In an interview to The Guardian, Salma Hayek has revealed that Harvey Weinstein used to call her during the making of film Frida and would berate her for her looks.
Talking about her experiences with the convicted rapist and disgraced film producer, Hayek said that Weinstein “is not the only man to reassure himself by knowing he can destroy women”.
Replying to the question that whether she normalised his bullying as a way to cope with it, the actor answered: “To a degree. I did feel alright [when he bullied me]. Ok, I would shake [afterwards] and it did depress me, but there was a cartoon aspect about the whole thing.”
Recalling the abuse, the 55-year-old continued that “When he would call me up [during the making of Frida] and scream, ‘Why do you have a [monobrow] and moustache? I didn’t hire you to look ugly!’ I was like, ‘But didn’t you ever look at a picture of Frida Kahlo?’ If a man was playing Cyrano de Bergerac, he wouldn’t say, ‘What’s with the nose?’”.
The role earned Hayek an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
In 2017, Hayek wrote in an article in which she detailed how Weinstein had sexually harassed her for years. She wrote that “with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage”. Hayek revealed that she used to believe Weinstein never assaulted her because she was friends with people such as Robert Rodriguez, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino.
Commenting on her article, Hayek added: “Also I was very strong. I didn’t just say no. I’m a force to be recognised,” said the actor. “He never saw me weak. It’s not that I’m not afraid, but you’re not going to see it. I can be almost intimidating in my calm strength, you know?”
She went on to say that Weinstein was “not the first or last one” to bully or harass her, calling the issue in Hollywood “systematic”.
Hayek stipulated, however, that she does not “hold a grudge” and “believe[s] people can change”.
In 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted of rape and criminal sexual acts.
