Sarah Jessica Parker Says She Was Harassed by a ‘Very Big Movie Star’ on Set

Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that she was harassed by a “very, very big movie star” during a discussion of the #MeToo movement on NPR’s Fresh Air. 

Parker didn’t name names or give away the project, but she wanted to make it clear that industry problems with harassment exist on all tiers. She said that recent events forced her to reevaluate the way she had been treated throughout her career.

“It really wasn’t, I would say, until about six or eight months ago that I started recognizing countless experiences of men behaving poorly, inappropriately, and all the ways that I had made it possible to keep coming to work or to remain on set, or to simply … just push it down, push it away, find a little space for it and move on,” she told host Terry Gross.

Parker noted that a perceived power imbalance between herself and the unnamed star kept her quiet about his harassment for a while. However, she eventually decided that she had had enough and explained the situation to her agent. Her agent threatened the right people, saying that Parker would walk if the harassment continued. She said that the environment changed immediately.

“I didn’t have to listen to jokes about me or my figure or what people thought they could talk me into doing,” she said. “That stopped.”

Parker said that it can be difficult, even for a star of her caliber, to come forward. 

“I didn’t feel as powerful as the man who was behaving inappropriately, which … strikes me as just stunning to say out loud because there were plenty of occasions where it was happening and I was in a different position and I was as powerful,” she said.