The conversation surrounding sexual abuse has gained a significant amount of traction in recent years, in large part due to the controversies surrounding Bill Cosby and Woody Allen. In addition, child actor Corey Feldman has been vocal about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child actor in Hollywood. However, he’s not the only one to shed light on such a dark topic. Just recently, actress Thandie Newton recounted a traumatic experience of sexual abuse by a Hollywood director in her teens.
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In an interview with W Magazine, the actress recounts her experience, which took place during an audition in her teenage years. “A director, on a callback, had a camera shooting up my skirt and asked me to touch my tits and think about the guy making love to me in the scene. I thought, ‘Ok, this is a little weird,’ but there was a female casting director in the room and I’d done weird stuff before so I did it,” she recalled.
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It wasn’t until years later at a film festival where Newton learned that the director was showing her audition tape to his friends. The actress, who is set to star on the HBO series Westworld, shared the candid tale in the hopes that it would prevent other acting hopefuls from experiencing the same trauma.
“I was so so naïve when I started out and I realize now that we have to prepare our kids— I’ve got two beautiful daughters, one is 16 one is 11” she said. Newton’s harrowing experience sheds light on the seedy underbelly that is often obscured by the glamour that pervades the entertainment industry.