Director of ‘Platoon’ Is Accused of Groping a Former Model

The revelations and allegations just won’t stop. As more women have gone on the record about the harassment and abuse they suffered at the hands of former mega-producer Harvey Weinstein, additional artists and creative people in Hollywood are coming forward to explain their own experiences with other alleged industry abusers.

Director Oliver Stone is the latest to be mentioned. Carrie Stevens, who was Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in June of 1997, told the New York Daily News that Stone assaulted her at a party more than 20 years ago when she was just 22 (Stone would have been about 45).

“He was really cocky, had this big grin on his face like he was going to get away with something,” she told the paper about Stone. She said he walked up to her and grabbed her breast. She then said bluntly that he “honked it like a horn.”

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Stevens said that others saw the encounter — but that no one spoke up because “that’s what’s going on in Hollywood. That’s why things have to change.”

In all likelihood, this story would have gotten little or no traction before the Weinstein scandal. Now, victims are feeling more empowered to come forward and tell their story — whatever it may be — as others go on the record about the harassment and abuse they say they suffered.

“Something felt weird so I asked my boyfriend to go with me.”

Multiple accounts from various artists about their victimizations at the hands of people other than Weinstein now have more weight. It’s no longer the “little person” versus the “Hollywood big shot.” The abuse of power in Hollywood and perhaps other industries is clearly more widespread than most imagined — which is why Stevens’ allegations against Stone have more fire and power behind them.

Stone, as of late Friday afternoon, has not commented on the charges.

He was criticized recently for being one of the few artists — at first — to appear to defend Harvey Weinstein. He told The Hollywood Reporter of the Weinstein scandal, “I’m a believer that you wait until this thing gets to trial.”

He later backed off that stance in a Facebook post; he said he was leaving an upcoming television program, “Guantanamo,” due to the show’s ties to The Weinstein Company.

“I’ve been traveling for the last couple of days and wasn’t aware of all the women who came out to support the original story in The New York Times,” wrote Stone.

He continued, “After looking at what has been reported in many publications over the last couple of days, I’m appalled and commend the courage of the women who’ve stepped forward to report sexual abuse or rape.”

When Stone made his initial comments in defense of Weinstein, “Rounders” screenwriter Brian Koppelman used Twitter to tell his of own experience in meeting Stone — which seemingly lends weight to the Stevens accusations.

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Koppelman tweeted, “He brought a few young women into the meeting. He asked a thin male in the room if he stayed thin so he could ‘f*** good.'” He continued, “And then [he] said, I want to know. And so does she. It was bizarre and unsettling and freaked me out. I told our agent and passed on the project.”

Koppelman said he never planned to tell the story until he saw Stone’s initial comments about Weinstein.

On Friday, Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Arquette also came forward on Twitter with her own story about Stone.

“Years ago Oliver Stone wanted me to do a movie. We talked about the material, which was very sexual. The meeting was professional,” she wrote. “Then I received from him long-stem jungle roses. It’s not uncommon to receive flowers, but something about them felt weird. I ignored it.”

She continued: “Then his assistant called to make sure it got them. I thanked them. He then invited me to a screening of [‘Natural Born Killers’] … “Something felt weird so I asked my boyfriend to go with me. The room was packed. Oliver stopped me [as I was] coming out of the bathroom … He said, ‘Why did you bring him?’ I said, ‘Why is it a problem I brought him? It shouldn’t be a problem. Think about THAT Oliver.'”

She ended her thread with, “Anyway never heard about the movie again & didn’t care to.”

(photo credit, homepage image: Oliver Stone, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore ; photo credit, article image: Oliver Stone, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore)