Cara Delevingne Shares Her Harvey Weinstein Story: “I Felt Guilty”

Since the New York Times first broke the news, a veritable tidal wave of allegations of sexual harassment, assault and abuse of power against producer Harvey Weinstein has cascaded into the news. Actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Heather Graham, and more have shared their first-person accounts, each story as horrifying as the last.

Wednesday, actress and model Cara Delevingne added her voice to the chorus. She posted her tale on Instagram, accusing Weinstein of harassing her about dating women, attempting to force her to kiss him, and other harrowing details.

“When I first started to work as an actress, i was working on a film and I received a call from‎ Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media,” she wrote. “It was a very odd and uncomfortable call. I answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone, but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I’d never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood.”

When I first started to work as an actress, i was working on a film and I received a call from‎ Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media. It was a very odd and uncomfortable call….i answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I’d never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood. A year or two later, I went to a meeting with him in the lobby of a hotel with a director about an upcoming film. The director left the meeting and Harvey asked me to stay and chat with him. As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn’t and wouldn’t be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn’t want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing….i thought it would make the situation better….more professional….like an audition….i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. I still got the part for the film and always thought that he gave it to me because of what happened. Since then I felt awful that I did the movie. I felt like I didn’t deserve the part. I was so hesitant about speaking out….I didn’t want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.

A post shared by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Oct 11, 2017 at 10:39am PDT

That wasn’t the end of Weinstein’s alleged harassment, however. Over a year later, Delevingne was in talks to star in a Weinstein Company film. (Though she doesn’t name the movie, it was likely the 2017 release Tulip Fever.) After a chat with both Weinstein and the director of the film, Weinstein reportedly insisted that Delevingne come up to his hotel room with him.

“I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside,” she explained. “She said it wasn’t and wouldn’t be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn’t want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation.”

Upon arriving in Weinstein’s hotel room, Delevingne said she was comforted to see another woman there although only briefly, as the producer then allegedly asked the two to kiss. After insisting on leaving, Delevingne said Weinstein walked her to the door and tried to kiss her, which she evaded.

“Since then I felt awful that I did the movie,” she wrote. “I felt like I didn’t deserve the part. I was so hesitant about speaking out. I didn’t want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong.”

Since the initial allegations against Weinstein surfaced, he has been fired from his position at his company, and has reportedly left the country to attend sex addiction rehab in Europe. Meanwhile, in the United States, more accusations of abuse continue to surface.