Oprah says Weinstein claims signal 'watershed' moment for women

The drumbeat of claims accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment has triggered a lot of "unreleased pain" and "repressed anger," said talk show maven Oprah Winfrey, who called the revelations against the movie maker "a watershed moment."

Now that the floodgates have opened, and women are beginning to share their own personal stories in and out of Hollywood, the healing can begin, she said.

"This is what I do know for sure: When something this major happens, when you have the fallout, 50 women coming forward, that it's a watershed moment," Winfrey told "CBS This Morning" on Wednesday.

"And what I do believe is actually happening is that, first of all, it's triggering a lot of unreleased pain, repressed anger, guilt and suffering that a lot of women have had."

Winfrey said nearly every woman has a story, and she said she heard plenty of them on movie sets with actresses that had not slept for days.

"I was like, what is that?" Winfrey recalled. "Oh, you guys are suffering from PTSD."

The mistake, Winfrey said, is for women — and men — to miss the bigger picture.

"If we make this just about Harvey Weinstein, then we will have lost this moment," Winfrey said. "I think this is a moment where no matter what business you work in, there have been women who not only had the disease to please, that's a part of it, but who felt that in order to keep my job, in order to keep my positioning, in order to keep moving forward, I've got to smile, I've got to look the other way, I've got to pretend he didn't say that, I've got to pretend he didn't touch me — I think those days are about to be over."

Weinstein, 65, was forced out of his movie production company after the New York Times published a blockbuster report saying Weinstein sexually harassed actress Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, and settled claims with at least eight women.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette, Lauren Holly and Lena Headey, are among the dozens of actresses now claiming Harvey Weinstein targeted them with unwanted advances, claims Weinstein has denied.