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Horrifying! Blake Lively was sexually harassed by make-up artist

October 13, 2017 16:42 IST

'He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger.'

'I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me.'

'I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do.'

Blake Lively

Photograph: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Shortly after sexual harassment allegations by Hollywood actresses against one of Hollywood's most powerful film makers, Harvey Weinstein, Blake Lively has opened up about her own experience with sexual harassment.

The 30-year-old actress claimed she was sexually harassed by a make up artist, reports Contactmusic.

 

The Shallows actress has opened up about the 'terrifying' ordeal she endured, which saw the unnamed style guru make inappropriate comments to her and film her while she slept!

Lively said, 'He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting on my lipstick with his finger.

'I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me.

'I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do.'

The Gossip Girl star claimed she alerted producers about the ordeal, but the matter was not taken seriously; instead, she was reprimanded for her dog pooping on set.

Blake recalled, 'The producers said, 'This is very serious and we can't have this happen again.''

However, Blake has claimed the team's production manager still wrote a positive letter of recommendation for the disgraced make-up artist so he could work on another project because they didn't want any 'bad blood'.

'Our unit production manager wrote him a letter of recommendation because nobody wanted there to be bad blood,' explained Lively.

Meanwhile many celebrities from Hollywood have come forward with their stories following The New York Times article that chronicled an almost three decades old hidden history of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

The Harvey Weinstein case

The New York Times published a bombshell report earlier this week that alleged Weinstein, whose company produced hits like The King's Speech and Django Unchained, preyed on young women hoping to enter into the film industry.

The accusers say Weinstein pressured them to massage him, watch him naked and promised to help advance their careers in exchange for sexual favours.

Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie have opened up about facing sexual harassment at the hands of embattled producer Harvey Weinstein.

Paltrow told The New York Times that she was 22 when she was cast to play the lead role in Weinstein-produced Emma.

The actor said that, before the shooting, she was summoned to Weinstein's suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting that began uneventfully.

It ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages, she recalled.

'I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified,' Paltrow said.

The actor, who later went on to work with Weinstein for her Oscar-winning role in Shakespeare In Love, said she refused his advances and confided in Brad Pitt, her boyfriend at the time, who confronted Weinstein.

Pitt confirmed the incident to The New York Times.

Paltrow said she felt she was expected to keep the incident a secret.

'We're at a point in time when women need to send a clear message that this is over. This way of treating women ends now,' she said, adding that she wants to support women who have come forward.

Jolie had a similar experience to recount. She said in the late 1990s, she rejected Weinstein's unwanted advances in a hotel room.

'I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did.

'This behaviour towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable,' Jolie told The New York Times in an email.


We invite you, Dear Readers to tell us if you have been a victim of harassment.

Where did the harassment take place? Was it at a public place, in your school, college or office or at your home? Tell us!

Were you aware that you were being harassed? And what did you do about it?

Do you think the law is stringent enough to deal with inappropriate behaviour? 

Write to us at getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: Sexual Harassment).

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