With a career spanning almost five decades in Hollywood, Meryl Streep has been associated with several memorable roles and some great personalities throughout the years. However, one person the 74-year-old actress now deeply regrets having worked with and admired is the infamous Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein, a former American producer, has been convicted of s*xually assaulting several actresses and is currently serving his sentence. The shocking accusations and subsequent legal actions against Weinstein triggered the Weinstein effect and the MeToo movement, exposing the heinous actions of several powerful men worldwide.
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Meryl Streep Once Called The Infamous Producer ‘God’
Though Meryl Streep now despises Weinstein’s actions and terms them ‘inexcusable’ and an ‘abuse of power,’ there was a time when the Oscar-winning actress held a high opinion of the convicted s*x offender.
In 2012, Meryl Streep won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher. Interestingly, it was Weinstein who lobbied the Academy to honor Streep with the prestigious award. During her acceptance speech, the Devil Wears Prada actress expressed her gratitude, saying:
“I just wanna thank my agent Kevin Huvane and God, Harvey Weinstein, the punisher, Old Testament, I guess.”
However, the Don’t Look Up actress later went back on words when the horrifying truth emerged, and the allegations against him came to light. Streep denounced the producer’s actions, calling them disgraceful, and expressed her profound shock at learning that the person who had once championed her work and supported her worthy causes had engaged in such heinous acts.
Meryl Streep Denied Knowing About The S*xual Assaults
When questioned about her long-standing working relationship with Weinstein and how she remained unaware of his misconduct, Meryl Streep issued an official statement to clarify her position:
“One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally.”
The Mamma Mia! actress further emphasized that she had no knowledge of Weinstein’s financial settlements with actresses and colleagues, nor was she aware of his inappropriate, coercive acts that took place during meetings in hotel rooms and bathrooms.
The Julie & Julia actress went on to assert that had everyone been aware of the truth, news outlets would not have allowed the matter to remain concealed for decades. Notably, Weinstein faced accusations from mainstream Hollywood actresses including Lupita Nyong’o, Salma Hayek, and Gwyneth Paltrow, among others.
Source: The New York Times
