Rose McGowan has been one of the strongest voices alleging abuse by Harvey Weinstein and advocating for investigation since she broke an NDA to come forward late last year. Her memoir on how being attacked by Weinstein altered her life, Brave, is being released this month, and a recent excerpt accuses director and former boyfriend Robert Rodriguez of using knowledge of her rape to manipulate her on set. He disagrees with her account of events.
Vanity Fair published the preview, which recounts McGowanâs star turn in the Grindhouse double feature Planet Terror and Death Proof. McGowanâs co-star Quentin Tarantino played a character who attacks McGowan, and the excerpt implies that Rodriguez used the scene as âa tool for mind gamesâ:
McGowan fell hard and fast, trusting Rodriguez enough to tell him about her experience with Weinstein. He proceeded to use the knowledge against her, she claims, as a tool for mind games, starting with a scene in which Tarantino, playing a character in his movie, attacks McGowanâs character. âI was in a backward world,â she writes. âI was losing my grip on sanity.â In what McGowan interpreted as the ultimate act of cruelty, Rodriguez âsold our film to my monster.â
In a statement written shared with Vulture, Rodriguez disputed McGowanâs words, calling them âinaccuraciesâ that âmay appear to put me at oddsâ with her.
According to Rodriguez, Bob and Harvey Weinstein began funding the films in 2005, a year before filming began. In October, Rodriguez wrote an essay for Variety in which he claims that he cast McGowan as a way to spite the Weinsteins, and that they subsequently buried the material. In this new statement, he says that there was plenty of time for McGowan to reject the part if you she didnât want to appear in a film funded by Harvey Weinsteinâs company.
Rodriguez says he has âno quarrelâ with McGowan and blames Vanity Fair for not reaching out to fact check or get his version of events.
It has been sepculated that the media is pushing any angle they can in many of these cases.
As the ultimate act of cruelty, Rodriguez âsold our film to my monster.
All of the allegations and etc. aside – How could she be surprised that a Tarantino involved film would go with Weinstein Bros?
Also, there’s this article from a few months ago, which is about the same exact thing, but trying to push the opposite message:
Rose McGowanâs role in Grindhouse was revenge on Harvey Weinstein
The Robert Rodriguez exploitation movie was striking back against exploitation.
She’s a whore. She can’t retroactively withdrawal consent with Weinstein or Rodriguez. What makes her worse is that she’s also an attention whore.
Rose McGowan [Leaked]