Producer David Parfitt claims Harvey Weinstein physically assaulted him
A film producer claims Harvey Weinstein physically assaulted him after a screening of their 2011 drama “My Week with Marilyn.”
David Parfitt asserts that the disgraced moviemaker attacked him after a version of the film about Marilyn Monroe that Weinstein wasn’t satisfied with earned a positive reception. The producer came forward with the allegations in a new documentary, “Working with Weinstein,” airing on the BBC’s Channel 4.
“In his fury about it doing so well when he thought it wouldn’t, he physically assaulted me,” Parfitt, who worked with Weinstein on several projects, claims in the documentary, according to Deadline. “We were talking at the back of the theater after the audience had left, but the Miramax crowd were around, and he pinned me up against a Coke machine and threatened all sorts of stuff. It was very scary. But he was just furious that the film in our version had worked.”
A spokeswoman for Weinstein, meanwhile, vehemently denies Parfitt’s allegations against the Miramax co-founder, calling his claims “provably untrue and outrageous fiction.”
“Mr. Parfitt and Mr. Weinstein had creative differences and any conflict between them was solely over their different visions for the film,” the rep said. “While they had a series of spirited arguments where Mr. Weinstein made a lot of stupid remarks that he wishes he could take back, nothing physical happened.”
Michelle Williams, who portrayed Monroe in the movie, won a Golden Globe for her performance. Parfitt and Weinstein are listed as the two producers for “My Week with Marilyn,” which also starred Eddie Redmayne and Emma Watson.
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The documentary that Parfitt appears in was slated to premiere on Tuesday, some four months after numerous women began to come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault or rape.
Weinstein, 65, has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
Parfitt and Weinstein also worked together on the 1998 romantic comedy “Shakespeare in Love,” which won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.