Inspired by the people coming forward with their stories about sexual assault in light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Björk decided to share an account of the harassment she faced during her brief foray into the acting world. Björk explained that she was working on a project with “a Danish director” who made it clear that it was “the norm” for women on set to be humiliated and treated as “a lesser sexually harassed being.” Björk says she repeatedly rejected this director’s advances, so he “sulked and punished” her by convincing the crew that she was difficult to work with. Her statement didn’t include the man’s name, but considering that Björk has only ever made two movies and one of them was Danish director Lars Von Trier Dancer In The Dark, the implication was obvious.
Now, Von Trier has denied the allegations that he sexually harassed Björk, with his Zentropa business partner Peter Aalbaek Jensen telling a Danish newspaper (via IndieWire) that Von Trier was surprised by Björk’s accusations. Jensen admits that there was a lot of tension on set between Björk and Von Trier, but he says “that woman was stronger than both Lars Von Trier and me and our company together.” Von Trier has reportedly refused to comment on the issue beyond this, with a spokesperson explaining that he doesn’t want this to become a “mudslide.”