Portman: I have 100 abuse stories to tell
Oscar-winner adds voice to sexual harassment scandal as Uma Thurman alleges Harvey Weinstein attack
Natalie Portman has said she has “100 stories” of sexual harassment in Hollywood, and claimed that she was intimidated and pestered by studio executives. The 36-year-old Oscar-winning actress, who landed her first film role at the age of just 12, said she had come to realise that experiences she “took for granted as like, this is part of the process” were actually instances of harassment and sexism.
NATALIE PORTMAN has said she has “100 stories” of sexual harassment in Hollywood, claiming that manipulative studio executives had intimidated and pestered her during her career.
The 36-year-old actress said that in one case, a producer invited her on to his private aeroplane.
“It was just the two of us, and only one bed was made up. Nothing happened, I was not assaulted,” Portman told Porter magazine.
“I did make a point of saying ‘This does not make me feel comfortable’, and that was respected. But that was super not OK, you know? That was really unacceptable and manipulative. I was scared.”
Portman added her voice to the scandal over sexism in Hollywood when she took to the stage last month for the Golden Globes. Announcing the category for best director, she said: “And here are the all-male nominees.”
She said she had come to realise that experiences she “took for granted as like, this is part of the process”, were actually instances of harassment and sexism.
“I went from thinking, ‘I don’t have a story’ to, ‘Oh, wait, I have 100 stories’. And I think a lot of people are having these reckonings with themselves,” she said.
Portman, whose first film role was as at the age of 12 in Léon: The Professional, also paid tribute to those who had come forward to disclose their experiences of sexual abuse. “First of all, I think it’s really important to recognise all the people who have come forward,” she said. “They have created this cultural shift.
“A lot of people have been speaking out for a long time and not been heard, particularly women of colour, so it’s very important the industry listens.”
She has previously spoken about her experiences of “sexual terrorism” following her debut role, revealing at the Women’s March in Los Angeles last month that her first fan mail, received when she was 13, had been a rape fantasy written by a man.
The Oscar winner, who has a son and a daughter with her husband Benjamin Millepied, the French dancer and choreographer, also challenged the notion that women’s careers were damaged by motherhood. She said she now thought it possible that women were dropping out of the workplace because “it’s a
‘A lot of people have been speaking out for a long time and not been heard, particularly women of colour’
hostile environment for them”. Meanwhile, Jessica Chastain, who co-starred with Portman in the forthcoming film The Death and Life Of John F. Donovan, commented on Uma Thurman’s allegation that she had been sexually assaulted by Mr Weinstein.
“I keep imagining Tarantino spitting in Uma’s face and strangling her with a chain for Kill Bill. How many images of women in media do we celebrate that showcase abuse? When did this become normalised ‘entertainment’?” she said.
In an interview with The New York Times last week, Ms Thurman claimed Weinstein had attacked her in a hotel room at The Savoy in London.
In a statement given to the newspaper, Mr Weinstein’s spokesman said he admitted “making an awkward pass 25 years ago at Ms Thurman in England after misreading her signals” and added “her claims about being physically assaulted are untrue”.