Gwyneth Paltrowonly thought of her then 13-year-old daughter Apple when she decided to come forward about her sexual harassment allegations againstHarvey Weinstein.
The actress and Goop CEO was one of the first women to speak on the record in late 2017 about Weinstein, who she accused of sexually harassing her in a hotel room when she was 22. Appearing on theTodayshow Thursday morning to promote her Netflix showThe Politician, Paltrow, now 46, said she was scared to come forward but ultimately thought of now 15-year-old Apple and felt the need to speak up.
“I was really scared. I think society had shown us only basically examples where women coming forward ended up not being advantageous for the woman but I really felt like it was time,” Paltrow said.
“I think also having a teenage daughter that’s the love of my life, and worrying about her going into the workplace and feeling like if there was ever a chance that there could be a cultural shift on this stuff, I wanted to participate in,” she continued. “I never could have imagined that collectively a shift this seismic would happen, but I feel proud that I have a small part in it.”
Paltrow shares Apple and her 13-year-old brother Moses with ex-husbandChris Martin.
Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the reporters who first broke the story, appeared on the show earlier this month to talk about their new book,She Said, recounting their investigation that played a role in his downfall and ushered in the rise of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. The women helped publish the accusations of assault, with Paltrow, Ashley Judd andAngelina Jolieamong the first actresses to publicly come forward with varying allegations.
“I think that many people will be surprised to discover that when so many other actresses were reluctant to get on the phone and scared to tell the truth about what they had experienced at his hands, that Gwyneth was actually one of the first people to get on the phone and that she was determined to help this investigation, even when Harvey Weinstein showed up to a party at her house early and she was sort of forced to hide in the bathroom,” Twohey previously said on theTodayshow.
“I think Harvey Weinstein was extremely aware and extremely scared of what the implications would be if his biggest star actually ended up going on the record,” she added.
Nicholas Hunt/Getty; Alexander Koerner/Getty
In the originalNew York Timesreportfrom October 2017, Paltrow said Weinstein sexually harassed her in a hotel room after the movie mogul hired her for the lead role inEmmawhen she was 22. The encounter allegedly ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting a massage.
“I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified,” she told theNYT.
Weinstein isset to go to trialin January 2020 for charges of rape, predatory sexual assault and criminal sexual act based on the accusations of two women, according toThe Washington Post.
He has plead not guilty to all charges.
source: people.com
