"i was 15"

Rose McGowan Accuses Director Alexander Payne of Sexual Misconduct

Photo: Ian West - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

Rose McGowan has accused director Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Downsizing) of sexual misconduct in a tweet Monday morning. The actress, whose powerful allegations helped bring Harvey Weinstein to justice, accused Payne of sexually inappropriate behavior with her when she was 15 years old. “Alexander Payne,” she addressed the tweet to him. “You sat me down & played a soft-core porn movie you directed for Showtime under a different name. I still remember your apartment in Silverlake. You are very well-endowed. You left me on a street corner afterwards. I was 15.” She added a GIF of herself saying no. A few hours later, she followed up with a photo of herself at 15 years old. “I just want an acknowledgement and an apology,” she captioned it. “I do not want to destroy.” Later on Monday, McGowan provided more details about her alleged encounter with Payne to Variety.

“I feel very badly for my 15-year-old self. I had auditioned for him. He took me home afterward. I quit acting after that and then was discovered by Ilene Staple six years later,” McGowan told Variety. “It wasn’t until after the Harvey Weinstein stories came out that I reframed the Payne of it all. I had for years looked at it as a sexual encounter, not understanding what it really was. It was a grooming situation. The first time I’d been shown a straight porn.” She added that she feels “extreme emotional exhaustion” after sharing the story.

McGowan previously alleged misconduct by a “very famous” man when she was 15 while in conversation with investigative reporter Ronan Farrow at the 92nd Y in February 2018. “He took me home, after he met me, and showed me a soft-porn movie he’d made for Showtime, under a different name, of course … And then he had sex with me. And then he left me next to Tropical in Silver Lake, standing on a street corner,” McGowan said at the time. She added in the conversation that she only recently realized it was statutory rape and would come forward with his name when she was ready.

This article has been updated throughout with additional details.

Rose McGowan Accuses Alexander Payne of Sexual Misconduct