Tippi Hedren, best known for her acting in Alfred Hitchcock films “The Birds” and “Marnie,” is continuing to speak out about sexual harassment in Hollywood, but points out that it is not limited to the entertainment industry.
“Everybody talks about it like it’s something new. It isn’t,” she told The Daily Beast in an article published Friday.
“It started when men and women were put on this earth, and these kinds of things have been happening forever,” she said. “It is a wise parent who teaches boys and girls about this situation, and to never ever let it even get to the point of being a problem.”
Hedren, now 87, echoed her statements made on Twitter earlier this week when she said she dealt with sexual harassment “all the time,” during her time as both a model and an actress. “This is nothing new, nor is it limited to the entertainment industry.”
She said by the time Hitchcock advanced on her, she “wasn’t going to take it anymore.”
“Hitch said he would ruin my career and I told him to do what he had to do,” she said. “It has taken 50 years, but it is about time that women started standing up for themselves as they appear to be doing in the Weinstein case. Good for them!”
— Tippi Hedren (@Tippi_Hedren) October 11, 2017
In the Daily Beast article, Hedren said that Hitchcock was “very possessive” and that he tried to kiss her once when they were both the backseat of a limousine.
“It was horrible, absolutely horrible,” she said. “And there I was under contract, and to know I would have to carry on some sort of relationship, no matter what it was with him, was unnerving and difficult and I wanted desperately to get out of it.”
This isn’t the first time Hedren has spoken out about Hitchcock’s harassment. In 2012, she said he demanded she “make yourself available to me sexually.”
“He ruined my career but he didn’t ruin my life,” she said then, ahead of the release of “The Girl.” “If this had happened today, I would be a very rich woman.”
You can read Hedren’s interview with The Daily Beast here.