It started on October 5, 2017. The man who many actors thanked in acceptance speeches was revealed to have allegedly committed sexual misconduct by more than a handful of women as disclosed in an article by The New York Times. These allegations against media mogul Harvey Weinstein have been made since nearly three decades ago. To date, there are more than 63 women who have made allegations against Weinstein—and counting—and they range from unwanted groping to rape.
When confronted with them, he would sometimes pay the women off. Others felt too afraid or inferior to even report or open up about them. Those who rejected him were fired or never hired, or their careers suffered. It was a power play. Heather Graham wrote in Variety that Weinstein implied she could get a movie role if she has sex with him. She left the meeting and was never hired for any of his films. Similarly, the producer allegedly offered to help Lupita Nyong’o’s career in exchange for sex, as she shared in a New York Times’ essay. And a police recording reveals Weinstein confessing to groping model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. “Why yesterday [did] you touch my breast?” she asked and to which he responded: “I’m used to that.”
Most of the women he approached were young, aspiring actresses, even 22-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow and late 1990s’ Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately, Harvey Weinstein is not the only one. Since the revelation of the scandal and women stepping forward to share their horrific stories (#MeToo), other Hollywood figures have been accused of sexual misconduct as well. Here are just some of the famous men who have been accused of sexual harassment and/or assault.
Ben Affleck
An Oscar-winning actor and director, he was among the first few stars to address and denounce Weinstein’s alleged behaviour. On October 11, he tweeted:
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) October 10, 2017
To which, a few hours later, actress Rose McGowan, who is among the many who accused Weinstein, called the actor out in a tweet:
@benaffleck “GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT” you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 10, 2017
Affleck apparently knew about Weinstein’s misdeeds but allegations against him didn’t stop there. A fan tweeted out reminding people that he had also groped Hilarie Burton’s breasts on an episode of TRL. You can watch the video here.
I didn’t forget.
— Hilarie Burton (@HilarieBurton) October 10, 2017
In turn, Affleck apologised on Twitter, admitting he had “acted inappropriately”. But another accusation popped up soon after. Makeup artist Annamarie Tendler tweeted that he too had groped her at a Golden Globes party in 2014.
He walked by me, cupped my butt and pressed his finger into my crack.
— Annamarie Tendler (@amtendler) October 11, 2017
Ed Westwick
Best known for playing Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl, Ed Westwick is among the more recent stars to be accused of rape – by two women. First, it was actress Kristina Cohen who took to Facebook to claim he had assaulted her when she was at his house with her then-boyfriend, a producer, three years ago. “I was woken up abruptly by Ed on top of me, his fingers entering my body,” she wrote in her post. “I told him to stop, but he was strong. I fought him off as hard as I could but he grabbed my face in his hands, shaking me, telling me he wanted to f*ck me. I was paralysed, terrified. I couldn’t speak, I could no longer move. He held me down and raped me.”
The second was former actress Aurélie Wynn who also shared a similar account in a Facebook post. That Westwick had assaulted her during her visit to his rental home in July 2014. “I said no and he pushed [my] face down and was powerless under his weight,” she said. “I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit that he ripped, I was in complete shock.”
Both allegations have been denied by Westwick in the following social media posts. Some fans have, however, found cracks in the two women’s stories, who are coincidentally friends, and Kristina has continued to work with then-boyfriend despite him not standing up for her.
— Ed Westwick (@EdWestwick) November 7, 2017
— Ed Westwick (@EdWestwick) November 9, 2017
Westwick’s girlfriend Jessica Serfaty came to his defence saying he did not do it. “I can’t imagine him not taking legal action [against his accusers],” she told Radar Online. “People should pay the price for their actions.” Serfaty also confirmed they were “looking at wedding rings” but plans have been put to a halt amidst the controversy. “We were discussing it,” she admitted. “But I can’t imagine getting married now with everything happening. Until everything is settled, we are not getting married.”
Steven Seagal
Not one. Not two. And not three have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment at the hands of Steven Seagal. Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies, Jenny McCarthy (who first brought it up in 1998), Eva LaRue and a Hollywood exec who chose to remain anonymous have accused Seagal of sexual harassment.
My final audition for a Steven Segal movie took place in his office. He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants. I️ ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, “well, I didn’t know if he was your type.”
— Portia de Rossi (@portiaderossi) November 8, 2017
McCarthy’s encounter happened during an audition for his 1995 movie Under Siege 2 where he asked her to lower dress. When she replied that she was told there was no nudity, he allegedly responded that “there is off-camera nudity”. She refused, left and he followed her before telling her not to tell anyone “or else”.
In the account by the exec to Page Six, the former actress claimed the actor lured her to his trailer for a “costume change” on the set of his 1991 movie Out for Justice. In a phone call asking her to visit him at his hotel and which she replied she wasn’t comfortable, he told her, “You are not comfortable sitting on my face for an hour?” When she told the story to a fellow actress on the set, the response was, “‘He didn’t give you a pager? He has given them to a few actresses, and when he pages, you have to go immediately to his hotel room, even if it is 3 a.m.'”
George Takei
Star Trek icon George Takei has been accused of sexual assault by former actor and model Scott R. Brunton in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. It was 1981. Brunton was 23. Takei was either 43 or 44 years old. They met when Brunton was working as a waiter and was just starting out in the entertainment industry. They had exchanged numbers and would chat or run into each other from time to time. When Brunton broke up with his boyfriend at the time, Takei invited him to dinner and the theatre. The older man was consoling but things spiralled when they were at the actor’s condo at the end of the night. Brunton said he had two drinks before feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and possibly passed out shortly after.
“The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear,” Brunton told THR. “I came to and said, ‘What are you doing?!’ I said, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ He goes, ‘You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable.'” Brunton eventually managed to leave Takei’s condo soon after.
Takei has responded to Brunton’s allegations, denying the incident, in a series of tweets.
The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do. /2
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 11, 2017
Right now it is a he said / he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful. /4
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 11, 2017
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