In a story that further confirms how Harvey Weinstein‘s misconduct was something of an open secret in Hollywood, Brad Pitt has admitted that he threatened to kill the disgraced producer in the 1990s, for harassing his then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow.
The story originally came to light via Paltrow, who told Howard Stern about a 1995 incident when Weinstein touched her inappropriately and invited her to his room after a meeting. When she told Pitt about the incident, he approached Weinstein at a play premiere and said:
“If you ever make her feel uncomfortable again, I’ll kill you.”
Paltrow went on to explain the impact of the his actions, saying:
“It was the equivalent of throwing him against the wall, energetically. It was so fantastic because what he did was, he leveraged his fame and power to protect me at a time when I didn’t have fame or power yet. He’s the best.”
Paltrow had recently been cast in Emma, in what would prove to be her breakthrough role, and after the incident with Pitt, he called her and threatened to fire her. Nonetheless, she would star in the film, and his harassment of her reportedly stopped after this.
During a recent interview with CNN‘s Christiane Amanpour, Brad Pitt was asked about the infamous incident, and confirmed that it took place. Amanapour told Pitt that he came off as one of the “heroes” of the story, but he was uncomfortable with this, saying:
“I think that’s a bit much … At that moment, I was a boy from the Ozarks on a playground, and that’s how we confronted things. I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her, that she was going to do the film. I think the interesting thing is that in Hollywood especially, but [also in] the workplace, men and women’s dynamics are being re-calibrated in a good way. It’s long overdue, and I do think that’s an important story to tell.”
