Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson has claimed that the sexual abuse and harassment scandal surrounding disgraced Hollywood producer and Democratic Party donor Harvey Weinstein is just “the top of a very particular iceberg” in Hollywood’s overall culture.
“I didn’t know about these things, but they don’t surprise me at all, and they’re endemic to the system anyway,” claimed Thompson in an interview with BBC Newsnight. “What I find sort of extraordinary is that this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg. I don’t think you can describe him as a ‘sex addict,’ he’s a predator.”
“But what he’s, as it were, the top of the ladder of is a system of harassment, and belittling, and bullying, and interference, and what my mother would have referred to in the olden days as ‘pestering.’ ‘Is he pestering you?’ That’s the word we used to use in the olden days if you recall,” she continued. “This has been part of our world, women’s world, since time immemorial.”
When asked whether she thought there were other sexual predators like Weinstein in Hollywood at the moment, Thompson replied, “Of course. Many.”
“Maybe not to that degree. Do they all have to be as bad as him to make it count?” Thompson asked. “Does it only count if you really have done it to loads and loads and loads of women, or does it count if you do it to one woman once? I think the latter.”
Thompson was just the latest actress of dozens who have spoken out on the allegations surrounding Weinstein this week. On Thursday, actors Ryan Gosling and Julia Roberts issued statements, while actress Kate Beckinsale revealed in an Instagram post that Weinstein attempted to give her alcohol in a hotel room when she was just 17 years old.
Actress Rose McGowan, who has detailed several of her own claims against Weinstein and reportedly reached a financial settlement with the disgraced mogul in the 1990s, was suspended from Twitter Thursday for tweeting about the allegations.
McGowan returned to the service Thursday afternoon and launched a blistering attack on Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, who she accused of “funding rapists” and other sexual predators.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington and Gab @Nash, or like his page at Facebook.
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