Oscar winner Meryl Streep is striking back yet again after finding herself dragged into the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
In a Wednesday response to a class action lawsuit filed over his accused misconduct, Weinstein invoked previous statements from Streep that he had been “respectful” to her when they worked together. Streep did not appreciate his associating that remark in relation to the rape, assault and harassment he stands accused of by over 80 women.
“Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys’ use of my (true) statement — that he was not sexually transgressive or physically abusive in our business relationship — as evidence that he was not abusive with many OTHER women is pathetic and exploitive,” the actress said through a spokesperson.
“The criminal actions he is accused of conducting on the bodies of these women are his responsibility, and if there is any justice left in the system he will pay for them — regardless of how many good movies, made by many good people, Harvey was lucky enough to have acquired or financed.”
The response also cites previous comments from actress Jennifer Lawrence, who told Oprah the disgraced mogul had been “nothing but nice to her” since they had met.
And that is still not the last Oscar winner mentioned in the proceedings, which have several undisclosed plaintiffs suing him. Weinstein challenged the account given by Gwyneth Paltrow that he attempted to assault her in a Beverly Hills hotel room.
Weinstein said that after the alleged incident, Paltrow continued to work with his then-studio Miramax and filmed the project that would deliver her the 1998 Best Actress Oscar — “Shakespeare in Love.:”
Weinstein has routinely denied any occasion on nonconsensual sex. He and his legal team are asking the suit be dismissed.
This is not Streep’s first contact with the scandal. Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan said the beloved movie star was being complicit in his alleged abuse, something the actress denied and said she attempted to speak to McGowan about.