Getty Images"/>"Lord of the Rings" star Sean Astin has opened up about an "aggressive, insulting and basically rude" phone call he once received from Harvey Weinstein and said that the women who've been spoken out about the abuse they endured at the hands of the disgraced Hollywood producer should be "celebrated for their courage."
Astin, who also appears in the second season of "Stranger Things," recently penned a lengthy Facebook post in which he said he believes Weinstein, who was recently fired from his own company following a string of allegations of sexual harassment and assault, is a "vicious bully who uses rage and the threat of rage to intimidate many many people."
"Ranting and raving is the guy's steady state," he said. "I think that he is a mean thug with a vindictive and menacing approach to anyone who gets in his way. Such is his reputation."
The accusations of sexual perversion, sexual menacing, and sexual intimidation brought against Weinstein warrant imprisonment, Astin said.
"The thought of Harvey Weinstein behind bars is deeply satisfying, if not fully enlightened," he said.
While many people have questioned how such behavior was allowed to endure for so long -- three decades -- and others have suggested the women were "complicit," Astin pointed out that it's a "a pervasive culture."
"Everyone says, it's time for the conversation to start," he said. "That ol' chestnut. The basic themes and salacious reporting usually turn back in on itself and the so called conversation stalls. We all revere successful businessmen. So called 'powerbrokers' are lifted up in many ways, financially, socially, politically, personally. All manner of bad behavior is tolerated as long as the hits keep coming, as long as business thrives."
Astin, a professing Christian, said that the women who've been abused and the women who have spoken out should be celebrated for their courage, and "every single person who was bullied and abused in business by Harvey Weinstein should also speak out."
However, the story doesn't start and stop with Weinstein's sexual abuses, Astin said.
"Harvey was one of the Executive Producers of Lord of the Rings," he recalled. "A couple of years ago, Harvey behaved in an aggressive, insulting and basically rude manner with me on a call. He wanted something from me. I listened politely. I spoke respectfully. And I told him no."
Actresses Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the women who have spoken publicly about alleged incidents involving Weinstein.
Earlier, evangelist Franklin Graham said the scandal surrounding Weinstein is a reminder that "our nation is in the moral decline."
"The human heart-whether the person is on the right or the left-without Christ, we're all the same," he said. "The Bible tells us that the human heart is 'desperately wicked; who can know it.' What many people may call wrong or a mistake, the Bible calls sin and is clear that we are all guilty of sin."
Sin, Graham warned, has consequences.
"The Bible warns us that the penalty of sin is death," the evangelist said. "The Bible also warns us, 'Be sure your sin will find you out.' But God offered a sacrifice for sin, once for all-His Son, Jesus Christ, who went to the Cross for us. Everyone needs to examine their own heart. God will forgive anyone, if we truly repent and put our faith and trust in His Son."
