Natasha Henstridge Details Sexual Assault Accusation Against Brett Ratner

Actress Natasha Henstridge appeared on Megyn Kelly Today to talk about her sexual assault allegations toward Ratner and to describe a scary encounter with Harvey Weinstein.

Henstridge was one of the six initial women who accused Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or misconduct in a Los Angeles Times story — but since the Nov. 1 report, the Times say the number of women who have come forward to claim they’ve been harassed by the director has risen to 45.

Henstridge, 43, said her encounter with Ratner occurred when she was 19 and still a model and doing TV commercials. She knew Ratner only through mutual friends and one night in the early ’90s went with friends to his apartment to watch movies. She said when she woke up, she realized she was alone with Ratner in the apartment.

She told Kelly that at first she thought he was merely “coming on strong” and “trying to convince me there was something between us, until I made more of an effort to get out and that’s when I realized he wasn’t playing around any more.”

She said he forced the doorway and “got very aggressive,” forcing her to have oral sex with him.

“When you are afraid of somebody, when you physically don’t know what… they’re capable of doing, you submit and I submitted,” she said, acknowledging that many people have wondered how someone can be forced to submit to oral sex.

After it was over, she said she remained “pretty terrified” and ran home “feeling horribly ashamed, but also feeling dirty,” while “realizing I had nothing to do with it. I had no say in it; it was just a horrible situation.”

Henstridge also discussed an encounter she had with Harvey Weinstein. She described a meeting during Sundance Film Festival with Weinstein at her hotel, saying, “one thing led to another… he did some terrible things there and came on to me repeatedly.”

“I don’t know what you say on daytime television,” she said, hesitating.

“Did he pleasure himself in front of you?” Kelly asked.

“Yes … I was then stuck in a room, he tried to get into the room … I did manage to avoid an actual physical attack by him,” Henstridge said.

“Just listening to you, it makes you feel outraged,” Kelly responded. “How many times does an actress need to go through this to be in films in Hollywood? Is this the price of doing business?!”

“We have be lulled into an idea this is kind of normal,” Henstridge acknowledged.

Both men have denied all allegations against them and either threatened or filed lawsuits in some cases, which is what keeps women silent, Henstridge said.

“They’re as scared as I am, and I was, two weeks ago coming out about this. You’re afraid you’re going to get sued … by somebody with a gazillion dollars. And you’re going to have your name be dragged through the mud and you’re going to be lied about,” she said.

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