Gwyneth Paltrow's Mom Blythe Danner Defends Her Daughter's Response to Harvey Weinstein

Gwyneth Paltrow's mother Blythe Danner is coming to her defense following a recent column by Maureen Dowd in The New York Times. The actress penned a letter to the editor after Dowd was critical of Paltrow for continuing to collaborate with Harvey Weinstein after she had once refused to give him a massage in his hotel suite, which she revealed to The New York Times earlier this month. 

"I cannot remain silent while Maureen Dowd disparages my daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, for the manner in which she chose to handle Harvey Weinstein’s attempt at a sexual encounter when she was 22," Danner began her letter. 

She went on to say that Paltrow did report the incident to her agent and Brad Pitt, who she was dating at the time, and he confronted Weinstein about it. "Gwyneth did not 'put aside her qualms to become "the first lady of Miramax" 'back then, as Ms. Dowd would have it," Danner wrote. "She continued to hold her own and insist that Mr. Weinstein treat her with respect."

Danner ended her letter to the editor asking that others not focus on what the women did or did not do in situations like this, but rather, look for solutions to this longstanding problem. "I suggest that the pundits stop casting aspersions on the women who have confronted unwanted sexual advances in the manner each sees fit and concentrate on the constructive ways to prevent this behavior in the future," she wrote. 

Martha Plimpton also wrote a letter to the editor in response to Mayim Bialik's controversial op-ed in which she was criticized for seeming to blame the victim in cases of sexual assault and harassment. In addition to Danner, Plimpton, and Paltrow, many other members of the entertainment industry have come forward with their own stories or condemned the Hollywood producer's actions since the news broke of allegations against Weinstein for sexual assault and harassment spanning decades.