CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses disordered eating and miscarriage.
In a shocking revelation, Kate Beckinsale has lifted the lid on some truly horrific experiences she’s endured throughout her acting career. The Underworld star took to Instagram to share her truth, and let’s just say, it’s not pretty.
Beckinsale’s candid confessions come on the heels of Blake Lively‘s recent sexual harassment allegations against her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni. Showing solidaarity with Lively, Beckinsale stressed that these issues are far from being relics of the past.
“I am grateful to Blake Lively for highlighting this is not an archaic problem no one is facing. This is continuing. When it does happen a machine goes in place to absolutely destroy you,” Kate said.
The British actress didn’t hold back, recounting a particularly grim incident where she was forced to do a photoshoot immediately after suffering a miscarriage. “I said, ‘I can’t. I’m bleeding. I don’t want to go and change my clothes in front of people I don’t know and do a photoshoot. I’m bleeding out a miscarriage’.
“She was like, ‘You’ll have to, or you’ll be sued’,” Beckinsale revealed, referring to her publicist’s response.
The horror stories didn’t stop there. Beckinsale recounted times of being put on extreme diets that caused her to lose her periods, and even being physically harmed during action sequences. “There’s a certain kind of actor who gets a thrill out of legally being able to harm a woman during a fight sequence,” she said.
Beckinsale also revealed that when she was just 18-years-old, she was “felt up by somebody that I really trusted on a crew”. When she tried to speak up, she was gaslit and told it didn’t happen.
“I went to the lead actress, who was known for being a supporter of women, and said this is happening and was told, ‘No, it didn’t.’ I went to another actress and said I’d just been assaulted by this man and told, ‘No, you haven’t been’,” Kate shared.
Beckinsale hopes her revelations serve as a reminder that Hollywood’s glittering facade often hides a much darker reality. “This is going on. This has been going on forever. I have 47 million stories similar to this,” she stated.
Fans have come out in support of Kate, grateful for her vulnerability. “THANK YOU for saying this. I’ve always admired you dearly and even more so now,” said one commenter on Instagram.
“This is the case in other industries as well. Sadly,” pointed out another user.
As the conversation around abuse and harassment in the entertainment industry continues to evolve, it’s clear there’s still a long way to go.
