Angelina Jolie has opened up about former husband Brad Pitt’s professional relationship with Harvey Weinstein, even after she says the disgraced film producer allegedly attempted to assault her.
Jolie told The Guardianthat Pitt kept working with Weinstein and it became a sore point in her and Pitt’s marriage. “We fought about it. Of course it hurt,” she told the publication. The incident in question happened during the filming of her 1998 movie Playing by Heart, which Weinstein executive produced. Jolie said she managed to “escape” Weinstein purportedly trying to get her alone in a room.
“If you get yourself out of the room, you think he attempted but didn’t, right? The truth is that the attempt and the experience of the attempt is an assault,” she said.
Jolie continued, “It was beyond a pass, it was something I had to escape. I stayed away and warned people about him. I remember telling Jonny, my first husband, who was great about it, to spread the word to other guys—don’t let girls go alone with him. I was asked to do The Aviator, but I said no because [Weinstein] was involved. I never associated or worked with him again. It was hard for me when Brad did.”
She added that Pitt continued to work with Weinstein in the 2000s, with The Weinstein Company helping to release Pitt’s film Inglorious Basterds. She also points to the fact that Pitt asked Weinstein to help make the 2012 film Killing Them Softly, which was also distributed through The Weinstein Company. Jolie didn’t show up to any of the film’s promotional events with Pitt.
However, according to TMZ, insiders close to Pitt say that he didn’t “team up” with Weinstein for Inglorious Basterds, but that The Weinstein Company just ended up distributing the movie, which was directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Weinstein’s assistant denied Jolie’s allegations, telling the outlet, “It’s very clear to me that this is for more sales on Angie’s book. There was never an assault, and never an attempt to assault.” The statement continues, “It is brazenly untrue and clickbait publicity. You’re Angelina Jolie, every male, and female in the world, I’m sure, shows interest in you. Is the whole world assaulting you?”
The new book that Weinstein is referring to is titled Know Your Rights, which Jolie wrote with child lawyer Geraldine Van Bueren QC and Amnesty International. The Guardian describes it as “a guide for young people” and writes that the name derives from the Clash song, which Jolie has tattooed on her back.
