Harvey Weinstein Statement Forcefully Denies Salma Hayek’s Claims

A spokesperson for Harvey Weinstein has released a statement about Salma Hayek’s allegations against the disgraced producer. On Wednesday, the Oscar-nominated actress published an essay in The New York Times about her experience working with Weinstein on the 2002 film Frida. Hayek does not just allege that he sexually propositioned her numerous times—she also alleges that Weinstein constantly berated her over the course of making the film, physically dragged her at a party, threatened to kill her, and forced her to do a full-frontal nude sex scene.

In the statement, Weinstein denies “pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female co-star.” In addition, he denies claims of sexual misconduct.

“All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired,” the statement reads.

Here is the full statement from Weinstein’s spokesperson:

Mr. Weinstein regards Salma Hayek as a first-class actress and cast her in several of his movies, among them Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Dogma, and Studio 54. He was very proud of her best-actress Academy Award nomination for Frida and continues to support her work.

While Jennifer Lopez was interested in playing Frida and at the time was a bigger star, Mr. Weinstein overruled other investors to back Salma as the lead. Miramax put up half of the money and all of the P&A; the budget was over $12 million. As in most collaborative projects, there was creative friction on Frida, but it served to drive the project to perfection. The movie opened in multiple theaters and was supported by a huge advertising campaign and an enormous Academy Awards budget.

Mr. Weinstein does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female co-star 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. The original unibrow used was an issue because it diverted attention from the performances. All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired.

Ed Norton, who was Ms. Hayek’s boyfriend at the time, [worked with Mr. Weinstein on the rewrite of the script in Mexico] did a brilliant job of rewriting the script and Mr. Weinstein battled the W.G.A. to get him a credit on the film. His effort was unsuccessful to everyone’s disappointment.

By Mr. Weinstein’s own admission, his boorish behavior following a screening of Frida was prompted by his disappointment in the cut of the movie—and a reason he took a firm hand in the final edit, alongside the very skilled director Julie Taymor.

The statement then includes statistics showing that Frida opened in five theaters. In her essay, Hayek said that the film opened in just two theaters.

Representatives for Hayek have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.

Get Vanity Fair’s HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Yohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.

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