British Actress Lysette Anthony Accuses Harvey Weinstein of Years-Long Harassment After Raping Her
in Her Home
In an essay published in Britain’s Sunday Times, actress Lysette Anthony alleges producer Harvey Weinstein not only raped her but also subjected her to years of sexual harassment, leveraging his professional clout to repeatedly force her into sexual situations. Anthony, who currently stars on the British soap Hollyoaks, tells the story via her friend Charlotte Metcalf, who Anthony reportedly told about the assault 15 years ago.
According to Anthony, she met Weinstein in 1982 while doing press for the 1983 fantasy-adventure movie Krull. Over the next few years, the pair saw each other socially several times, catching up at parties and getting lunch together, all without incident. “The lunches were invariably in hotel suites but I felt comfortable in Harvey’s company. We had become friends.” Anthony says of their relationship. The tone of their friendship suddenly changed, however, one night at the producer’s rental home. “The next thing I knew he was half undressed and he grabbed me. It was the last thing I expected and I fled. I blamed it on myself because I was tired, a bit drunk and therefore so completely off my guard,” says Anthony.
After that, she says Weinstein would stop by her home at all hours. One morning, Anthony let him inside, whereupon he allegedly raped her. “He pushed me inside and rammed me up against the coat rack in my tiny hall and started fumbling at my gown. He was trying to kiss me and shove inside me. It was disgusting,” the actress recalls. After the producer left, Anthony struggled with the reality of the assault. “I was disgusted and embarrassed, but I was at home,” she says. “I thought I should just forget the whole disgusting incident. I blamed myself. I’d been an idiot to think he and I were just friends.” Sometime later, Weinstein bought Anthony a coat, which she took as “his unspoken way of apologising for what had happened.”
http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/actress-lysette-anthony-accuses-harvey-weinstein-of-rape.html