Rose McGowan opens about homelessness, growing up in ‘cruel’ cult and details of Harvey Weinstein Jacuzzi ‘sex attack’ in new book Brave
MOVIE star Rose McGowan has opened up about a life of homelessness and abuse long before her alleged sexual assault at the hands of “predator” Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In her new memoir, the 44-year-old tells of being raised in a polygamous cult by “cruel” parents who forced her into a relationship with an abusive older man.
McGowan, a leader and catalyst for the #MeToo movement, was born into the Children of God cult while her parents were in Italy.
Some of her earliest memories include her father taking a second wife and being savagely beaten for “refusing to take God into her heart”, she writes.
The cult was founded by accused paedophile and anti-Semite David Berg, who is widely reported to have expressed regret at never being able to sleep with his mother
Before his death in 1994, Berg’s own granddaughter Merry claimed he had sexually molested her when she was a young teenager.
McGowan parents escaped to the US when the sect began advocating sexual relationships between adults and children – but the cruelty continued.
She bounced between living with her manic father and her mother, who abandoned her, forcing a 15-year-old McGowan to move in with a man 20 years her senior.
The Charmed actress claims she lost two toenails in one attack in which the man, William, dragged her around by the collar.
She describes escaping the abuse by stealing his car, writing: ‘I forged William’s signature on the car’s “pink slip” and traded it in for a spaceship-like sports car.
What we know so far
- Actress Rose McGowan claimed she was “raped” by Harvey Weinstein in her tell-all book, Brave
- Referring to Hollywood complicity, the Charmed star, 44, told Good Morning America that “everybody knew”
- She says he assaulted her in a hotel room with a Jacuzzi after they met at a restaurant during the 1997 Sundance Film Festival
- Weinstein took of his clothes and performed a sex act on her while touching himself, McGowan claims
- McGowan says she told Phantoms co-star Ben Affleck the next day and that he replied: “I told him to stop doing that”
- In Brave, the actress also opens up about being born into the Children of God cult
- She remembers being beaten when she refused to “accept God into her heart”
- The sect was founded by accused paedophile and anti-Semite David Berg
- McGowan says her parents escaped when the cult started condoning sexual relations between adults and children
- The moved to the US where she soon found herself in a relationship with a man 20 years her senior named William
- She fled after stealing his car and began dating club owner Brett Cantor who was stabbed to death in an unsolved incident
She also speaks of the the 1997 Sundance Film Festival incident between her and Weinstein, who she brands a “monster”, for the very first time.
McGowan says that she had an appointment with Weinstein, who has denied ever sexually assaulting McGowan, but arrived to learn her breakfast meeting had been moved to his hotel suite.
She claims Weinstein tore off her clothing and made her sit on the edge of the Jacuzzi while he performed a sex act on her while touching himself.
“I freeze, like a statue,” McGowan, who reached a £70,000 settlement with Weinstein, writes in the book seen by the .
Then, in a story McGowan had previously hinted at on Twitter, she was taken to a photo-call for her film Phantoms which was playing at the festival in Utah.
When her co-star Ben Affleck learned about what happened, he allegedly said: “Goddamn it. I told him to stop doing that.” Affleck has previously denied this allegation.
After the alleged assault, McGowan said her lawyer told her that no one would believe her in court and others “counselled me to see it as something that would help my career in the long run”.
Weinstein’s rep said in a statement: “Mr Weinstein denies Ms McGowan’s allegations of non-consensual sexual contact.
“Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”
McGowan is one of up to 100 women to accuse Weinstein, 65, of sex abuse. including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, Brit model Cara Delevingne and actress Asia Argento.
Weinstein was forced out of his own company in the wake of the scandal and is currently at a sex rehab clinic in Arizona.
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