Jamie Lee Curtis has waded into the Harvey Weinstein scandal, calling the disgraced producer a “brutish thug of a man” and revealing that she, too, has had experience with sexual harassment.
In a Huffington Post column that also took aim at designer Donna Karan for suggesting that Weinstein’s alleged victims might have been “asking for it,” the “Halloween” actress noted, “I, too, have been subjected to my own private, personal versions of sexual harassment on the job. Did I ask for it? No. What I simply asked for was a job, and what came with it was sexual harassment.”
In Tuesday’s column, the actress declined to offer specifics on the sexual harassment she’d experienced, but added, “What I believe we are all asking for in these instances, is a chance to show our talent, our humanity, a chance to express ourselves and our art and perhaps, be a part of a film that can truly create change.”
Seeking a silver lining in the accusations of sexual misconduct leveled at Weinstein by numerous women, Curtis held out hope that the reports of his behavior would put other harassers on notice and bring an “inglorious end” to sexual harassment by powerful men.
“Perhaps this grotesque power play to ‘get some’ by this brutish thug of a man and the attempts by him, his lawyer, his board and famous friends to, once again, keep it under wraps and blame the victim will fail,” Curtis wrote.
“Perhaps the truth will out other sexual harassment, be it from a governor or a president or a presidential candidate or studio head or movie star or executive or anyone else complicit in this billionaire boys club bulls–t that will come to an inglorious end,” the actress added.
Interestingly, Curtis’ “Freaky Friday” co-star Lindsay Lohan also made headlines this week by weighing in on the Weinstein scandal — and defending the embattled producer.
“He’s never harmed me or done anything wrong to me. We’ve done several movies together. And so I think everyone needs to stop. I think it’s wrong, so let’s stand up,” Lohan said in a since-deleted Instagram video, also saying that Weinstein’s wife, Georgina Chapman — who announced Tuesday that she’s leaving Weinstein — “needs to take a stand and be there for her husband.”
Last October, Curtis laid into then-president-to-be Donald Trump, after unearthed audio from a 2004 interview with Howard Stern revealed Trump saying that Lohan, in her teens at the time, was ” probably deeply troubled, and therefore great in bed. How come the deeply troubled women, deeply, deeply troubled, they’re always the best in bed?”
“How dare you. She needed help. @realDonaldTrump,” Curtis tweeted at the time, accompanied by herself and Lohan in a promotional photo from “Freaky Friday.” “‘Yeah, you’re probably right, she’s probably deeply troubled and therefore great in bed.'”
In recent days, Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, both in a bombshell New York Times report last week and a subsequent article published by the New Yorker on Tuesday.
A Short History of Harvey Weinstein's Oscar Campaigns (Photos)
Indie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired last October from his position of co-CEO of The Weinstein Company, revolutionized the Oscar race both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax.
Harvey Weinstein first got into the Oscar race in a big way in 1990 with a "guerilla" campaign for the art-house drama "My Left Foot" by setting up meet-and-greets between Academy members and film talent. The result? Oscar wins for stars Daniel Day Lewis and Brenda Fricker.
Miramax snagged its first Best Picture victory for 1996's "The English Patient" -- which earned a total of nine awards, including for director Anthony Minghella and lead actress Juliette Binoche.
Weinstein built an awareness campaign for the then-unknown Billy Bob Thornton for 1996's "Sling Blade" -- which yielded an Oscar for his adapted screenplay and a nomination for Best Actor.
Miramax pulled off a double coup with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," delivering Robin Williams his long-awaited first Oscar and a rare screenplay prize for two twentysomething newbies, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
One year later, Miramax pulled out all the stops after landing two Best Picture nominations, including for the Italian-language drama "Life Is Beautiful." According to Peter Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures," star-auteur Roberto Begnini "moved into L.A. for a month during the peak of the voting period." The film came away with three Oscars, including Best Actor.
That year, Miramax pulled off a bigger upset when "Shakespeare in Love" seized Best Picture over Steven Spielberg's heavily favored "Saving Private Ryan." "Shakespeare" won a total of seven Academy Awards, including for actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Judi Dench.
Miramax surprised many by landing yet another Best Picture nomination for the 2000 Juliette Binoche-Johnny Depp bonbon "Chocolat."
In 2003, the Weinsteins had a hand in four of the five Best Picture nominees: "Chicago," "The Hours," "Gangs of New York" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (on which they had producer credits). "Chicago" won the top prize -- as well as five others.
In 2004, Miramax took advantage of a careful reading of Academy rules and scored four nominations for the Brazilian inner-city drama "City of God" -- even though the film had failed to land a Best Foreign Language film nomination the previous year.
The Weinsteins exited Disney-owned Miramax and founded their own company in 2005 -- and got right back in the Oscar race with two nominations for one of their first releases, the Felicity Huffman vehicle "Transamerica."
By 2009, The Weinstein Company landed its first Best Picture contender with "The Reader" -- and also snagged Kate Winslet her first Oscar as Best Actress in a role that many thought was more of a supporting part.
Two years later, TWC scored its first Best Picture win for "The King's Speech" -- as well as three other awards, including Best Actor for Colin Firth.
The following year, Weinstein pulled off another coup: landing five Oscars, including Best Picture for the mostly silent, black-and-white ode to Old Hollywood, "The Artist."
In 2013, TWC again had two horses in the Best Picture race: Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" and "Silver Linings Playbook" -- which landed Jennifer Lawrence the prize for Best Actress.
Last year, Weinstein successfully landed six nominations -- including Best Picture -- for Garth Davis' tear-jerker "Lion." But just as Open Road won the top prize in 2016 for "Spotlight," another upstart, A24, used a lot of Harvey touches to score the indie "Moonlight" a Best Picture win.
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This is the first Oscar season in decades without the disgraced mogul who challenged the major studios and changed the game at the Academy
Indie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired last October from his position of co-CEO of The Weinstein Company, revolutionized the Oscar race both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax.
