Meryl Streep has blasted Harvey Weinstein for using her in an effort to clear his name following a string of sexual harassment and abuse allegations.
Streep, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in producer Weinstein's The Iron Lady, was appalled to learn that he was using her name and a quote in an attempt to get a sexual misconduct class action case against him dismissed.
The disgraced movie mogul and his former business partners were slapped with the lawsuit from six women, who accused them of racketeering in December. The women claimed Weinstein resorted to criminal means in an effort to cover up his alleged sexual misconduct and assault, and board members at his former companies, Miramax and The Weinstein Company, conspired to help him.
Bosses at the production company are seeking to have the lawsuit against them dismissed and now Weinstein is referencing his working relationships with the likes of Streep and Gwyneth Paltrow to prove his innocence and have the suit tossed.
The Post star's past public statements, in which she revealed Weinstein had "always been respectful" towards her, are included in his latest legal action – and Meryl is not amused.
"Harvey Weinstein's attorneys use of my (true) statement – that he was not sexually transgressive or physically abusive in our business relationship – as evidence that he was not abusive with many OTHER women is pathetic and exploitative," she told Deadline on Wednesday.
"The criminal actions he is accused of conducting on the bodies of these women are his responsibility, and if there is any justice left in the system he will pay down for them – regardless of how many good movies, made by many good people, Harvey was lucky enough to have acquired or financed."