Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino admitted that he knew about some of the sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein decades before they came to light.
Tarantino spoke with The New York Times and revealed that two female actresses had told him about inappropriate encounters with Weinstein in which the former Hollywood mogul made unwanted advances or touched them.
“I knew enough to do more than I did,” Tarantino told TheNYT. “There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things.”
One of those women was a former girlfriend of Tarantino’s, Mina Sorvino. She told Tarantino that the former studio executive had ended up chasing her around a hotel room in 1995 and started massaging her without asking her first. Another actress also gave an account to Tarantino where she alleged Weinstein came on to her in a hotel room as well.
Tarantino challenged Weinstein about one of the incidents but thought the incidents were few and far between.
“What I did was marginalize the incidents. Anything I say now will sound like a crappy excuse,” he said. “I chalked it up to a ’50s-’60s era image of a boss chasing a secretary around the desk. As if that’s O.K. That’s the egg on my face right now.”
Tarantino added that it was common knowledge inside Hollywood about Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment. He called on men in the business to stand up for women in light of Hollywood’s silence for years on the Weinstein scandal.
“I’m calling on the other guys who knew more to not be scared. Don’t just give out statements. Acknowledge that there was something rotten in Denmark. Vow to do better by our sisters,” Tarantino said.
Approximately 40 actresses have come forward to allege sexual harassment and assault from their encounters with Weinstein, though a spokesperson denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex.
Send tips to amber@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.