Molly Ringwald, perhaps best known for her roles in John Hughes' Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club has joined scores of other in Hollywood to speak out against the disgusting abuses she was privy to. Jeffrey Katzenberg, former chairman of Disney at the time Disney acquired Weinstein's Miramax Film Corp in 1993 has apologized "22 years too late" to Molly Ringwald.
Ringwald was featured in 1995 in Movieline magazine. <a href="http://movieline.com/1995/09/01/sixteen-candles-in-the-wind/">In the article,</a> Katzenberg (who has expressed open disgust at Harvey Weinstein's behavior) "I wouldn’t know [Molly Ringwald] if she sat on my face."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Katzenberg was among first execs to condemn Harvey Weinstein. He also once said "I wouldn't know [Molly Ringwald] if she sat on my face." <a href="https://t.co/EaqXO9c3UW">https://t.co/EaqXO9c3UW</a></p>— Kevin Fallon (@kpfallon) <a href="https://twitter.com/kpfallon/status/920371745185558528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
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An odd way to apologize, Katzenberg offers that, “Anyone who knows me now or back then knows I do not use language like that as a matter of course, or tolerate it.” Katzenberg went on, speaking to <i>The Hollywood Reporter,</i> “Ms. Ringwald, 22 years too late, I am deeply, deeply sorry.”
In the <i>New Yorker</i> essay, "All the other Harvey Weinsteins," <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/all-the-other-harveys">Ringwald goes on to explain</a> a few examples of the sexual inapproriateness and indignities she faced by multiple "Weinstein types." At 13, she mentions a 50-year-old crew member offering to "teach her to dance." At this point she had the man's erection pressed against her as he held her to a wall. At 14, a married director shoved his tongue down her throat. On another occasion a director had the lead actor put a dog collar on her neck during the audition.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">this line from molly ringwald made me stop breathing for a moment <a href="https://t.co/lHR8ZooEDP">https://t.co/lHR8ZooEDP</a> <a href="https://t.co/75Ml5nI70l">pic.twitter.com/75Ml5nI70l</a></p>— 🎃 rachel slime 🎃 (@rachsyme) <a href="https://twitter.com/rachsyme/status/920349245487665152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Molly disappeared nearly altogether after a 1995 film, <i>Malicious</i> which featured her topless. Sources have claimed she was "blackballed" after trying to get the nude scene cut. This wouldn't be the first time either, evidently studio heads wanted to ensure Breakfast Club "felt" a lot like Porkies and attempted to graft on some gratuitous nudity to please the studio bigwigs. None other than Molly and Ally Sheedy talked him out of it.
“I never talked about these things publicly because, as a woman, it has always felt like I may as well have been talking about the weather…,” and goes on to thank her parents for having been protective in attepting to shield her as much as possible as a child star.
“My hope is that Hollywood makes itself an example and decides to enact real change.”
