Paris Hilton recounts harrowing meeting with Harvey Weinstein: "it scared me"
Los Angeles, California - Harvey Weinstein has racked up a disturbing number of allegations of sexual harassment throughout his decades in Hollywood. Though the now repeatedly convicted sex offender is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison, new accusations against the former producer are still coming to light – including from Paris Hilton.
Paris Hilton was just 19 years old when she met Hollywood mogul Weinstein for the first time at the amfAR (The Foundation for Aids Research) gala at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.
"I was at lunch with my girlfriend and he came up to the table and was like, 'Oh, you want to be an actress?' And I said, 'Yeah, I really want to be in a movie,'" Hilton recalled in an interview with Glamour.
"I was a teenager, so I was impressed with him, and I said, 'Oh my God, Harvey Weinstein is so cool!' and he said, 'Well, we should meet,'" she continued.
Weinstein then invited the young heiress to his room to read scripts – a move he pulled with many of his victims.
But Hilton didn't feel like going to his room, which didn't please Weinstein at all, as she found out the next evening.
Rumors about Harvey Weinstein were known in Hollywood
The 42-year-old claimed Weinstein even followed her into the ladies' room during the gala the next night. "Ya wanna be a star?" he allegedly yelled at her.
"He tried to open the door, he was hammering on the door, banging on it. And I wouldn’t open it, because I was like, 'I’m in a stall, why do you want to come in here?' And I just wouldn’t open it," she said.
"Security came and literally carried him away and he was like [shouting], 'This is my party,' going nuts. It scared me and freaked me out."
Hilton said many in Hollywood were already aware of the Weinstein rumors at the time, but she didn't dare implicate the former Miramax boss at the time, saying she didn't "want people getting mad at me for saying anything."
Weinstein's spokesperson denied to Variety that the incident with Hilton happened.
Just a few days ago, the 70-year-old was sentenced to 16 years on rape charges. Three years prior, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison, meaning the disgraced producer will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Cover photo: Collage: AFP/Kevin Winter & REUTERS