Ron Perlman Tells All About Infamous Harvey Weinstein Handshake: ‘He Knew It Was Clammy’
Zack Sharf
Ron Perlman went viral on social media in June 2018 after revealing he once urinated on his own hands before shaking Harvey Weinstein‘s hands at a public event. Now, in a new interview with The Daily Beast, the “Hellboy” and “Sons of Anarchy” actor tells the full story of what happened between himself and the now-convicted rapist. Perlman said his encounter with Weinstein took place at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, which the actor attended while taking a short break from filming “Blade II” in Prague with director Guillermo del Toro. Perlman jetted down to Cannes and the infamous handshake took place at one of Weinstein’s own charity events.
“I never really had a relationship with Harvey but I wanted to show up to one of his charity events,” Perlman said. “When I got on the phone with him to request a ticket, he just acted like a fuckin’ piece-of-shit pig, like, ‘Who are you to ask me? Do you know who I am?’ He thought I was returning the Revlon guy’s phone call [Ron Perelman], which is why he returned my phone call in the first place, and when he realized I was just the actor he just went off on me.”
Perlman continued, “I said to him, ‘Well, it’s OK, Harvey, I managed to get a ticket between the time I called you and now, so I’ll be there tonight.’ And he said, ‘Oh, you’ll be there? Well, make sure you shake my hand out of respect.’ And I said, ‘Oh yeah, Harvey, I sure will.’ And that’s the genesis of that story.”
When asked by The Daily Beast whether or not Weinstein noticed what Perlman had done in the moment, the actor said, “Well, he knew it was clammy. I’m hoping he read the tweet where I finally outed myself. That was a one-off. There aren’t many people that deserve that move like Harvey Weinstein did.”
Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual acts in the first degree. Weinstein was sentenced March 11.
Perlman, meanwhile, appears in the new action film “Clover,” which was released on digital platforms April 3. Read Perlman’s recent interview with The Daily Beast here.
