Kate Beckinsale talks 'machine' built to 'destroy' women who speak out in Hollywood

By Mason Leib

Kate Beckinsale is speaking out about the "machine" that she says retaliates against women in Hollywood when they speak up for themselves after experiencing mistreatment.

Beckinsale shared a video on Instagram on Dec. 29 in which she opened up about several harrowing experiences she’s faced throughout her career in Hollywood and some of the retaliatory efforts she said she was met with when trying to stand up for herself.

Beckinsale said that although she does not know Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni or what happened between them, she is "grateful" to Lively for highlighting the issue of women in Hollywood facing retaliation for voicing their concerns in her recent legal action against Baldoni where she alleges sexual harassment.

Baldoni has denied all of Lively's claims. In a statement to ABC News, his lawyer said, "It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation . . . "

He added, "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Beckinsale said Lively’s recent legal action helped to underscore "this machine that goes into effect when a woman complains about something legitimately offensive, upsetting, harmful" in the film industry.

Beckinsale claimed in one scenario she raised to a studio, which she did not name, that a co-star she did not identify was intoxicated on set and having trouble remembering lines, thus extending the daily production and preventing her from seeing her daughter in the evenings. Beckinsale said her complaint resulted in her being referred to as "c---" and "b----."

Beckinsale also described being the victim of both physically and emotionally harmful transgressions about her appearance throughout her career. She recalled one instance in which she claimed she was surrounded by "groups of people," who she did not identify, who picked apart her appearance and said, "How do we make her attractive?"

She also claimed being put on "such a strict diet and exercise program on one movie that I lost my periods altogether." Beckinsale said that has happened two times but did not share further details regarding which project she was referring to.

Kate Beckinsale/Instagram

In this screen grab from a video posted to her Instagram account, Kate Beckinsale is shown.

Beckinsale claimed that she once complained she was injured on an unidentified film set, an MRI proved something she claimed, she "was gaslit and made to feel like I was the problem, blamed and ostracized, left out of cast dinners, not spoken to as soon as I mentioned that there was a problem."

Beckinsale described expressing to an un-named publicist who she worked with that she did not want to do a photoshoot "the day after" she said she experienced a miscarriage, to which the publicist replied, "You have to, or you'll be sued," according to the actress.

In the video, she also elaborated on the retaliation actors could face from an executive when turning down a role, mentioning disgraced Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein as an example of someone who would launch retaliatory campaigns.

In her video, she also described being "felt up" by a member of a crew when she was 18 years old. "Went to the lead actress who's known for being a supporter of women, and said this has happened and was told, ‘No, it didn't,’" she said. She said she approached another actress onset crying and told her "I've just been assaulted by this man," though she said she was still was not believed.

Beckinsale concluded by sharing how she feels the climate has not improved despite some people’s perceptions. "I'm grateful to Blake Lively for highlighting the fact that this is not an archaic problem that no one's facing. This is continuing, and then when it does happen, a machine goes into place to absolutely destroy you," she finished.

In the caption of her video, Beckinsale wrote, "Everyone in EVERY industry should be taken seriously and not punished when something egregious happens."

She also highlighted the importance of speaking out to benefit younger actresses. "I don’t want our younger generation of actresses to be facing all the same things as we all do and did , but they have it even worse because of social media and how that can be weaponised to a literally nuclear level ,designed to eviscerate."

She reiterated that there should be no expectation that anyone is expected to experience mistreatment and not speak out for fear of retribution.