Yard to investigate Weinstein over London ‘sex assault’
CLAIMS that the shamed Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually abused an actress in London are being investigated by Scotland Yard.
The alleged assault took place in London during the Eighties and is understood to be the first reported to British police since claims emerged last week that Weinstein sexually assaulted and harassed a string of Hollywood actresses.
It came as the American actress, Rose Mcgowan, last night stated more frankly what she has long suggested: “HW raped me.” “HW” was apparently in reference to Harvey Weinstein.
In a series of tweets yesterday, Mcgowan addressed Jeff Bezos, the Amazon chief executive, and said she repeatedly told an Amazon Studios executive that “HW raped me.” Mcgowan said the executive told her it was not proven and she said: “I am the proof.”
In subsequent tweets, Mcgowan appeared to suggest that Amazon Studios, which is overseen by Roy Price, previously dropped a project penned by Mcgowan after she insisted Weinstein not be involved.
Responding to the tweets, Weinstein’s representative Sallie Hofmeister said he “unequivocally denies... any allegations of non-consensual contact”. The New York Times earlier reported that Weinstein paid a settlement of $100,000 to Mcgowan in 1997 over an incident in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Last night, Kate Beckinsale, the British actress, said Weinstein tried to ply her with drink when she was just 17, and New York police
separately warned he could face criminal charges. The Metropolitan Police has begun an investigation into the claims, made by a woman understood to be now living in the Liverpool area.
Myleene Klass, the singer, said last night that she, too, had been propositioned by the bullish New Yorker. Weinstein invited her for lunch in Cannes, after she had interviewed him at the film festival for CNN. Over lunch he “asked me to sign some kind of sex contract with him”.
She said: “I just thought, ‘Mate, which planet are you from?’ Then his PA came over with a confidentiality contract. I just thought, ‘Oh my God, your poor wife.’ I don’t want to be a marriage-wrecker.”
Klass, now 39, said she left the lunch feeling “disgusted and angry,” and spoke about it in subsequent interviews – but had not named him until now.
Last night a British actress, Sophie Dix, 48, came forward to say that she too had been assaulted by Weinstein, when she was 22.
Weinstein “absolutely denies” the rape and sexual assault allegations and insists he never engaged in non-consensual sex. He also denies victimising women who turned down his advances.
Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual harassment by around 30 women and rape by three, could face criminal prosecution in the United States. The NYPD was reported to be investigating two cases in 2004.
Beckinsale, who starred in The Aviator, said that he had opened his door to her at the Savoy Hotel in London dressed in just a bathrobe before offering her alcohol. “After declining and announcing that I had school in the morning, I left, uneasy but unscathed.” She added: “I said no to him professionally many times over the years – some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a c--- and making threats.”
Weinstein took a jet to Arizona on Wednesday to seek therapy for what he has described as a sex addiction. As the 65-year-old flew out of Los Angeles, he said: “You know what – we all make mistakes. Second chance, OK?”
It emerged yesterday that the board of the Weinstein Company may have known for several years about women being paid to keep quiet about his behaviour, according to the New York Times.