“Let’s hope it all works out for your boyfriend”: Ioan Gruffudd Was Blacklisted After His Ex-partner Refused Harvey Weinstein to “Touch” and “Kiss” Her
Ioan Gruffudd’s ex-wife accused Harvey Weinstein of s*xual harassment during the Metoo movement, revealed that he threatened their careers.
Ioan Gruffudd and his ex-wife Alice Evans went their separate ways in 2021 and what followed was a tumultuous divorce proceeding, involving a restraining order filed by Gruffudd. Before the marriage between them broke down, Evans claimed that her and Gruffudd’s Hollywood careers were ruined by Harvey Weinstein.
Alice Evans as Esther in The Vampire Diaries
She revealed the harassment she faced from Weinstein in 2002. Her revelation came at a time when other women in the industry too came out with similar accusations against him in 2017. Evans shared that she rejected his advances and was met with a threat. She alleged that the producer blacklisted her and her husband.
Ioan Gruffudd’s ex-wife Alice Evans allegedly faced harassment from Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein in a still from The Graham Norton Show
In the #Metoo movement of 2017, several women working in Hollywood accused producer Harvey Weinstein of s*xual assault. Among them was Alice Evans, who wrote in an article for The Daily Telegraph that the producer made s*xual advances towards her. She shared that Weinstein asked her to accompany him to the bathroom fifteen years ago.
The incident happened a day after her then-boyfriend Ioan Gruffudd had auditioned for a film backed by Weinstein. Evans shared that Weinstein tried to “touch” and “kiss” her in the bathroom of a hotel bar in Cannes. When she backed away from him, Weinstein allegedly threatened Gruffudd’s career. He allegedly told her, “Let’s hope it all works out for your boyfriend.”
At the time, she and Gruffudd were new lovers after meeting on the set of 102 Dalmatians. They later married in 2007. Evans claimed that after the encounter with Weinstein, neither she nor Gruffudd could land a Weinstein film.
Evans met the producer the next day but she was ignored. When she approached Weinstein, he allegedly asked her, “Do I know you?”, before walking away. She shared that the bathroom incident “shocked me to the core and affected me for years”. She wrote in the article that she and Gruffudd were blacklisted for her refusal.
She was vocal on X when the slew of allegations emerged against Weinstein. She wrote, “Anyone in the business who says they didn’t know about #Harvey Weinstein is lying.” While Evans stood up for her husband against Weinstein, things didn’t go so well in their personal lives.
Ioan Gruffudd filed for a domestic violence restraining order after his separation from Alice Evans
Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans in a still from 102 Dalmatians | Credits: Walt Disney Pictures
In January 2021, Alice Evans announced her separation from Ioan Gruffudd. It was Gruffurd who initiated the proceedings against Evans, filing for divorce in March 2021. The ex-couple shocked fans when Gruffudd filed for temporary domestic violence restraining order against Evans in February 2022.
The petition requested that Evans stay 100 yards away from Gruffudd and his then-girlfriend Bianca Wallace. He was granted a restraining order for three years in August 2022. Gruffudd shared in his petition (via People):
[Evans] repeatedly told me between August 2020 and our separation on January 1, 2021 that if I left her, she would make false public accusations about me, sell false stories about me to the press, and destroy me and my career.
Evans allegedly breached the restraining order twice and failed to make a court appearance over this breach. In January 2023, charges were filed against the actress and she pleaded not guilty to those charges in court (via People). However, the charges were dropped in March 2023.
