Kate Beckinsale has said she has been “assaulted” and “felt up” on film sets in the past, and was made to feel like “I was the problem”.
The Underworld star posted a video on social media on Monday (December 30), in which she explained that she was choosing to come forward with her experiences as a result of the ongoing Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni allegations.
Lively sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director Baldoni last week, accusing him of sexual harassment and conducting a smear campaign against her. He denies the allegations and is now reportedly planning to produce a counterclaim against Lively.
Beckinsale said that while she has never met either actor, she has been “following the situation”, which she believes shines a light on “this machine that goes into effect when a woman complains about something legitimately offensive, upsetting, harmful, whatever, in this industry”.
She goes on to lay out some of her own first-hard memories of such situations, sharing: “At the age of 18, [I was] felt up by somebody that I really trusted on a crew. Went to the lead actress, who’s known for being a supporter of women, and said this has happened and was told, ‘No, it didn’t.’ I went to another actress, crying, and said I’d just been assaulted by this man and again told, ‘No, you haven’t been.’”
She went on to describe “unsafe situations” she has experienced while shooting action scenes. “There’s a certain kind of actor who gets kind of a thrill out of legally being able to harm a woman during a fight sequence. And I was harmed, to the point where there were MRIs proving it. And actually what happened was I was gaslit and made to feel like I was the problem, blamed and ostracised … as soon as I mentioned there was a problem.”
Beckinsale also detailed times that she was called a “c***” and a “stupid bitch” on sets, and recalled overhearing a conversation in which crew members discussed her appearance and body image. She also discussed being made to take part in a photoshoot the day after suffering a miscarriage, recalling a publicist telling her, “You have to or you’ll be sued”.
The caption to Beckinsale’s Instagram video reads: “It is very, very, very easy to foment hatred against actresses, as was seen in the transcripts of conversations … between the publicists and crisis team involved in this case. Complaining about abuse should not beget more abuse, particularly at work where there should be inviolable safeguarding in place, and it should not be expected of women who have been harmed, insulted, hurt, shamed or in any other way abused.”
“There are far too many casualties of this, many of whom I know personally, and it really falls to both men and women in our industry to be part of stamping this out for good.”
After filing her legal action against Baldoni, Lively said in a statement to The New York Times, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
Baldoni’s lawyer then told TMZ that he believed the suit had been filed to “fix” Lively’s “negative reputation”, describing her allegations as “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt”.
Lively’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars have publicly defended her, while Amber Heard has also voiced support for Lively after it was noted that Baldoni has hired the same crisis PR team as Johnny Depp.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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