Harvey Weinstein: Kate Beckinsale tells of ‘inhumane bullying’ and ‘sick covert abuse’ | Ents & Arts News

Kate Beckinsale has told how she suffered “inhumane bullying” and “sick covert abuse” at the hands of Harvey Weinstein.

The actress shared an Instagram post about the disgraced film producer, who was jailed for 23 years on Thursday after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault.

She is among several actresses and women involved in the industry posting about their experiences with Weinstein, 67, following the sentencing.

Beckinsale said his jail term comes as a “huge relief”.

Next to an image taken at the 2001 US premiere for her film Serendipity, the star wrote a lengthy post, saying the event took place at the beginning of October that year, just weeks after 9/11.

She wore a loosely fitted white suit, with her hair pulled back.

In her post, she wrote: “We all refused to go because holding a premiere mere weeks after 9/11 with the city still smoking felt like the most insensitive, tone deaf, disrespectful idea possible.

“But Harvey insisted. We flew into New York and somehow got through it. The next morning Harvey called me and asked if I would like to bring my less than two-year-old daughter to his house for a playdate with his similar aged daughter. I said OK.

“I turned up and he immediately called for his nanny to take the babies to another room to play. I went to go with them and he said ‘no, you wait here’.

“The minute the door closed he started screaming ‘you stupid f****** c***, you c*** you ruined my premiere’.

“I had no idea what he was talking about and started to shake.

“He said, ‘if I am throwing a red carpet you get in a tight dress, you shake your ass, you shake your t***, you do not go down it looking like a f****** lesbian you stupid f****** c***.’

“The shock made me burst into tears. I tried to say, ‘Harvey, the city is on fire. People are still looking for their relatives. None of us even felt the premiere was appropriate, much less coming out dressed like it’s a bachelor party’.

“He said, ‘I don’t care – it’s my f****** premiere and if I want p**** on the red carpet that’s what I get.'”

Beckinsale said she “managed to get myself and my child out of there and yes that was one of many experiences I had that there was no recourse for, and falls under no felony”.

“But I was punished for it, and for other instances where I said ‘no’ to him for years, insidiously and seeming irreversibly.”

She continued: “Hearing that he has gone to prison for 23 years is a huge relief to me on behalf of all the women he sexually assaulted or raped, and I hope will be a deterrent to that sort of behaviour in this and any other industry.

“Having said that, the crimes that are not crimes, the inhumane bullying and sick covert abuse for which there is still no recourse no matter who you tell (and I did tell), these too need to go.”

Beckinsale has previously told how Weinstein offered her alcohol when she was just 17.

Once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, the Oscar-winning producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a judge in New York on Thursday after being convicted of assaulting production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.

They are just two of dozens of women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, with allegations going back several decades.

Among them are stars including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan.

His landmark conviction and sentencing is something many women thought they would never see due to his power and influence in the entertainment industry.

Mira Sorvino, one of the actresses who alleged he attacked her, said she cried after the sentencing.

She tweeted: “I literally cried tears of amazement, gratitude that the justice system has worked on behalf of all of his victims today.”

Rosanna Arquette, another of his high-profile accusers, told of her “gratitude to all the silence breakers”, including McGowan, “and all the survivors of Weinstein” and the “brave women who testified”.

In a separate case, prosecutors in Los Angeles filed sexual assault charges against Weinstein in January and have now begun the process of extraditing him from New York to their jurisdiction.

A spokesman said: “The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has begun the process of extraditing defendant Weinstein to California to face the sexual assault charges that were filed in January.

“No arraignment date has been set. Once a date has been set, our office will notify the public.”

In that case, Weinstein is charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.

He has denied all the charges.

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The disgraced mogul’s sentencing was praised as a “major moment for the silence-breakers and for women battling everywhere for their right to work in a safe workplace without fear of abuse and harassment” by Time’s Up UK, part of the global movement against sexual harassment.

And Fieldfisher’s Jill Greenfield, who is running the UK civil litigation against Weinstein, said his sentencing is a “hugely positive step for UK victims”.

Ms Greenfield, a personal injury solicitor, added: “They provided background information to the DA before the trial, and written submissions for consideration for sentencing by Judge Burke.

“There is some satisfaction for them having had their say and in knowing that the court in New York took into account what happened to them in the UK.

“Now Weinstein is locked up, it must be time to question the enablers around him, who allowed his abhorrent criminal behaviour to go unchecked for so long.

“Civil proceedings for the UK victims continues.”