Hollywood ‘witch hunt’ blasted

ACTOR Kirstie Alley has slammed “the mob” who have been going after Hollywood’s sexual predators, claiming the situation has spiralled into a “witch hunt”.

Over the past month, entertainment heavyweights including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. have been forced to step down from their roles amid a wave of accusations of sexual harassment and assault, often dating back years.

But Alley, 66, has taken to Twitter to decry the public response, accusing her industry colleagues of playing judge, jury and executioner.

“I’m an advocate of courts of law 4 [sic] criminal matters,” the Veronica’s Closet star tweeted. “Also innocent until proven guilty is a fairly sane concept that I’m pretty sure each of us would like to be afforded.

“Rumours cause witchhunts. Seems OK to be part of the mob until U become the next witch.”

She later added: “We all believe things we know NOTHING about at times & would be quick to pull the trigger out of disgust & anger. This is why we have judges & juries instead of stonings & stake burnings ... guess we are attempting justice.”

Since the first published allegations of sexual harassment and rape against Harvey Weinstein by dozens of women, including Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow, the disgraced movie mogul has been sacked from his own company, stripped of his Academy membership and is now being investigated by police.

The scandal prompted others to come forward with accusations against other powerful men including actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K.

Spacey has been axed from House of Cards while Netflix has cancelled Louis C.K.’s planned stand-up special.