Weinstein denies sexual harassment claims by Salma Hayek
Disgraced producer says actress’s allegation that he forced her to do a lesbian scene in ‘Frida’ is ‘not accurate’
Accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein on Thursday denied allegations made Wednesday by Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek that he had sexually harassed her, subjected her to escalating rage and forced her to do a lesbian scene in the 2002 Frida Kahlo biopic “Frida.”
“All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired,” he said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Hayek joined scores of actresses accusing Weinstein of sexual misconduct, writing in an article in The New York Times that her refusals of Weinstein’s advances led to a nightmare experience making the movie “Frida.”
Her refusals — of massages, showers and sex — enraged him, she wrote. “I don’t think he hated anything more than the word ‘no,'” she wrote.
When Hayek brought “Frida,” which she was producing, to Miramax to distribute, Weinstein insisted on a sex scene with full frontal nudity, she said. She had a nervous breakdown while shooting the scene, she added.
“It was not because I would be naked with another woman,” she wrote. “It was because I would be naked with her for Harvey Weinstein.”
Weinstein, in his statement, said he “does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female costar and he was not there for the filming. However, that was part of the story, as Frida Kahlo was bisexual and the more significant sex scene in the movie was choreographed by Ms. Hayek with Geoffrey Rush.”
The statement also said, “As in most collaborative projects, there was creative friction on Frida, but it served to drive the project to perfection.”
Weinstein, the statement said, regarded Hayek as a first-class actress, cast her in several of his movies, was very proud of her Best Actress Academy Award nomination for “Frida” and “continues to support her work.”
The statement concluded, “By Mr. Weinstein’s own admission, his boorish behavior following a screening of Frida was prompted by his disappointment in the cut of the movie — and a reason he took a firm hand in the final edit, alongside the very skilled director Julie Taymor.”
Dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, and numerous women have said he raped them. Weinstein, who is currently under investigation for sexual assault in four cities, has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.