Oprah Winfrey was once close to Harvey Weinstein, the producer who was later sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual assault. Photo / Getty Images
Oprah Winfrey was once close to Harvey Weinstein, the producer who was later sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual assault. Photo / Getty Images
High profile actress Rose McGowan has called Oprah Winfrey out on Twitter, claiming the talk show host's support of the #metoo movement is "fake" and hypocritical.
In her scathing tweet, the Charmed star, 47, said it was about time people saw the "ugly truth of @Oprah".
Rose McGowen has called Oprah Winfrey out for her commitment to the #metoo movement, calling her 'as fake as they come'. Photo / Getty Images
McGowan posted her commentsalongside a photo of Winfrey, now 67, kissing the cheek of disgraced film producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.
Known for her own open and courageous struggle with her own experiences of sexual assault in the entertainment industry, McGowan went on to criticise Winfrey even more strongly, stating: "From being pals with Weinstein to abandoning & destroying Russell Simmon's [sic] victims, she is about supporting a sick power structure for personal gain, she is as fake as they come. #lizard."
I am glad more are seeing the ugly truth of @Oprah. I wish she were real, but she isn’t. From being pals with Weinstein to abandoning & destroying Russell Simmon’s victims, she is about supporting a sick power structure for personal gain, she is as fake as they come. #lizardpic.twitter.com/RCuXNpWCU0
The growing list of women who claimed sexual misconduct by Weinstein grew exponentially in 2019, serving as the catalyst for the #metoo movement in Hollywood. Weinstein was convicted in early 2020 of raping a once-aspiring actress in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on former TV and film production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in 2006. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
McGowen also draws attention to WInfrey's relationship with Russell Simmons, 63. It seems that Winfrey has signed up to executive produce a documentary about Simmons' history of alleged sexual misconduct. Winfrey eventually pulled out of the project as the mud thrown at the music executive continued to stick.
At the time she withdrew from the documentary Winfrey cited creative differences, saying: "I have decided that I will no longer be executive producer on the untitled Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary, and it will not air on Apple TV+.
"I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured, and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision."
