Meryl Streep defends herself against Rose McGowan criticism

Actress Meryl Streep has defended herself against criticism from Harvey Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan.

McGowan, who accused Weinstein of rape, tweeted her anger at plans for stars to wear black to the Golden Globes in a silent protest against sexual abuse.

"Actresses like Meryl Streep... YOUR SILENCE is THE problem," actress McGowan wrote in the now deleted tweet.

Streep responded by saying she "didn't know" about Weinstein's alleged behaviour when she worked with him.

The movie mogul has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.

McGowan's tweet in full said: "Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @goldenglobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You'll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa."

Marchesa is the fashion line that the film producer started with his wife Georgina Chapman, who left him in October when the allegations emerged.

In Streep's statement, given to the Huffington Post, the Oscar winner said she was "hurt" to be "attacked" by McGowan and said she "did not know" about Weinstein's alleged abuse.

She said: "I have never in my life been invited to his hotel room."

Streep added: "He needed me much more than I needed him and he made sure I didn't know....

"Rose assumed and broadcast something untrue about me, and I wanted to let her know the truth," she wrote, adding that she had passed on her phone number to McGowan through friends after seeing the tweet.

"I sat by the phone all day," she wrote, adding: "I hoped that she would give me a hearing. She did not, but I hope she reads this.

"I am truly sorry she sees me as an adversary, because we are both, together with all the women in our business, standing in defiance of the same implacable foe."

Streep worked with Weinstein on such films as The Iron Lady and August: Osage County and jokingly referred to him as "God" in a 2012 acceptance speech.

It is not the first time Streep has spoken out about the allegations.

When they first surfaced, she said she wanted to make it clear that "not everybody" had known about the allegations, including herself.

Meanwhile, actor Matt Damon has spoken out again about the Hollywood scandal, telling Business Insider he thinks the men in Hollywood who aren't sexual predators should be talked about more.

"We're in this watershed moment, and it's great, but I think one thing that's not being talked about is there are a whole load of guys - the preponderance of men I've worked with - who don't do this kind of thing," he said.

His comments follow criticism from actresses including his former girlfriend Minnie Driver of an interview he gave to ABC.

Damon said: "I do believe that there's a spectrum of behaviour and we're going to have to figure, you know, there's a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation," he said.

"Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated."

But Driver hit back on Twitter.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].