Adrien Brody’s career never quite exploded in the way many thought it would after he became the youngest man to win a best actor Oscar for starring in Roman Polanski’s 2002 Holocaust drama “The Pianist.” Instead, the actor has hovered on the fringes of the industry, playing offbeat roles in Wes Anderson films and appearing in occasional horror movies.
Maybe Brody will revise his views of rich and famous men who allegedly abuse their power to sexually prey on others, now that he’s reportedly dating Georgina Chapman, the Marchesa fashion designer who herself became best known for being Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife.
Chapman dumped Weinstein, her husband of 10 years and the father of her two children, after multiple women came forward in the New York Times and New Yorker to accuse the film mogul of raping, groping and sexually harassing them.
News that Brody, 46, is dating Chapman, 43, comes as Weinstein was convicted in a Manhattan court of felony sex crimes in a trial that became a watershed in the #MeToo movement, as the New York Times said. After Weinstein was found guilty of criminal sexual assault in the first degree, and rape in the third degree, he was taken into custody and reportedly was headed to a jail cell on Riker’s Island.
The Sun first reported on the romance between Brody and Chapman, saying that they first met through her ex-husband. Brody starred in two of Weinstein’s Miramax productions, “Hollywoodland” and “Jailbreakers.”
Brody and Chapman got reacquainted in April at a swimwear event in Puerto Rico, where they reportedly “bonded over cocktails,” Page Six reported. Photos from the event show the pair “looking cozy” as they sat opposite each over a candlelight dinner with friends, Page Six said.
With his angular looks and unique screen presence, Brody first burst onto the Hollywood scene when he starred in “The Pianist” and beat out veterans such as Jack Nicholson for the Oscar. The actor, then 29, also made Oscars history — and not in the best way — when when he ran up on stage to accept his trophy from Berry, and he grabbed the actress and kissed her.
The impromptu moment came under renewed scrutiny in the wake of the Weinstein allegations and the rise of the #MeToo movement.
Berry said in 2017 that the kiss left her stunned and wondering “What the (expletive) is happening?” Brody said that didn’t regret the kiss. “There was a lot of love it that room, real love and recognition,” Brody told IndieWire. “It was just a good moment and…I took it.”
Brody also was dismissive of more serous allegations against Polanski and Allen when he talked to Jenny McCarthy for her SiriusXM show in 2016.
Polanski admitted to drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles in 1978, but fled the United States before sentencing. Since then, five other women have accused the Academy Award-winning director of either raping or sexually assaulting them when they were minors.
Meanwhile, Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, has maintained that the director molested her in 1992, when she was 7 years old. Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations.
When McCarthy asked Brody about the criticism of actors who choose to work with artists who have faced such serious allegations, Brody resorted to common deflections, Refinery29 reported. He said, “I think life is very complicated” and, “People make mistakes in life.”
Brody defended Polanski by saying, “Polanski, for instance, had a very complicated and difficult life.” Brody also tried to minimize the accusations by comparing them to tabloid gossip.
“I choose not to indulge this kind of fodder,” Brody said. “I don’t even read about those things.”
Chapman certainly couldn’t dismiss the allegations against Weinstein as “fodder.” Her life was totally upended, and she had to face scrutiny about whether she knew about her ex-husband’s behavior towards other women. Chapman insisted to Vogue magazine in 2018 that she never knew that Weinstein allegedly abused or harassed women, which made the revelations more shocking.
“That’s what makes this so incredibly painful: I had what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life,” Chapman told Vogue. “I was so humiliated and so broken… that… I, I, I… didn’t think it was respectful to go out.”
Chapman kept a low-profile for about a year after leaving her husband. She has since worked to salvage her brand, getting support from Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and actress friends such as Scarlett Johansson and Constance Wu, whom she accompanied to the 2019 Met Gala.
