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Kate Winslet Deliberately Left Harvey Weinstein Out of her Oscars Speech

Kate Winslet deliberately left disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein out of her Oscars acceptance speech in 2009.

The Titanic star first hit the big screen in 1994’s Heavenly Creatures, which was produced by Weinstein. She won her first Academy Award for her role in The Reader in 2009, and admitted during an interview with the Los Angeles Times that her decision to omit Weinstein from her acceptance speech was “absolutely deliberate”.

Kate Winslet
Hollywood.com Staff/Syndicated by: © AMPAS ®

“I remember being told, ‘Make sure you thank Harvey if you win’,” she said. “And I remember turning around and saying, ‘No I won’t. No I won’t.’ And it was nothing to do with not being grateful. If people aren’t well-behaved, why would I thank him? The fact that I’m never going to have to deal with Harvey Weinstein again as long as I live is one of the best things that’s ever happened and I’m sure the feeling is universal.”

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The 42-year-old actress added that any time she saw Weinstein, he bragged that he was responsible for her career and subsequent success by casting her in Heavenly Creatures.

“For my whole career, Harvey Weinstein, whenever I’ve bumped into him, he’d grab my arm and say, ‘Don’t forget who gave you your first movie’,” she continued. “Like I owe him everything. Then later, with The Reader, same thing, ‘I’m gonna get you that Oscar nomination, I’m gonna get you a win, I’m gonna win for you’.”

“But that’s how he operated. He was bullying and nasty. Going on a business level, he was always very, very hard to deal with – he was rude. He used to call my female agent a (vulgar name for a woman) every time he spoke to her on the telephone.”

Winslet was one of the first celebrities to condemn Weinstein after he hit headlines last week (ends06Oct17) when allegations of sexual harassment and assault were detailed in a New York Times article and subsequent New Yorker piece.

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