Academy Award winner Meryl Streep called the alleged sexual harassment by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein “disgraceful,” “inexcusable,” and an “abuse of power.” She called the women who have spoken out against him “heroes.”
In a statement sent to HuffPost exclusively by Streep’s longtime publicist Leslee Dart, Streep says she did not know that Weinstein― with whom she has collaborated for years on films like “August: Osage County” and “The Iron Lady” and once jokingly referred to as a “God”― was engaging in “inappropriate, coercive acts” and that he had paid financial settlements to at least eight women after they accused him of harassment and assault.
DAN MACMEDAN VIA GETTY IMAGES
Streep’s statement comes four days after an explosive report in the New York Times detailed decades of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. On Sunday, the board of directors of the Weinstein Company terminated him citing “new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days.”
Here’s Streep’s full statement:
“The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported. The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.
One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally. I didn’t know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts. And If everybody knew, I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would have neglected for decades to write about it.
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