Rose McGowan Calls Herself 'The Architect' of Harvey Weinstein's Downfall: 'I See Things'
Rose McGowan dubbed herself as “the architect” behind for ousting Harvey Weinstein‘s decades of alleged sexual misconduct and assault.
Wearing a bright orange hoodie sweater, McGowan, 44, discussed her past with the disgraced movie mogul, 65, during Wednesday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“Six months ago before you and other people had the courage and bravery to come out about Harvey Weinstein…,” host Stephen Colbert said before the Citizen Rose star interrupted him. “Mine was a year ago, I was the architect,” she said, adding, “But I didn’t talk … I wanted them to have a voice.”
Then, when asked if she was called “crazy” for speaking out about her allegations against Weinstein, McGowan replied: “No. I always knew it was everybody else. No, I see things.”
The Charmed alum, who has been promoting her new book Brave, accused Weinstein of rape and was one of the first women to speak out in October when news broke about his alleged decades of alleged sexual misconduct and assault in The New York Times and The New Yorker.
In October, the NYT reported that McGowan was part of a settlement with Weinstein in 1997 following the alleged encounter. The $100,000 payout was “not to be construed as an admission” by Weinstein, but intended to “avoid litigation and buy peace,” according to a legal document reportedly reviewed by the NYT.
“They’ll make me seem crazy for saying it,” she said of her outspoken remarks, using her recent trip to India as an example of her opinion of why Americans should implement more “colorful” way of life instead of “all these khaki pants and T. Rex things [a name she has given to suits].”
“I came here and saw all these khaki pants and T. Rex things, and I said what is going on? I think we can do better as a society. I think we can be looser, 10 percent have more fun, be better, see more colors, run,” the star explained.
“Like, what are we doing? It’s not working out so well here, am I wrong? Or like there’s a bus on fire and a madman in a blindfold and everybody is still talking about it as if it’s nice. It’s not nice. It’s f—ing weird, right? What? Shake it up! Otherwise, we’re all maybe going to die sooner than we think. ”
“Here’s the strangest thing,” Colbert replied when she was done. “There’s nothing about what you just said that’s wrong.”
As Colbert pointed out that “nothing about what you just said that’s wrong,” McGowan noted, “It’s called gaslighting, it’s been going on to women and men in society, all of us, since the dawn of time.”
Her comments aired one day after Weinstein used an email allegedly written by Ben Affleck to cast doubt on McGowan’s claim that the producer sexually assaulted her in 1997.
On Wednesday, McGowan fired back at Weinstein in a statement released by her publicist that said that Weinstein’s latest response “unequivocally proves a continued attempt to malign, smear and ‘slut shame’ Rose McGowan.”
Weinstein’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, responded to McGowan’s allegations in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Mr. Weinstein denies Rose McGowan’s allegations of non-consensual sexual contact and it is erroneous and irresponsible to conflate claims of inappropriate behavior and consensual sexual contact later regretted, with an untrue claim of rape.” His spokesperson also said that McGowan “chose to demand money” from Weinstein and worked and appeared with him later in her career.“
A spokesperson for Weinstein also previously told PEOPLE in a statement that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”
Part one of Citizen Rose, a two-hour documentary special, will air on E! on Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. The subsequent four episodes will premiere in the spring.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT.
