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Actresses Cara Delevingne and Léa Seydoux Say Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Them

Delevingne and Seydoux are the latest women to accuse the Hollywood producer of harassment, following bombshell reports from The New York Times and The New Yorker

By Miles Surrey
Cara Delevingne Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Cara Delevingne is the latest woman to come forward with an account of being sexually harassed by movie executive Harvey Weinstein. On Wednesday, the actress shared her experience with Weinstein in a statement to journalist Yashar Ali, before posting it in full on Instagram. Delevingne recounts getting a phone call from Weinstein early into her acting career, during which he asked if she had slept with any women she’s been seen with in public. She then describes an encounter in a hotel room a year or two later, in which Weinstein tried to pressure her into kissing another woman and him. “In every industry and especially in Hollywood, men abuse their power using fear and get away with it,” the actress says. “This must stop.”

When I first started to work as an actress, i was working on a film and I received a call from‎ Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media. It was a very odd and uncomfortable call....i answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I'd never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood. A year or two later, I went to a meeting with him in the lobby of a hotel with a director about an upcoming film. The director left the meeting and Harvey asked me to stay and chat with him. As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. I still got the part for the film and always thought that he gave it to me because of what happened. Since then I felt awful that I did the movie. I felt like I didn't deserve the part. I was so hesitant about speaking out....I didn't want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.

A post shared by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on

Last week, The New York Times published a piece detailing accusations of sexual assault by Weinstein, spanning decades and coming from several women, including actress Ashley Judd. On Tuesday, The New Yorker published an exposé in which 13 women accused him of sexual harassment, and three accused him of sexual assault. The Times then published a second piece detailing Weinstein’s alleged harassment, which included on-the-record interviews with actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and more.

Since the original story in the Times, Weinstein has been fired from the Weinstein Company, and on Tuesday, his wife, Georgina Chapman, announced that she was leaving him.

Update: Soon after Delevingne issued her statement, actress Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color, Spectre), in an essay for The Guardian, said that she too was harassed by Weinstein. Her written account describes a story similar to many of the ones women gave to the Times and The New Yorker: Weinstein, his assistant, and Seydoux met in the lobby of a hotel and he invited her up to his room. Once there, his assistant left, and then Weinstein made unwelcome advances on Seydoux. “We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me,” Seydoux wrote. “I had to defend myself. He’s big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted. I wasn’t afraid of him, though. Because I knew what kind of man he was all along.”

She continued: “In this industry, there are directors who abuse their position. They are very influential, that’s how they can do that.” In conclusion, she states: “I think—and hope—that we might finally see a change. Only truth and justice can bring us forward.”

Read her full account here.

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