Like every film event of the past eight months, the conversation at the Cannes film festival has been around the #MeToo movement. It’s unsurprising, given the catalyst moment for #MeToo was the downfall of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
One of the central players in his demise, actress Salma Hayek, penned an in December detailing the sexual harassment and psychological abuse she experienced during the filming of her 2002 biopic, Frida. Weinstein and his team denied Hayek’s account , just as he did when another actress Lupita Nyong’o of harassment at the hands of the movie mogul.
According to Hayek, it’s no coincidence that Weinstein vehemently denied both actresses claims, while numerous other accounts from actresses were never addressed. “We’re the easiest to get discredited,” she told a reporter from at the Cannes Women in Motion Panel on Sunday. “It’s a well-known fact. So he went back, attacking the two women of colour, in hopes that he could discredit us.”
In her piece for the New York Times, Hayek describes incidents where Weinstein urged her to shower with him, let him perform oral sex on her, and threatened to kill her when she rejected his advances. At the time of the op-ed Weinstein's claimed “the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate.”
Lupita Nyong'o detailed her experience with Harvey Weinstein for the New York Times Source: Getty Images North America
Nyong’o had similar allegations: “Harvey led me into a bedroom — his bedroom — and announced that he wanted to give me a massage. I thought he was joking at first. He was not,” she wrote. Following those allegations Weinstein’s team : “Mr Weinstein has a different recollection of the events, but believes Lupita is a brilliant actress and a major force in the industry.”
As website points out, responses to Hayek and Nyong’o are among only a few personal statements issued by Weinstein’s team (others statement were in response to allegations made by Uma Thurman, Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan)—for the most part, Weinstein hasn’t responded to his accusers.
Salma Hayek in Frida. (Image: Susana Gonzalez) Source: Susana gonzalez
However, in both the case of Hayek and Nyong’o, Weinstein's statements attempt to undermine the actresses. He suggests Hayek was angry Weinstein’s vision for Frida made the film so successful, and mentions that Nyong’o had “Sent a personal invitation to Mr Weinstein to see her in a Broadway show Eclipsed.”
Hayek, a leading voice in the Times Up and #MeToo movement, was one of , who on Saturday protested the gender imbalance at Cannes. The number represented the small number of women who have directed one of the 1645 films that have screened at the festival.
The actress and producer believes the ground in Hollywood is well and truly shifting. “The men are terrified,” she . "The predators are hiding. You feel this very palpable atmosphere.”
