“I never worked with him again”: Angelina Jolie on Harvey Weinstein
Angelina Jolie has shared more about her experience with convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, revealing in a new interview that she turned down a role in Martin Scorsese’s 2004 film The Aviator to avoid working with him.
“If you get yourself out of the room, you think he attempted but didn’t, right?” Jolie told The Guardian while reflecting on filming the Weinstein-produced film Playing by Heart in 1998 when she was 21.
“The truth is that the attempt and the experience of the attempt is the assault.”
Jolie has previously spoken about the incident with Weinstein as a “bad experience”, but now labels it as an assault.
“It was beyond a pass, it was something I had to escape. I stayed away and warned people about him,” she said in the interview.
“I remember telling Johnny [Lee Miller], my first husband, who was great about it, to spread the word to other guys - don’t let girls go alone with him.
“I was asked to do Aviator, but I said no because he was involved. I never associated or worked with him again.”
Though her first husband stood by her, her most recent partner, Brad Pitt, was initially less supportive.
Pitt starred in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, which was distributed and co-financed by the Weinstein Company.
Image: Getty Images
Jolie also alleged in the interview that Pitt approached Weinstein to produce his 2012 film Killing Them Softly against her wishes.
The Weinstein Company eventually distributed the film, which resulted in Jolie avoiding attending promotional events for it.
“We fought about it. Of course it hurt,” Jolie said.
“It was hard for me when Brad [worked with him].”
Pitt later made headlines for a 2019 interview with CNN, where he disavowed Weinstein.
The Fight Club star also said he had confronted Weinstein in 1995, after his then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow said the producer had sexually harassed her.
Pitt is currently producing She Said, a film on the New York Times’ investigation of Weinstein.
Jolie and Pitt finalised their divorce in 2019, though a battle over custody of their six children continues.
Weinstein has responded to the allegations in a statement provided to TMZ, saying the claims were “brazenly untrue and clickbait publicity”.
“You’re Angelina Jolie, every female and male in the world, I’m sure, shows interest in you. Is the whole world assaulting you?” the statement read.
“It’s very clear to me that this is for more sales on Angie’s BOOK,” he added.
Image: Getty Images