Emma Thompson nails Harvey Weinstein problem in 90 brilliant seconds

Emma Thompson says Harvey Weinstein is 'the tip of the iceberg'. Photo / Twitter

Outspoken British actor Emma Thompson has delivered an eloquent analysis of the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal in an interview with BBC Newsnight.

In a 90-second clip from the interview that has already been shared on social media thousands of times, the Oscar-winner said that the seemingly endless allegations against movie mogul Weinstein were part of a wider problem within the industry.

"I didn't know about these things, but they don't surprise me at all, and they're endemic to the system," Thompson said.

Emma Thompson tells us the Harvey Weinstein allegations are just the tip of the iceberg of a wider and systemic problem in Hollywood pic.twitter.com/VDxswrUP5Z

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 12, 2017

"What I find sort of extraordinary is that this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg, you know he's - I don't think you can describe him as a 'sex addict,' he's a predator," she continued.

"But what he's, as it were, at the top of the ladder of is a system of harassment, and belittling, and bullying, and interference, and what my mother would have referred to in the old days as 'pestering.'"

"'Is he pestering you?' That's the word we used to use in the olden days, if you recall. This has been part of our world, women's world, since time immemorial. So what we need to start talking about is the crisis in masculinity, the crisis of extreme masculinity, which is this sort of behaviour, and the fact that it is not only OK, but it also is represented by the most powerful man in the world at the moment," Thompson added, appearing to refer to US President Donald Trump, who weathered a scandal about his treatment of women during his election campaign last year.

Asked whether there were other men like Weinstein hiding in the entertainment industry, Thompson said there were "many".

"Maybe not to that degree," she continued.

Hollywod mogul Harvey Weinstein. Photo / AP

"Do they have to all be as bad as him to make it count? Does it only count if you really have done it to loads and loads and loads of woman? Or does it count if you do it to one woman once? I think the latter."

Overnight, fellow Brit Kate Beckinsale joined the long list of women who say they were sexually harassed by Weinstein.

The star revealed that she was hit on by Weinstein when she was just 17, offered alcohol and called a c**t when she turned him down.