Harassment has been a big topic of conversation for quite some time, but more light has been shed on the issue ever since allegations against Harvey Weinstein came out. A lot of women have shared their stories about Weinstein, and a lot of other people have shared different stories about harassment in the workplace. Now, actress Jennifer Lawrence has spoken up about an incident that happened early on during her career. Speaking at Elle's Women In Hollywood event, the actress said:
When I was much younger and starting out, I was told by producers of a film to lose 15 pounds in two weeks. During this time a female producer had me do a nude line-up with about five women who were much, much, thinner than me. We are stood side-by-side with only tape on covering our privates. After that degrading and humiliating line-up, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet.
While Jennifer Lawrence doesn't name the project she was working on at the time she felt she was being harassed, the actress had a lot of roles in TV projects like Medium and The Bill Engvall Show as well as movie roles including Garden Party, The Burning Plain and The Poker House before breaking through with Winter's Bone in 2010. In the time since, she's gone on to big things: blockbuster movies like The Hunger Games and the X-Men franchise, alongside critically acclaimed projects like Silver Linings Playbook. But this one moment from earlier in her career still seems to haunt her.
In fact, Jennifer Lawrence also noted at the Elle event (via People) that she said something about being asked to use nude photos as thinspiration to one of the producers on the project, and even he had a less than savory answer for her, telling her he thought she was "perfectly fuckable." The experience shaped her growing up in Hollywood over the last decade, and previously the actress has even explained how "obese" she is for Tinseltown. Now, the 27-year-old says she still has issues with figuring out where the line is.
I'm still learning that I don't have to smile when a man makes me uncomfortable. Every human being should have the power to be treated with respect because they're human.
Jennifer Lawrence's story isn't a unique one. Just this week, we learned that Carrie Fisher sent a cow's tongue to a producer who was being inappropriate. Many other people have spoken out about bad experiences in Hollywood, and hopefully this will continue to shed some light on industry practices that are unfavorable. As for Jennifer Lawrence, the actress can currently be seen in mother! and in Red Sparrow coming up in March.
