Actor bravely confronts ‘f**king rapist’ Harvey Weinstein at New York actors event – and is kicked out for their trouble
Harvey Weinstein exits court after an arraignment over a new indictment for sexual assault on August 26, 2019 in New York. Weinstein pleaded not guilty. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is due to stand trial in January over a rape allegation, was called a “f**king rapist” by an actor at a New York event on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old actor, Zoe Stuckless, who uses they/them pronouns, was thrown out of the event for confronting Weinstein – who strongly denies accusations of rape, sexual assault and harassment by more than 80 women.
Stuckless told BuzzFeed News that they were “horrified” after recognising Weinstein sitting at a booth across from them at the Manhattan venue, which had been rented out by Actor’s Hour, a monthly private event.
“As his little booth filled out, his demeanour changed. And it became really apparent that it was who we thought he was,” said Stuckless.
A female comedian called Kelly Bachman addressed Weinstein’s presence in her act onstage, referring to him as “the elephant in the room”. But she was booed by the ostensibly male audience.
Stuckless said that they were grateful to Bachman for acknowledging what the whole room was whispering about.
“I was sitting there and I was like, surely the event organisers will say something. Now she’s brought it up, it can’t be denied,” said Stuckless.
Hey all, I know I’m late to the conversation here. I don’t usually use twitter but it seems like that’s where a lot of this conversation is happening. Last night I confronted Harvey Weinstein in a bar along with a number of other artists. Heres the thread (1/?) #HarveyWeinstein pic.twitter.com/L8Oee5hAO7
— Zoe Stuckless (@revoltchild) October 25, 2019
But the host of the show didn’t mention Weinstein, and a male comedian later joked during his set about Bachman bringing up Weinstein.
“I’d like to address the elephant in the room,” said Andrew B Silas, a comedian visiting from Florida. “Who in this room produced Good Will Hunting? ‘Cause that s**t was great.”
Stuckless said that after watching this and seeing the male comedian engage with Weinstein after his set, they felt “anger and shame and fear bubbling in my gut”.
“That [Weinstein] was allowed to be in this space and allowed to be laughing, and that comic was able to demean the person that went up before him,” they said. “So many women have suffered so greatly because of their experiences with this man, and there were no repercussions.
“And, in fact, he was being supported — and the community meant to uplift emerging actors and emerging artists was not only complicit but directly responsible for their silencing.”
Stuckless decided to confront Weinstein at the interval, because they “couldn’t imagine walking out of the room and him still feeling safe to go in and laugh with the community he was responsible for terrorising for so many years”.
In a videoed encounter, Stuckless initially asked Weinstein what his name was.
Stuckless said that Weinstein didn’t answer, but a man accompanying him told Stuckless it was none of their business.
“Nobody is going to say anything?” screams Stuckless in the video that their friend filmed. “Nobody is really going to say anything?”
Stuckless was then asked to leave the venue.
“I’ll get out of here, that’s fine, I am happy to leave, but nobody is going to say anything?” they continued. “I’m going to stand four feet from a f**king rapist, and no one is going to say anything?”
Stuckless was ushered out by a man and a woman.
The bar the event was hosted at did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment, but in a note posted on its Facebook page referred to Stuckless as a “heckler”.
Juda Engelmayer, a representative for Harvey Weinstein, told BuzzFeed News that he has not been convicted of a crime.
“I would just point out that accusations are not convictions, and due process is still the foundation of each and every one of our civil rights in this country,” said Engelmayer.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Weinstein said he was “happy to address anyone’s questions”.
“We should all be offered the courtesy to voice opinions and be heard, and to even get answers,” he said. “I am glad we all still have these rights.”
