Nope, not sorry! Kate Winslet didn’t thank Harvey Weinstein in her 2009 Oscars speech for The Reader on purpose. The actress said her decision was “absolutely deliberate” during an interview with The Los Angeles Times.
“I remember being told, ‘Make sure you thank Harvey if you win.’ And I remember turning around and saying, ‘No I won’t. No I won’t,'” she recalled. “And it was nothing to do with not being grateful. If people aren’t well-behaved, why would I thank him?”
Winslet, 42, previously worked with Weinstein, 65, on her debut film role in Peter Jackson’s 1994 Heavenly Creatures. “For my whole career, Harvey Weinstein, whenever I’ve bumped into him, he’d grab my arm and say, ‘Don’t forget who gave you your first movie.’ Like I owe him everything,” Winslet claimed to the L.A. Times. “But that’s how he operated. He was bullying and nasty. Going on a business level, he was always very, very hard to deal with — he was rude. He used to call my female agent a [vulgar name for a woman] every time he spoke to her on the telephone.”
As previously reported, Weinstein is facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Winslet previously released a statement amid the scandal.
“The fact that these women are starting to speak out about the gross misconduct of one of our most important and well regarded film producers, is incredibly brave and has been deeply shocking to hear. The way Harvey Weinstein has treated these vulnerable, talented young women is NOT the way women should ever EVER deem to be acceptable or commonplace in ANY workplace,” she said in a statement last week. “”I have no doubt that for these women this time has been, and continues to be extremely traumatic. I fully embrace and salute their profound courage, and I unequivocally support this level of very necessary exposure of someone who has behaved in reprehensible and disgusting ways. His behavior is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong.”
Additionally, the movie mogul — who is now seeking treatment in Arizona — was fired from The Weinstein Company and his wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, left him. Over the weekend, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board revoked his membership.
