Actress Cara Delevinge has joined Asia Argento, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and many more in revealing the full extent of producer Harvey Weinstein's depravity. Hollywood is a cesspool for sexual abuse, and now Ben Affleck is being accused of groping his One Tree Hill costar Hilarie Burton. Affleck apologized on Twitter, but the cat is out of the bag. Hollywood is in bed with some terrible people. Who will be the next to be unmasked as a sexual predator? Worse, it has been an "open secret" since the 1990s. Think of your favorite movie star, male or female. Odds are, they knew at least a little bit about Harvey Weinstein's true nature. It's disgusting. The entire industry, like politics, is corrupted with sexual assault. Cara Delevinge, who starred in Suicide Squad, has come forward with her own harrowing Weinstein story. And since she posted the entire story on Instagram, here is the full content of her post below: [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BaHc485FRVx/]] "When I first started to work as an actress, i was working on a film and I received a call from‎ Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media. It was a very odd and uncomfortable call....i answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I'd never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood. "A year or two later, I went to a meeting with him in the lobby of a hotel with a director about an upcoming film. The director left the meeting and Harvey asked me to stay and chat with him. As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation." "When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. "I still got the part for the film and always thought that he gave it to me because of what happened. Since then I felt awful that I did the movie. I felt like I didn't deserve the part. I was so hesitant about speaking out....I didn't want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear." She followed it up with this post. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BaHdEdxFjST/]] "I want women and girls to know that being harassed or abused or raped is NEVER their fault and not talking about it will always cause more damage than speaking the truth. I am relieved to be able to share this....i actually feel better and I'm proud of the women who are brave enough to speak....this isn't easy but there are strength in our numbers. As I said, this is only the beginning. In every industry and especially in Hollywood, men abuse their power using fear and get away with it. This must stop. The more we talk about it, the less power we give them. I urge you all to talk and to the people who defend these men, you are part of the problem" What more can be said? We hope that all this can help to stop future assaults and help more people come forward.

After many women came forward to report film producer Harvey Weinstein's horrendous behaviour towards women over the years, the repercussions are being felt throughout the industry. More than 30 actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne, have now accused Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual harassment and assault.

This story has continued to develop as the spotlight has turned from Weinstein himself to the industry that allowed this to happen, with many blaming the systemic sexism of the film business and those that allowed this behaviour to flourish in a toxic environment.

The latest voice to emerge from this influx of testimonies is actress Dame Joan Collins. The 84-year-old icon appeared on This Morning this week to talk about the sexist attitudes held by men in the industry, and while she didn't have much to say about Weinstein himself, she did have plenty of experiences with men like him. The Dynasty star talked with hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, detailing a number of cases in which she faced sexual discrimination, which date all the way back to when she started her career at the age of 16. She explained she was due to play the role of Cleopatra, but lost it to Elizabeth Taylor after she refused to see the "regularly visit" the chairman of 20th Century fox in his apartment. "One of the reasons my father - a theatrical agent - didn't want me to go into the business, is because he warned about bad men," she explained, "I didn't exactly know what he meant, as a 16-year-old I was about as innocent as a ten-year-old toddler!" She had plenty of personal experiences of harassment to recount, including auditions where directors pulled up her skirt to see more of her legs, photographers who "would think nothing of slapping your bottom, calling you sweetie, and treating you like a box of candy", and a particularly sickening encounter with two unnamed "megastars" of the industry: "I met two very, very famous megastars at a party when I was 21 - they were so famous, I can't tell you who they are now. "But I was wearing an off the shoulder top. I said I didn't really like the music, and one of them said 'Well, I don't really like this' and grabbed my top. "He pulled it and the other one laughed. I felt so humiliated, I just ran away" [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx-Zs8VXLpc]] She actually received a warning about this kind of behaviour from the most iconic Hollywood star of all time: Marilyn Monroe. Meeting the actress at a party at Gene Kelly's home, she sat down with her to warn her about the "wolves in Hollywood". "She told me, she said: 'Watch out for the wolves in Hollywood honey'. "I said I’ve been in British films for three years I can handle the wolves. "And she said 'not the power bosses honey. If they don’t get what they want they’ll drop your contract. They’ve done it for lots of girls'." Collins added that Marilyn warned her to specifically watch out for director Darryl F. Zanuck, who she eventually did run into. "He did grab me in the corridor, very inappropriate, hissing in my ear," Collins elaborated, "smelling of cigarette smoke and BO, said the most horrible vile things to me".

"I think a lot of people, not only in Hollywood, but in the British film industry are quaking in their boots. Not only is it endemic, it’s accepted. I have a grandchild who wants to be in showbiz and I don’t want her to have to go through what I had to go through."

