Lily Allen has opened up about a “scary” and “intimidating” experience her mother Alison Owen allegedly had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Speaking with Andrew Denton on last night’s episode of Channel 7’s Interview, Allen — who has known Weinstein since she was a child — said she “never suspected anything” about his character, and was shocked to hear of her mum’s experience.
“I always thought he was a bit of an odd character, but I definitely didn’t think that what was allegedly going on was going on,” she said.
“My mum’s worked quite closely with Harvey, she’s done several films with him.”
Allen said her mum was once working on a film with Weinstein which included actress Meg Ryan doing her first-ever nude scene, when Weinstein allegedly masturbated in front of both women.
“Just when Meg Ryan was getting her clothes off, [Alison Owen] heard this sort of grunting noise from behind her and it was Harvey pleasuring himself in a dark room with my mum sitting in front of him,” she said.
“She would have been in her mid-twenties at the time, so quite a scary and intimidating experience for her to go through, and she kept working with him… I guess that goes to show how powerful he was, like she didn’t feel she could say anything at the time.”
Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and rape by multiple women, was also last year accused of groping Australian singer Natalie Mendoza.
Watch snippets of Andrew Denton’s interview with Lily Allen below, and the full interview right here.
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