Lupita Nyong'o explains why she spoke up about Harvey Weinstein
— -- Last October, Lupita Nyong'o added her name to the growing list of A-list actresses who claim they faced sexual misconduct at the hands of ex-movie executive Harvey Weinstein.
Now she explains why she felt the need to come forward with her #MeToo experience.
"I felt uncomfortable in my silence, and I wanted to liberate myself from it and contribute to the discussion," she told the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter. "That was just what I felt I needed to do, quite viscerally. I couldn't sleep. I needed to get it out."
Last year, in a personal essay in The New York Times, the 34-year-old Oscar winner described an uncomfortable encounter with Weinstein that she said took place in 2011.
She told THR that she worked on the essay over several days then showed it to her mother.
"I had to talk to her about it because it was something that we hadn't talked about," she said. "She was really moved and very supportive."
In her Times essay, Nyong'o said she had been invited to the producer's Connecticut home as a 28-year-old. The actress said Weinstein said he wanted to give her a private massage in his bedroom. She said she demurred, instead offering to give him a massage and remain in control. But when she did that, the actress claimed, Weinstein began to take off his pants, and she objected and immediately left.
After the essay was published, Weinstein's spokesperson told ABC News that he remembered his interactions with the actress differently.
"Mr. Weinstein has a different recollection of the events, but believes Lupita is a brilliant actress and a major force for the industry," a statement read. "Last year (2016), she sent a personal invitation to Mr. Weinstein to see her in her Broadway show 'Eclipsed.'"
The 65-year-old former head of The Weinstein Company has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct, including rape, since October.
Though the former studio head has admitted to some wrongdoing and sought professional help, his spokeswoman has said that "any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein." Following these claims and reports, Weinstein was fired from his company, banned from the Producer's Guild of America and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Now that she has shared her story publicly, Nyong'o told THR she is planning to take an active role in the Time's Up anti-harassment initiative.'
She is also promoting her latest film, "Black Panther," which debuts Feb. 16.
"We were creating an aspirational world where an African people are in charge of their own destiny," she said about the importance of the film. "And that really appealed to me and had the little girl inside me jumping for joy. To just have African people, black people, at the center of that narrative is so exciting."
