Scream actor Skeet Ulrich: 'I knew' about Weinstein sexual misconduct allegations

Long before Skeet Ulrich became FP Jones on The CW’s Riverdale, the actor starred opposite Neve Campbell in 1996’s Scream, a release from Dimension Films, a division of Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax (and later The Weinstein Co.). Now, reflecting on the numerous sexual misconduct allegations lodged against Harvey Weinstein, a producer of Scream at the time, Ulrich says he knew about the accusations but couldn’t do anything about them.

“I knew. Most people knew,” the actor told Cosmopolitan in an interview. “I had dinner with someone who is one of the most famous women on the planet — I won’t say who it is — who has not come out, who told me similar things. … There is nothing you can do. I mean, what am I gonna do? I can’t step up, certainly then, on allegations. Honestly, and I think it’s what most people faced: How do you cut your livelihood from a very powerful corporation on something that you don’t know what the facts are?”

Since The New York Times exposed decades of sexual harassment claims against Weinstein, the number of victims alleging sexual misconduct has ballooned. The Weinstein Co. has since fired the disgraced movie producer from his position, and both The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America have rescinded his membership.

Ulrich said he’s “glad” people are finally coming forward and sharing their experiences. “That’s what it takes,” he continued. “Because one person stepping up and making allegations is gonna hurt that one person and not help anyone, especially [against] someone with that power.”

Rose McGowan, who also starred in Scream, became one of these individuals speaking out when she wrote on Twitter that “HW raped me,” a claim Weinstein denied. (“Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein,” a representative for Weinstein said in a statement last week.)

“I saw her about a year ago and that was the only time I’d seen her since like ’99 or something,” Ulrich said of McGowan. “None of this [news] was out at that time, so it certainly wasn’t anything I was going to bring up with her. It wasn’t even in my thought process. … What industry is safe? Where is a beautiful woman, or any woman, free to walk down the street and not be a feast to some a—hole’s eyes? I see how men can be. And then you give a man power? It’s scary.”

In a separate interview with The Wrap, Ulrich called Weinstein “deplorable” and further praised the women coming forward. “If we could push that to our presidency as well, that would be great,” he added.