Cate Blanchett Was Also Harassed by Weinstein

It’s been six months since the original Harvey Weinstein exposé and new stories are still coming out. Most recently, Cate Blanchett said in an interview with Variety, that Weinstein has made inappropriate passes at her.

“With me, yes. I think he really primarily preyed, like most predators, on the vulnerable,” Blanchett said. “I mean I got a bad feeling from him. He would often say to me, ‘We’re not friends.’” Blanchett declined to go into much more detail, but when asked what Weinstein meant by that she simple said, “Well, I wouldn’t do what he was asking me to do.”

Blanchett goes on to speak broadly about Weinstein. She says that he is unfortunately just a symbol for a lot of men in a lot of industries. “I’m interested in those people being prosecuted. We have to set a legal precedent,” Blanchett explained. “When legal precedent is set by people being actually convicted, then other people can benefit from that because those precedents have been set.”

In the video portion of the interview, Variety’s editor-in-chief Claudia Eller told Blanchett that in conversation with one of the Carol producers she was told that “Harvey just didn’t promote the film.” Blanchett goes on to say that she was disappointed when Weinstein was brought on as as a producer. She didn’t feel he understood or supported the previous work of Carol director Todd Haynes.

“That said,” Blanchett continued, “I’ve been stopped in the supermarket by more people about that film than I have by many others that I’ve made. So, if a film doesn’t necessarily linger at the box office, it doesn’t mean that it’s not going to have a reach.”

Blanchett will attending the Cannes Film Festival this year as the president of the jury. Her responsibly will be to judge all of the films and come to a decision with the rest of the jury about who will get awards. The festival has been around since 1946 and Blanchett is only the 12 woman to hold this title. This year, the title holds an extra symbolic power as Weinstein has been cut off from all ties to Cannes, which he previously had a lot of influence.