Celebs
Cara Delevingne Says Harvey Weinstein Tried to Keep Her in the Closet
"You will never make it in this industry as a gay woman — get a beard," Weinstein reportedly said.
September 13 2019 3:22 PM EST
September 13 2019 4:07 PM EST
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"You will never make it in this industry as a gay woman — get a beard," Weinstein reportedly said.
Cara Delevingne says her harrowing experience with Harvey Weinstein taught her a thing or two about the pressures queer people face in Hollywood.
In an interview with the fashion magazine Net-a-Porter published online Friday, the model and actress shed more light on the harassment she says she faced from the film producer. "One of the first things Harvey Weinstein ever said to me was, 'You will never make it in this industry as a gay woman -- get a beard,'" said Delevingne, who currently stars in Amazon's Carnival Row.
Delevingne also says that when she was starting to audition for screen roles, Weinstein would name famous women and ask her if she had ever slept with them. "I just thought: This is insane," she says.
This isn't the first time that Delevingne has discussed Weinstein's reportedly predatory behavior. After actresses like Rose McGowan and Mira Sorvino came forward to say that the former Miramax head sexually assaulted or behaved inappropriately with them, she alleged that he had made advances toward her. In a similar story to that shared with Net-a-Porter, she said he attempted to coerce her into kissing another actress in front of him.
"When I first started to work as an actress, I was working on a film and I received a call from Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media," she shared on Instagram in October 2017. "It was a very odd and uncomfortable call. ... I answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I'd never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood."
Delevingne shared that she encountered the movie mogul again a few years after that encounter -- this time in a meeting for a film she was interested in. She said Weinstein invited her to his hotel, and although she initially declined his invitation, she was encouraged by his assistant to go upstairs.
"When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately that I was safe," she wrote. "He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction."
In an attempt to divert Weinstein's attention, Delevingne said she began to sing.
"I was so nervous," she continued. "After singing, I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips."
According to the Washington Post, Weinstein is set to go on trial in January 2020 for charges of rape, predatory sexual assault, and criminal sexual acts based on the accusations of two women. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, in which several women have accused him of sexual assault and predatory behavior.
Delevingne has been in a relationship with actress Ashley Benson for over a year, according to E! News.
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