Minka Kelly on Harvey Weinstein: I'm sorry for being 'complicit in protecting his behavior'

Minka Kelly has shared her experience of meeting with Harvey Weinstein, and though she said she declined his offers, she is "sorry for obliging his orders to be complicit in protecting his behavior."

The actress — who was among the cast of the Weinstein Co. title Lee Daniels' The Butler — took to Instagram to recount how she was first introduced the Hollywood producer at an industry event. She was then told by her agent that he'd like to see her the next day "for a general meeting" in his hotel room.

"I wasn’t comfortable with going to his room and said so," she recalled. "The following day, we sat down with an assistant in the hotel restaurant. He bullshit me for five minutes [regarding] movies he could put me in, then asked the assistant to excuse us. As she walked away, he said, 'I know you were feeling what I was feeling when we met the other night,' and then regaled me with offers of a lavish life filled with trips around the world on private planes, etc. IF I would be his girlfriend. Or, 'We could just keep this professional.'"

"All I knew was not to offend this very powerful man and to get out of the situation as quickly as possible," Kelly continued. "I told him while flattered, I'd like to keep things professional. He said, 'Fine. I trust you won't tell anyone about this.' I said, 'Of course not. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me," — the only way I could think to shut it down gracefully and excuse myself. I immediately told my agent what happened. We marveled at his audacity, reinforced my instinct not to offend him and laughed at how glad I was to get out of there. Neither of us were that surprised as this wasn’t far off from the day-to-day bullshit of being an actress."

Kelly then acknowledged how she had missed an opportunity to speak up at the time. "I'm sorry for obliging his orders to be complicit in protecting his behavior, which he obviously knew was wrong or he wouldn’t have asked me not to tell anyone in the first place," she said. "For making him feel ok about the gross things he was saying and that I felt my only route was to say I was flattered. For not insisting that my reps never allow anyone to take a meeting in a hotel room (with him or anyone else), because I honestly don’t know what might have happened if I’d just showed up as originally scheduled.

"I am appalled for all the women being told these occurrences are in any way their fault," she concluded. "No more Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood does not solve the problem but maybe the more voices sharing their stories and adding support to the countless women and men who have suffered through abuse of power, the less it will be tolerated."

Weinstein's decades of alleged sexual harassment claims were first detailed in last week's New York Times report and further explored in the New Yorker's exposé, which includes three claims of rape. He has since been fired from The Weinstein Co. and suspended by BAFTA, and USC's School of Cinematic Arts has rejected his $5 million endowment to grant scholarships to women directors. His producing credit has since been pulled from TWC's television shows, with Amazon reviewing its buzzy pair of upcoming shows from the company. A criminal investigation has been opened by the New York Police Department.