Charlize Theron claims Harvey Weinstein was “really, really good” at pitting women against one another.
The ‘Bombshell’ star has hit out at the disgraced producer – who has been the subject of dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct – and claimed he had “no limit” to the way he would try and makes actresses feel they were in competition.
Discussing how he would pit women against each other so he could stay on top, Charlize told the New York Times newspaper: “
Yeah, and he did that to everybody. Pitting women against each other? He was really, really good at that.
“There was a lot of, like, ‘Well, I’m talking to Gwyneth [Paltrow] for this movie …’
“One of his lines was that Renée [Zellweger] and I slept with him to get jobs. There was no limit to him. Even in the sexual favours, he would still pit us against each other.”
‘Bombshell’ tells the story of female Fox News employees and their allegations against CEO Roger Ailes – who is played by John Lithgow – and Charlize is proud of the way such as a scene when the executive orders Margot Robbie’s low-level character to hitch up her hem has made people think and shown it is’t just a “women’s movie”.
She said: “What the scene in ‘Bombshell’ was more about, and what made this brutal to watch on the day, was the fact that you had Roger Ailes dictating how this was going to go and she didn’t have a say.
“It’s the belittling factor: ‘I am going to get you to do something that I know you’re incredibly uncomfortable with’. I think it’s having to placate his power that makes it almost unbearable to watch, way more than if he physically raped her in that scene.
“Watching this has been eye-opening to a lot of people. Men, especially, go, ‘I had no idea women had to do things like that.’
“It’s humbling that you can create that kind of moment, because a lot of times you know people are going to say, ‘This is a woman’s movie, and men will not tap into this at all.’
“When men can emotionally engage with what we experience and be just as disturbed by it, it’s a powerful thing.”
