Weinstein Claims Paltrow Overreacted to Massage Request

She recalled how Weinstein asked they go into the bedroom for a massage following a work meeting at the Peninsula Beverly Hills when she was beginning her career. 

She rejected his advance and drove away devastated, thinking: 'I thought you were my Uncle Harvey.'

Weinstein came back to the actress and told her to never tell anyone what happened between them again.

At the time, Paltrow was preparing to shoot the lead role in Miramax's new adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Emma' alongside Toni Collette and Ewan McGregor.

'He screamed at me for a long time,' said Paltrow.

'It was brutal.'

A few years later she was a superstar and Oscar winner, but she did not have the power to share her story.

'I was expected to keep the secret,' said Paltrow, who called Weinstein 'alternately generous and supportive and championing, and punitive and bullying.'

She decided however to no longer stay quiet.

'We’re at a point in time when women need to send a clear message that this is over,' said Paltrow.

'This way of treating women ends now.'

Once a Hollywood heavy-hitter, Weinstein became a symbol of sexual misconduct after media reports revealed allegations against him in 2017. 

In total, some 60 women came forward with harrowing allegations against Weinstein.

He was convicted of various sex crimes in both New York and California. But he's on trial again because an appeals court found that his New York trial was tainted by prejudicial testimony and overturned that conviction.

He is currently battling a litany of health woes including cancer, diabetes, spinal stenosis and a possible immune system problem. 

Weinstein previously broke his silence from prison to make more denials while offering an admission that he only 'made a pass' at Paltrow. 

Weinstein co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company and was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as Pulp Fiction and The Crying Game.

He has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.