Madonna is glad Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct allegations 'finally' came out, and reveals how she 'had to put up with it' when she worked with him because he was 'so powerful'.
In wide-ranging interview with the New York Times Magazine, the singer, now aged 60, recounts how she worked with Weinstein on her 1991 documentary Truth or Dare.
'Harvey crossed lines and boundaries and was incredibly sexually flirtatious and forward with me when we were working together; he was married at the time, and I certainly wasn’t interested', she said.
'I was aware that he did the same with a lot of other women that I knew in the business. And we were all, 'Harvey gets to do that because he's got so much power and he's so successful and his movies do so well and everybody wants to work with him, so you have to put up with it.'
Madonna discusses being judged as a mother at 60 who's also juggling a music career, in a new interview
Madonna said Weinstein 'crossed lines and boundaries and was incredibly sexually flirtatious and forward' when they work on her 1991 documentary
She said it was good hWeinstein 'was called out and held accountable' so long after they worked on Truth Or Dare where she famously simulated oral sex on a water bottle
But she makes clear how she didn't delight in his downfall when the #MeToo movement began.
'I was really like, "Finally." I wasn't cheering from the rafters because I'm never going to cheer for someone's demise... But it was good that somebody who had been abusing his power for so many years was called out and held accountable.'
The interview published Wednesday, also addresses the Donald Trump dating rumor seemingly started by his publicist in a 1991 issue of People. The topic arose again when his presidential term started in 2017, but now Madonna clarifies she did not ask him out as claimed, instead she couldn't shake him.
'I did a Versace campaign with Steven Meisel at his house in Palm Beach,' Madonna said about Trump. "He kept going: 'Hey, is everything O.K.? Finding yourself comfortable? Are the beds comfortable? Is everything good? Are you happy?".'
Madonna has been a public critic of the president before but in this week's interview says what she believes an alpha male is behind the façade.
'They're overcompensating for how insecure they feel — a man who is secure with himself, a human who is secure with themselves, doesn't have to go around bullying people all the time,' she said.
'What is the context that you're using your strength in? Are you abusing your power? Women can also abuse their power. And if that's also backed up by a lack of intelligence, emotional or intellectual, a lack of life experience, a lack of compassion, then it's really a bad mixture.'
