The wave of disclosures from celebrities regarding times they were sexually harassed or assaulted shows no sign of breaking, given that virtually every woman has such a story (as do many men and non-binary folks). Icelandic artist Björk joined the chorus of voices that have been speaking out against those abuses of power, as well as the culture that fosters them. Over the weekend, she posted about a “Danish film director” who made sure her “humiliation and role as a lesser sexually harassed being was the norm” on set.
Since Björk has starred in only a couple of films, and only one of them was directed by a Danish filmmaker, people have surmised that she was referring to Lars Von Trier, who helmed 2000’s Dancer In The Dark. Von Trier does not believe she’s talking about him, though, having released a statement of sort-of denial via a third party just yesterday. Now Björk has shared more details about the harassment, which of course sounds absolutely awful.
The Vulnicura artist lists multiple disturbing encounters with this director, who repeatedly propositioned her in graphic detail while his wife was in earshot, threatened to break into her hotel room at night, and smashed a chair when she finally told him to keep his damn hands to himself. And while she declined to name the director or film, she did leave a pretty significant clue. In her latest post, Björk writes, “fabricated stories in the press about me being difficult by his producer. this matches beautifully the weinstein methods and bullying. i have never eaten a shirt. not sure that is even possible.” One of the many reports from the Dancer In The Dark set that claimed the singer-actress was “difficult” to work with included a story that she’d ripped up a shirt she didn’t want to wear and ate “shreds” of it. Now we wait for Von Trier to issue another statement through another collaborator, assuming he has any.