“It was common knowledge that certain producers or certain people in Hollywood or people to avoid, privately,” she said in a recent interview. “You know what you’re getting into if you’re going into a hotel room alone.”
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“We naturally blame ourselves,” Anderson added. “You somehow think that you were to blame.”
She said she learned how to handle herself from that experience, which is admirable. But the more she talked about the ways she avoids being in situations that could put her at risk, the more she treaded into territory of apparent victim blaming.
“When I came to Hollywood, of course I had a lot of offers to do private auditions and things that made absolutely no sense,” she said. “Just common sense: don’t go into a hotel room alone. If someone enters a door in a bathrobe, leave. These things that are common sense.”
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She then insinuated that some people might ignore this common sense because of career ambitions.
“I know that Hollywood is very seductive and these people want to be famous. Sometimes you think you’re going to be safe with an adult in the room,” she said. “I don’t know where this security comes from, but somehow I’ve dodged it all. I’ve been offered lots of things. A condo and a Porsche to be someone’s number one girl. I just naively said, ‘Well there must be a number two then, so I’m not interested.’ Money, homes, roles in movies. And I just didn’t want to do it that way. I had no desire. I’m a romantic and it didn’t appeal to me.”
The 50-year-old actor and model caused controversy when she appeared on Today and hinted at the idea that the women who have accused the disgraced producer of sexual harassment should have known what would happen if they went "into a hotel room alone".
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Now, the Baywatch star has clarified her comments, insisting that she was not blaming those who have accused Weinstein, but stands by her claims that women "must be aware" of their surroundings.
Anderson told tmz.com, "This is not victim blaming. (Weinstein is) a sexist pig and a bully. (But) there are a lot of self-protection courses. There is even a well known story of suffragettes learning martial arts. Women (must be) aware of certain problems and how to spot them and fight them."
Anderson defended her comments further by refusing to apologize.
She added: "It is totally hypocritical to ignore this ... I will not get coerced into apology."
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