Uma Thurman levels accusations against Weinstein, Tarantino
NEW YORK — Actress Uma Thurman, in longawaited remarks, has accused embattled Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of forcing himself upon her sexually and accused “Kill Bill” director Quentin Tarantino of making her perform a dangerous car stunt that injured her.
Thurman’s allegations against Weinstein had been anticipated widely since she hinted late last year that she had a story to tell about the beleaguered movie mogul, who has been accused of sexual misconduct against many women, but wanted to wait until she was less angry. Her story came in an interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.
“I used the word ‘anger,’ but I was more worried about crying, to tell you the truth,” Thurman said in the Times article. “I was not a groundbreaker on a story I knew to be true. So what you really saw was a person buying time.”
Thurman told Dowd that an early encounter with Weinstein in a Paris hotel room in the 1990s ended with him suddenly appearing in a bathrobe and leading her to a steam room but that the first “attack” — the word appears in quotes — happened later in London.
“He pushed me down,” she said. “He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things. But he didn’t actually put his back into it and force me. You’re like an animal wriggling away, like a lizard.”
Later, she alleged, she arranged a meeting with Weinstein and warned him: “If you do what you did to me to other people you will lose your career, your reputation and your family, I promise you.”
The Times article says Thurman’s memory of the Weinstein encounter stops there, but it quotes a friend who was waiting downstairs as saying Thurman emerged from an elevator disheveled and shaking.
“Her eyes were crazy, and she was totally out of control,” said the friend, Ilona Herman.
When Thurman was able to talk again, Herman said, she revealed that Weinstein, who was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, had threatened to derail her career.
A representative for Thurman, Leslie Sloane, responded to an Associated Press request for more details on all the encounters by saying only: “The article speaks for itself.”
Weinstein’s attorneys have suggested Weinstein could take legal action against Thurman.
Weinstein’s lawyers said he acknowledges making an “awkward pass” at her in a London hotel room but denies physical assault.
Attorney Ben Brafman said Weinstein is “stunned and saddened” by the allegations. The attorney says it’s a mystery why Thurman would wait 25 years to publicly make the claim.
Brafman said Thurman’s statements to the Times “are being carefully examined and investigated” before Weinstein decides whether any legal action against her would be appropriate.