Rosanna Arquette fired back at Harvey Weinstein after he claimed she “exaggerated” her claims about allegedly being assaulted by the Hollywood mogul in the ‘90s.
“I have never exaggerated my assault. Ever. My account of what happened has never changed,” Arquette, 66, told Us Weekly in a statement on Thursday, March 12. “A simple Google search makes this clear.”
Weinstein, 73, claimed during his first interview from prison that Arquette, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie “just exaggerated” and “wanted to be part of the club” of sexual assault accusers during the #MeToo movement.
Arquette denied the allegation made by Weinstein in a new profile published by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, March 10. “If, by saying ‘exaggerated,’ he means the retribution I endured, Ronan Farrow’s investigation into those claims (made by others as well) substantiated the ‘blackballing’ with respect to me. Ronan’s work speaks for itself,” Arquette said on Thursday, referring to Farrow’s 2017 expose that led the way in putting Weinstein behind bars.
She further claimed, “There was/is no ‘club’ to belong to as a Harvey Weinstein assault survivor. Being a survivor of assault or rape is not a club. I can’t believe that has to be said.”
In 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault charges in New York and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He was also convicted in Los Angeles, where he was given 16 additional years in jail. His NY conviction was overturned in 2024 on appeal, but he will be retired later this year.
Among his accusers was Arquette, who claimed that in the 1990s she had a meeting with Weinstein about a script and when she arrived at his hotel room he allegedly answered the door in a bathrobe. He then attempted to put her hand on his penis, before Arquette allegedly denied his advances.
During his Tuesday sit-down, Weinstein also claimed that some of his alleged victims lied about him attacking them because they allegedly got money to testify. “One woman got half a million dollars. Another got paid $500,000,” he claimed. “A third got $3 million. All anyone had to do to walk off with a check was fill out a form that said I sexually assaulted them.”
Arquette clapped back at the remark, telling Us on Thursday that she “never profited, nor was I ever compensated in any way, via lawsuit or settlement, by Harvey Weinstein or Disney or any other party with respect to my assault.”
“The only film produced by Harvey Weinstein in which I was cast is Pulp Fiction. Despite my quote, I was paid scale and did not receive back-end participation,” she alleged. “I was told at the time that scale was all the production could afford, as it was an independent film with a fairly unknown but ‘hot and up-and-coming’ director.”
Arquette claimed that she later learned that “other cast members” of Pulp Fiction were “offered back-end participation in exchange for lowering their quote or working for scale,” calling it a “great deal” for them.
The actress, who recently starred in the indie film Grapefruit, further alleged that Weinstein was “fully aware of who was given this deal” as one of the film’s producers and financiers.
“I do not know what motivated Harvey Weinstein to accuse me of exaggerating sexual assault for an imaginary personal gain,” Arquette said in her statement. “But, I do know this: When the manipulation (or outright denial) of facts concerning rape and sexual assault is coming from an unrepentant abuser, survivors are victimized again in the re-telling. It’s trauma, re-inflicted. So, it is my hope that we — members of our industry and greater society — keep survivors at the forefront of our hearts and minds, as we continue to navigate the aftermath of adjudicated crimes perpetrated by the most powerful among us.”
Arquette noted that despite her trauma at the hands of Weinstein, she believes in “forgiveness,” saying, “I forgave Harvey Weinstein long ago. Not because he asked for it (a necessary first step in redemption, which he has failed to take), but because I didn’t want to carry the resentment.”
“I didn’t, and still don’t, want my life defined by assault or retribution,” she added. “I wish I didn’t have to write this, but the interview happened. And I felt that both the false accusations made against me, and the fog he attempts to weave by denying facts, called for a response.”
Furthermore, Arquette said that he wants Weinstein to get moved to a “more humane” prison because of the alleged poor conditions.
“Rikers Island prison complex is a horrific place,” Arquette said. “Its existence is a condemnation of our justice system, and I firmly believe it should be shut down.”
That being said, Arquette revealed, “I wish Harvey Weinstein success in getting transferred to a more humane prison. His human rights, and the rights of every prisoner, are as important as every other human being’s and deserve to be upheld. I feel compassion for his children and ex-wives for the pain this is causing them.”
Although Arquette expressed compassion for Weinstein’s prison conditions, she noted in her statement that his claims of innocence in his THR interview are not true.
“When it comes to the events that led to Harvey Weinstein’s convictions, plural, by juries of his peers, here are the facts: The assaults happened. The rapes happened.”
She explained, “Prior to his convictions, the rapes and assaults were substantiated by investigative journalists at different legacy news outlets, passing the meticulous scrutiny of teams of lawyers and editors through a rigorous pre-publication process.”
“The facts and evidence of these crimes were brought to courtrooms, where Harvey Weinstein was given the full benefits of due process and was represented by the best attorneys his ample wealth could provide,” Arquette continued. “He was tried and convicted for these crimes.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
