Thandie Newton has told how she was abused as a teenage actress on a casting couch.

The 40-year-old British star said she was still scarred by a “horrific” incident involving an unnamed male director when she was 18 and looking for her “big break”.

Miss Newton, now a mother of two and married to the film producer Oliver Parker, said she later found out the director involved had shown a video of her ordeal to others in show business.

The Cambridge-educated actress, who has starred in films including Crash and Mission Impossible II, has chosen to speak out about her abuse as part of an international campaign to end violence against women, One Billion Rising – the number who have been raped, beaten or abused.

Speaking to CNN International journalist Max Foster, she said: “When I was a 16-year-old fresh from boarding school… you know the casting couch, I was definitely objectified to an extreme.The way I was made to feel. The way I was exploited and the kind of role and the kinds of things I was expected to do in auditions.”

Foster asked: “So you were abused as a 16-year-old?” Miss Newton replied: “Yes.”

She goes on to explain, however, that at the time she didn’t know how to react because it was conducted in what she describes as a “professional environment”.

Referring to the incident that happened when she was 18, she continued: “It was a screen test. There were two other people in the room, the director and the casting director, who was a woman.

The director asked me to sit with my legs apart. The camera was positioned where it could see up my skirt, to put my leg over the arm of the chair.

“Before I started my dialogue, I was told to think about the character I was supposed to be having the dialogue with and how it felt to be made love to by this person.”

‘I was thinking “this is so strange, why would I need to do that?” she said. “But this is the director, there is the casting director, it must be normal.”

“I’m 18 years old, you know, and I’m thinking this is, obviously… I was in a protected… there were boundaries.”

Three years later, she discovered the video was being shown by the director to other showbusiness figures.

— Daily Mail

Jennifer Lopez misses the fashion mark

She may have been attending star-studded events to toast two of the globe’s hottest brands.

But Jennifer Lopez certainly missed the fashion mark as she turned out to the Tommy Hilfiger and Topshop openings in West Hollywood on Wednesday night.

Opting for a look that not even she could pull off, the 43-year-old singer suffered an epic style fail in her bizarre silver mosaic-inspired dress.

Swamping her killer curves in the unflattering garment, the On The Floor hitmaker’s choice of outfit was perhaps not the most appropriate considering all eyes would be on her fashion choices.

The unusual silver dress featured black panel detailing, baggy long sleeves and an orange band around the high neck, meaning every inch of her incredible body was covered up.

Jennifer teamed her outfit with a pair of thick black tights and towering orange and leopard print platform heels, which completely clashed with her busy dress.

The star completed her look with her dark locks pulled back off her face into a tight bun, while emphasising her features with a slick of fuchsia lipstick and heavy black eyeliner.

— Daily Mail