Harvey Weinstein Fires Back at Uma Thurman’s Claims by Releasing Photos

Harvey Weinstein and his representatives have released a response to the accusations made in Uma Thurman‘s recent tell-all in The New York Times.

Thurman’s interview, conducted over a couple of nights, details her experience working with Weinstein on the films that catapulted him to success — Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill series, especially. She explains how he lured her into a sense of security, talking her up and validating her as the reason for his power in Hollywood. Thurman and Quentin Tarantino saw each other as collaborators, and at first, she thought Weinstein was on the same page, even referring to him as her “champion.”

It wasn’t until the planning stages of Kill Bill that Weinstein overstepped his bounds, trying to get Thurman into a steam room in his hotel in Paris and expose himself.

Not long after that, Thurman says that Weinstein attacked her in his London hotel room. By her account, her forced her face first onto the bed and tried to get himself unclothed. Thurman says she wriggled free and ran away, and Weinstein and his team later tried to convince her that she was misremembering the whole encounter.

Weinstein and his reps confirmed big portions of Thurman’s story, though they insisted that the incident in London was an “awkward pass” at Thurman and not an assault. They maintain that there was no physical contact. They also sent the NYT many photos of the two of them together as evidence that they had an amicable relationship. In their response to the article, they bemoan the Times’ choice not to publish the photos.

“We have pulled a number of images that demonstrate the strong relationship Mr. Weinstein and Ms. Thurman had had over the years and we wish the New York Times would have published them,” wrote Weinstein rep Holly K. Baird.

“Mr. Weinstein acknowledges making an awkward pass 25 years ago at Ms. Thurman in England after misreading her signals, after a flirtatious exchange in Paris, for which he immediately apologized and deeply regrets. However, her claims about being physically assaulted are untrue. And this is the first time we have heard those details.

“There was no physical contact during Mr. Weinstein’s awkward pass and Mr. Weinstein is saddened and puzzled as to ‘why’ Ms. Thurman, someone he considers a colleague and a friend, waited 25 years to make these allegations public, noting that he and Ms. Thurman have shared a very close and mutually beneficial working relationship where they have made several very successful film projects together.

“This is the first time we are hearing that she considered Mr. Weinstein an enemy and the pictures of their history tell a completely different story.

“There will be more are detailed response later from Mr. Weinstein’s attorney, Ben Brafman.”

Thurman’s interview offers plenty of reasons why she might have kept the allegations to herself, not least of all because she believed Weinstein may have conspired to have her killed.

Baird released photographs via Getty Images that depict Weinstein in party surroundings with Thurman and others.