Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o speaks out about her shocking encounters with Harvey Weinstein

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October 20, 2017 2:56 AM

Nyong'o discussed how Weinstein asked for a massage and said he wanted to remove his pants while his children were in the same house.

Lupita Nyong’o has detailed her numerous encounters with Harvey Weinstein over several years.
Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexually harassing dozens of actresses and has been fired from his company.
Nyong’o felt forced to give Weinstein a massage at his home while his children were in another room.

Lupita Nyong’o has added her name to thegrowing listof Hollywood actresses that Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexually harassing.

In anop-ed for the New York Times, Nyong’o thanked other women for coming forward with their stories and detailed her encounters with Weinstein over the years, including a massage incident at his home while his young children were in another room.

“As actors we are paid to do very intimate things in public. That’s why someone can have the audacity to invite you to their home or hotel and you show up,” wrote Nyong’o who starred in “12 Years a Slave”, for which she won an Oscar, and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

Nyong’o first met Weinstein at a dinner in 2011 while she was still studying at the Yale School of Drama. One of her table-mates warned her “He is a good man to know in the business, but just be careful around him.”

Not long after, Weinstein invited Nyong’o out to lunch and a film screening at his home. The lunch was uncomfortable with Weinstein appearing highly irritated that Nyong’o didn’t want to order alcohol and demanded the waiter “Get her what I tell you to get her.”

But it was the situation at Weinstein’s home, where he offered to Nyong’o a massage, that echoes other stories of his sexual harassment.

Nyong’o saw Weinstein a few more times over the following years but one dinner stands out:

Nyong’o says she is now interested in “combating the shame we go through that keeps us isolated and allows for harm to continue to be done”.