A spokesperson for Harvey Weinstein has responded to actor Salma Hayek's op-ed in the New York Times in which she has detailed the disgraced producer's inappropriate behaviour during the making of 2002 film "Frida".
Hayek said Weinstein made her life hell during the making of the film and she had to repeatedly rebuff his advances.
To save the film from being shut, Hayek agreed to do a "senseless" sex scene with actor Ashley Judd, who was one of the first women to accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein, via his representative, has admitted that there was "creative friction" during the making of the film but denied asking for sexual favours in return.
Calling Hayek "a first-class actress", Weinstein said he chose the actor over Jennifer Lopez, who was interested in playing Frida Kahlo and was a bigger star at that time.
"Mr Weinstein 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.
"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," the statement read.
Defending his "boorish behaviour following a screening of "Frida", Weinstein said it 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."
Hayek has also accused Weinstein of demanding script rewrite at the last minute and not even giving credit to Ed Norton.
But Weinstein said he battled the Writers Guild of America to get him a credit but was unsuccessful.
Weinstein, considered one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, has been thrown out of his own company after the New York Times and the New Yorker took the lid off of his decades of sexual misconduct.
The expose prompted more than fifty women, including prominent Hollywood stars, to come forward to accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and in some cases of rape.
Hayek is the latest star to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct after people like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Uma Thurman, Rose McGowan, Lupita Nynog'o detailed their experiences.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
