???Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o has joined the chorus of women accusing disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.
The 34-year-old, who won an Academy Award for her breakout role in 12 Years a Slave, has penned a harrowing first person account of her interactions with the Hollywood producer for The New York Times.
More than 30 women have come forward in the past fortnight to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment and, in some instances, rape. On Friday, Nyong'o joined the long list of actresses - including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow - who have gone public with explosive allegations.
The Kenyan-Mexican actress said she first met Weinstein at a 2011 awards ceremony in Berlin while she was still at university. Not long afterwards, the movie mogul invited her to his home under the guise of attending a film screening.
Prior to attending his home, Weinstein invited her to lunch and repeatedly insisted she should drink vodka because he was the one "paying the bill".
"We got to his home after lunch and I met his domestic staff and his young children," Nyong'o wrote in The New York Times. "I settled in for the film, but about 15 minutes in, Harvey came for me, saying he wanted to show me something. I protested that I wanted to finish the film first, but he insisted I go with him, laying down the law as though I too was one of his children."
The actress said she complied with his request because she didn't want to have another "back-and-forth" in front of his children and staff.
"Harvey led me into a bedroom - his bedroom - and announced that he wanted to give me a massage," she wrote. "I thought he was joking at first. He was not. For the first time since I met him, I felt unsafe. I panicked a little and thought quickly to offer to give him one instead: It would allow me to be in control physically, to know exactly where his hands were at all times."
The 12 Years a Slave star said she used the massage to buy herself time while she thought of a way to leave Weinstein's home. But before long he said he wanted to take off his pants.
"I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable," she wrote. "He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that. I opened the door and stood by the frame. He put his shirt on and again mentioned how stubborn I was. I agreed with an easy laugh, trying to get myself out of the situation safely."
The actress then goes on to detail how, later - under the guise of attending a screening in New York - Weinstein said she should come up to his private hotel room.
"I told him I preferred to eat in the restaurant," she wrote. "He told me not to be so naive. If I wanted to be an actress, then I had to be willing to do this sort of thing."
Nyong'o ultimately declined the offer, and was swiftly bundled into a waiting taxi. The Academy Award winner said she has chosen to speak up now in the hope it contributes to "the end of the conspiracy of silence".
"I wish I had known that there were women in the business I could have talked to," she wrote. "I wish I had known that there were ears to hear me. That justice could be served. There is clearly power in numbers. I thank the women who have spoken up and given me the strength to revisit this unfortunate moment in my past."
