It's been a tough week. Following the New York Times report of sexual misconduct allegedly perpetrated by Harvey Weinstein, women in Hollywood have been coming forward with their own stories about the film titan. It seems like everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Cara Delevingne says they've had similar encounters with Weinstein as those alleged in the article, and now Kate Beckinsale is adding her name to the list.
On Instagram, the actress posted a lengthy caption detailing an incident she says took place when she was just 17 years old. It follows a now-familiar pattern: She says was told she had a meeting with Weinstein only to be directed to his hotel room.
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"He opened the door in his bathrobe," she wrote on the caption. "I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed."
They still maintained a relationship, although Beckinsale says she was constantly dodging his advances. He once asked her if he "had tried anything" when they first met.
"I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not," she wrote. "I had what I thought were boundaries - I said no to him professionally many times over the years-some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a cunt and making threats, some of which made him laughingly tell people oh 'Kate lives to say no to me.'"
She writes that she did all this knowing it would harm her career, which is why she stands behind the numerous women speaking up about their own stories.
"I would like to applaud the women who have come forward, and to pledge that we can from this create a new paradigm where producers,managers,executives and assistants and everyone who has in the past shrugged and said 'well, that's just Harvey /Mr X/insert name here' will realize that we in numbers can affect real change," she said, adding, "Let's stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder, and let's remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick, and that we have work to do."
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