Actress Salma Hayek is the latest woman to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
The Oscar-nominated Mexican star has written a column for The New York Times, the first publication to publish allegations against Weinstein in October, in which she details Weinstein's alleged behaviour towards her while they were working on the biopic Frida in 2002.
Hayek claims that Weinstein frequently harassed her while she was filming the biopic, in which she plays artist Frida Kahlo, and alleges that at one point he threatened her with violence, saying: "I will kill you, don't think I can't".
The Hollywood star described Weinstein as a "monster" in the column and said that while initially she was excited to work with him, the experience left her "emotionally distraught".
"I did not care about the money; I was so excited to work with him and that company," she recalled. "In my naïveté, I thought my dream had come true. He had validated the last 14 years of my life. He had taken a chance on me - a nobody. He had said yes.
"Little did I know it would become my turn to say no… No to me taking a shower with him. No to letting him watch me take a shower. No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage...
"And with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage."
Hayek also addressed why she waited so long to come forward with her story, writing: "I hid from the responsibility to speak out with the excuse that enough people were already involved in shining a light on my monster. I didn’t consider my voice important, nor did I think it would make a difference.
"In reality, I was trying to save myself the challenge of explaining several things to my loved ones: Why, when I had casually mentioned that I had been bullied like many others by Harvey, I had excluded a couple of details. And why, for so many years, we have been cordial to a man who hurt me so deep.
"When so many women came forward to describe what Harvey had done to them, I had to confront my cowardice and humbly accept that my story, as important as it was to me, was nothing but a drop in an ocean of sorrow and confusion."
With every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage. I don’t think he hated anything more than the word no. https://t.co/dTYS1siytK
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) December 13, 2017
Hayek concluded the article by writing: "I am grateful for everyone who is listening to our experiences. I hope that adding my voice to the chorus of those who are finally speaking out will shed light on why it is so difficult, and why so many of us have waited so long.
"Men sexually harassed because they could. Women are talking today because, in this new era, we finally can."
65-year-old Weinstein, who has "unequivocally denied" allegations of non-consensual sex, is facing criminal investigations in both the US and the UK.
Weinstein has said, in a statement released by his spokeswoman, that he "does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female co-star and he was not there for the filming".
He added: "All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired."
