Here's How George Clooney Saved Salma Hayek from ‘Monster’ Harvey Weinstein’s Abuse

Renowned actress Salma Hayek once opened up about her horrid experience with the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Her story, which came out in 2017 in The New York Times, recounted the sexual harassment she faced and how her friendship with George Clooney perhaps helped her avoid even more dire situations.

Hayek's ordeal began when she approached Weinstein with her passion project— a biopic about the legendary Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. What should have been a dream come true quickly turned into a nightmare. She shared, "For years, he was my monster. A passionate cinephile, a risk taker, a patron of talent in film, a loving father, and a monster," as per Hollywood Life. 

The actress detailed numerous instances of Weinstein's alleged inappropriate behavior. "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. 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 believes her connections in Hollywood may have saved her from even more severe abuse. She asserted, "I knew him a little bit through my relationship with the director Robert Rodriguez and the producer Elizabeth Avellan, who was then his wife, with whom I had done several films and who had taken me under their wing. Knowing what I know now, I wonder if it wasn't my friendship with them — and Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney — that saved me from being raped."

The making of Frida was a torturous process for Hayek. "The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, 'I will kill you, don't think I can't,'" Hayek revealed. Additionally, she claimed he consistently undermined her talents and tried to shut down the production of Frida.

In one particular incident she recalled, "Halfway through shooting, Harvey turned up on set and complained about Frida's 'unibrow.' He insisted that I eliminate the limp and berated my performance. Then he asked everyone in the room to step out except for me. He told me that the only thing I had going for me was my sex appeal and that there was none of that in this movie."

The actress says Weinstein gave her an ultimatum. It was to perform a sex scene with another woman or he would shut down the film. Hayek reluctantly agreed but the experience was deeply traumatic. "I had a nervous breakdown. My body began to shake uncontrollably, my breath was short and I began to cry and cry. It was not because I would be naked with another woman. It was because I would be naked with her for Harvey Weinstein," she stated, as per Vogue.