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Lupita Nyong’o Vowed ‘Never Ever’ to Work with ‘Pushy’ Harvey Weinstein After Sexual Harassment Incident 

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)
Lupita Weinstein

Lupita Nyong’o met Harvey Weinstein in 2011. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Harvey Weinstein reportedly found Sophie Okonedo “unf—able,” but he seemed to have a thing for Lupita Nyong’o. The Oscar-winning actress detailed her account of sexual harassment by the ousted film mogul in a stunning article for The New York Times. According to Nyong’o, Weinstein was a “pushy” man who could be really “charming” in group settings. He was also, as she was assured before her career took off, someone who was good to know in Tinseltown.

Leading up to the incident, Nyong’o had been invited to Weinstein’s home for a film screening with his family. But her viewing was interrupted.

“Harvey led me into a bedroom — his bedroom — and announced that he wanted to give me a massage,” Nyong’o wrote in the Thursday, Oct. 19 piece, which also acknowledged he offered her alcohol on two separate, earlier occasions to her refusal. “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.”

The actress explained that her film classes at Yale included using massage techniques, so she felt she could make sense of her giving him one For Nygong’o, she wanted to “keep a semblance of professionalism in spite of the bizarre circumstance.”

“I began to massage his back to buy myself time to figure out how to extricate myself from this undesirable situation,” she wrote. “Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants. I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that. ‘If we’re not going to watch the film, I really should head back to school.'”

She left and Weinstein pursued her for roles following the incident, which Nyong’o said she reasoned “had been inappropriate and uncalled-for, but not overtly sexual.” She decided she wouldn’t be found in any private spaces with the producer again and routinely declined his movie offers. When she made her big screen debut in “12 Years A Slave,” Weinstein, who had doubted her, apologized for his actions, which Nyong’o accepted.

“But I made a quiet promise to myself to never ever work with Harvey Weinstein.”

More on Lupita Nyong’o

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Lupita Nyong’o Talks Being Fortunate, Fame, and Why ‘Katwe’ Doesn’t Have a White Savior

Lupita Nyong’o Stuns on Latest Vogue Cover, Interview Earns Praise

 

Online, many were furious about the 65-year-old’s encounter with Nyong’o.

Women identified with her struggle.

And folks applauded her for speaking out.

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