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Charlize Theron says Harvey Weinstein told people she and Renee Zellweger ‘slept with him to get jobs’
Actor's remarks follow Gwyneth Paltrow’s claim that Weinstein told her the same thing and ‘used the lie as an assault weapon’
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Your support makes all the difference.Charlize Theron has claimed that Harvey Weinstein told people that she and Renee Zellweger slept with him in exchange for film roles.
Theron's latest project is Bombshell, a film about the sexual misconduct claims made against Roger Ailes, the late chairman of Fox News, who was said to marginalise women and pit them against one another. In a new interview, Theron said his behaviour mirrored that of Weinstein's.
“[Weinstein] did that to everybody,” Theron told the New York Times. “Pitting women against each other? He was really, really good at that. There was a lot of, like, “Well, I’m talking to Gwyneth [Paltrow] for this movie…”
“One of his lines was that Renée [Zellweger] and I slept with him to get jobs,” she continued. “There was no limit to him. Even in the sexual favours, he would still pit us against each other.”
In December 2017, a lawsuit against Weinstein filed by five women accused the former Miramax Films mogul of “civil racketeering”, with Get Over It actor Melissa Sagemiller alleging that Weinstein had attempted to coerce her into sex by telling her that other successful actors had previously done the same in exchange for parts.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstein allegedly told Sagemiller: “Renée Zellweger, Charlize Theron and other actresses gave sexual favours.” He then allegedly asked: “Don’t you want your career to be more than just this little teen film?”
In a statement to People magazine, Zellweger’s representative said: “If Harvey said that, he’s full of s***”.
Paltrow claimed in 2017 that, after the Weinstein allegations emerged, she discovered that he had told people the pair had a sexual relationship.
“He’s not the first person to lie about sleeping with someone, but he used the lie as an assault weapon,” Paltrow told the New York Times.
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Weinstein’s spokesperson denied this in a statement that said: “Mr Weinstein vehemently denies these accusations and has never stated he slept with any of them.
“It’s ridiculous that anyone would believe these talented women, Academy Award winners, provided sexual favours in exchange for roles they earned based on their talent and brilliant work. It’s simply not true.”
Theron worked with Weinstein on a number of movies in the late Nineties and early Noughties, including The Cider House Rules (1999), The Yards (2000) and Reindeer Games (2000).
She is hotly tipped for a second Oscar for her work as former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, which is released 24 January, 2020.