Salma Hayek Tells Oprah That Harvey Weinstein Threatened to Break Her Kneecaps

Salma Hayek Tells Oprah That Harvey Weinstein Threatened to Break Her Kneecaps

"I felt ashamed that I was a coward," the actress tells Oprah when explaining she declined to be part of New York Times' initial Weinstein exposé.

Salma Hayek recently shared a story with Oprah Winfrey she had not yet shared with the world: Harvey Weinstein allegedly threatened to break her kneecaps in response to her refusal of his sexual advances.

Hayek was speaking with Oprah at the latter's recording of "Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations" in New York on Wednesday when the actress divulged more horrifying details surrounding the disgraced Hollywood mogul.

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"He told me he wanted to kill me," Hayek said. "He said to ['Frida' director] Julie Taymor, 'I am going to break the kneecaps of that 'c word.'"

Hayek first detailed the sexual harassment she allegedly experienced at the hands of Weinstein in a lengthy op-ed for The New York Times back in December, describing what she says she went through during the making of her 2002 Miramax film, "Frida." The movie co-starred fellow-Weinstein accuser Ashley Judd.

Though she said she initially felt "validated" when he agreed to work with her on the project, she explained, "Little did I know it would become my turn to say no."

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"No to opening the door to him at all hours of the night, hotel after hotel, location after location, where he would show up unexpectedly, including one location where I was doing a movie he wasn't even involved with," she wrote. "No to me taking a shower with him. No to letting him watch me take a shower. No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No to my getting naked with another woman. No, no, no, no, no."

Hayek went on to describe the "Machiavellian rage" she'd experience every time she said no, alleging Weinstein once told her, "I will kill you, don't think I can't."

But before she came forward with her story, Hayek said she was approached by NYT to be a part of their initial exposé two months prior to the release of her op-ed.

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"[The Times] contacted me to be a part of the first story, and already by this contact, there was all this turmoil and I started crying when they asked and I ended up not doing it," she explained to Oprah. "And then I felt ashamed that I was a coward. I was supporting women for two decades, and then I was a coward."

"When the information about Harvey came out, I was ashamed I didn't say anything," she added. "But I felt like my pain was so small compared to all the other stories."

Hayek blames her fear of coming forward with her story during the initial wave of Weinstein accusations on her past experiences of sexual assault.

"[Weinstein] was not the first guy to do this to me," she explained. "I was really smart around him. I handled it really well. And maybe that's why he didn't rape me."

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