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Disney(LOS ANGELES) — 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 the Black Panther star 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,” Nyong’o tells 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. Nyong’o said she’d been invited to the producer’s Connecticut home as a 28-year-old, and that Weinstein said he wanted to give her a private massage in his bedroom. Nyong’o said she instead offered to give him a massage to remain in control. But when she did that, she said Weinstein began to take off his pants, at which point she objected and immediately left.
Nyong’o 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,” Nyong’o said. “She was really moved and very supportive.”
After the essay was published, Weinstein’s spokesperson told ABC News that the producer had a “different recollection of the events.”
Now that she’s shared her story publicly, Nyong’o told THR she’s planning to take an active role in the #TimesUp anti-harassment initiative.
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