Lili Reinhart has come forward to share her own story about being sexually harassed after multiple celebrities have spoken out about being mistreated by producer Harvey Weinstein.
In a Tumblr post written by the Riverdale star on Wednesday, October 11, Reinhart, 21, revealed that she was nearly taken advantage of as a teenager while working with an older colleague who was “in a position of power over me” and “used that said power to try and take advantage of me.”
Describing herself as “a teenager working on a project” who had “a crush on a guy I was working with,” she described the person as “incredibly charming and charismatic.” Reinhart and the man, who she chose not to name, went out on a date before he tried to “force himself” on her.
“I had to stop him and say ‘No, I don’t want that,’ and ‘I can’t do that,’” she wrote in the emotional post. “I physically walked away from the situation before it could get any worse. I remember feeling like this was a scene right out of a horror movie.”
After being convinced to get into the man’s car so that she could be driven home, she realized he was actually driving towards his apartment: “I knew if I made it there, something bad was going to happen to me. I told him to drop me off at my home, that I didn’t want to go back to his place. He said some snarky comment but reluctantly brought me to where I was staying.”
“Thinking back on it now, the situation is hard for me to swallow. I was so young and didn’t know how to handle the situation. I just knew how wrong it felt and that I had been violated,” the Miss Stevens actress revealed. ”This guy proceeded to tell me that it was my fault for leading him on. Saying that I seemed like a sexual girl and that I’d be down for it. That I misled him.”
Reinhart’s refusal to give in to her colleague resulted in his getting defensive about his behavior before claiming she “was a tease” and “the most manipulative woman he’d ever met.” She then described the difficult experience of begging the person to “talk” because she needed “clarity on the situation.”
“I was miserable. And I felt that I needed to keep my mouth shut about the entire situation because 1. I figured no one would believe me and 2. he played a much bigger role in this project than me… he had more power. If I said something, maybe the production would be halted… people would be put out of work,” the actress admitted. “I would be looked at as dramatic and a diva, no one would want to work with me again.”
Noting that she understands how sexual assault victims feel, the actress declared, “I stand with them. I believe them. I believe in standing up for yourself as a woman and coming forward about sexual harassment. I’m coming forward about my own experience to further express how common these assaults are in this industry and how important it is that we take action to fight against it.”
As previously reported, The New York Times exposed nearly 30 years worth of sexual misconduct allegations made against Weinstein. Several actresses, including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, revealed they had been mistreated by the Hollywood producer, prompting multiple women to speak out about their own harrowing experiences with him. Since the Times article came out, the movie mogul has been fired by his own company, The Weinstein Company, and had his membership to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revoked. His wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, announced she was leaving him on Tuesday, October 10. Weinstein is seeking treatment for sex addiction in Europe.
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