Yahoo Movies Mira Sorvino reveals she's a survivor of date rape
Actress Mira Sorvino has revealed she is the survivor of date rape, more than one year after speaking out about the alleged sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of Harvey Weinstein.
“I’m also a survivor of date rape. And I’ve never said that in public, and I do not want to go into detail,” she said as part of a plea to remove the statute of limitations for the crime in New York state.
“I have never said that last part ever in public, because it is impossible sometimes to share these sort of things, and I’m doing it here to try and help.”
Read more: Weinstein close to deal with accusers
Ms Sorvino shared her story at a news conference organised by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as the politician is calling for state laws that will eliminate the statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault.
WATCH: Actress and #TimesUp advocate @MiraSorvino reveals new, compelling and emotional details about her own sexual assault experience in a push for NY to remove the 5-year statute of limitations on rape, and to remove 'severe and pervasive' from sexual harassment language. pic.twitter.com/SkiKS35u5b
— Erika Leigh (@_ErikaLeigh) June 12, 2019
Erika Leigh, a reporter for Spectrum News in Albany, New York, tweeted about Sorvino’s appearance, where she is quoted as saying having to recall the event was ‘traumatising’.
Ms Sorvino, an Academy Award winner, is an advocate for the Time’s Up movement and was one of the women who accused Weinstein of inappropriate behaviour in the first wave of allegations against him.
She said that in 1995 - the year she made the movie Mighty Aphrodite for his company - Weinstein allegedly harassed her in a hotel room at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Sorvino: This whole thing has been wonderful but it's also been traumatizing for me to relive everything.
— Erika Leigh (@_ErikaLeigh) June 12, 2019
Sorvino is getting very emotional talking about the Weinstein situation and her experience. "You feel shame, you feel like it was your fault... like you somehow got yourself into this situation."
— Erika Leigh (@_ErikaLeigh) June 12, 2019
“He started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around,” she told the New Yorker.
Ms Sorvino told the magazine that when Weinstein later announced he would be coming to her apartment, she was dreading it so much that she had a male friend come over and pretend to be her boyfriend.
Read more: Sorvino ‘gagged’ by director, aged 16
The actress said that when she complained about the producer’s behaviour to a woman at the company, she felt ‘iced out’ of the entertainment industry.
Director Peter Jackson confirmed in December 2017 that, in fact, he was told that he should avoid working with Sorvino and Ashley Judd, another Weinstein accuser, ‘at all costs’.
Weinstein denied Jackson’s accusation and has always denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.
By Raechal Shewfelt, Yahoo Entertainment
