Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan says she's being blackmailed
The 'Scream' actress and activist wrote: 'No one should live in fear'
Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein spoke to the New York Post about his legacy. FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone with more.
Harvey Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan says she is being blackmailed by someone threatening to share a sex tape and speak out about her history of drug use.
“I am an adult in supposedly the ‘freest country in the world,’” she wrote in one of a series of tweets fired off late Wednesday night. “I try to live my life by doing what I want when I want. Believe me, I’ve earned it. Here’s the breaking news: I have lived in Hollywood by myself since I was 15.”
Actress and activist McGowan, 46, was one of the earliest and one of the most prominent of dozens of women to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, making her a major figure in the #MeToo movement.
In late October, she sued the disgraced movie mogul and two of his former attorneys for allegedly engaging in racketeering to silence her and derail her career before she accused him of rape in 2017.
“Harvey Weinstein was able to perpetrate and cover up decades of violence and control over women because he had a sophisticated team working on his behalf to systematically silence and discredit his victims,” she said in a statement at the time. “My life was upended by their actions, and I refuse to be intimidated any longer.”
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Harvey Weinstein (AP), Rose McGowan (Getty Images)
Weinstein, 67, is scheduled for trial in January on charges alleging that he raped an unidentified woman in his New York City hotel room in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006.
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Late Wednesday, McGowan defended herself and her right to live “as I see fit” and to be “a cheerleader” for others, she wrote in the sometimes expletive-laced missive.
“I refuse to take down the truth. I refuse to live in fear of a stranger and their judgements (sic). No one should live in fear,” she said, later adding in a subsequent tweet: “So, here’s a heads up: if yet another stolen sex tape goes online, or if you hear (clutch those pearls!) that I enjoy recreational adult pursuits, know that it was never my intention to discuss my private life in this way. I’m done being bullied…”
HARVEY WEINSTEIN CLAIMS HE 'PIONEERED' SUPPORT FOR WOMEN IN HOLLYWOOD
Earlier in the week, Weinstein griped in a sit-down interview with Page Six that he "pioneered" support for women in the film industry but his "work has been forgotten."
Front page of New York Post, Dec. 16, 2019
"I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker, and I'm talking about 30 years ago… I did it first! I pioneered it!" he said in his first interview in over a year. "It all got eviscerated because of what happened. ... My work has been forgotten."
McGowan later tweeted her thoughts on his complaints, writing: “This is about stopping a prolific rapist. You.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.