Uma Thurman details ‘attack’ by Weinstein

UK probes US mogul

LOS ANGELES, Feb 4, (Agencies): Actress Uma Thurman, who is indelibly linked to Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax studio thanks to her iconic roles in “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill,” has broken her silence about the disgraced Hollywood mogul, accusing him of attacking her and threatening her career.

Dozens of Hollywood women — including Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale and Salma Hayek — have accused Weinstein of acts ranging from sexual harassment to rape.

The scandal touched off a deluge of allegations against powerful men in entertainment, politics and the media, forcing many industries to re-examine workplace policies. Thurman, 47, told The New York Times in an interview published Saturday of two incidents in London that took place after the release of 1994’s Oscar-winning “Pulp Fiction.”

They followed an episode in Paris during which Thurman said Weinstein, dressed in a bathrobe, led her into a steam room during a meeting about a script.

In the first “attack,” in Weinstein’s suite at London’s Savoy Hotel, “he pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things,” she said.

Thurman said she took a friend with her to confront Weinstein not long after, but his assistants pressured her to meet him alone.

Thurman said she told Weinstein: “If you do what you did to me to other people you will lose your career, your reputation and your family, I promise you.”

Weinstein told the paper “she very well could have said this.”

Thurman’s friend Ilona Herman, Robert De Niro’s long-time makeup artist, recalled in the Times that the actress came out of that meeting “very disheveled and so upset.”

Herman said Thurman told her that Weinstein had threatened to end her career.

Weinstein “acknowledges making an awkward pass 25 years ago at Ms Thurman in England after misreading her signals, after a flirtatious exchange in Paris, for which he immediately apologized and deeply regrets,” his spokeswoman said in a statement received by AFP.

“However, her claims about being physically assaulted are untrue... Mr Weinstein is saddened and puzzled as to ‘why’ Ms Thurman, someone he considers a colleague and a friend, waited 25 years to make these allegations public.”

Weinstein is reportedly in treatment for sexual addiction. Until now, he has insisted all his sexual encounters have been consensual.

His lawyer Ben Brafman said Weinstein was “stunned and saddened.”

Thurman’s comments to the Times “are being carefully examined and investigated before deciding whether any legal action against her would be appropriate,” Brafman said in a statement received by AFP.

The actress had suggested mistreatment by Weinstein in an Instagram post last November when she said: “you don’t deserve a bullet — stay tuned.”

In the Times interview, Thurman also accused director Quentin Tarantino — who has often referred to her as his “muse” — of forcing her to drive an unsafe car during filming of “Kill Bill,” leading to a serious crash.

In footage posted by the Times, the actress is seen speeding down an unpaved road before crashing into a tree. Thurman is jolted and left dazed for several moments until crew members carry her away.

“I felt this searing pain and thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to walk again,’” she said.

“Quentin and I had an enormous fight, and I accused him of trying to kill me.”

Tarantino did not respond to requests by the Times for comment.

Miramax told her at the time that she could see the footage of the crash if she gave up her right to sue, Thurman said. She declined.

“When they turned on me after the accident,” she said, “I went from being a creative contributor and performer to being like a broken tool.”

Thurman

LONDON:

British police are now investigating sexual assault allegations brought by nine women against US film mogul Harvey Weinstein, according to media reports Saturday.

Scotland Yard confirmed that its “Operation Kaguyak” was investigating 14 separate claims brought by nine women, but it doesn’t identify suspects unless they have been charged.

British media, including the Press Association, reported that the claims relate to the disgraced producer.

The latest claims were reported to police on Nov 13 by a woman who said she was assaulted in London in 2011, and on a separate occasion outside the UK in 2010.

The second allegation will be passed to the relevant police force.

Accusations of sexual assault have continued to pour in since investigations in The New York Times and The New Yorker last year exposed a series of accounts of sexual predation by the film tycoon.

More than 50 women including stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Mira Sorvino have accused 65-year-old Weinstein of sexual abuse and harassment, though he has denied forcing himself on anyone.

PARIS:

Also:

Woody Allen’s French film distributor has defended the American director against sexual abuse claims, saying he has been unfairly caught up in the fallout surrounding the #MeToo movement.

Writing in the French weekly Le Point, Mars Films head Stephane Celerier dismissed the furor over renewed allegations by Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, that Allen molested her in an attic in 1992 when she was 7. Celerier describes the accusation as a family drama caught in the crosshairs of the #MeToo movement amid fallout from the allegations of rape and sexual harassment against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.

It is “shameless opportunism,” Celerier said of the fresh attacks against the director in the media that he said “taint the dignity of real victims.”

Celerier’s company is behind the distribution of Allen’s latest movie “Wonder Wheel,” starring Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake, which opened in French cinemas this week to lukewarm ticket sales.

His defense of Allen is the latest chapter in an emerging narrative in France, particularly in its film industry, that the Hollywood anti-abuse campaign has gone too far.