Nathan Lane Says Harvey Weinstein Threw Him Against a Wall at Hillary Clinton's Birthday Party
Amid the allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein, Broadway funnyman Nathan Lane recounted an incident where the producer attacked him at Hillary Clinton‘s birthday party in 2000.
“The Birdcage” star was the emcee at the event thrown by the 65-year-old mogul, a longtime supporter of the Clintons, and Weinstein blew up at the actor for telling a comb-over joke about Rudy Giuliani, reports Page Six.
“This is my f–king show, we don’t need you,” Weinstein reportedly said to Lane, tossing the actor against a wall.
During an interview at the New Yorker Festival on Saturday night, Lane recalled firing back, “You can’t hurt me, I don’t have a film career.”
On Thursday, The New York Times published an article in which eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, spoke out against Weinstein, accusing him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.
Weinstein responded to the allegations in the report, saying he was working with a therapist to address his issues head-on. “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it,” he said. “Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”
Weinstein’s then-attorney Lisa Bloom said in a statement that her client “denies many of the accusations as patently false,” though Weinstein said that he “bear[s] responsibility for my actions” in an interview to The New York Post on Friday. Another lawyer for Weinstein, Charles Harder, said the mogul has plans to sue the New York Times. (Bloom announced she was resigning from advising Weinstein on Saturday afternoon.)
Similar allegations have continued to pour in, including from British aristocrat Liza Campbell, who claimed the producer invited her to join him in the bath at a hotel room, while Lauren Sivan told the Huffington Post that Weinstein allegedly masturbated in front of her.
After previously announcing the mogul would take an “indefinite leave of absence,” the Weinstein Company announced that Weinstein was removed from the company on Sunday.
“In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,” the Weinstein Company said in a statement.