Rosanna Arquette has strongly denied Harvey Weinstein’s claims that she “exaggerated” her account of his alleged sexual assault.
The former head of Miramax Films was one of the most prominent names exposed by the #MeToo movement, with more than 80 accusations of misconduct levelled against him. Weinstein has denied any and all wrongdoing, but is currently in Rikers Island prison following a rape conviction.
In 2020, he was found guilty of first-degree and third-degree rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison. The New York Court of Appeals later overturned the 2020 conviction, deeming that the judge at the trial gave improper rulings. This included the decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
However, Weinstein remains imprisoned, serving a 16-year sentence following a 2022 California rape conviction.
The disgraced former film mogul gave his first interview in six years to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month in a divisive piece that touched on his life in prison and the charges brought against him. In it, he was asked about claims he had professionally blackballed women who resisted his advances.
The convicted rapist said: “I may be a tough guy, but I’m not deranged. Just the threat of Harvey was enough, maybe more than enough. But it didn’t go to the point of blackballing anybody.
“If the camera’s on, I’m just going to say Rosanna Arquette, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie – they just exaggerated. They wanted to be part of the club. And they destroyed me.”
Arquette had first accused him of assault in The New Yorker in 2017, in one of two articles that helped trigger the #MeToo movement. In it, she told Ronan Farrow about an occasion in the early ’90s where she was supposed to meet Weinstein for dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel to pick up a script for a new film.
Arquette said she was told to meet Weinstein upstairs in his room, where she arrived to see him wearing a white bathrobe, complaining of a sore neck and saying he needed a massage.
“Then he grabbed my hand,” she said, telling Farrow he put it on his neck. She alleged that when she pulled her hand away, Weinstein grabbed it and pulled it toward his penis, which was visible and erect.
“My heart was really racing. I was in a fight-or-flight moment,” she said, recalling telling Weinstein, “I will never do that.” He was arrested seven months later.
Now, in a letter shared with The Hollywood Reporter, she has responded to Weinstein’s recent comments denying the legitimacy of hers, firmly denying that she ever exaggerated anything.
“I have never exaggerated my assault. Ever,” she said. “My account of what happened has never changed. A simple Google search makes this clear. If, by saying ‘exaggerated’, he means the retribution I endured, Ronan Farrow’s investigation into those claims (made by others as well) substantiated the “blackballing” with respect to me. Ronan’s work speaks for itself.
“There was/is no “club” to belong to as a Harvey Weinstein assault survivor. Being a survivor of assault or rape is not a club. I can’t believe that has to be said.”
On his claim that survivors told their stories for financial profit, she was unequivocal in stating she “never profited, nor was I ever compensated in any way, via lawsuit or settlement, by Harvey Weinstein or Disney or any other party with respect to my assault”.
She said the only film produced by him she was ever cast in was Pulp Fiction, for which she was “paid scale and did not receive back-end participation”. At the time, she was told that that scale was all the production could afford.
“Years later, I learned that other cast members were offered back-end participation in exchange for lowering their quote or working for scale,” she continued. “It was a great deal for them. Pulp Fiction grossed over $213 million against a roughly $8 million budget. As producer/financier, Weinstein is fully aware of who was given this deal, and who was not.”
Elsewhere in the open letter – which you can read in full here – Arquette also spoke about the conditions at Rikers Island, which she called “horrible”, saying she believes it should be shut down. She went on to wish Weinstein success in getting transferred to a more “humane prison”, as she believes the human rights of all prisoners should be upheld.
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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