Kate Beckinsale opened up in a social media post about being mistreated and belittled over the course of her career.
In a video posted Monday on Instagram, the “Pearl Harbor” actor detailed being groped, injured, insulted, and made to participate in a photo shoot shortly after having a miscarriage in a variety of incidents over the years, though she did not name names or identity the productions involved.
She recalled a production involving a perpetually drunk male co-star who caused Beckinsale, as well as the crew, to have to wait around for hours for him to learn his lines. When she complained about this behavior, the crew repeatedly referred to her as a “bitch” and “cunt,” she said.
She recounted being put in “unsafe situations” in two separate movie shoots, and injured at least once during choreographed fight scenes, alleging that some male stars get a “thrill” out of being able to “legally” hurt a woman. And when she was 18, she said, she was “felt up” by a crew member, only for two female co-stars to dismiss her when she tried to talk to them about it.
Beckinsale also detailed being “forced” to take part in a photo shoot the day after a miscarriage, while she was still “bleeding out.” She said the publicist told her if she didn’t do the shoot, she would be sued.
After describing those and other incidents, she added, “This has been going on forever. I’ve got 47 million stories similar to this.”
The English actor spoke out in the wake of Blake Lively’s allegations of sexual harassment against director and co-star Justin Baldoni during the making of “It Ends With Us.” Lively also accused Baldoni of conducting a “retaliatory” smear campaign against her.
Baldoni has denied all allegations and has said he plans on filing a counterclaim against Lively’s 80-page legal complaint.
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Beckinsale noted that she does not know Lively or Baldoni and has no knowledge as to what may have taken place on the “It Ends With Us” set.
Nevertheless, she said she is “grateful” to Lively for calling attention to “this machine that goes into effect when a woman complains about something legitimately offensive, upsetting, harmful, whatever, in this industry.”