Lupita Nyong’o is the latest female actress to share her story on Harvey Weinstein that alleges the movie producer of inciting sexual advances on her, putting her in an uncomfortable situation.
The Oscar-winning star shares her encounter in an op-ed piece for The New York Times. Lupita explains how she met Harvey when she was still a student at Yale. She was attending a movie festival when she met the film mogul, accepting an invitation to watch a movie he produced back at his Westport, Connecticut, home. Before they got back to his residence, she explains how they stopped off at a restaurant where Harvey tried to force her to drink a vodka soda. After declining the drink a number of times, Harvey called her stubborn for not accepting the drink because he was "the one paying the bill."
After reaching his home, she details how fifteen minutes into watching the film, while his kids were at home and seemingly sleeping, Harvey made a creepy move by inviting Lupita into his bedroom to give her a massage.
"For the first time since I met him, I felt unsafe. I panicked a little and thought quickly to offer to give him one instead: It would allow me to be in control physically, to know exactly where his hands were at all times," she writes in the piece. “I felt I could rationalize giving him one and keep a semblance of professionalism in spite of the bizarre circumstance. He agreed to this and lay on the bed. I began to massage his back to buy myself time to figure out how to extricate myself from this undesirable situation."
The 12 Years A Slave actress explains how Harvey wanted to take off his pants. After telling him that it would make her uncomfortable, he still proceeded to undress himself leading Lupita to leave the room.
“I opened the door and stood by the frame. He put his shirt on and again mentioned how stubborn I was. I agreed with an easy laugh, trying to get myself out of the situation safely,” she explains.
Lupita says she pushed this encounter to the back of her mind, blaming herself for the actions that took place - as many of the women who have come forward have also done.
Since the allegations have surfaced, Harvey has been fired from his producing trademark, The Weinstein Company, and has entered sex therapy.
