Joseph Fiennes has claimed that Harvey Weinstein bullied him out of a Hollywood deal.
Fiennes was cast by Weinstein in 1998’s Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, and revealed that other lucrative offers were soon on the table afterwards.
However, in a new interview with The Observer, the actor claimed that the disgraced producer tried to block a deal for his appearance in a new movie.
According to Fiennes, Weinstein invited him to his hotel room and told him to decline the opportunity or he would no longer work in Hollywood.
“It was a bullying tactic that didn’t sit well,” Fiennes said. “The way he explained it was a shock to me.
“But I suddenly sat in the room very present, and happy and strong in myself to say, you know what, I’m not beholden to that. I’m stepping away.”
When asked whether the incident affected his film career moving forwards, Fiennes responded: “I don’t think it helped me. Hurt? No, maybe not hurt. But he made it clear that he won’t support me.
“He’ll make a very strong movement not to support me. I was out of the family. But I was very happy not to be in the family.”
Earlier this year, Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 additional years in prison, three months after he was convicted on three counts of rape and sexual assault.
The disgraced film producer is currently serving a 23-year sentence for a 2020 conviction of two counts of rape and sexual assault in New York. With his new sentence, his remaining prison time has nearly doubled.
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