Rose McGowan will no longer collect a film festival award in person due to “compounding factors” surrounding the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.
The former Charmed actress has accused the Hollywood producer of sexual assault alongside a number of other stars, who have come forward with their own stories about Harvey following an expose in The New York Times.
Rose had been set to receive the Ad Astra Award at the Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Arkansas on Thursday night (19Oct17) but the organizers announced on their website that in light of the scandal, the Planet Terror star will no longer be attending.
“We are sorry to announce that Rose McGowan has cancelled all upcoming public appearances due to compounding factors surrounding recent revelations in the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment case,” they wrote.
Tallgrass Creative Director Lela Meadow-Conner added, “While we’re disappointed that Rose cannot be here with us in person, we understand that her wellbeing is the priority. We support her and our thoughts are with her.”
To honor Rose, the organizers have decided to hold a panel discussion with women filmmakers instead to help “amplify her message” and have a frank conversation about sexual harassment in the entertainment industry ahead of a screening of Planet Terror.
“Tallgrass has sought to honor Rose McGowan for three years now as we have always felt she epitomizes our motto: Stubbornly independent,” Tallgrass’s Program Director Nick Pope added. “It was our goal to shine a light on her career and her talent and put that part of the Rose McGowan equation front and centre for a very special evening. We will still honor her achievements from afar.”
In the New York Times expose, it was reported that the 44-year-old had reached a settlement with Weinstein when she was 23, over “an episode in a hotel room” during a film festival.
She publicly alleged he had raped her on Twitter last week. She wrote to Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, “I told the head of your studio that HW raped me… Over & over I said it. He said it hadn’t been proven. I said I was the proof.”
Amazon Studio chief Roy Price, who was also accused of sexual harassment by producer Isa Hackett, resigned from his post earlier this week.
