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants. I told him not to do that and informed him it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door.” Lupita said Weinstein told her she was “stubborn” before she left the house. She said she felt “uncomfortable” but “shelved it as an awkward moment”. Her third meeting with him was in New York, for a reading of his stage version of Finding Neverland. She was allowed to bring two male friends and he turned on the charm. The actress said she therefore felt more confident on being invited to a screening of the film W.E. a couple of months later. When she arrived for drinks at New York’s Tribeca Grill afterwards she expected to find a group, but it was just her and Weinstein. He then invited her to a private room. She said: “I was stunned. I told him I preferred to eat in the restaurant. He told me not to be so naive. If I wanted to be an actress, I had to be willing to do this sort of thing. “He said he had dated famous actress X and Y and look where that had gotten them. “I was silent for a while before I mustered up the courage to politely decline his offer. ‘You have no idea what you are passing up,’ he said.” Lupita’s breakthrough film, 12 Years A Slave, was released in 2013. She said Weinstein apologised to her that year but she has refused to work with him. Lupita wrote: “I wish I had known that there were women in the business I could have talked to. That justice could be served.” A spokesman for Weinstein said: “Mr Weinstein has a different recollection of the events, but believes Lupita is a brilliant actress and a major force for the industry.” Meanwhile, Los Angeles police are investigating after an Italian actress and model accused Weinstein of raping her in 2013. The film producer has volunteered to go into rehab for sex addiction after more than 40 women this month alleged harassment, assault and rape. Weinstein, 65, has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.