Award-winning actor Nathan Lane has spoken for the first time about an altercation he had with embattled film mogul Harvey Weinstein 17 years ago.
The incident in question occurred at a birthday party Weinstein threw for Hillary Clinton back in October 2000.
Lane was the master of ceremonies for the 53rd birthday party, which also served as a gala for Clinton given she was running for a US senate seat in New York at the time.
Weinstein apparently lashed out at Lane later in the night over a joke the actor had made about Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s comb-over.
Award-winning actor Nathan Lane (above) spoke out for the first time on Saturday night about an altercation he had with Harvey Weinstein at Hillary Clinton’s gala birthday in 2000
Multiple witnesses saw Weinstein throw Lane up against a wall, yelling ‘this is my f***ing show, we don’t need you’, according to the Vulture.
Lane, now 61, alluded to the incident for the first time on Saturday night when he was speaking with Michael Schulman at the New Yorker Festival after news broke that Weinstein had sexually harassed female employees and movie stars.
‘You can’t hurt me, I don’t have a film career,’ Lane said he told Weinstein when the film mogul threatened to destroy him all those years ago.
On that same night in 2000, Weinstein also reportedly lashed out at an assistant who was supposed to be minding his reserved couch while he was onstage speaking.
Lane (standing to the left of Clinton) was the master of ceremonies for the 53rd birthday party, which was organized by Weinstein (far left). Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Molly Shannon, Chelsea Clinton, Bill Clinton, Cher, and Robert De Niro were also in attendance
Lane, now 61, alluded to the incident for the first time on Saturday night when he was speaking with Michael Schulman at the New Yorker Festival
Instead, the assistant momentarily let Jimmy Buffett, Harrison Ford and screenwriter Melissa Mathison take a seat. ‘Yeah, it’s your fault, you’re fired!’ he told the assistant before yelling at the assistant’s managers.
A bombshell New York Times report on Thursday revealed Weinstein’s long record of misconduct.
The report said he had reached at least eight settlements with women including one who said she was coerced into giving him a massage while he was naked.
Weinstein is said to have asked a young Ashley Judd to watch him shower and paid Rose McGowan $100,000 under a settlement for an incident shortly before her breakthrough role in ‘Scream’.
The 65-year-old has since expressed regret for his inappropriate behavior towards women stretching back decades, saying ‘I own my mistakes.’
He said his wife Georgina Chapman, 41, and his five children were standing by him.
Harvey Weinstein arrives at his home in NYC’s West Village on Thursday night after revealing he has had ‘really tough conversations’ with his family after the allegations of sexual harassment against him