Following the allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein, Björk has shared a story of her own experiences with harassment in the film industry. “i am inspired by the women everywhere who are speaking up online to tell about my experience with a danish director,” the musician wrote in a post on her Facebook today. “it was extremely clear to me when i walked into the actresses profession 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 . i became aware of that it is a universal thing that a director can touch and harass his actresses at will and the institution of film allows it .”

She adds, “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 .” Although she never names the director in question, Björk has appeared in only a few feature films, most notably Dancer In The Dark, the 2000 film by Danish director Lars Von Trier. She famously clashed with Von Trier on set, and it was never fully explained why. In the note, she goes on to say, “in my opinion he had a more fair and meaningful relationship with his actresses after my confrontation so there is hope.” Read her full statement below.

i am inspired by the women everywhere who are speaking up online to tell about my experience with a danish director . because i come from a country that is one of the worlds place closest to equality between the sexes and at the time i came from position of strength in the music world with hard earned independence , it was extremely clear to me when i walked into the actresses profession 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 . i became aware of that it is a universal thing that a director can touch and harass his actresses at will and the institution of film allows it . 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 having no ambitions in the acting world , i walked away from it and recovered in a years time . i am worried though that other actresses working with the same man did not . the director was fully aware of this game and i am sure of that 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

and in my opinion he had a more fair and meaningful relationship with his actresses after my confrontation so there is hope

let’s hope this statement supports the actresses and actors all over

let’s stop this

there is a wave of change in the world

kindness

björk