Lars von Trier Denies Bjork’s Sexual Harassment Allegations

Lars von Trier, who worked with Bjork on the 2000 film “Dancer in the Dark,” has responded to accusations the singer made over the weekend about being sexually harassed by an unnamed Danish film director.

“It was extremely clear to me when I walked into the actresses profession (sic) that my humiliation and role as a lesser sexually harassed being was the norm and set in stone with the director and a staff of dozens who enabled it and encouraged it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “When I turned the director down repeatedly, he sulked and punished me and created for his team an impressive net of illusion where I was framed as the difficult one. Because of my strength, my great team, and because I had nothing to loose (sic) having no ambitions in the acting world, I walked away from it and recovered in a years time.”

Von Trier denied the allegations on Monday, telling the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, (via Google Translate), “That is not the case — although we didn’t get along, that’s a fact. … On the other hand, she delivered one of the greatest-ever performances in my movies.”

Producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen added, in a comment that may have lost something in translation, “As far as I remember, we were victims. That woman was stronger than both Lars von Trier and me and our company together.”

Bjork also said “the director was fully aware of this game and I am sure of that (sic) the film he made after was based on his experiences with me. Because I was the first one that stood up to him and didn’t let him get away with it.”

Bjork ends her statement with a call to action — “let’s stop this” — and asserts that “there is a wave of change in the world.”

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