Harvey Weinstein Accusers Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra & Salma Hayek Present at Oscars
Three of Harvey Weinstein’s most outspoken accusers — Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra — together presented a video montage on equality and representation at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday evening.
“Hi, it’s nice to see you all again, it’s been a while,” Sciorra said before the crowd applauded. “It’s an honor to be here tonight. This year, many spoke their truth and the journey ahead is long, but slowly a new path has emerged.”
“The changes we are witnessing are being driven by the powerful sound of new voices, of different voices, of our voices. Joining together in a mighty chorus that is finally saying time’s up,” Judd said.
Hayek added, “So we salute those unstoppable spirits who kicked ass and broke through the biased perceptions against their gender, race and ethnicity to tell their stories.”
“And we look forward to make sure that the next 90 years empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality. That’s what this year has promised us,” Judd continued.
The video included people like Mira Sorvino, Kumail Nanjiani, Greta Gerwig and others speaking on the importance of representation in Hollywood.
“This entire fall, the Time’s Up movement, everyone is getting a voice to express something that has been happening forever, not only in Hollywood, but in every walk of life,” Sorvino said.
Judd was one of the women who initially spoke out against Weinstein in an explosive expose published by The New York Times. The actress claimed Weinstein showed up to their business meeting at a Los Angeles hotel wearing a bathrobe and later asked her to watch him shower. “I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask,” Judd told the NYT. “It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining.”
In a New York Times op ed, Hayek 51, detailed her experiences with Weinstein through the course of the making of the 2002 Miramax Frida Kahlo biopic Frida — claiming, among other things, that he had once threatened to kill her when she refused his advances.
“The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, ‘I will kill you, don’t think I can’t,’ ” she claimed.
To donate to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which will provide subsidized legal support to women and men in all industries who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace, visit its GoFundMe page. Learn more about Time’s Up, an organization of women in entertainment combating sexual harassment and inequality, on its website.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Weinstein previously denied “all of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma” — though he did admit to “boorish behavior.”
Sciorra, spoke to The New Yorker in a expose about her harrowing encounters with Weinstein. In it, she recounted one specific night during the 1990s when the Oscar-winning producer allegedly barged into her apartment after dropping her off.
“[Weinstein] walked in like it was his apartment, like he owned the place, and started unbuttoning his shirt. So it was very clear where he thought this was going to go,” said Sciorra, who claimed she told him to leave her apartment.
“He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me,” she said of Weinstein, who allegedly locked her arms over her head with one hand and forced sexual intercourse on her. “Then he attempted to perform oral sex on me. And I struggled, but I had very little strength left in me,” Sciorra also claimed.
Harvey Weinstein, 65, was one of the most powerful and influential figures in Hollywood before being accused of sexual harassment and assault by dozens of women. He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex, as well as claims that he retaliated against women who rebuffed him.
The 2018 Oscars were held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4 and were telecast live on ABC.
