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Uma Thurman details sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein

Uma Thurman details sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein

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The exposé details the unsupportive and physically endangering behavior of Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino

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Uma Thurman 'The Parisian Woman' Press Meet & Greet
Photo by Walter McBride/WireImage

The New York Times has published a lengthy report about actress Uma Thurman, who details several sexual assaults from disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, as well as the unsupportive and physically endangering behavior of Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino.

In the exposé, Thurman says that she got to know Weinstein and his wife after starring in Tarantino’s 1994 film, Pulp Fiction. “He used to spend hours talking to me about material and complimenting my mind and validating me,” she says. “It possibly made me overlook warning signs. This was my champion.”

Afterwards, she says Weinstein made an unwanted advance in a hotel room during an argument, and later “pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things.” Thurman says that she later confronted Weinstein about the incident, but “her memory of the incident abruptly stops there.” One of her friends recalled that when Thurman returned, she was “disheveled and so upset and had this blank look,” and said that Weinstein threatened to end her career.

In response to the report, Weinstein — who is currently undergoing therapy at a clinic in Arizona — admits that he made an “awkward pass” at Thurman, but denied physical contact, and claims to be “saddened and puzzled” about her accusations. Through a representative, he questioned why she — like numerous other women who have accused the powerful media mogul of assault — waited so long to come forward, and released a number of images of himself and Thurman at public events that he believes “demonstrate the strong relationship Mr. Weinstein and Ms. Thurman have had over the years.”

In November, Thurman was asked about her thoughts on the allegations against Weinstein, saying at the time that she was “waiting to feel less angry,” before commenting further. She later posted to Instagram, saying to “stay tuned.”

Thurman says she “privately regarded Weinstein as an enemy after that”, and that while they continued to work together because he had “a chokehold on the type of films and directors that were right for me,” she tried to limit her exposure to him.

Her experiences with Weinstein also had consequences for her relationship with Tarantino, who initially “dismissed” the incidents, but later confronted Weinstein, who then offered a “half-assed” apology to Thurman. In October, Tarantino admitted in an interview that he knew about Weinstein’s misconduct: “I knew enough to do more than I did, there was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things.”

Thurman further details how Tarantino, who “didn’t like to hear no,” ordered her to drive a vehicle that she didn’t feel was safe for a scene in Kill Bill, later resulting in an accident. When she confronted the director about endangering her, she says he was “very angry.” Thurman, who sustained “permanent” injuries to her neck and knees, says that Tarantino “wouldn’t let me see the footage [of the crash] and he told me that was what they had all decided.” She also describes how Tarantino inserted himself into the filming of several violent scenes in Kill Bill to personally spit on her and choke her.

“Personally, it has taken me 47 years to stop calling people who are mean to you ‘in love’ with you,” Thurman writes. “It took a long time because I think that as little girls we are conditioned to believe that cruelty and love somehow have a connection.”