Bjork has opened up further about her sexual harassment ordeal at the hands of an unnamed Danish director a day after Lars Von Trier distanced himself from the drama in a statement.
Bjork first revealed she had been abused over the weekend, claiming she repeatedly turned down the filmmaker’s alleged advances, but he “punished” her and branded her difficult.
Many fans jumped to conclusions that her Dancer in the Dark director Lars Von Trier was the abusive filmmaker, but he denied the allegations on Monday.
Now Bjork is doubling down on her claims in a statement released on Tuesday, following the popularity of the #MeToo social media campaign to raise awareness about sexual assault and harassment.
In a post on social media she writes: “in the spirit of #metoo i would like to lend women around the world a hand with a more detailed description of my experience with a danish director. it feels extremely difficult to come out with something of this nature into the public, especially when immediately ridiculed by offenders.
“i fully sympathise with everyone who hesitates, even for years. but i feel it is the right time especially now when it could make a change. here comes a list of the encounters that i think count as sexual harassment:
“1 after each take the director ran up to me and wrapped his arms around me for a long time in front of all crew or alone and stroked me sometimes for minutes against my wishes.
“2 when after 2 months of this i said he had to stop the touching, he exploded and broke a chair in front of everyone on set. like someone who has always been allowed to fondle his actresses. then we all got sent home.
“3 during the whole filming process there were constant awkward paralysing unwanted whispered sexual offers from him with graphic descriptions, sometimes with his wife standing next to us.
“4 while filming in sweden, he threatened to climb from his room´s balcony over to mine in the middle of the night with a clear sexual intention, while his wife was in the room next door. i escaped to my friends room. this was what finally woke me up to the severity of all this and made me stand my ground.”
She adds, “I didnt comply or agree on being sexually harassed. that was then portrayed as me being difficult. if being difficult is standing up to being treated like that, i’ll own it. hope. let’s break this curse (sic).”
