Harvey Weinstein breaks his silence to deny Rose McGowan rape claims – and says he’s got an email from Ben Affleck to prove it
HARVEY Weinstein is using an email allegedly written by Ben Affleck in a bid to cast doubt on actress Rose McGowan's claims of rape against him.
The shamed ex-Hollywood producer broke his silence through his lawyer to slam McGowan's allegations as a “bold lie”.
According to attorney Ben Brafman, Affleck and McGowan’s then manager, Jill Messick, have denied that the actress reported the attack to them.
Mr Brafman claims there are emails to back up Weinstein's denial.
He added that McGowan is trying to smear Weinstein to promote her new book Brave.
But the actress immediately hit back and tweeted: “To step on your fat neck for all time.
“I WILL SAY YOUR NAME. It is you whi [sic] did this to us. THIEF!
“And to all of you scoundrels aiding predators you are damned for the hurt you’ve caused.
“We reject your social lies. Name it. Shame it. Call it out.”
McGowan detailed the allegations against Weinstein in her memoir which was released yesterday.
She said in the book that the producer forced himself on her during what began as a business meeting at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997.
Scores of women have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault.
McGowan has claimed she told Affleck that she was sexually assaulted by Weinstein only for him to reply: "I told him to stop doing that."
Speaking to ABC's Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, she said: "I looked at him [Affleck] and I must have had tears in my eyes and I remember shaking and I said I had just came from meeting with him [Weinstein].
"I said his name and he said 'Goddamn it, I told him to stop doing that'."
Affleck has previously denied this allegation, though is yet to respond this week.
"Why I remembered it was just so strange. When things happen to you, you file them away... you analyse every move that happens."
The star, 44, says she went to an event straight after the incident during the 1997 Sundance Film Festival where she says she confided in her Phantoms co-star.
But in a statement, Mr Brafman says even though Weinstein has refrained from commenting about a string of allegations, watching McGowan as she looked to promote her new book had made it "impossible to remain quiet".
What we know so far
- Actress Rose McGowan claimed she was "raped" by Harvey Weinstein in her tell-all book Brave.
- Referring to Hollywood complicity, the Charmed star, 44, told Good Morning America that "everybody knew".
- She says he assaulted her in a hotel room with a Jacuzzi after they met at a restaurant during the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.
- Weinstein took of his clothes and performed a sex act on her while touching himself, McGowan claims.
- McGowan says she told Phantoms co-star Ben Affleck the next day and that he replied: "I told him to stop doing that."
- In Brave, the actress also opens up about being born into the Children of God cult
- She remembers being beaten when she refused to "accept God into her heart".
- The sect was founded by accused paedophile and anti-Semite David Berg.
- McGowan says her parents escaped when the cult started condoning sexual relations between adults and children.
- They moved to the US where she soon found herself in a relationship with a man 20 years her senior named William.
- She fled after stealing his car and began dating club owner Brett Cantor who was stabbed to death in an unsolved incident.
- Weinstein breaks his silence via his lawyer claiming he has emails from Ben Affleck and an entertainment manager.
In a statement reported by , Mr Brafman said: “In an email to Mr Weinstein regarding the encounter, Jill Messick says the following, ‘When we met up the following day, she hesitantly told me of her own accord that during the meeting that night before she had gotten into a hot tub with Mr Weinstein.
“‘She was very clear about the fact that getting into that hot tub was something that she did consensually and that in hindsight it was also something that she regretted having done.”
“Ben Affleck expressed the following in an email to Mr Weinstein, ‘She never told me nor did I ever infer that she was attacked by anyone.
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“‘Any accounts to the contrary are false. I have no knowledge about anything Rose did or claimed to have done.’”
The statement released through crisis management firm Sitrick & Co. also included several photos of McGowan looking cordial with Weinstein at an industry event in 2005.
A representative for Affleck did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Sun Online.
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