As stories such as the disturbing ones Joan Collins prove, this is not just the actions of one awful man, but a widespread issue that is tolerated by those in positions of power in the film industry. Hopefully, with more and more men and women coming forward, we can start addressing these problems.

When the allegations of rape, sexual assault and harassment directed at film producer Harvey Weinstein started to come in this month, it was a lot to take in at once. He was fired as chairman of The Weinstein Company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but the news didn't end there. By this point, more than 40 women have accused him of misconduct of various degrees, including Rose McGowan, Cara Delevinge, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. In the subsequent days, we have heard more and more men and women come forward about the mistreatment they have faced within the industry, from Reese Witherspoon to Terry Crews. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/IAMLenaHeadey/status/918465389927043072]] The latest addition to this unfortunately long list of victims is Lena Headey, who has alleged that her meetings with Weinstein in the past were horrible ordeals. The Game of Thrones star posted the story as a series of images on Twitter, describing her account of when she encountered the maligned film producer in a hotel. The first time they met was at The Venice Film Festival, where The Brothers Grimm was showing. Headey says that the producer asked her to go down to the water for a conversation, but eventually made a "suggestive comment" and a "gesture" which "genuinely shocked" her. After she laughed it off as a joke, Lena remarked that she was "was never in any other Miramax film". [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/IAMLenaHeadey/status/920309494143504384]] She claims that the time Weinstein invited her to breakfast while she was visiting Los Angeles ended up far worse: "I had always carried the thought that he'd never try anything with me again, not after I'd laughed and said never in a million years. I believed that he respected my boundary and maybe he wanted to talk about potential work. "He asked me to meet for breakfast. We ate breakfast, we talked about films, filmmaking. He asked me a few questions about the state of my love life. I shifted the conversation back to something less personal." "Then he went to the loo. He came back and said, 'Let's go up to the room, I want to give you a script.' We walked to the lift and the energy shifted, my whole body went into high alert, the lift was going up and I said to Harvey, 'I'm not interested in anything other than work. Please don't think I got in here with you for any other reason, nothing is going to happen.'" Eventually, she plucked up the courage to nip any potential misunderstanding at its root, before anything further happened. "I don't know what possessed me to speak out at that moment," she wrote, "only that I had such a strong sense of 'don't come near me'". She continues: "He was silent after I spoke, furious." "We got out of the lift and walked to his room. His hand was on my back, he was marching me forward, not a word, I felt completely powerless, he tried his key card and it didn't work, then he got really angry." "He walked me back to the lift, through the hotel to the valet, by grabbing and holding tightly to the back of my arm, he paid for my car and whispered in my ear: "'Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent.'" "I got into my car and I cried." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/IAMLenaHeadey/status/920309569074679808]] Leadey's allegation is bad enough on its own, but with more and more stories like it making the news, the reality behind Weinstein's public persona is being shown to be far more monstrous than we knew. On a positive note, it has spurred a plethora of people within the industry to speak up about his actions, the actions of other sexual predators, and the culture that allowed it to happen. Hopefully, this will spark some change within the movie business.

