Salma Hayek says Harvey Weinstein threatened to give her role in "Frida" to another actress if she didn't do graphic s-x scene with Ashley Judd
Actress Salma Hayek said Wednesday that disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein threatened to shut down production of her dream movie, "Frida," unless "I agreed to do a s-x scene with another woman."
"And he demanded full-frontal n-dity," Hayek wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. "It was clear to me he would never let me finish this movie without him having his fantasy one way or another. There was no room for negotiation. I had to say yes."
Hayek, 51, said she was motivated to tell her harrowing story about the man she refers to as "my monster" by the flood of women who have come forward with accusations of s-xual misconduct against Weinstein.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual s-xual encounters. A spokesperson said Wednesday night that Weinstein "does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous s-x scene with a female costar and he was not there for the filming."
The spokesperson said a n-de scene that was shot with the actress Ashley Judd was necessary because "that was part of the story, as Frida Kahlo was bis-xual."
"All of the s-xual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired," the spokesperson said.
"Frida," which Hayek produced and starred in, was a critical success that turned the Mexican actress into a Hollywood player and won two Academy Awards for Weinstein's company, Miramax.
"I had brainwashed myself into thinking that it was over and that I had survived," Hayek wrote. "When so many women came forward to describe what Harvey had done to them, I had to confront my cowardice and humbly accept that my story, as important as it was to me, was nothing but a drop in an ocean of sorrow and confusion.
"I felt that by now nobody would care about my pain — maybe this was an effect of the many times I was told, especially by Harvey, that I was nobody."
Hayek, best known for her turns in movies like "Desperado" and "Fools Rush In," did what she called the "senseless scene" in the 2002 biopic about the painter Frida Kahlo with Judd, who also has accused Weinstein of s-xual misconduct.
Before she succumbed to Weinstein's alleged demand, Hayek wrote that he stalked her, that pressured her for s-x and that he allegedly made other inappropriate demands backed up by threats.
"I will kill you, don't think I can't," Weinstein reportedly said, according to Hayek.
Hayek said she was able to rebuff Weinstein until he threatened her movie.
Hayek said that when she arrived to shoot the scene with Judd, she was a wreck and needed to take a tranquilizer to get through it.
"It was not because I would be n-ked with another woman," she wrote. "It was because I would be naked with her for Harvey Weinstein."
The scene stayed in the final cut of the movie.
Weinstein was fired in October by the studio he founded after a flood of women came forward with accusations of s-xual harassment that go back decades. He is being investigated by authorities in New York City, Los Angeles and London, NBC News has confirmed.
After her letter appeared, Hayek got a shout-out of support from the actress Rose McGowan, who has accused Weinstein of r-pe.
Salma, I’d heard whispers for years. I’m so sorry they were true. All we wanted to do was create art and put food on the table. That’s it. Instead, we got the Monster from Hell. We deserved so much more from those we paid to protect us. Love to you.
