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'It takes two to tango': Old Ellen Pompeo video showing her explaining Harvey Weinstein's 'victim shaming' resurfaces

A barrage of tweets also saw Pompeo trying to insist sexual harassment and assault were 'two different things', but Twitter is ruthless when it comes to political incorrectness
UPDATED APR 25, 2020
Ellen Pompeo and Harvey Weinstein (Getty Images)
Ellen Pompeo and Harvey Weinstein (Getty Images)

Ellen Pompeo is in the bad books of Twitteratti, and as insane as it sounds, it just happened. In her attempt to explain a very awkward video where she sounds like she is blaming disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's victims, Pompeo took to Twitter to answer some major backlash that has now come her way.

The resurfaced interview held at Oxford University in July of 2018 sees the 'Grey's Anatomy' star being asked about the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements and her answers are far from satisfactory. 

In the interview, Pompeo holds the "pigs in Hollywood" accountable, but also shares her two cents on what might have led to their behavior.

"I think women have to also be responsible for the signals that we put out, for the messages that we put out, and the way we present ourselves," Pompeo declared, asserting that years of getting away with it has led to men being so casual about rape culture.

The interview also sees her add: "I'm not ashamed to say it — as an actor, you certainly, certainly, go in a room with the idea that this director needs to fall in love with me to give me this part. And so as women, we flirt."

"I think we are aware of our power, especially women, of seduction very early on. And we use it. And it comes in good handy, in a lot of instances, it does come in handy," she says.

The interview excerpt concludes with her saying: "But I do think we bear some responsibility, not all, but it takes two to tango for sure. That's not to blame the victims. I sat at a table with him, I had a probably two-and-a-half hour conversation with him," she said.

"He never said anything inappropriate to me, he never made any sort of physical advance to me." Pompeo was quick to clarify she wasn't alone neither would she do the same at night.

But she also insisted: "He did nothing inappropriate to me. Now had he — I would have picked up that glass and smashed him across the side of the face with it. It's all what we're willing to tolerate in our self-esteem, and what are we going to put up with, and what are we going to compromise to be liked, to be loved, to be accepted? How bad do we want to be in show business?"

The resurfaced clip from the interview saw Pompeo draw backlash for her "disgusting" and "victim shaming" insights, and in the aftermath of it, the actress got defensive.

Citing that the interview excerpt was blown "out of context", Pompeo tweeted: "Hey girls sorry if video clips are upsetting!! It's out of context & it's too serious a subject to talk about on a platform like this...people who have been abused or assaulted should seek guidance from a therapist... this is not a healthy place for topics this serious."

This led to users pointing out that the question was about the two pivotal movements and couldn't have been out of context in any way when she was the one to bring up the topic of who to blame.

Ellen Pompeo attends the 2019 InStyle Awards at The Getty Center on October 21, 2019, in Los Angeles, California (Getty Images)

Pompeo then followed up her claims, sharing: "For those who feel offended or are taking this personally this panel was 2+ years ago and it was way before the whole stories of the women came out I Certainly didn't know he was a rapist at that point ... that took shit to a whole different level."

Once again, Twitter slammed her down for the timeline of events not adding up. The interview was from July 2018 and The Times expose article had come out in October of 2017.

By the end of the month, more than 80 women had come forward with their accusations of sexual misconduct and rape against Weinstein, and by May 2018, he had already been charged and arrested.

However, Pompeo wasn't going to give up, clearly, as she tried explaining herself one last time: "Okay so I was just told The Times story was out before this but I didn't read it ... I only was really following the story on the news once the trial began."

The barrage of tweets also saw Pompeo trying to insist sexual harassment and assault were "two different things", but Twitter is ruthless when it comes to political incorrectness, so it just wasn't Pompeo's day, honestly.

"I am the farthest thing from #Hollywood, but even in my small world, I heard stories of #HarveyWeinstein 10+ yrs ago. You, #MerylStreep to @HillaryClinton and the rest of his enablers don't get to #rewritehistory. It was known to you and all those around you. #TakeResponsibility," outraged an angry critic on twitter.

A second user, probably a fan of Pompeo's, tried rationalizing the whole thing, saying: "I believe that @EllenPompeo was talking about the culture in Hollywood where women are conditioned to use their bodies to get a job. she was asking women to take their power back. she wasn't talking about blaming victims. the Ellen we know would never shame women."

Another user countered this with the cold reality, citing: "Yeah no, she said she wasn’t Victim blaming but then she went on to say 'It takes two to tango', basically she's saying you put yourself in that position, you're at fault for what happened to you. Ellen never should have given an interview on the Harvey Weinstein situation."

The majority of the response was however just "What a d**k," and "What the f**k is wrong with Ellen Pompeo?? This is absolutely DISGUSTING."

And soon the blame shifted towards those who were defending her, as a user shared: "OMG the more I see it in print the more agitated I get. How could she say what she said???? #EllenPompeo #EllenPompeoIsOverParty and how Can anyone defend her???"

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