Weinstein issues 'strange' denial to Gwyneth Paltrow's story

Los Angeles: Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul arrested on rape charges last May, has responded to a story on actor Gwyneth Paltrow's Shakespeare in Love casting story.

The profile centres on Paltrow in the 20 years since winning the Academy Award for best actor for Shakespeare in Love, produced by Weinstein.

In the story, Paltrow talked about Weinstein's bullying ways and how she had to stand up to him. And in 2017, in an interview with the New York Times, Paltrow joined dozens of women who accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

Weinstein has not commented on the allegation, and is kept out of spotlight on a $1 million bail. But he decided to weigh in on an anecdote from Paltrow about the casting of Joseph Fiennes as the lead of "Shakespeare in Love", reports variety.com.

"At the last minute, Harvey wanted Ben Affleck to take over and play Shakespeare. I said, 'No, you can't do that. You have to have an English person'," Paltrow had then told Variety.

Weinstein eventually conceded, and Affleck joined the cast as Ned Alleyn. The film's director, John Madden, and producer, Donna Gigliotti, both confirmed that Weinstein suggested Affleck to portray Shakespeare.