Days after disgraced Hollywood mogul (and convicted rapist) Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in jail, Kate Beckinsale revealed a harrowing story about Weinstein that she chose not to share with the public until now. On Instagram, Beckinsale posted photos of the Serendipity movie premiere, which took place in New York City in October 2001. She alleges that while the film’s cast initially “refused†to go to the glitzy event in the shadow of 9/11 (“with the city still smoking, it felt like the most insensitive, tone-deaf, disrespectful idea possibleâ€), Weinstein insisted, and everyone was forced to attend. To be respectful, Beckinsale opted for a tasteful white suit in favor of a provocative gown.
“The next morning, Harvey called me and asked if I would like to bring my less than 2-year-old daughter to his house for a playdate with his similar-aged daughter, I said okay,†Beckinsale wrote. “I turned up and he immediately called for his nanny to take the babies to another room to play. I went to go with them and he said ‘No, you wait here.’ The minute the door closed he started screaming, ‘you stupid fucking CUNT, you CUNT you ruined my premiere.’ I had no idea what he was talking about and started to shake. He said, ‘If I am throwing a red carpet you get in a tight dress, you shake your ass you shake your tits you do not go down it looking like a fucking lesbian you stupid fucking cunt.’ The shock made me burst into tears.†Beckinsale tried to explain to Weinstein that the cast and crew were angered at their required attendance, and that she didn’t feel it was “appropriate†to dress so revealingly, but he was unmoved by her words:
He said, ‘I don’t care. It’s my fucking premiere and if I want pussy on the red carpet that’s what I get.’ Screaming. Livid. I managed to get myself and my child out of there and yes that was one of many experiences I had that there was no recourse for, and falls under no felony. But I was punished for it, and for other instances where I said no to him for years, insidiously and seeming irreversibly. Hearing that he has gone to prison for 23 years is a huge relief to me on behalf of all the women he sexually assaulted or raped, and I hope will be a deterrent to that sort of behavior in this and any other industry.
In 2017, Beckinsale also alleged that Weinstein propositioned her for sex in a London hotel room when she was 17 years old. “After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left,†she wrote, “uneasy but unscathed.†She claims Weinstein wore a bathrobe for their entire meeting.
Last month, Weinstein was found guilty of two counts of rape and sexual assault — criminal sexual act in the first degree, and rape in the third degree — following a nearly seven-week trial. Many prominent women in Hollywood, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Mira Sorvino, have spoken out with allegations about Weinstein’s inappropriate behavior.