Meryl Streep Opens About Harvey Weinstein After Rose McGowan Called Her Hypocrite

Los Angeles: Meryl Streep says she did not know Harvey Weinstein was allegedly harassing and assaulting women when they worked together.

Streep says in a statement Monday that Weinstein "needed me much more than I needed him and he made sure I didn't know." The Oscar winner says her association with him brought him credibility, which she says he used "to lure young, aspiring women into circumstances where they would be hurt."

Streep says she composed the statement in response to a since-deleted tweet from Rose McGowan, who called out Streep for working with Weinstein. McGowan has alleged that Weinstein raped her.

Responding to repeated tweets from McGowan that called her a hypocrite for planning to wear black at the upcoming awards season to show unity with women who have been sexually assaulted and abused, actress Meryl Streep just sent out a public statement telling McGowan that they are actually on the same side “standing in defiance of the same implacable foe.”

Streep says she's sorry McGowan sees her as an adversary because they are on the same side in the fight to eradicate the status quo power structure in Hollywood.