Heather Graham wrote in an op-ed Tuesday for Variety magazine that Harvey Weinstein implied that she needed to have sex with him in order to “star in one of” his films.
“In the early 2000s Harvey Weinstein called me into his office. There was a pile of scripts sitting on his desk,” the 47-year-old actress wrote following reports about sexual harassment allegations against the film producer. (RELATED: Celebrities React To Accusations Of Harvey Weinstein’s Sexual Harassment)
US actress Heather Graham poses for photographers while arriving for the European Premiere of ‘The Hangover Part 3’ in London on May 22, 2013. (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
“‘I want to put you in one of my movies,’ he said and offered to let me choose which one I liked best,” she added. “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.”
“A few weeks later, I was asked to do a follow-up meeting at his hotel,” she continued. “I called one of my actress friends to explain my discomfort with the situation, and she offered to come with me. En route, she called me to say she couldn’t make it. 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.”
“That was the end of that encounter — I was never hired for one of his films, and I didn’t speak up about my experience,” Graham shared. “It wasn’t until Ashley Judd heroically shared her story a few days ago that I felt ashamed. If I had spoken up a decade ago, would I have saved countless women from the same experience I had or worse? The question — and this is not an excuse — is what defines sexual harassment in the workplace? He didn’t explicitly offer a trade — sex for work — even though I knew that was what he was implying.”
Later, she praised the “powerful voices in the industry ” for speaking up and condemning the alleged behavior, adding that she was glad to see that a “predator is finally facing the consequences.”
MERYL STREEP SPEAKS OUT AGAINST WEINSTEIN… ONLY AFTER IT GETS POPULAR, LAUDED AS A HERO: