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Jennifer Lawrence Says Harvey Weinstein Was “Paternal” To Her

"I thought I knew this guy, and then he’s being accused of rape"

Jennifer Lawrence has opened up further about Harvey Weinstein, saying the film producer, who has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by multiple women, had been a father figure to her. 

“Just speaking for myself, I had known him since I was 20, and he had only ever been nice to me – except for the moments that he wasn’t, and then I called him an a-hole, and we moved on,” she told Oprah Winfrey in a new interview for The Hollywood Reporter.

“He was paternal to me. So I needed a moment to process everything because I thought I knew this guy, and then he’s being accused of rape,” she continued. “We all knew he was a dog, we knew that he was a … tough guy, a brute, a tough guy to negotiate with.”

jennifer lawrence

“I didn’t know that he was a rapist. And it’s so widespread, the abuse, from so many different people — it’s directors, it’s producers — that I think everybody needed to [process it]. Everybody needs to deal with this in their own way; everybody needs to heal.”

When allegations against Harvey Weinstein first surfaced, Lawrence said she was “deeply disturbed” in a statement to PEOPLE.

“I worked with Harvey five years ago and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations,” the Oscar-award winning actress said. “This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting.”

“My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward,” she finished. 

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