Ellen Pompeo slammed for saying women ‘bear some responsibility’ in Harvey Weinstein rape scandal in resurfaced comment

ELLEN Pompeo was slammed on social media after controversial comments about Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement emerged, from a two year old interview.

The Grey's Anatomy star expressed that women "bear some responsibility," when asked about the Hollywood culture, during an Oxford Union Q&A in July 2018.

The clip, which was shared on Twitter, prompted one user to brand her "disgusting," as another commented: "that’s so disgusting. as a sexual assault survivor i am absolutely appalled."

Pompeo, who earns more than $20 million a year as one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, was asked about Harvey Weinstein – prior to his conviction for rape, earlier this year.

"I think we bear some responsibility, not all, but it takes two to tango for sure," she replied.

She continued: "That's not to blame the victim, that's just to say… I did go into a room with Harvey Weinstein, I sat at a table with him, I had a probably two and a half hour with him. He never said anything inappropriate to me, he never made any sort of physical advance to me."

She added, "I wasn't in the room alone with him. I had been sent there by an agent in the middle of the daytime. I didn't think there was anything wrong. I wouldn't have gone into that room at night. But he did nothing inappropriate toward me.

"Now had he, I would have picked up that glass and smashed him across the side of the face with it. So I mean, it's all what we're willing to tolerate in our self-esteem, and what are we going to put up with, and what are we going to compromise to be liked, to be loved, to be accepted? How bad do you want to be in show business?"

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Further into Pompeo said that she also believes women have to be "responsible for the signals that we put out, for the messages that we put and the way we present ourselves."

She explained, "I said in my article and I'm not ashamed to say it, as an actor, you certainly, certainly, go in a room with the idea that this director needs to fall in love with me to give me this part. And so, as women, we flirt."

The 50-year-old actress continued, "I think we're aware of our power… especially women… aware of our power of seduction very early on and we use it. It comes in good handy, right? […] But there has to be a balance in there. There has to be a line. But I do think we do bear some responsibility."

Pompeo did have strong words for the perpetrators of harassment earlier in her Q&A.

"First, men need to understand that they will not get away with it. Number one. Or women need to understand. I don't mean to be sexist about it. Everybody is capable of harassment of any kind, right. So people need to understand that it won't be tolerated and then I think people need to be educated about it."

She went on to talk about not "making excuses for these pigs" that do "disgusting things to women," adding that these "learned behaviors" from men in the Hollywood industry have been learned from other generations of men who "got away with it."

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