HARI SREENIVASAN: Let's turn
to the continuing fallout and
reaction to the Harvey Weinstein

story.

Yesterday, Weinstein resigned
from the board of his production
company following numerous

revelations of sexual
harassment and several
allegations of assault.

More than three dozen women have
said Weinstein harassed them.
While Weinstein has admitted

to behaving inappropriately,
he has said he didn't
physically assault anyone.

One of those women is Katherine
Kendall. She was a 23-year-old
actress who met Weinstein

in 1993. She alleges that he
invited her to his apartment
in New York, where, she says,

he took off his clothes
and asked for a massage.

As other actresses began
coming forward about
their painful experiences,
she also went public

with her own story.

She joins me now
from Los Angeles.

First, thanks for joining us.

And I don't want to relive
something that's painful for
you, but you are taking a public

stance on it.

For people who don't know
your story, what happened?

KATHERINE KENDALL, Actress:
Well, I was you know, a young
actress, and I had had a formal

meeting at the Miramax
office earlier that day.

And then, at the end of the
meeting, which I thought went
really well, he invited me

to come to screenings. He said:
"Welcome to the Miramax family.
You know, come to premieres,

screenings, et cetera. In fact,
there's one this afternoon.
Would you like to come?"

And I said, "Sure."

And I ended up going to see a
movie with him. It ended up just
being a movie, not a screening,

but the film "Red Rock West."
And, you know, that's right
when I had this sort of sinking

feeling that something
wasn't going right.

And then, after the movie, we
walked for a few blocks. And
he said he needed to go up

to his apartment to get
something, and would
I just come with him
real quick? And I sort

of said no, and we went back
and forth on that for a minute.
It was sort of a negotiation

with him always, trying to
sort of stand my ground, but
then be convinced it was OK.

I did go into his apartment.
Once there, we talked for a
long time about art and movies.

And I felt like he was
treating me like an intellect.

And I felt like the meeting
was going really well, and sort
of continued. I didn't feel

unsafe once I was in there.
And, at one point, then, he got
up to go to the bathroom. And

he came back in a robe and
asked me to give him a massage.

And I was extremely
uncomfortable. And I
was like, oh, God, no,
I'm not comfortable with

that. And we went back
and forth on that.

And then he went back to the
bathroom again, and came back
this time completely naked.

And, you know, that changed it
entirely for me, too. It just
took it to the next place.

It was completely disorienting.
And I was scared, you
know? I was really scared.

And then it became sort of a
cat-and-mouse game of, like,
how am I going to get out of

there?

And I'm -- it's hard to make
sense of what someone is trying
to do to you when they're

fully naked, and they're...

HARI SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KATHERINE KENDALL: You know,
I'm 105 pounds. He's a large
man standing between me and the

door.

And, I mean, I felt
very resolute, like, I
will definitely get out
of here somehow. But

I'm not -- I'm not sure --
I'm not sure what's going to
happen here. You know, a lot was

going through my head.

And he said, well, if you won't
give me a massage, will you
at least show me your breasts?

And it was just -- you know, it
was, all in all, an extremely
humiliating experience for

me.

And even though I got away, I
felt like something had still --
like something horrible had just

happened to me.

HARI SREENIVASAN: You know,
in the immediate aftermath,
did you tell someone about it?

Because you have said before
that you felt ashamed...

KATHERINE KENDALL: I did.

HARI SREENIVASAN: ... even
though you were the victim.

KATHERINE KENDALL: I did.

It's really interesting how
that happens. And I think --
you know, I'm older now, and

I have done some work on myself.
And I have learned that a
lot of people feel that way.

It's -- it's not -- it wasn't
just me. But the just me
feeling that this is my fault,

this must have only happened
to me, there's something wrong
with me, is so common when

someone perpetrates against you.

HARI SREENIVASAN:
What were the...

KATHERINE KENDALL: And
I did. I told my mom.

And I told some good friends.
But, you know, one of the things
that happened was, I didn't

want them to tell anybody. You
know, people wanted to help
me, but they didn't know how,

and I didn't want them to
try too hard, because I
didn't want it to backlash.

I was scared. And I think that
it's important to remember
that we don't really come from

a culture that supports women in
talking about sexual harassment,
in my -- in my experience,

that is. And, you know,
I just haven't felt like
it was something I was
going to get support

on...

HARI SREENIVASAN:
You know, how long...

KATHERINE KENDALL: ...
in the bigger picture.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Yes.

How long did this feeling
last? Or, I guess, what are the
longer-term ripple effects here?

Did it shake your confidence
in your abilities?

KATHERINE KENDALL: I
think it did. I think
it did. I think it did.

I think it made me feel like,
wow, you know, that was a wash.
He wasn't interested at all

in what I had to say, or, you
know, he didn't see any talent
there or intellect there. He

was assessing the situation the
whole time for something else.

And I think that --
that did hurt. You
know, I wish it didn't.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KATHERINE KENDALL: But he had
produced so many movies that
I thought were wonderful.

And it was -- it's hard
when someone has made
art that you love, and
how do you stay attached

to liking their art, but
feeling conflicted about them?

And, yes, I think it does have
long-term effects. I think you
tuck it away. And then, for me,

also, I realized that it came
back when I would see his
name or see him in person. I

would start to sort of
tremble all over again.

I mean, I wouldn't think about
him on a daily basis or anything
for years, and then I would

see him, and I would think,
oh, I don't feel well. I
got to get out of here.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Right.

KATHERINE KENDALL: You know, it
would bring up so much emotion.

And the most recent one was the
woman in New York, the Italian
model. I felt so, so enraged

when I saw what happened there,
and that they sort of -- the
police had him, and that then

he got away. And then she
was being dragged through the
press as somebody who just, you

know, wanted a
payout, et cetera.

HARI SREENIVASAN: You know, in
the wake of that, there was --
a friend of yours had tweeted,

"At some point, all the women
who have been afraid to speak
out about Harvey Weinstein

are going to have to
hold hands and jump."
This was back in 2015.

And from your Twitter
account, you said, "Agreed."

It seemed like you almost had
the opportunity to come forward.

What made you want to come
forward now? Has this become a
turning point in the industry?

KATHERINE KENDALL: This
is a turning point.
It's a turning point.

There are so many times when
I thought about it, and then
felt like -- there were times

when I thought about it and
said, well, I have nothing to
lose, I will just do it. And

then I thought, I -- I just
didn't have the strength
or the courage yet.

And I think somebody like Jodi
Kantor doing the story for
The New York Times, the fact

that she thought it was a
story at all was startling to
me and made me feel like, wow,

something is going to be done.

And I knew she had told me --
I mean, they were looking for
women that this had happened

to, because they'd been hearing
rumors for so long that it
happened to so many people.

And she had told me other
people were coming out.

And I thought, I can't -- when
I watched Rose McGowan or any
of the other actresses come

forward, I just -- or Ashley
Judd -- I just thought, they
look strong to me, and I don't

want to be the one
that stays silent.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Well,
Katherine Kendall...

KATHERINE KENDALL: I want
to stand beside them.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Katherine
Kendall, thank you very
much for speaking with us.

And, hopefully, there are
other people that are empowered
by you coming forward.

KATHERINE KENDALL: I
hope so. Thank you.