Natalie Mendoza: ‘I have forgiven Harvey Weinstein’

Australian actress Natalie Mendoza has forgiven Harvey Weinstein for allegedly groping her several years ago.
The Descent star came forward with her accusations in a Facebook post in October (17), according to Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper. In the posts, Mendoza claimed Weinstein lunged at her during a private meeting, while she was filming 2005’s The Great Raid.
“I might have told Mr W mid-script ‘meeting’ after he sent his assistant out that I’d punch him if he didn’t take his hands off me (sic),” she reportedly wrote. “Shook all the way home but high-fived myself for knowing my self worth in my early 20s.”
“I was so naive I did not realize it was a set-up,” she added in a second post. “I managed to escape with my ­integrity intact. I was shaken and dazed but OK.”
On Thursday (25Jan18), Natalie was asked about the alleged incident and revealed she has forgiven the disgraced movie mogul for his actions.
“I absolutely do (forgive him),” she tells TMZ. “If someone has it in their heart to apologise and acknowledges what they’ve done wrong, I think that’s the way forward. I think we all have to take responsibility as a society. It’s not just one particular person.”
“Of course there are powerful people and power corrupts, but as a society we have to take responsibility with these issues,” she adds. “We all play, whether it’s unconscious or a conscious role, the way society thinks and how we act. So I absolutely think the way forward is through forgiveness, always.”
And Mendoza believes if Weinstein makes amends he should be allowed a career comeback.
“Harvey was a great filmmaker, it came at an unfortunate personal cost for many, many people,” she says. “I think he’s going to be on a very long road of recovery. The road of recovery requires a conscious support.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of addiction someone has, it’s really important as a society at some point we kind of go, ‘OK, how can we move forward together…'”
More than 80 women, including Mira Sorvino, Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, and Gwyneth Paltrow, have accused the disgraced studio boss of inappropriate behaviour, assault, rape, and misconduct since exposes detailing his bad behaviour towards women were published in The New York Times and New Yorker last year (Oct18).
Weinstein maintains that while he may have behaved badly in the past he has never forced a woman to have sex with him.