Actress Gwyneth Paltrow recalled the moment Brad Pitt threatened to kill Harvey Weinstein after the disgraced producer sexually harassed her in the 1990s.
During an interview on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM radio show Wednesday, Paltrow recounted the incident with Weinstein, saying he asked her for a massage while they were in a hotel room.
“We had one instance in a hotel room where he made a pass at me,” she said. “It was weird. I was alone in a room with him.”
Paltrow said she told then-boyfriend Brad Pitt right away, saying the experience had shaken her especially because she had signed on to make two movies with Weinstein. Pitt confronted Weinstein when the three were at the opening of “Hamlet” on Broadway, according to Paltrow.
“It was the equivalent of throwing him against the wall,” she said.
Pitt then allegedly told Weinstein: “If you ever make her feel uncomfortable again, I’ll kill you.”
Weinstein has now been accused by more than 50 women, including Uma Thurman, Lupita Nyong’o, Kate Beckinsale, Salma Hayek and Cara Delevigne, of sexual assault, harassment and other inappropriate behavior. Weinstein, whose downfall kicked off the wide spread of the #MeToo movement, has denied all allegations of non-consensual sexual contact.
Asked by Stern if she thought Pitt overstepped in his protectiveness, Paltrow said she thought the encounter was “fantastic.”
“He leveraged his fame and power to protect me at a time when I didn’t have fame and power yet,” she said.
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Write to Mahita Gajanan at mahita.gajanan@time.com