Recent sexual assault and harassment allegations by numerous women against famed producer Harvey Weinstein, who has denied accusations of non-consensual sex, have inspired some celebs to speak out about their own past experiences that did not involve him.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, published on Thursday, Blake Lively recalled being regularly harassed by a makeup artist she worked with.
"He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger," she said. "I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me. I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do."
Lively said she reported the issue to producers but that nothing was done. She said that after three months of complaining, they called her into her trailer for a meeting to discuss...her dog pooping in her dressing room. She said she then talked to a lawyer about the harassment and that an investigation was carried out, after which the makeup artist was fire. She said a unit production manager wrote him a letter of recommendation "because nobody wanted there to be bad blood."
NCIS star Pauley Perrette has said in the past she is a rape and domestic violence survivor. On Friday, she revealed on Twitter that she was sexually assaulted when she was a teen and wrote about how the rape impacted her life.
"I lost my virginity to rape when I was 15. By a football player, that's the 'power guy' in high school. And you know what I SAID? What I DID...? Nothing," she wrote. "I was so scared. So confused. So broken."
"There awful sexual assault revelations are not only common in the entertainment industry, but everywhere," she said. "In every school, office, and unfortunately households. My rape led me into a series of abusive relationships, terrible self worth and self blame, dismissing a few groping incidents, allowing myself to be bullied by a powerful man for way too long in a work environment, until I finally said ENOUGH...and took no more words from anyone, including myself, that being complacent was 'good behavior.'"
She said that she is a "good girl" and trusts people but that at this point, "If you assault me in any way? I'll put you in your rightful place and deal with the consequences later. DO NOT MESS WITH ME."
"All love and strength to all victims and survivors, including those that haven't found your voice yet," she wrote. "Listen to us who have. We were scared as hell too. These predators must be stopped and we must started respecting each other's humanity and dismissing the illusion of power that makes abusers think they are untouchable."
Days earlier, Terry Crews and James Van Der Beek tweeted about their own sexual assault experiences.
Crews wrote about how in 2016, he and his wife attended a Hollywood function, where a "high level Hollywood executive came over 2 me and groped my privates."
He said he then confronted the individual.
"He just grinned like a jerk," Crews said.
"I was going to kick his ass right then— but I thought twice about how the whole thing would appear... '240 lbs. Black Man stomps out Hollywood Honcho' would be the headline the next day," Crews wrote. "Only I probably wouldn't have been able to read it because I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN JAIL. So we left."
Van Der Beek wrote, "I've had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, I've had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger."
"I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle," he said. "There's a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome."
Singer Björk has also spoken out about her past sexual harassment.
"I am inspired by the women everywhere who are speaking up online to tell about my experience with a danish director," she wrote on Facebook. "When I turned the director down, repeatedly he sulked and punished me and created for his team an impressive net of illusion where i was framed as the difficult one. Because of my strength, my great team and because I had nothing to loose having no ambitions in the acting world, I walked away from it and recovered in a years time."
"I am worried though that other actresses working with the same man did not," she said. "The director was fully aware of this game and I am sure of that the film he made after was based on his experiences with me. Because I was the first one that stood up to him and didn't let him get away with it and in my opinion he had a more fair and meaningful relationship with his actresses after my confrontation so there is hope. Let's hope this statement supports the actresses and actors all over...let's stop this...there is a wave of change in the world...kindness."