Jurnee Smollett Reveals She’s Been Sexually Harassed on Set Since Age 12

 Jurnee Smollett has revealed the sexual assault she’d endured on almost all the sets she had been on since she turned 12.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the 33-year-old actress opened up about the challenges she’s faced as a Black woman working in the entertainment industry, including pay disparities, the efforts to erase her Blackness, and the sexual harassment she’s experienced throughout most of her career.

“I don’t know that I can confidently say that I worked on one job prior to Lovecraft — from the time I was 12 on — where I hadn’t been sexually harassed, whether it was by an [assistant director], a co-star, director, producer …” said Smollett to reporter Lacey Rose during a conversation about her upcoming HBO series, Lovecraft Country.

She clarified there were number of other film and TV sets where she did endure this kind of abuse, but emphasised it was quite common. “Like, a guy saying before we’re about to do this love scene, ‘Hey, your tits are going to be hanging in the wind,’ is not OK,” she said, before revealing she had stepped away from a project because the misconduct was so bad.  “And they let me out.”

She added that she has since learned how to navigate the industry and why she speaks out about her experiences and shuts down producers who are inappropriate with her. “And I don’t apologize,” she said. “I’ll be like, ‘Listen, this fake-ass sexual harassment meeting that we’re having, I’m going to raise my hand now and let you guys know that the standards that they’re setting are bare minimum.'”

You can read Smollett’s full interview here.