Taraji P. Henson Says Harvey Weinstein Passed Over Her For A Leading Role

Taraji P. Henson says Harvey Weinstein denied her a role for the film St. Vincent .

The Empire actress spoke about this in a new interview with The Guardian , adding that she thought it was because she’s a black woman. And asked if her race was the reason was the reason why she didn’t get the role, she said, “yeah.”

The character was a stripper mom in St. Vincent , and Naomi Watts was later cast for the role.

“Basically, I don’t think he saw my box-office appeal. What I heard—I didn’t sit down with the man—is that he wanted someone who was known internationally, so they got Naomi Watts,” Henson said.

And, even though St. Vincent wasn’t a box office hit, Henson still felt hurt. And in her memoir Around the Way Girl, she said, “Time and again, I’ve lost roles because someone with the ability to greenlight a film couldn’t see black women beyond a very limited purview he or she thought ‘fit’ audience expectations. It was a meaty gig. I would have loved it.”

And when asked about the glut of sexual assault allegations made against Weinstein, Henson said, “Well, you know, I just sit here and I sip my tea,” Henson said, while actually sipping a cup of tea. “I never wished anything bad on the man. I was just, like, ‘O.K., he’ll see. That’s another person who’ll have to eat crow. How would you like yours? Fried? Toasted?’”

Now, a spokesperson for Weinstein has sent a statement to Vanity Fair denying Henson’s claim, as expected:

“Once again, simply because someone says something does not make it true, and the continuous drumbeat of any Hollywood star who believes that he or she can gain greater reverence by invoking Weinstein’s name is just getting tiresome. The fact here is that Ms. Henson is a terrific actor and that is why she starred in five films connected to Weinstein. To make this about anything other than that is shameful. When Maya Angelou could not find anyone to back her film Down in the Delta, Weinstein backed it and produced it. From actors like Idris Elba, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Washington, and Taraji Henson, and films such as Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, and The Great Debaters, to name a few, Harvey Weinstein has a long record of finding the best talent for some of the most respected film projects.”