Former Weinstein Assistant Details Attempts to Speak Out: ‘I Naively Believed’ Disney ‘Would Be Horrified’
Zelda Perkins, a former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, is speaking out against her boss after breaking a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that previously stopped her from talking about his sexual abuse of women.
Perkins gave an extensive interview to BBC’s Emily Maitlis last night, and she recalled how she left Miramax Films in the 1990s after a co-worker told Perkins that the disgraced Hollywood mogul tried to rape her. Perkins said she tried to speak publicly about Weinstein’s alleged actions years ago, though her lawyers told her that doing so would be extremely difficult because she signed a confidentiality agreement which prohibited her from talking.
“The last 19 years have been distressing, where I’ve not been allowed to speak, where I’ve not been allowed to be myself,” said Perkins. “It’s not just distressing for me, but for lots of women who have not been able to own their past, and for many of them, their trauma. Although the process I went through was legal, it was immoral.”
Perkins said that when she tried to complain to human resources about Weinstein’s alleged behavior, she was told to lawyer up.
“I naively believed that if we went to Disney, they would be horrified and would fire Harvey, or help us with the proceedings,” said Perkins.
Perkins ended up leaving Miramax with a settlement of $200,000, though she regrets signing that NDA, and is now calling on the U.K. to change the laws so powerful figures can no longer use them to get away with bad behavior.
Watch above, via CBS.
[Image via screengrab]
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