Jane Fonda weighs in on Weinstein

LONDON— Jane Fonda, the two-time Academy Award winning actor, on Thursday said she knew of the accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and “should’ve been braver” in voicing the claims. Fonda said Weinstein had been able to sexually harass women for decades “because he’s powerful.”

LONDON— Jane Fonda, the two-time Academy Award winning actor, on Thursday said she knew of the accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and “should’ve been braver” in voicing the claims.

Fonda said Weinstein had been able to sexually harass women for decades “because he’s powerful.”

A series of women, including celebrities Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment allegations, while several actresses have alleged he raped them.

Weinstein had denied that any of the incidents were nonconsensual.

Fonda admitted she had first heard about the allegations a year ago, but did not publicly speak out to protect his accusers’ privacy.

I should’ve been braver and I think that from now on I will be Jane Fonda Actor two-time Oscar winner

Regret

She said she now regretted staying silent. “I should’ve been braver and I think that from now on I will be when I hear such stories,” Fonda told a live audience, including several members of Britain’s parliament, gathered for the interview with BBC.

“Thank God it’s being talked about,” the actress said, praising those who had come forward and calling for greater protection for them.

“We have to start believing these women … and protecting them,” she said.

“You’re scared because you feel like you’ll never work again because they have so much influence and you won’t be believed,” she added.

The actress, who rose to global prominence in the 1960s starring in films such as “Barefoot in the Park,” and as an icon- ic figure in the anti-Vietnam War movement, revealed she had faced sexual harassment from an unnamed French director when she was aged 21.

Fonda said the director had propositioned her ahead of a role, claiming: “he had to find out what kind of orgasms she had.”

“I got hired even though I didn’t give him what he wanted,” she recounted, noting she had nonetheless kept quiet about the proposition.

Including Trump

A long-time campaigner for women’s rights, Fonda also sought to focus the spotlight beyond Hollywood, noting the similar accusations leveled at other public figures like US President Donald Trump and former International Monetary Fund head Dominique StraussKahn.