Harvey Weinstein is the film producer who brought you classics like Pulp Fiction, was a major fundraiser for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and is also a serial sexual abuser who has been recorded coercing an actress into sex and has been accused of forcibly raping other actresses. The New York Times was sitting on Weinstein sexual assault stories as far back as 2004, but Weinstein, as well as Matt Damon and Russel Crowe, compelled the Times to kill the story. The 'open secret' was intentionally not pursued, because Weinstein was simply too powerful. Nobody wanted to risk crossing such an important entertainment figure, so they compromised their morals, and allowed an abuser to roam and twist the world around his stubby, fat finger. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/917765840648462336]] The allegations that Weinstein would masturbate in front of women and request massages have gotten far worse, as today The New Yorker released a story detailing allegations of unambiguous rape. Actress Asia Argento was subjected to unwanted oral sex, and in 2004, actress Lucia Evans said “He forced me to perform oral sex on him." “I know that everybody—I mean everybody—in Hollywood knows that it’s happening,” said Emma de Caunes, a French actress. “He’s not even really hiding. I mean, the way he does it, so many people are involved and see what’s happening. But everyone’s too scared to say anything.” The New Yorker article, which you should read in all its appalling detail, portrays chilling "honeypot" meetings where young actresses would be called in to meet with Weinstein and his executives, only for everyone to leave the room, abandoning the women to deal with Harvey alone, where he would pressure them into sex. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/917765408412794880]] “I was not willing,” said Asia Argento “I said, ‘No, no, no.’ . . . It’s twisted. A big fat man wanting to eat you. It’s a scary fairy tale.” Weinstein used obvious pressures to coerce victims and keep them silent, most of all using their career as leverage. If you refused to have sex with Weinstein, you would see your hopes at succeeding in film vanish rapidly. "Don't ruin your friendship with me for five minutes," he was recorded saying, chillingly implying that five minutes of rape was the price for him continuing to support your career. How does such evil thrive? Weinstein wore the mask of a philanthropist, raising a staggering $8 million to help stop AIDS, and serving as a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Everyone in Hollywood has heaped praise upon him - he was thanked more often than God in Oscars acceptance speeches, second only to Spielberg. Everyone loved him...until he was exposed. Now, the 'open secret' has turned into total condemnation, with opportunists like Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet (who works with accused child rapist Woody Allen) denouncing Weinstein. Yet, are we supposed to believe that they didn't know? Matt Damon and Russel Crowe are particularly guilty. For the sake of their careers and the Hollywood social infrastructure, they helped to kill a 2004 New York Times story that was ready to report on Weinstein's sexual abuse. Hollywood, if it applies enough pressure, can protect its own simply through its massive social, legal, financial and celebrity power. It made Weinstein invincible. Who will be next? Surely, Harvey Weinstein is not the only rapist and sexual predator who lingers in the beams and arches of our hallowed institutions. Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly have also been accused and ousted as gropers and harassers. Until the law applies to the powerful, just like it applies to the rest of us, we will always see people like Harvey Weinstein take advantage of women. But as long as careers and legacies are at stake, criminals who helped those legacies happen will always be protected...

Earlier this week, The New York times published an explosive investigation into the hidden history of sexual harassment by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. The expose revealed that the 65-year-old Hollywood producer was accused of multiple counts of sexual assault, as claimed by a number of female actresses he worked with over three decades of his career. Since the article was published, a handful more alleged victims have come forward with their own stories. Just yesterday, The New York Times published another article naming the other women coming forward to speak out against Weinstein, including uber-actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Paltrow revealed in a new interview that when she was just 22, she was hired by Weinstein for the lead role in the Jane Austen film adaptation of Emma. The now 45-year-old told how before shooting began, Weinstein invited her to his hotel suite for a business meeting. When they finished working, Weinstein allegedly placed his hands on her and suggested they move to the bedroom for "massages".

Paltrow said she refused his come-on, feeling stunned and adding how she felt vulnerable and worried about her fledgling career at the time: “I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified.”

After the hotel room incident, 22-year-old Paltrow confided in her boyfriend at the time, Brad Pitt. After hearing about the harassment to his girlfriend, Pitt told the New York Times through a representative that he approached Weinstein at a movie event and told him never to touch her again. Another source told People about what happened: “Brad threatened Harvey. He got right in his face, poked him in the chest and said, ‘You will not ever do this to Gwyneth ever again'.” It was a risky move for Pitt, who was only a burgeoning actor himself. But he wanted to take a stand against the powerful Hollywood producer, the source saying that Pitt “made it clear there would be consequences” if Weinstein made a move again, and “described it as giving Harvey a ‘Missouri whooping.'” Missouri is where Pitt grew up, for those who didn't know. In response, the source said that Weinstein tried to explain at first, but "then he stopped and listened and got the message." After the confrontation, Weinstein warned the young actress not to tell anyone else about his advances. “I thought he was going to fire me,” Paltrow said. Weinstein supposedly phoned Paltrow and blasted her for talking about what happened. “He screamed at me for a long time,” she said, “It was brutal.” Despite the harassment during Emma, Paltrow went on to work with Weinstein on other films over the years, including the Weinstein-produced Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Oscar. In the same article, Jolie revealed that she worked with Weinstein in the late 1990s when starring in Playing by Heart, and that she also rejected unwanted advances he made on her in a hotel room.

“I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,” Jolie said in an email to the New York Times.

It makes you wonder though, that surely in her 12-year relationship with Pitt, Jolie probably confided in him as well. While Pitt valiantly defended then-girlfriend Paltrow at the time of her assault, it shows how complicit many people have been regarding Weinstein's behaviour.

It's been said that many people in the industry knew of Weinstein's behaviour, yet stayed silent about it for years. Sixteen former and current executives at The Weinstein Company have recently come forward to testify that they knew of his predatory behaviour, although he was only fired after the news was published in the mass media this week.

When film producer Emily Best found out, she said she was not surprised. “The industry at large,” she said, “provided shelter for his bad behaviour directly and indirectly” by staying silent.

Still, Weinstein has been fired, the man is receiving a severe (albeit delayed) public shaming, AND his wife has finally said she's leaving him, quickly. He had it coming.