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Delevingne, Seydoux join growing list of Weinstein accusers

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Press Trust of India Los Angeles
Actor-model Cara Delevingne, Bond star Lea Seydoux and Heather Graham are the latest celebrities to open up about their encounter with Harvey Weinstein.

In a post on her Instagram, Delevingne said at the beginning of her career she received a strange call from Weinstein. The movie mogul asked her if she had slept with any of the women she had been seen with in public.

"It was a very odd and uncomfortable call... I answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that if I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I'd never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood," Delevingne wrote.
 

The actor said she met the producer with a director for a film a year later and when the director left the room Weinstein started bragging about all the big stars he had slept with and how he had made their careers.

Delevingne said the producer then invited her to his room which she initially declined but his assistant advised her otherwise.

"Paper Towns" star said she felt "very powerless and scared" and she initially felt relieved to find another woman in his room but Weinstein "asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction."

Delevingne, 25, said she started to sing thinking it would be more professional, like an audition.

"After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room."

Delevingne said she got the part in the movie but felt awful. "I was so hesitant about speaking out... I didn't want to hurt his family."

French actor Seydoux, known for films such as "Blue Is The Warmest Color" and "Spectre", had a similar story to tell.

In an op-ed to Guardian's website, Seydoux narrated her Weinstein encounter.

"We met in the lobby of his hotel. His assistant, a young woman, was there. All throughout the evening, he flirted and stared at me as if I was a piece of meat," she explained.

"He acted as if he were considering me for a role. But I knew that was bulls**t. I knew it, because I could see it in his eyes. He had a lecherous look. He was using his power to get sex."

Seydoux said Weinstein started losing control when his assistant left.

"We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself," she said.

"He's big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted. I wasn't afraid of him, though. Because I knew what kind of man he was all along."

Weinstein and Seydoux worked together on 2009 Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds", which he produced.

Actor Heather Graham said she was indirectly propositioned by Weinstein.

She said the producer called her to his office in 2000s.

Weinstein told the "Hangover" star that he wanted to cast her in one of his movies.

"Later in the conversation, he mentioned that he had an agreement with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there," Graham recalled.

She said she was asked to do a follow-up meeting at his hotel. She shared her discomfort about meeting Weinstein alone to one of her friends who offered to come with Graham.

But en route, her friend called her to say that she could not make it to the meeting.

"Not wanting to be at the hotel alone with him, I made up an excuse I had an early morning and would have to postpone. Harvey told me that my actress friend was already at his hotel and that both of them would be very disappointed if I didn't show. I knew he was lying, so I politely and apologetically reiterated that I could no longer come by."

The New Yorker published a report detailing rape allegations against Weinstein by three women in their October 10 article. That story follows New York Times expose that outlined decades of sexual harassment claims leveled against media mogul.

Many high profile women such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie have alleged Weinstein of sexual harassment after the intial story broke out.

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

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First Published: Oct 12 2017 | 4:07 PM IST

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