October 25, 2017

Lupita Nyong’O Opens Up About Sexual Harassment by Harvey Weinstein

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Amidst the piling sexual harassment accusation against American movie producer, Harvey Weinstein, Kenyan Nollywood star, Lupita Nyong’O has revealed in a trending op-ed on New York Times how the celebrated movie maker assaulted her.

Harvey Weinstein

In the detailed piece, Lupita Nyong’O gave her shocking experience especially how she felt “unsafe” and how his behavior was inappropriate. She shared:

“Harvey led me into a bedroom — his bedroom — and announced that he wanted to give me a massage,” Nyong’o wrote. “I thought he was joking at first. He was not. For the first time since I met him, I felt unsafe. I panicked a little and thought quickly to offer to give him one instead: It would allow me to be in control physically, to know exactly where his hands were at all times.”

Weinsten then told the actress that he wanted to remove his pants, which Nyong’o responded would be inappropriate. “I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable,” she wrote. ”He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that.”

“I did not know that things could change,” Nyong’o added. “I did not know that anybody wanted things to change. So my survival plan was to avoid Harvey and men like him at all costs, and I did not know that I had allies in this.”

In her final notes, Lupita Nyong’O shared: “I hope we are in a pivotal moment where a sisterhood  and brotherhood of allies — is being formed in our industry. I hope we can form a community where a woman can speak up about abuse and not suffer another abuse by not being believed and instead being ridiculed. That’s why we don’t speak up — for fear of suffering twice, and for fear of being labeled and characterized by our moment of powerlessness.”

Lupita Nyong'o holds her Academy Award for best supporting actress in 12 Years a Slave, as she arrives to the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. AFP PHOTO/ADRIAN SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ
Since the newspaper first published their expose about Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment and abuse over a three-decade period, numerous women including Cara Delevingne, Angelina Jolie and
Gwyneth Paltrow have all come forward with their own tales about the mogul.
Actress Lupita Nyong'o attends The 2017 Crystal + Lucy Awards on June 13, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. / AFP PHOTO / VALERIE MACONVALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images
On another occasion, Lupita was invited to dinner with Weinstein, when things once again took a turn for the worse.Before the starters arrived, he announced: 'Let's cut to the chase. I have a private room upstairs where we can have the rest of our meal,'" she wrote, adding that she declined and he then told her to leave. When she asked him if they were "good", Harvey answered: "I don't know about your career, but you'll be fine."
Lupita Nyong'o leaves from The Mark Hotel for the 2017 'Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between' Met Gala on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for The Mark Hotel)

"I did not see Harvey again until September 2013 when I was in Toronto for the premiere of 12 Years a Slave, the first feature film I was in," Lupita continued. "He said he couldn't believe how fast I had gotten to where I was, and that he had treated me so badly in the past. He was ashamed of his actions and he promised to respect me moving forward. I said thank you and left it at that. But I made a quiet promise to myself to never ever work with Harvey Weinstein."
After Lupita won her Oscar for 12 Years a Slave, Weinstein tried to work with her again, but she refused.



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