Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney and Meryl Streep have joined a bevy of actors and actresses in speaking out against film mogul Harvey Weinstein in the wake of sexual harassment allegations levied against him.
Weinstein, long considered one of the most famous, powerful and influential men in Hollywood, was fired from his eponymous company on Sunday evening following the emergence of "new information," according to the board.
His firing came after the New York Times published a report detailing a number of sexual harassment claims, including alleged legal settlements with eight different women, against the 65-year-old allegedly dating back over three decades.
Weinstein initially said he would be taking a leave of absence from his company in light of the allegations and apologised, saying: "I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain and I sincerely apologize for it."
Weinstein, who has not been charged with any crimes, has also disputed parts of the NYT report. Lisa Bloom, who has now quit her role as Weinstein's legal adviser, said in a statement last week: "He denies many of the accusations as patently false," while another lawyer Charles J. Harder initially said Weinstein was planning on suing the newspaper, calling it defamatory.
When the claims first emerged, there was little said from the actors and actresses who had previously worked with Weinstein, something Rose McGowan branded a "deafening" silence.
However, in recent days, a rising number of Hollywood names have distanced themselves from Weinstein by lending their voices in support of the women who have made the claims.
Actress Jennifer Lawrence, who worked with Weinstein for her Oscar-winning role in Silver Linings Playbook, told Variety on Monday: "I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein's behavioUr. I worked with Harvey five years ago and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting.
"My heart goes out to all the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward."
Dame Judi Dench, who worked with Weinstein on a number of projects including Shakespeare in Love, told CNN: "Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out."
Meanwhile, Jessica Chastain claimed on Twitter that she was once warned about Weinstein's alleged behaviour:
Oscar-winner Kate Winslet was another actress who told Variety she was "deeply shocked" to hear of the allegations.
"I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumors, maybe we have all been naive. And it makes me so angry. There must be no tolerance of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world."
Mark Ruffalo also denounced the film producer on Twitter:
Meryl Streep, who worked with Weinstein on her Academy-Award winning portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, also released a lengthy statement to The Huffington Post.
"The disgraceful ness about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed and those whose good and worthy causes he supported. The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes [...] The behavior is inexcusable, but the abuse of power familiar. Each brave voice that is raised, heard and credited by our watchdog media will ultimately change the game."
George Clooney was interviewed by the Daily Beast and said the allegations were "disturbing on a whole lot of levels."
"It's indefensible [...] Harvey's admitted to it and it's indefensible. I've known Harvey for 20 years [...] We've had dinners, we've been on location together, we've had arguments. But I can tell you that I've never seen any of this behavioUr ever."
Brie Larson also commented on Twitter: "As always, I stand with the brave survivors of sexual assault and harassment. It's not your fault."
Mindy Kaling encouraged more actors to speak out against the producer:
The Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore also thanked the women who had come forward, including Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, on Twitter:
As did another Oscar winner, Patricia Arquette:
While Lena Dunham publicly supported the women who have spoken out:
Emmy Rossum also criticized Weinstein's initial statement where his lawyer referred to him as an "old dinosaur learning new ways."
