Robert Rodriguez has revealed that he cast Rose McGowan in 2007's slasher/thriller Grindhouse to get back at Harvey Weinstein after she told the director about her alleged sexual assault.
McGowan has accused Weinstein of raping her in 1997 while she was appearing in Scream, a horror hit that was released by Miramax, his former company.
Whilst this claim has only recently come to public knowledge following other actresses speaking out against Weinstein, Rodriguez says he later found out what had happened from McGowan in 2005.
In a statement to Variety, director Rodriquez admitted that he was inspired to cast McGowan as a "bad ass" character in the film as a way of getting back at her alleged assailant Weinstein.
"Incensed at what I heard, I told Rose that she was not blacklisted from MY movies and that Harvey couldn't tell me who to cast," he said.
Rodriguez's interview conveyed how strongly he opposes sexual assault in any industry. And whilst the claims identify "predators" in the film industry, he said it is something we should work on preventing across the board.
"Once a predator strikes, it's simply too late. We have to stop these actions from happening to begin with through education, harsher consequences, and zero tolerance," he voiced to Variety.
"We must ensure that justice is served and demand cultural change in our country so that this never happens again."
Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Ashley Judd are among others who have gone on record with accusations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein. Weinstein has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non-consensual sex.
