PASADENA, Calif. — Rose McGowan, refusing to mention Harvey Weinstein by name, said unspecified legal action by the man she instead calls “the monster” is forcing her to sell her house to fight him.
The actress-turned-activist spoke to TV critics Tuesday about her upcoming documentary series “Citizen Rose” and what she called her global struggle against sexual assault and economic injustice.
McGowan helped start a national public discussion when she accused Hollywood mogul Weinstein of raping her. Weinstein, facing numerous other accusations of misconduct, has repeatedly denied “allegations of non-consensual sex.”
“Citizen Rose,” debuting Jan. 30 on E!, refers only to Weinstein as “HW” or “the monster,” said executive director Andrea Metz. In video remarks before the panel, McGowan asked reporters to refrain from saying Weinstein’s name and to ask respectful questions to acknowledge her humanity.
The former star of “Charmed” was asked if she had any qualms working for E!, which was called out on the Golden Globes red carpet by stars unhappy with E! host Catt Sadler’s departure over pay disparity. The issue arose after she’d made a deal with the channel for series, McGowan said, adding, “Let me hang out for a while and maybe things will change.”
Frances Berwick, who oversees E! as president of Lifestyles Networks for NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, addressed the issue after McGowan’s Q&A. Sadler, who said she quit E! because she was paid less than fellow host Jason Kennedy, had a different role than Kennedy and therefore a different salary, Berwick said.
Sadler was a daytime host and Kennedy worked in prime-time news and on the red carpet, Berwick told the Television Critics Association.
McGowan has been privately taping her life for several years, joining with Bunim-Murrary Productions to create the documentary series, McGowan said.
“I want to be like Gertrude Stein, to have a conversation with the world instead of just in my living room,” said McGowan, who is highly visible on social media. She called the series “raw” and her “truth.”
“I’m really just trying to stop international rapists and child molesters,” she said at another point, after a reporter had asked if she was a “warrior.”
McGowan separated herself from Hollywood’s anti-misconduct Time’s Up initiative, saying she doesn’t believe change will come from those who hold power in the industry.
A settlement reached with Weinstein in 1997 over an encounter in a hotel room during the Sundance film festival didn’t include a non-disclosure agreement, McGowan said. But she added that she faces the sale of her house to pay “legal bills fighting off the monster.”
There was no record of a lawsuit by Weinstein against McGowan in Los Angeles courts, where the actress has lived, although legal action may not have arisen to the level of a public filing yet.
She went public with her accusation of rape after The New York Times reported on the settlement as part of a larger expose on Weinstein.