Winslet deliberately didn’t thank Weinstein for Oscar

Los Angeles, Oct 16 (IANS) Actress Kate Winslet thanked 19 people when she won an Oscar for "The Reader" in 2009. She says she deliberately didn't mention "nasty" Harvey Weinstein, whose company financed and distributed the movie.

"That was deliberate. That was absolutely deliberate," Winslet told latimes.com.

"I remember being told. 'Make sure you thank Harvey if you win.' And I remember turning around and saying, 'No I won't. No I won't.' And it was nothing to do with not being grateful. If people aren't well-behaved, why would I thank him?"

"The fact that I'm never going to have to deal with Harvey Weinstein again as long as I live is one of the best things that's ever happened and I'm sure the feeling is universal," Winslet added.

Winslet made her first movie, Peter Jackson's psychological drama "Heavenly Creatures", for Weinstein's Miramax Films - a fact, Winslet says, that the disgraced producer brought up every time she saw him.

"For my whole career, Harvey Weinstein, whenever I've bumped into him, he'd grab my arm and say, 'Don't forget who gave you your first movie.' Like I owe him everything. Then later, with 'The Reader', same thing, 'I'm gonna get you that Oscar nomination, I'm gonna get you a win, I'm gonna win for you.'"

"But that's how he operated. He was bullying and nasty. Going on a business level, he was always very, very hard to deal with - he was rude. He used to call my female agent a (vulgar name for a woman) every time he spoke to her on the telephone."

When allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Weinstein broke earlier this month, Winslet was one of the first to condemn his actions.