McGowan wrote in the book fearless that her breakfast meeting with Weinstein was moved to his hotel room – not an uncommon practice, she says. The actor was one of the first to come forward and name Harvey Weinstein as the man who allegedly raped her; the breaking of a silence that inspired tens of thousands of others to break theirs and talk about their own experiences.
Advertisement
She said: “You float up above your body because you’re trying to figure out – my brain was literally, when he grabbed me, I was thinking, “Oh, I hope I still have lipstick on for the camera”. I had been so violated and I was sad to the core of my being. “The mostly male crew, I think without even realizing what they were doing, just cut the female director’s legs out from under her”, writes McGowan. “He knew I hated the N-word and he would get in my face and say it over and over until I lashed out at him, so then he had an excuse to beat me with his belt buckle”, she writes. “I realized there are no lobbyists for critical thinking and no lobbyists for bravery… be courageous, even if you’re ankle shake”, she said. The book is the first time McGowan has disclosed any information about the alleged incident since she broke an NDA agreement and said Weinstein raped her in a tweet published October 12.
This email seemingly clashes with a passage in McGowan’s book courageous, in which she describes telling Affleck, her co-star in Phantoms, about the alleged assault at the Sundance Film Festival. He reportedly said: “Goddamnit”.
In the statement released by Weinstein, Affleck says, “She never told me nor did I ever infer that she was attacked by anyone”. “I freeze, like a statue”, McGowan writes.
“The intentions are good, but I know the people behind it, you know?”
‘It was Ms. McGowan, and only Ms. McGowan, who chose to demand money from Mr. Weinstein; it was Ms. McGowan who later chose to work with Mr. Weinstein professionally, and it was Ms. McGowan who later elected to personally appear with Mr. Weinstein at his charity event in Cannes. McGowan emancipated herself from her parents at 15.
McGowan is also set to star in a five-part documentary series called Citizen Rose, which premieres January 30 on E!.
McGowan reached a $100,000 settlement for an encounter in a hotel room with executive producer Harvey Weinstein during the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.
Advertisement
“I forged William’s signature on the car’s “pink slip” and traded it in for a spaceship-like sports vehicle and never looked back”, she writes. “The truth of it is, the shame was not mine, and for all victims in similar situations, it is not ours”, she writes. “It was my only way of saying, ‘I didn’t like this, I didn’t want this.’ It was my only form of voice”. Eventually, she says, her mom met a pathological liar and made a decision to move away with him, but first she asked McGowan’s new 20-year-old boyfriend, William, if he would take care of her.
