Renee Zellweger has said that she is “sad for the women that were hurt” by Harvey Weinstein, as well as being “sad for him,” adding: “I wish him healing.”
The Oscar-winning actor told the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter Podcast that she never experienced inappropriate behaviour from Weinstein himself, and expressed sadness over the allegations that have engulfed the formerly superstar producer.
“He was gruff and jocular and he made jokes about 'looking hot in that skirt,' but it wasn't threatening and it wasn't demeaning," Zellweger told host Scott Feinberg. "I knew that he was, in this really awkward, uncomfortable way, trying to give me a compliment. It never went further than that.”
Asked how she felt about Weinstein in the wake of his downfall, Zellweger said: “It's a very big conversation because he was my professional collaborator, and around really important things in my life. And he was kind to me. He was so generous with me. And it felt authentic to me.
“It didn't feel like this was — what's the word, when you're conditionally kind because you want something? 'Transactional.' It didn't feel like that.
"It's an important conversation, and it makes me very sad — personally sad. I'm sad for his family. I'm sad for the women that were hurt. I'm sad for him. And I wish him healing so that he can somehow try to make reparations for the damage that he has done."
Zellweger was one of Weinstein’s most significant Hollywood collaborators, and starred in films produced by the mogul including Chicago, Miss Potter and Cold Mountain, the latter for which Zellweger won her first Oscar. Weinstein also distributed Bridget Jones’s Diary in the US via his Miramax Films company.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.
Zellweger is currently hotly tipped for Oscar success in 2020 with her “transformative” performance as Judy Garland in the drama Judy. The film’s debut at this month’s Toronto International Film Festival earned an uproarious standing ovation that only stopped when a tearful Zellweger joked that the audience were “messing up [her] makeup”.
Judy is released in cinemas on 2 October.
