Rumored Harvey Weinstein sighting in Los Angeles freaks out celebrities
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tom Sherak, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, hugs Harvey Weinstein at the 84th Academy Awards nominees luncheon. (2012) (Reuters)
Hollywood was up in arms on Thursday when two stars tweeted that Harvey Weinstein was in Los Angeles for the Golden Globes.
Actress Rosanna Arquette on Facebook posted, “It is Very strange, that Harvey Weinstein is at the very same hotel in Beverly Hills that the golden globe press is being done at. I smell a Rat.” She also posted the message on Twitter, though the account @RoArquette is unverified.
That’s when star Ellen Barkin responded from a verified account, “Is serial rapist harvey weinstein in los angeles? on the wknd of the Golden Globes. Why? WHy? WHY?” and also, “I forgot to say “alleged”…because i know better.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Weinstein’s reps told Page Six of the disgraced movie mogul’s allegedly being in LA, “This is false.”
Weinstein has denied sexual assault allegations against him. His reps have repeatedly commented, “Any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
A rep for Arquette did not immediately get back to us.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Pulp Fiction” star Arquette is one of a number of actresses who have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and misconduct. She told the New Yorker that her career suffered after she rejected a sexual advance from Weinstein in the early 1990s at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Her Thursday tweet that Weinstein was allegedly in town was quickly passed around among top Hollywood execs.
Either way, industry pros are on the lookout for the former Miramax mogul. One woman film vet told us, “I was driving in LA and I saw a fat guy get out of a car — and I was like, ‘Stop it, it’s Harvey!’ But it was not.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Women at this year’s Golden Globes are expected to wear black on the red carpet in solidarity with the #MeToo movement and Time’s Up initiative. Arquette’s Twitter feed prominently features the Time’s Up message including, “Time’s Up on silence. Time’s Up on waiting. Time’s Up on tolerating discrimination, harassment and abuse.”