Asia Argento Closes Out Cannes by Publicly Telling Predators in Her Industry 'We Know Who You Are'
LatestAt the closing ceremony at Cannes Film Festival, Asia Argento gave an impassioned speech reminding the audience that many sitting before her were complicit in the abuse of women at the hands of Harvey Weinstein and others.
The speech, which Argento also posted a version of to her Twitter account afterwards, reads:
In 1997 I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old. This festival was his hunting ground. I want to make a prediction: Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here ever again. He will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up for his crimes. Even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women, for behavior that does not belong in this industry, does not belong in any industry or workplace. You know who you are. But most importantly, we know who you are. And we’re not going to allow you to get away with it any longer.
In the 2017 New Yorker story which broke multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Harvey Weinstein, Argento alleged that the producer forcibly performed oral sex on her in 1997. Since then the actress and director has been a particularly vocal member of the #MeToo movement especially in film, criticizing Time’s Up for exclusivity and working to assemble a master list of all the women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein has also been accused of assaulting and harassing other women at Cannes in the past, including Kadian Noble and Zoe Brock. And in April it was announced that the festival would be instating a hotline for reporting sexual misconduct at the festival.