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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.”
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.
