Rose McGowan slammed Ben Affleck as a liar Tuesday after he finally broke his silence over the sexual harassment and assault allegations leveled at Harvey Weinstein.
Five days after the claims broke about the producer, who backed Affleck and Matt Damon’s screenplay for Good Will Hunting, Affleck said that he was ‘saddened and angry’ over the claims.
He also said that ‘The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick,’ and that he wants to see more support for women in the media.
But McGowan, who was allegedly assaulted by Weinstein in 1997 and has been crusading against silence over Weinstein’s grim past, stuck out at his claims to obliviousness.
She tweeted: ‘@benaffleck “GODD*MNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT” you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.’
Ben Affleck finally broke his silence to condemn Harvey Weinstein on Tuesday, saying the sexual harassment claims made him sick. Weinstein produced Good Will Hunting, for which Affleck and Matt Damon (all three pictured) won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar
Although Affleck implied that he had only just learned of the Weinstein claims, McGowan said she’d told him after her alleged 1997 assault and that he was aware of previous allegations
Immediately after his remarks, McGowan also tweeted, ‘Ben Affleck f**k off’
She then tweeted a screengrab of her message onto her main timeline with the message: ‘You want to play let’s play #ROSEARMY.’
It’s not clear which press conference she was referring to, although her alleged assault is said to have occurred in 1997, and Good Will Hunting premiered in December of that year.
In his statement, Affleck said: ‘I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades.
‘The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to others.
‘We need to do better at protecting our sisters, friends, co-workers and daughters. We must support those who come forward, condemn this type of behavior when we see it and help ensure there are more women in positions of power.’
But McGowan, angry at the stars’ days of silence, initially reacted to the news with a simple ‘Ben Affleck f*** off’.
Affleck and co-star Matt Damon owe their careers to Weinstein after winning a best original screenplay Oscar back in 1998 for Good Will Hunting.
The film, which they both starred in, was produced by The Weinstein Company.
Damon broke his own silence shortly after Affleck, denying he had tried to kill a New York Times expose into Weinstein in 2004 – and claiming he had never been aware of the movie mogul harassing women.
Affleck’s statement came after he refused to respond to repeated requests for comment from Dailymail.com.
His comments came shortly before the New York Times published a story revealing both Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie were subjected to unwanted advances by the Hollywood heavyweight.
Affleck and Paltrow dated briefly in the late-90s. Paltrow was dating Brad Pitt around the time Weinstein made advances towards her.
It comes as pressure mounts on Damon to also speak out against Weinstein.
One of his victims, Rose McGowan, lashed out at Damon this week calling him a ‘spineless profiteer who stays silent’ after it was revealed he and Russell Crowe had helped kill a story about the mogul’s harassment.
Sharon Waxman revealed in a post on The Wrap that she had been working on an expose about Weinstein until Damon and Crowe called her directly to try and bury the piece.
‘Hey @Mattdamon what’s it like to be a spineless profiteer who stays silent?’ wrote McGowan Monday afternoon, hours after calling on the entire board at Weinstein Company to step down for being complicit in covering up the executive’s actions.
McGowan also acknowledged a few of Damon’s similarly tongue-tied pals, tweeting: ‘Ben Affleck Casey Affleck, how’s your morning boys?’
It comes as pressure mounts on Damon to also speak out against Weinstein. They are pictured together above in New York in 1998 – the same year they won Oscars for Good Will Hunting
The new allegations that Affleck mentioned were included in an article by The New Yorker on Tuesday that said Weinstein had previously raped three women, significantly intensifying the scandal surrounding the disgraced movie mogul.
Actress Asia Argento and a former aspiring actress named Lucia Evans went on the record to allege Weinstein forced himself on them sexually. A third woman spoke anonymously.
A representative for Weinstein vehemently denied the allegations in a statement to the magazine.
Thirteen women said Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between 1990 and 2015, according to the New Yorker.
The incidents described range from unwanted groping to forced sex. Some of those incidents overlap with the eight allegations of sexual harassment previously reported by The New York Times, all of which resulted in financial settlements.
Lashing out: Weinsten victim Rose McGowan responded to this by tweeting: ‘Hey @Mattdamon what’s it like to be a spineless profiteer who stays silent?’ (above)
Looking for some goodwill: McGowan also acknowledged a few of Damon’s similarly tongue-tied pals, tweeting: ‘Ben Affleck Casey Affleck, how’s your morning boys?’
WEINSTEIN’S ACCUSERS
Harvey Weinstein has been slammed with multiple accusations of sexual harassment after a report detailing a $100,000 settlement he reportedly made to Rose McGowan in the mid-’90s emerged this week.
Below are some of the women who have accused Weinstein of harassing them, or other women.
Angelina Jolie said she had to turn down Weinstein’s advances as a young actress
Gwyneth Paltrow: The star told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom before she started shooting Emma. She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul
Angelina Jolie: Jolie told the Time she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in the late 1990s and she chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him
Judith Godreche: The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996
Dawn Dunning: Aspiring actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects. When she arrived Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel
Tomi-Ann Roberts: Weinstein met her when she was serving tables and told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived he was in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was naked. She says she refused and left
Asia Argento: The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21. ‘He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn’t stop. It was a nightmare.’ She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva
Katherine Kendall: The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening. He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her
Lucia Evans: Aspiring actress claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a ‘casting meeting’ in a Miramax office in Manh
attan
Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that Weinstein attempted to get her into a hotel bedroom and massage her when she was 22
Mira Sorvino: The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career
Rosanna Arquette: The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein’s advances. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims
Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he approached her during production of that movie. She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a ‘monster’ and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head.
Ashley Judd: Judd’s film roles include the thriller Kiss the Girls – and says that during the filming of that movie Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower. She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: ‘Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.’
Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein’s in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and ‘several’ other women; she later settled out of court
Lauren O’Connor: A former employee of The Weinstein Company, she told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was ‘a toxic environment for women at this company’ after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT said.
Ambra Battilana: An Italian actress and model, she told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.
Laura Madden: An ex-employee, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. ‘It was so manipulative,’ she told the NYT. ‘You constantly question yourself – am I the one who is the problem?’ Weinstein denied knowledge.
Emily Nestor: Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.
Zelda Perkins: An assistant of Weinstein’s based in London in 1998; then 25, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and ‘several’ others were harassed and later settled out of court.
Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property
Elizabeth Karlsen: The Oscar-nominated producer of Carol and The Crying Game, among others, told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago, an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.
Liza Campbell: A fre elance script reader, she told the UK’s Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.
Lauren Sivan: The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007. He took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.
Jessica Hynes: The British actress, best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced, said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 – in a bikini. Hynes, formerly known as Jessica Stevenson, said she refused to wear the skimpy item – and lost the job.
Romola Garai: British actress Romola Garai said she felt “violated” following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe. Garai, best known for her role in “Atonement”, said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because ‘you had to be personally approved by him’. “Like every other woman in the industry, I’ve had an ‘audition’ with Harvey Weinstein,” she told The Guardian. ‘So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it’.
