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Several women confronted disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein when he showed up to a New York City event for emerging talent Wednesday night. But many of them were booed and heckled, and one was ultimately removed from the venue.
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Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 80 women, rolled up to Actor’s Hour, a monthly event for young artists, at the Downtime bar in Manhattan. He sat down at a booth with younger women and older men in suits, people who were there told BuzzFeed News. At first, no one said anything about Weinstein’s presence at the event. But when comedian Kelly Bachman took the stage, she called out “a Freddy Krueger in the room.”
“I didn’t realize I needed to bring my own mace and rape whistle to Actor’s Hour,” she said. Members of the audience began booing, and a few yelled “shut up,” at her, a video of her performance shows. “Oh, ‘shut up’? This kills at group therapy for rape survivors.”
During intermission, comedian Amber Rollo and actor Zoe Struckless also confronted Weinstein when they approached his table and began shouting at him, according to the Guardian.
Someone in the audience captured Struckless’ confrontation with Weinstein on video.
“Nobody’s going to say anything? Nobody’s really going to say anything?” Struckless screamed while standing near Weinstein’s table. “I’ll get out of here, that’s fine. I’m going to stand four feet from a fucking rapist, and nobody’s going to say anything.”
In a subsequent Facebook post, Struckless said Weinstein’s bodyguards “herded me out” of the bar, though the video doesn’t show that happening.
“So many women have suffered so greatly because of their experiences with this man, and there were no repercussions,” Struckless told BuzzFeed News. “And, in fact, he was being supported — and the community meant to uplift emerging actors and emerging artists was not only complicit but directly responsible for their silencing.”
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, one of Weinstein’s representatives said he still has rights. “I would just point out that accusations are not convictions, and due process is still the foundation of each and every one of our civil rights in this country,” the representative, Juda Engelmayer, said.
Weinstein has apparently showed up to Actor’s Hour before. “I welcome all walks of life into my space,” Alexandra Laliberte, the event’s organizer, told BuzzFeed News, though she denied she invited him personally. “Comedians made fun of him. This one lady stood up and screamed at him. People walked out, which was fantastic.”
Laliberte doesn’t seem to have addressed the fact that the people who confronted Weinstein were booed, heckled, and kicked out of the event, but in a post on the Actors Hour Facebook page, the organizers apologized for how they handled the situation.
Cover image: Actress Rose McGowan has filed suit against former film producer Harvey Weinstein and his former attorneys for allegedly attempting to discredit her rape claim against him. – May 30th 2018 (zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx)
