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Gloria Steinem says Jane Fonda warned her about Harvey Weinstein

Jane Fonda warned Gloria Steinem (left) about Harvey Weinstein. (Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Women's Media Center)
Jane Fonda warned Gloria Steinem (left) about Harvey Weinstein. (Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Women's Media Center)

Gloria Steinem says she passed on an opportunity to meet with Harvey Weinstein after a warning from Jane Fonda.

Speaking to Page Six at the Athena Film Festival on Wednesday, the feminist icon revealed that she’d been given the producer’s name as a potential collaborator on a civil rights film her friend was pitching. Weinstein was convicted of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual act in the first degree on Monday.

“There was a friend of mine who was trying to do a film, a civil rights film and everybody said to me, ‘Oh, only Harvey Weinstein will do this,’” Steinem, 85, recalled, adding that Fonda intervened. “She never said why, but I understood why it was not a good idea.”

In a 2017 interview with CNN, Fonda, 82, admitted feeling “ashamed” that she didn’t speak out after friend Rosanna Arquette alerted her to Weinstein’s predatory behavior. Arquette has said that her career suffered after she rejected the Hollywood heavyweight’s advances in the ‘90s.

Steinem called Weinstein's conviction a "relief." (Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)
Steinem called Weinstein's conviction a "relief." (Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)

The Ms. magazine co-founder called the 67-year-old’s conviction on two of the five counts against him “clearly a relief to everyone.”

“It wasn’t an easy trial as 90 percent of the cases weren’t part of the trial, so I suspect that it probably would not have happened 10 years ago,” she added.

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