I didn’t make star Salma do sex scene, says Weinstein
Salma Hayek...allegations HOLLYWOOD movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has denied allegations by actress Salma Hayek that he sexually harassed her and threatened her life while she was working on the 2002 film Frida.
Hayek accused Weinstein of being a “monster” who pestered her during production of the film.
Writing in The New York Times, she said he would turn up at her hotel at all hours and ask her to shower with him.
The Hollywood star alleged the disgraced producer would only let her finish shooting the Frida Kahlo biopic if she agreed to do a sex scene with another woman involving full-frontal nudity, and that he threatened to kill her.
Weinstein said in a statement that he “does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene and he was not there for the filming”.
He added: “That was part of the story as Frida Kahlo was bisexual and the more significant sex scene in the movie was choreographed by Ms Hayek. All the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account.”
Weinstein said he backed Hayek for the lead role in the film over Jennifer Lopez, who was “a bigger star” and he regards Hayek as “a first-class actress”. He admits he was “boorish" following a screening of Frida.
He said he was “prompted by his disappointment in the cut of the movie” and that was a reason he took “a firm hand in the final edit, alongside director Julie Taymor”.
Hayek wrote that an altercation took place in a cinema lobby between Weinstein and Taymor, in which “he screamed” at her. Hayek said: “Harvey Weinstein was a passionate cinephile, a risk taker, a patron of talent in film, a loving father – and a monster. For years, he was my monster.”
She added that she was “inspired” by those who had the courage to speak out, especially in a society that elected a president accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than a dozen women.
Weinstein, 65, has been accused of sexual harassment by dozens of women and is under investigation in four cities. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.