Another day, another disturbing revelation about Harvey Weinstein. This time from Cara Delevingne, who’s revealed that the disgraced movie mogul told her she needed to hide her sexuality if she wanted to succeed in Hollywood.
In an interview with Net-a-Porter, the model discussed one of her first interactions with Weinstein – “a long time before he tried to touch me” – revealing that he told her: “You will never make it in this industry as a gay woman – get a beard.” A beard refers to a fake partner (of the opposite sex) used to convince others that an LGBTQ+ person is straight.
Gender fluid Delevingne also talked about her disdain for people’s need to define her sexuality. “The labels for everything bum me out,” she said. “I hate to label myself”
Addressing her previous accusations against Weinstein, the 27-year-old elaborated: “When I’d just started to audition for films, he was naming people (women) I’m friends with – famous people – and asking, ‘Have you slept with this person?’ I just thought: this is insane.”
Allegations against the producer dramatically came to light in October 2017 following an expose in The New York Times. Weinstein has since been accused of harassment or assault by nearly 100 women, including Rose McGowan, Uma Thurman, and Angelina Jolie. The article ignited the monumental #MeToo movement, uncovering the extent of sexual abuse against women across a variety of industries.
Delevingne’s revelation comes two weeks after Kristen Stewart disclosed that she was also told to hide her sexuality in order to increase her chances of being cast in certain films. “I have fully been told, ‘if you just do yourself a favour, and don’t go out holding your girlfriend’s hand in public, you might get a Marvel movie’,” the actress said, before asserting: “I don’t want to work with people like that.”
