Gary Oldman’s ex-wife Donya Fiorentino has criticized the Academy following his Best Actor Oscar win Sunday night, accusing it of rewarding abusers.
“Congratulations, Gary and congratulations to the Academy for awarding not one but two abusers with Oscars,” Fiorentino told TMZ on Monday. “I thought we had evolved. What happened to the #MeToo movement?”
Oldman, who portrayed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour,” was accused by Fiorentino in 2001 of physically and emotionally abusing her during their four-year marriage.
The actor has denied the accusations and his representative said in a statement to TheWrap Monday night that Fiorentino’s claims were made during a bitter custody battle.
Fiorentino, who was the actor’s third wife, claimed in court documents that Oldman once beat her with a phone in front of their young children. She also said that Oldman was spending “over $18,000 in a weekend at hotels in New York, drinking several bottles of vodka, whiskey and wine per day, paying for prostitutes, his hotel room and drugs.”
She filed a report with the Los Angeles Superior Court at the time, but police didn’t pursue charges against Oldman.
Oldman’s representative said in the statement:
The Time’s Up and Me Too movements are critical and long overdue. In the case of Gary Oldman, he is the only one that someone is trying to smear (using these important movements as the excuse) who a) has been cleared, b) had allegations made by an ex wife during a bitter custody battle, c) had allegations made by someone with serious drug issues at the time, and d) had allegations made by someone whose previous marriage ended with the same results. Unfortunately, the crucial and worthy intentions of this movement are aimed at men who are guilty of abusing women who have been real and serious victims. It is also unfortunate when a woman hell bent to harm someone with false claims uses this movement as convenient cover to further a personal vendetta. It is my most sincere hope and wish that the movement, publications, and journalists take a breath to recognize the difference and do not let the cause be misused as an instrument of harm to decent people by people with very bad intentions.
Fiorentino could not be reached for comment by TheWrap. She did not identify the second person she said was rewarded as an abuser.