Director Todd Haynes acknowledged the courage it took for women to speak out against film producer Harvey Weinstein at the premiere his new movie Wonderstruck at New York’s Lincoln Center on Sunday (08Oct17)
Weinstein was terminated from his own company on Sunday following a barrage of sexual harassment accusations.
The decision was announced following a story published by The New York Times on Thursday, which revealed three decades of allegations of inappropriate behavior made against him by several women who worked for the movie mogul, including actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. The report said Weinstein’s companies paid out thousands of dollars to at least eight women to buy their silence.
Speaking on the red carpet at the New York Film Festival premiere of his latest film, which stars Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven director Haynes expressed his admiration for the women affected.
“I think it’s very, very distressing news to hear,” he told the New York Daily News. “I think the women who have come out are very courageous; I don’t think it’s easy.”
His leading lady, who is starring in an upcoming untitled David O. Russell television project co-produced by the Weinstein Co., chose not to comment on the scandal which has rocked Hollywood.
Other high-profile stars who have remained silent include Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett, all of whom have worked with 65-year-old Weinstein on his award-winning films.
In posts to her Twitter account on Friday, McGowan accused the “ladies of Hollywood” of being conspicuously silent, tweeting: “Ladies of Hollywood, your silence is deafening.”
