Rose McGowan supports Charlotte Kirk amid sexual misconduct lawsuit with Warner Bros
Kirk claimed she had nonconsensual sex under duress with former Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rose McGowan is speaking out in support of fellow actress Charlotte Kirk despite never meeting or speaking to her.
The former "Charmed" star, 47, penned an essay in Los Angeles Magazine saying "her heart broke" after learning about what Kirk had allegedly gone through.
"In many media accounts Charlotte has been painted as a crafty and seductive young woman who lured and fooled her powerful suitors," McGowan wrote. "The way they’ve been portraying her, basically branding her an unstable whore who is just out for money, is the very same thing the U.S. media machine did to me on the orders of Harvey Weinstein, when stories about his assault on me first began to emerge."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kirk, 28, has claimed in a recently filed lawsuit she had nonconsensual sex under duress with former Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara because she feared for her safety and career.
Tsujihara stepped down last year after it was revealed through a series of text messages that he allegedly promised Kirk acting roles and auditions in exchange for a sexual relationship. He has denied it was nonconsensual.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kirk cannot comment on the matter because she signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Charlotte Kirk has appeared in films including “Ocean’s 8,” “How To Be Single,” The Reckoning” and “Vice.” (Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
The 2013 incident allegedly took place when movie mogul James Packer invited then-21-year-old struggling actress Kirk to a Hotel Bel-Air suite for “the opportunity of a lifetime” and an introduction to Tsujihara, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.
The report cites text messages that claim Kirk texted Packer that Tsujihara was only interested in having sex once she got to the hotel room.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WARNER BROS. CEO AND CHAIRMAN UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AMID LEAKED TEXT DUMP
McGowan says she can identify with Kirk's pain as she was also abused. The activist alleged she was raped by Weinstein, a now-convicted rapist, and that he subsequently destroyed her career when she tried to speak out.
"Many of the men who rise to the top in Hollywood get off on power. And they’ve been able to get away with it for so long because the complicity machine protects their power. It takes a lot to stand up to all that. I know from my own experience how much it takes to survive this kind of hell," McGowan said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kevin Tsujihara's personal attorney Bert H. Deixle denied his client had non-consensual sex with Kirk. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
"I feel for Charlotte. Her career has been destroyed before it even began, because we survivors get punished for being raped. You become a threat. Your name is dragged through the mud. Public perception is bought and paid for and people —especially Hollywood people — tend to believe the worst allegations about you. Because they want to," she continued.
Tsuijhara's attorney told Fox News previously, “The recently published Hollywood Reporter story is comprised of lies and twisted facts, and is outright wrong in many respects."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Marty Singer, who represents Packer, also issued a statement on the matter to Fox News.
“My clients are the victims of a multimillion-dollar civil extortion plot perpetrated by Charlotte Kirk, her former boyfriend Joshua Newton and her latest paramour Neil Marshall. After years of ever-evolving and wildly untrue allegations of misconduct in an increasingly outlandish hunt for money, this past Spring, they threatened to smear my clients and they collectively demanded a mindboggling $335 million," Singer said.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.