Salma Hayek once revealed her shocking 2017 New York Times op-ed, detailing her experience with Harvey Weinstein upset friends, including fellow actress Penélope Cruz. Hayek said Cruz was “angry” at her for not confiding she had a nervous breakdown during her dealings with Harvey Weinstein on the set of the 2002 Miramax film Frida.
In 2017, In an emotional New York Times op-ed, Salma Hayek revealed she was one of several women who Harvey Weinstein victimized. Hayek revealed while she was working on Frida, Weinstein, who hated the word “no”, would often make sexual demands, which she refused despite incurring his wrath, including threats of murder.
However, Hayek said despite saying no to several of his depraved demands, she was forced to give into one of them after the producer allegedly ordered her to do a s*x scene with another woman with full-frontal nudity. In the op-ed, she recalled, “He had been constantly asking for more skin, for more s*x. There was no room for negotiation. I had to say yes.”
Hayek said she had a “nervous breakdown” on set while filming the scene: “My body began to shake uncontrollably, my breath was short, and I began to cry and cry, unable to stop, as if I were throwing up tears,” she wrote in the op-ed.
Salma Hayek said she never confided in anyone about the incident. Three years after the op-ed hit the stands, Selma Hayek revealed that most of her friends, including Bandidos co-star and best friend Penelope Cruz, were furious with her for not confiding in them.
Speaking to the Sunday Times in 2021, the 547-year-old star who earned an Oscar nomination for her role as Frida Kahlo said, “Some people were very angry at me, like Penélope [Cruz], but I was protecting her.”
Hayek explained she didn’t want Weinstein, who wielded a lot of power in Hollywood, to derail Cruz’s career. She continued, “I kept my eye on their interaction, and he never went for her. They [Miramax] were making the best movies. She didn’t have my problem, and if I had told her it would have affected her choices of things, that would have been good for her career.”
Meanwhile, in a 2017 statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the disgraced movie producer denied the allegations.
