Gwyneth Paltrow says Brad Pitt threatened to end film producer Harvey Weinstein after an alleged incident of harassment in a hotel room.
The actress who resumed her role as Pepper Potts for last month's Avengers: Infinity War, detailed her then-boyfriend's reaction on The Howard Stern Show on Thursday.
"We had one instance in a hotel room, where he made a pass at me," Paltrow told Stern.
Harvey Weinstein and Gwyneth Paltrow in 2002.
Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire
The 45-year-old first went public with her accusation in The New York Times last October.
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Weinstein had hired Paltrow, then 22, as the lead in the 1996 screen-adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma. Before shooting began, he summoned her to his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting which Paltrow says ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages.
"It was out of the blue," Paltrow said on Thursday, adding she was "blindsided."
Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow in 1997.
Photo: Ron Galella
Paltrow said she told Pitt of the alleged encounter "right away", leading the actor to confront Weinstein at a Hamlet Broadway opening. "It was like the equivalent of throwing him against the wall," she remembered of Pitt's stance.
"(Brad) said, 'If you ever make her feel uncomfortable again, I'll kill you.' Or something like that," she said.
"It was so fantastic because what he did was, he leveraged his fame and power to protect me at a time when I didn't have fame or power yet," Paltrow continued.
Weinstein stands accused by more than 80 women of sexual harassment or assault. The producer has refuted the claims.
He is expected to turn himself in to face charges in New York related to allegations of sexual assault, The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.
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