- The Guardian released an interview with Angeline Jolie in which she talked about
Harvey Weinstein . - Jolie said she and
Brad Pitt fought when he agreed to star in a film co-produced by Weinstein. - She previously said that Weinstein attempted to sexually
assault her at 21-years-old.
In an interview with The Guardian, the "Those Who Wish Me Dead" actress said she encountered Weinstein when she was 21 and working on the 1998 film, "Playing By Heart." The film was executive produced by Weinstein, who was convicted of rape and criminal sexual act in February 2020 amid the #MeToo movement.
"I worked with him when I was young," Jolie, 46, told The Guardian. "If you get yourself out of the room, you think he attempted but didn't, right? The truth is that the attempt and the experience of the attempt is an assault."
Jolie said that the experience was "beyond a pass, it was something I had to escape. I stayed away and warned people about him. I remember telling Jonny, my first husband, who was great about it, to spread the word to other guys - don't let girls go alone with him."
She added that she turned down a role in the 2004 film The Aviator because Weinstein was involved in the project.
"I was asked to do The Aviator, but I said no because he was involved. I never associated or worked with him again. It was hard for me when Brad did," she said.
Pitt, 57, starred in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film "Inglourious Basterds," which was co-produced by the Weinstein Company. Three years later, Jolie said Pitt approached Weinstein to work as a producer on the film "Killing Them Softly."
Jolie, who married Brad Pitt in 2004 and filed for divorce in 2016, told The Guardian that she felt Pitt was minimizing her experience with Weinstein.
"We fought about it. Of course it hurt," Jolie said. She added that she avoided attending promotional events for the movie.
Jolie and other women previously spoke out against Weinstein for sexually harassing and assaulting women. In a 2017 report by The New York Times, Gwyneth Paltrow said that Weinstein hired her to star in the 1996 film "Emma" and was later sexually harassed by him. Paltrow refused his advances and told her boyfriend at the time, Brad Pitt, about the incident.
Pitt confronted Weinstein about the incident, prompting the former producer to tell Paltrow not to tell anyone about the incident.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual and rape. In July, he was extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face additional sexual assault charges. He's pleaded not guilty.