Rose McGowan claimed that she was once raped by a top Hollywood executive in a series of tweets on Thursday, October 14, all but naming the individual who had allegedly assaulted her.
“a (female) criminal attorney said because I’d done a sex scene in a film I would never win against the studio head,” the 43-year-old actress wrote, using the hashtag “#WhyWomenDontReport.”
“because it’s been an open secret in Hollywood/Media & they shamed me while adulating my rapist,” she continued, again using the same hashtag.
“Because my ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution,” she added as a third reason #WhyWomenDontReport — a tweet that has led industry insiders to speculate about which powerful Hollywood man she is referring to. “It is time for some goddamned honesty in this world.”
McGowan’s claim comes amid a growing number of women who have come forward via Twitter to speak about their sexual assaults, sharing their experiences to bring awareness to the pervasiveness of attacks against women.
The Charmed alum’s tweets also follow a week in which numerous women have spoken out against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, accusing the real estate mogul of touching them inappropriately and forcing himself upon them.
Most recently, a woman named Kristin Anderson detailed to The Washington Post about an alleged incident that took place in the early '90s, wherein Trump sat next to her at a nightclub in New York City and forcibly put his hand up her skirt.
“He did touch my vagina through my underwear. Absolutely,” Anderson told the publication, adding that she and her friends were “very grossed out and weirded out” by Trump’s behavior.
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the 70-year-old real estate mogul, told The Washington Post that there was no merit to Anderson’s claims. “Mr. Trump strongly denies this phony allegation by someone looking to get some free publicity. It is totally ridiculous.”
Earlier this week, two women spoke to The New York Times about their own encounters with Trump, detailing how he allegedly groped and kissed them. The businessman’s camp similarly denied the claims, and his lawyers issued a letter demanding that the publication retract their story.
The New York Times refused to acquiesce in an epic letter that was published on Thursday, October 13, noting that claims of libel were impossible, since Trump’s “own words and actions” have already created a negative public image.
The former Apprentice host has come under fire for his derogatory comments about women in the days following the Friday, October 7, release of a 2005 video in which he brags to Billy Bush about forcibly kissing and groping women. Trump denied that he had ever sexually assaulted a woman during the Sunday, October 9, presidential debate.
