THIS WEEK, THERE were fresh developments in the Harvey Weinstein scandal that saw the disgraced mogul sued for alleged ‘sex trafficking’ in Cannes.
Pamela Anderson has previously spoken about her own childhood sexual abuse, so when she appeared on The Today Show with Megyn Kelly the topic of Hollywood’s scandal was one of the major talking points.
In a wide-ranging interview, her comments that Weinstein’s victims should “know what you’re getting into if you’re going into a hotel room alone” have caused so much controversy today
Earlier in the interview, speaking of her experiences as a victim, Anderson talked about what it was like when she moved to Hollywood:
When I came to Hollywood, of course I had a lot of offers to do private auditions and things that made absolutely no sense. Just common sense: don’t go into a hotel room alone. If someone enters a door in a bathrobe, leave. These things that are common sense.
The actress described her own encounter with Harvey Weinstein where she refused to do a film of his because there was a dog present – and Weinstein called her up and berated her for her stance on animal rights.
Kelly then asked her if she was surprised at the revelations about him:
“No. It was common knowledge that certain producers or certain people in Hollywood or people to avoid, privately. You know what you’re getting into if you’re going into a hotel room, alone.”
Kelly then countered that the victims might have been lured to the hotel rooms or that their trusted agent set it up:
They should have went with them. That’s what they should have done. Send somebody with them. I think there’s easy ways to remedy that. That’s not a good excuse.
The comments were immediately picked up on as being seriously harsh to the victims
The specific comment that victims should have known what they were getting into was batted down as particularly problematic
Pamela was made aware of the furore and posted this long response on Instagram today
