Director Cast Rose McGowan in 'Grindhouse' to Spite Weinstein
Rose McGowan
Grindhouse co-director Robert Rodriguez said in a statement Friday that he and ex-girlfriend Rose McGowan once schemed to get back at Harvey Weinstein in the most industry way possible: by working together on the 2007 cult flick.
Related  Rose McGowan  on Sexual Harassment: 'Scarlet Letter Is Theirs  Not Ours' "For all of us who have been grabbed by the motherfucking pussy  no more " actress says. "Name it. Shame it. Call it out"
Rodriguez  who dated McGowan from 2006 to 2009  revealed that he knew about the 1997 Sundance Film Festival incident that  McGowan  made public earlier this month  and that he intentionally cast the actress in a "bad ass" role as a way to spite the media mogul.
The director recounted how he met  McGowan  at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and the pair got to talking about Sin City  which screened earlier that week. When the actress made mention that she was a fan of film noir  Rodriguez commented that she should have auditioned  to which she replied that she had been blacklisted from working on Weinstein movies.
"When I asked what she meant by that  and how could she possibly be blacklisted  she told me the horrifying story of what Harvey did to her seven years earlier " Rodriguez said in the statement. ( McGowan  alleged in a series of tweets earlier this month that Weinstein raped her).
"My reaction was one of shock " Rodriguez continued. "I recall clearly what I said next  'My God  why didnât you say anything? People would have stood up for you! And where was your fiancÃ© during all this? I would have at least beaten the crap out of Harvey if I had heard that.â  Rose  said they didnât know what to do.  She  confided that a female attorney had told  her  that because  she  had done nudity in movies that no jury would believe  her  and that it would turn into a he said/ she  said case."
 McGowan  explained to Rodriguez that  she  had been told to sign a non-disclosure agreement not to talk about the incident. Rodriguez said he then came up with a plan â to cast  McGowan  in an upcoming project he was working on with Quentin Tarantino for Dimension (a division of the Weinstein Company  under Bob Weinstein)  which turned out to be Grindhouse.
"Just as I finished telling  Rose  this  I saw Harvey walking around the party! I called Harvey over to our table  and as soon as he got close enough to see that I was sitting with Rose  his face dropped and went ghostly white. I said  'Hey Harvey  this is  Rose McGowan . I think she's amazing and really talented and Iâm going to cast her in my next movie '" the director said. "Harvey then dribbled all over himself in the most over the top performance I'd ever seen as he gushed  'Oh she's wonderful  oh she's amazing  oh she's fantastic  oh she's so talentedâ¦ You two should definitely work together.' And then he skittered off. I knew right then that every word  Rose  told me was true  you could see it all over his face."
On Friday  however   McGowan  spoke out about  her  alleged rape at the Womenâs Convention in Detroit  Michigan  calling on other women to come forward.
"I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed. I have been maligned and you know what? I'm just like you "  she  said. "Because what happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in society and it cannot stand and it will not stand."
Grindhouse co-director Robert Rodriguez said in a statement Friday that he and  [TGT]  once schemed to get back at Harvey Weinstein in the most industry way possible: by working together on the 2007 cult flick.
Related   [TGT]   on Sexual Harassment: 'Scarlet Letter Is Theirs  Not Ours' "For all of us who have been grabbed by the motherfucking pussy  no more " actress says. "Name it. Shame it. Call it out"
Rodriguez  who dated McGowan from 2006 to 2009  revealed that he knew about the 1997 Sundance Film Festival incident that   [TGT] made public earlier this month  and that he intentionally cast the actress in a "bad ass" role as a way to spite the media mogul.
The director recounted how he met   [TGT] at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and the pair got to talking about Sin City  which screened earlier that week. When the actress made mention that she was a fan of film noir  Rodriguez commented that she should have auditioned  to which she replied that she had been blacklisted from working on Weinstein movies.
"When I asked what she meant by that  and how could she possibly be blacklisted  she told me the horrifying story of what Harvey did to her seven years earlier " Rodriguez said in the statement. (  [TGT] alleged in a series of tweets earlier this month that Weinstein raped her).
"My reaction was one of shock " Rodriguez continued. "I recall clearly what I said next  'My God  why didnât you say anything? People would have stood up for you! And where was your fiancÃ© during all this? I would have at least beaten the crap out of Harvey if I had heard that.â  Rose  said they didnât know what to do.  She  confided that a female attorney had told  her  that because  she  had done nudity in movies that no jury would believe  her  and that it would turn into a he said/ she  said case."
  [TGT] explained to Rodriguez that  she  had been told to sign a non-disclosure agreement not to talk about the incident. Rodriguez said he then came up with a plan â to cast   [TGT] in an upcoming project he was working on with Quentin Tarantino for Dimension (a division of the Weinstein Company  under Bob Weinstein)  which turned out to be Grindhouse.
"Just as I finished telling  Rose  this  I saw Harvey walking around the party! I called Harvey over to our table  and as soon as he got close enough to see that I was sitting with Rose  his face dropped and went ghostly white. I said  'Hey Harvey  this is   [TGT]  . I think  [TGT] 's amazing and really talented and Iâm going to cast  [TGT]  in my next movie '" the director said. "Harvey then dribbled all over himself in the most over the top performance I'd ever seen as he gushed  'Oh  [TGT] 's wonderful  oh  [TGT] 's amazing  oh  [TGT] 's fantastic  oh  [TGT] 's so talentedâ¦ You two should definitely work together.' And then he skittered off. I knew right then that every word  Rose  told me was true  you could see it all over his face."
On Friday  however   McGowan  spoke out about  her  alleged rape at the Womenâs Convention in Detroit  Michigan  calling on other women to come forward.
"I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed. I have been maligned and you know what? I'm just like you "  she  said. "Because what happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in society and it cannot stand and it will not stand."