Robert Rodriguez says he knew about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assault of Rose McGowan and accuses the mogul of burying the release of “Grindhouse” out of spite. Rodriguez and McGowan were in a relationship from 2006 to 2009, and the director tells Variety in a statement that he was inspired to cast McGowan as a “bad ass” character in the film as a way of getting back at her alleged assailant.

McGowan has accused Weinstein of raping her in 1997 while she was appearing in “Scream,” a horror hit that was released by Miramax, his former company. Dozens of women have accused Weinstein of assault and harassment. His accusers include Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Mira Sorvino, and Cara Delevingne.

Rodriguez worked with Miramax, and later the Weinstein Co. for years, primarily releasing films through Dimension, a genre label run by Harvey’s brother Bob. Films he made for the companies include “From Dusk Til Dawn,” “Spy Kids,” and “The Faculty.” The relationship continued even after “Grindhouse” was released to tepid box office results, with Dimension distributing Rodriguez-directed sequels to “Spy Kids,” “Machete,” and “Sin City.”

Here is Rodriguez’s account of what McGowan told him about Weinstein, the production of “Grindhouse,” and what he hopes the entertainment industry will do to reform itself in the wake of an ongoing harassment and abuse scandal. Here is his statement printed in full. A spokesperson for Harvey Weinstein had no immediate comment. A rep for McGowan declined comment.

As one of the first victims to come forward with stories of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein, Rose McGowan is a very brave woman who I applaud for speaking out about Weinstein’s repulsive behavior.

Today over 50 remarkable women have come forward to detail the horrors they endured. This saga has been a watershed moment in our country, and now because of the courage of Rose and others, countless women who previously were unable to stand up and speak out against sexual abuse can do so without fear.

I have not previously discussed what I knew about the 1997 incident that Rose suffered in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival. I never wanted to do anything that jeopardized a legal settlement she entered into with Harvey Weinstein. Now that she’s able to tell her story, I want to provide an account of what I knew, when I knew it, and what I did about it.

I met Rose in Cannes on May 19, 2005, at an amfAR after party. “Sin City” had just screened at the Festival the night before. Rose and I were talking, and she told me she was a film noir fan and that she wished she could have been cast in “Sin City.” I asked her “Why didn’t you audition for it? You would have been terrific.” She said that she couldn’t because she had been blacklisted from working on any Weinstein movies. When I asked what she meant by that, and how could she possibly be blacklisted, she told me the horrifying story of what Harvey did to her seven years earlier.

My first reaction was one of shock. I recall clearly what I said next, “My God, why didn’t you say anything? People would have stood up for you! And where was your fiancé during all this? I would have at least beaten the crap out of Harvey if I had heard that.” Rose said they didn’t know what to do. She confided that a female attorney had told her that because she had done nudity in movies that no jury would believe her and that it would turn into a he said/she said case.

Rose told me that all she could do at the time was to get Harvey Weinstein to donate money to an abused women’s shelter and in return she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that forbade her from talking about the horrific violation without being sued, and that she shouldn’t even be telling me. To add insult to injury, she told me that she was blacklisted from even auditioning for any Weinstein movies.

Incensed at what I heard, I told Rose that she was not blacklisted from MY movies and that Harvey couldn’t tell me who to cast. The reason was that Harvey didn’t work on my movies, I made movies all those years for Dimension and Bob Weinstein. So I explained that if I cast her in my next film, Harvey couldn’t suddenly tell me no, because my first question would be “Oh, really? Why can’t I cast her?” And I was sure he would not want to tell me why.