While in the midst of the tragic unfolding of s-xual assault forthcomings coming to light since the Harvey Weinstein allegations, unveiling in a case conducted by The New York Times, Lili Reinhart has come forward, sharing her own story about being s-xually harassed as a teenager.
The Riverdale star took to Tumblr last week to reveal she was almost taken advantage of as a teenager, while working on set with an older male colleague. Reinhart shares, “[He was] in a position of power over me and used that said power to try and take advantage of me.”
The star shares that her vulnerable teenage self had a crush on the unnamed harrasser, describing him as what she thought at the time: “Incredibly charming and charasmastic.”
Before trying to force himself on her, Reinhart shares that she went out on a date with him. “I had to stop him and say ‘No, I don’t want that,’ and ‘I can’t do that,’” she writes in her expressive post. “I physically walked away from the situation before it could get any worse. I remember feeling like this was a scene right out of a horror movie.”
After Reinhart reluctantly allowed him to drive her home, the actress realised he was driving towards his apartment, not hers. “I knew if I made it there, something bad was going to happen to me. I told him to drop me off at my home, that I didn’t want to go back to his place. He said some snarky comment but reluctantly brought me to where I was staying.”
“Thinking back on it now, the situation is hard for me to swallow. I was so young and didn’t know how to handle the situation. I just knew how wrong it felt and that I had been violated,” she shares. “This guy proceeded to tell me that it was my fault for leading him on. Saying that I seemed like a s-xual girl and that I’d be down for it. That I misled him.”
Much like Weinstein’s victims – including the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie – who have only just come forth about their personal experiences, an underlying commonalty for concealing the truth exists across all accounts.
“I was miserable. And I felt that I needed to keep my mouth shut about the entire situation because one, I figured no one would believe me and two, he played a much bigger role in this project than me. He had more power. If I said something, maybe the production would be halted... people would be put out of work,” Reinhart shares. “I would be looked at as dramatic and a diva, no one would want to work with me again.”
Reinhart finishes her post, sharing, “I stand with them. I believe them. I believe in standing up for yourself as a woman and coming forward about s-xual harassment. I’m coming forward about my own experience to further express how common these assaults are in this industry and how important it is that we take action to fight against it.”
