Jurnee Smollett revealed she has been sexually harassed on film and television sets since she was a pre-teen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Lovecraft Country star said, “I don’t know that I can confidently say that I worked on one job prior to Lovecraft — from the time I was 12 on — where I hadn’t been sexually harassed, whether it was by an AD, a co-star, director, producer…”
Reportedly Smollett later requested that The Hollywood Reporter, where she appears on the cover of their August 5th issue, amend her statement after she was able to recall a small amount of instances where she was not made to feel uncomfortable at work.
@martymoes, story by @laceyvroseA post shared by Jurnee Smollett (@jurneesmollett) on Aug 5, 2020 at 11:14am PDT
She said that one co-star made an appalling remark about her body shortly before they shot an intimate scene.
“Like, a guy saying before we’re about to do this love scene, ‘Hey, your tits are going to be hanging in the wind,’ is not OK,” she said.
She also shared that on one occasion the sexual harassment she experienced was so unbearable that she was forced to ask to be released from her contract. The project agreed to let her go.
“And they let me out,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Smollett was angry with her agent’s response to the incident. She said that they were dismissive about it and allegedly said, “Oh, you know, he’s just being a man,” according to Smollett. Despite the fact she has been acting since she was three-years-old, her longevity in the entertainment business did not protect her from its toxic culture.
Today, Smollett is a part of a community of women vowing to use their voices to create change for the next generation of artists.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – FEBRUARY 23:Editor in Chief at Essence Magazine Vanessa K. De Luca, Quvenzhane Wallis, Yara Shahidi, Aja Naomi King, Danielle Brooks, Shonda Rhimes, Vicky Jeudy, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Tracee Ellis Ross, President of Essence Communications Michelle Ebanks, Issa Rae, Janelle Monae, Angela Bassett, Diahann Carroll, Alfre Woodard and Loretta Devine at Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on February 23, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.(Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Essence)
“And we’re no longer asking for a seat at the table,” she said.
“We’re building our own motherfucking table.”
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