Salma Hayek: Harvey Weinstein would scream that he didn’t hire me to 'look ugly!’

Hollywood actor Salma Hayek has revealed in a recent interview that Harvey Weinstein used to call her during the making of 'Frida'--the 2002 film that earned her an Oscar nomination--and would drag her downduring the making of the biopic.

Hayek told The Guardian that Weinstein "is not the only man to reassure himself by knowing he can destroy women."

When asked whether she put up with his bullying to maintain peace, the actor replied, “To a degree. I did feel alright [when he bullied me]. Ok, I would shake [afterwards] and it did depress me, but there was a cartoon aspect about the whole thing.”

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While shooting the 2002 film 'Frida', where she appeared as decorated artist Frida Kahlo, Weinstein, who was a producer on the film, would call and berate her for "looking ugly."

“When he would call me up [during the making of Frida] and scream, ‘Why do you have a [monobrow] and moustache? I didn’t hire you to look ugly!’ I was like, ‘But didn’t you ever look at a picture of Frida Kahlo?’ If a man was playing Cyrano de Bergerac, he wouldn’t say, ‘What’s with the nose?’” the actor said, reportedly.

Salma Hayek earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the movie.

In 2017, Hayek detailed how she was sexually harassed for years by Weinstein in an article she had written for The New York Times. She had said at the time that "with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage."

In the same article, the Hollywood star also wrote that she believes Weinstein never assaulted her as she was friends with people like Robert Rodriguez, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino.

Hayek added, "Also I was very strong," when The Guardian pressed her further for answers.

"I didn’t just say no. I’m a force to be recognised. He never saw me weak. It’s not that I’m not afraid, but you’re not going to see it. I can be almost intimidating in my calm strength, you know?" said the actor.
Meanwhile, the actress also added that Weinstein was “not the first or last one” to bully or harass her, accusing this culture in Hollywood “systematic”.

Hayek, however, insisted that she does not “hold a grudge” and "believe(s) people can change."

For the uninitiated, in 2020, Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted of rape and criminal sexual acts against various women.