Thurman breaks silence on 'Weinstein abuse'

The actress claims Weinstein would spend “hours” complimenting her after they got to know one another in the mid-Nineties.

The 47-year-old alleges that things took a sinister turn when the director told her to follow him down a corridor in a Paris hotel – leading her to a steam room.

She told the New York Times: “And I was standing there in my full black leather outfit – boots, pants, jacket. And it was so hot and I said, ‘This is ridiculous, what are you doing?’

“And he was getting very flustered and mad and he jumped up and ran out.”

Thurman claims Weinstein also tried to expose himself to her while at his suite at the Savoy Hotel in London.

“He did all kinds of unpleasant things,” she said.

“It was such a bat to the head. He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself.

“But he didn’t actually put his back into it and force me. You’re like an animal wriggling away, like a lizard.

“I was doing anything I could to get the train back on the track. My track. Not his track.”

Weinstein representatives have responded to the claims, saying that “Mr Weinstein acknowledges making a pass at Ms Thurman in England after misreading her signals in Paris”.

They added that he “later apologised”.

In a long statement sent to Deadline, the producer’s representatives shared public photos of Weinstein with Thurman in movie premieres and awards shows, to try to prove the two were friends.

“We have pulled a number of images that demonstrate the strong relationship Mr Weinstein and Ms Thurman had had over the years and we wish the New York Times would have published them,” the statement reads.

Weinstein’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, later said his client would consider legal action against Thurman, and asked why the actress “would wait 25 years to publicly discuss this incident” and then “embellish” it with “false accusations”.

Thurman also claims to have told Quentin Tarantino of the incident, which led the filmmaker to confront Weinstein, with Weinstein then apologising to the actress.

“I just walked away stunned, like ‘Okay, well there’s my half-assed apology,'” said Thurman.

Thurman, who has worked on several films with Weinstein including Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, had previously said she was too angry to comment on sexual misconduct claims against the producer.

“I’ve been waiting to feel less angry,” she said last year.

“And when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say.”

Meanwhile, in unrelated allegations, British police said on Saturday they were investigating two more sexual assault claims against the disgraced producer.

These allegations were made to the Met Police in November last year, but have only now been made public.

It brings the total number of women who have reported the Hollywood producer to British police to nine, in a time period ranging from the 1980s to 2015.

“On November 13 an allegation was received that the man sexually assaulted a woman (Victim 9) in Westminster in 2011 and outside the jurisdiction of the UK in 2010,” police said.

“The second allegation will be passed to the relevant police force in due course.”

The UK police investigation into Weinstein claims is known as Operation Kaguyak and there have been no arrests made so far.

Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual assault.

:: Who are Weinstein’s accusers?