In October of this year, all eyes were on Hollywood as the movie industry attempted to process the allegations being levelled against a man who many felt they owed their careers to.
Harvey Weinstein's mammoth fall from grace has been the talking point of the entertainment industry for more than two months, with numerous actresses coming forward with harrowing stories of their own experience with the movie mogul.
It was this outpouring of stories which caused Salma Hayek to conclude that her experience at the hands of Weinstein didn't warrant any publicity, but upon reflection she realised she didn't want to speak up in case her family were unable to handle the details of her experience.
In a hugely revealing column for The New York Times this week, she wrote: "I hid from the responsibility to speak out with the excuse that enough people were already involved in shining a light on my monster."
"I didn’t consider my voice important, nor did I think it would make a difference," she admitted.
However, this week, the acclaimed actress, who worked with Weinstein on Oscar-nominated movie Frida, decided to come forward with her own story.
In a harrowing recap, the 51-year-old actress revealed that she consistently resisted Weinstein's advances, writing: "[I said] no to me taking a shower with him. No to letting him watch me take a shower."
"No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No to my getting naked with another woman."
According to Salma, her refusal to partake in sexual encounters on the set of the film infuriated the movie producer, with Salma writing: "The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, “I will kill you, don’t think I can’t.”
Salma's heartwrenching column details Weinstein's attempt to belittle the actress, with Salma recalling: "He told me that the only thing I had going for me was my sex appeal and that there was none of that in this movie."
"It was soul crushing because, I confess, lost in the fog of a sort of Stockholm syndrome, I wanted him to see me as an artist: not only as a capable actress but also as somebody who could identify a compelling story and had the vision to tell it in an original way."
Salma reveals she suffered a nervous breakdown on the set due to Weinstein's demands, writing: "For the first and last time in my career, I had a nervous breakdown: My body began to shake uncontrollably, my breath was short and I began to cry and cry, unable to stop, as if I were throwing up tears."
"My body wouldn’t stop crying and convulsing. At that point, I started throwing up," she recalled.
Salma's column details the aftermath of the film's release, Weinstein's attempt at a resolution and her own struggle to regain her equilibrium in the months that followed her time on a Weinstein film.
Weinstein has responded via a spokesperson to the lengthy article with a denial, citing that his demands hinged on the character's real-life journey.
"Mr. Weinstein regards Salma Hayek as a first-class actress and cast her in several of his movies. He was very proud of her Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Frida and continues to support her work.”
“Mr. Weinstein does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female costar and he was not there for the filming. However, that was part of the story, as Frida Kahlo was bisexual and the more significant sex scene in the movie was choreographed by Ms. Hayek with Geoffrey Rush."
