Thandie Newton claims she "wasn’t hot enough" to be involved in the Time’s Up movement.
The 45-year-old actress – who previously alleged she had been sexually assaulted by a director when she was just 16 – claimed in a recent interview that she wasn’t invited to be a part of the sexual inequality campaign group that was set up in the wake of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and has now added more fuel to the fire by stating she was left out because she wasn’t "mainstream enough".
She told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I wasn’t hot enough. I wasn’t mainstream enough and I wasn’t going to be at the Oscars this year, even though I am having a kind of renaissance in my career."
Her comments come after she had explained to Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper that it was "painful" to have been left out of the movement.
She told the publication: "When Time’s Up was put together, to not be invited to be a part of it, was very, very painful. It’s hard for me, as someone who has been talking about it for a long time … it’s lonely."
In her interview with the Daily Telegraph, the ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ star admitted that despite not having a central role in the movement, she is pleased to see it gaining so much support.
She added: "I have been an activist for 20 years. It’s been a long time coming. I certainly agitated for it to happen sooner, but no one was interested and people thought I was a bummer. Even my publicist told me to stop talking about it because it was bad for my reputation."
Thandie – who is a board member for V-Day, a charity aiming to prevent violence against women – also believes her career has been damaged by her decision to speak out about sexual misconduct.
She said: "I wasn’t seen as a f***able member of a movie set and I was passed over for roles because of it. I was ostracised because I wouldn’t stop talking about it."
Recently, Thandie and her ‘Westworld’ co-star Evan Rachel Wood renegotiated their salaries for the sci-fi hit’s third series to make sure they are paid the same as their male counterparts, and Thandie admits it is "exciting" for the gender pay gap to be closed on the production.
She said: "We’re all equal across the board. It’s really exciting. It’s unprecedented … it shatters so much calcified pain, resentment, frustration."
Thandie Newton not ‘hot enough’ for Time’s Up
