Blake Lively, Lili Reinhart, and More Stars Open Up About Past Sexual Harassment Experiences
The recent sexual harassment allegations made by several women against producer Harvey Weinstein have inspired plenty of celebrities to speak out about their own experiences as well, although not technically involving the man in question.
In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, which took place a few days after the Weinstein scandal made headlines, "The Shallows" star Blake Lively recalled being harassed by a male makeup artist she used to work with.
"He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger," she told the news outlet. "I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me. I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do," Lively added.
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According to the 30-year-old actress, she reported the issue to project's producers, but they did not do anything about it. Lively revealed that she had to talk to a lawyer about the said harassment for an investigation to happen. The makeup artist ended up getting fired, but the unit production manager still gave him a letter of recommendation to avoid "bad blood."
"Riverdale" actress Lili Reinhart, on the other hand, took to her Tumblr blog to open up about a past experience with sexual harassment.
In the said blog post, which she titled "In light of the Harvey Weinstein allegations," the 21-year-old actress recounted the time she went on a date with a guy whom she was working with on a project. He was "significantly older" than her, but she did not think that it was a big deal at first. However, that changed quickly.
Although she did not want to share any specific details regarding the incident, Reinhart said that what matters was the fact that he attempted to force himself on her.
She wrote, "I had to stop him and say 'No, I don't want that,' and 'I can't do that.' I physically walked away from the situation before it could get any worse. I remember feeling like this was a scene right out of a horror movie."
The actress also revealed that after some awkward moments of silence and her feeling "completely violated and uncomfortable," the male colleague was able to convince her to get in his car because she thought that he was going to drive her home. However, during the drive, Reinhart realized that he was trying to take her to his apartment instead.
Saying that she knew something bad was going to happen to her if she landed at his apartment, she added, "I told him to drop me off at my home, that I didn't want to go back to his place. He said some snarky comment but reluctantly brought me to where I was staying. The next day I tried to talk to him about the situation. I told him how uncomfortable it made me and how wrong it felt."
Other celebrities who spoke up about their past sexual harassment experiences include Pauley Perrette, Björk, Terry Crews, and James Van Der Beek, and more.
Those who have claimed to have been harassed by the controversial Weinstein include Gwyneth Paltrow, Minka Kelly, Lysette Anthony, Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale, Sophie Dix, Ashley Judd, and Heather Graham, among many others.
The famed producer has since denied everything that has been thrown at him.
