Yahoo Movies Tippi Hedren reveals why she went public with Alfred Hitchcock sexual abuse
Actress Tippi Hedren rocked the world earlier this year when she spoke out about how film director Alfred Hitchcock abused her on set. Now she’s explained why she made the revelation.
Speaking to Variety, the star who appeared in ‘The Birds’ and ‘Marnie’ - both directed by filmmaking icon Alfred Hitchcock - spoke candidly about why she released her memoir titled ‘Tippi’.
“I’ve had an extraordinary life and everybody always told me to write about it. I thought if everybody else was writing about me, I might as well tell the whole story, or almost the whole story.”
When directly asked about the sexual assault claims, Hedren says the harassment of women is commonplace and wanted to raise awareness about being pressured by men. “I did it because this is legion all over the world,” she said.
“There’s nothing unique about it. Women complain all the time about somebody trying to make a pass at them or have a relationship in which they are not interested. I don’t put up with that kind of thing. I wanted to let women, especially young women, know never to allow that kind of approach and to be forceful in telling people you’re not interested in having that kind of a relationship. It’s not a bad thing to say no.”
And just like when anyone famous is accused of such crimes, die hard fans will always spring to their defence, as a number of the director’s biographers did. “They weren’t there. How about that? I was the one living that life. They weren’t. How can they possibly have anything to say about it?”
Despite the abuse Hedren recalls going through during both films, she’s still able to view them and appreciate her performance and view independently from what went on behind the cameras: “I can totally separate it from his behaviour, but that doesn’t mean I was best friends with Alfred Hitchcock after ‘Marnie’ was over.”
2012′s HBO movie ‘The Girl’ portrayed Hedren’s (played by Sienna Miller) uncomfortable relationship with Hitchcock (assumed by Toby Jones) and was based on the 2009 book ‘Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies’, which revealed the abuse the actress experienced on set of ‘The Birds’.
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Picture credit: Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, YouTube
