Rebel Wilson Says She Was Sexually Harassed By a Famous Actor
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations, women have stepped forward to share their stories of sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault at the hands of some of Hollywood’s most influential men. Now, actress and comedian Rebel Wilson is speaking out about her #MeToo experience. On Saturday morning, Wilson posted a series of tweets detailing two incidents of sexual harassment. In her allegations, Wilson didn’t name names, but the stories she recounted were harrowing.
“I’ve been away in a ‘bubble’ of sorts creating new comedy overseas but it’s so hard to hear all these stories relating to sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood,” she began. “As you guys know, I’m a pretty strong and confident person but even I have a story to tell.”
The first incident, she says, involved a “male star in a position of power” who tried to coerce to put her finger “up his ass” while some of his friends filmed. After repeatedly telling him no and reporting him to the studio, she says she later received a call back from studio reps asking her to “be nice and support” the actor in his career—which speaks to the potential professional repercussions of being a woman who calls out sexual misconduct. She declined and has since told the story to others in the industry through the whisper network to warn them.
Then she went on to detail the other incident, involving a meeting in a hotel room with a “top director” in Hollywood. When she arrived, however, his wife called and started yelling at him for sleeping with actresses. Wilson overheard and was able to run out of the room before anything happened.
“I feel lucky that I grew up in a pro-female environment, going to an all-girls high school, and that I have such a strong sense of self and have taken self-defense classes,” she added. (It’s important to point out, however, that a strong sense of self has no correlation to whether you can be a victim of sexual harassment or assault.)
Wilson continued on a sobering note: “I had the ability to escape both incidents. I realize not everyone is as lucky.”
She ended her tweets by saying what she’ll be doing going forward—should she ever find herself in a similar situation again. “I know, moving forward, that if I witness this behavior, whether it happens to me or someone I know, I will no longer be POLITE,” she ended her tweets. “Interpret that as you will.”
Related Stories:
–Activist Tarana Burke Started the ‘Me Too’ Movement 10 Years Ago
–’30 Rock’ Called Out Harvey Weinstein Five Years Ago
–A Second Woman Has Accused Ed Westwick of Sexual Assault