Rose McGowan, one of the first women to be named as a victim in the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal, was briefly suspended by Twitter after commenting on the controversy.

The 44-year-old actress, who has been a prominent figure in the controversy engulfing Hollywood after she was named alongside Ashley Judd in a New York Times expose last week, said "powerful forces" were behind the block.

On Thursday Twitter reinstated her account and said it had been suspended for posting a private number in a now-deleted tweet.

According to the New York Times, she had received $100,000 from Weinstein after an encounter with the producer in a hotel room during Sundance Film Festival in 1997.

McGowan didn't speak to the publication, but praised its journalists, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey "for [their] incredible work".

Since then, she has used Twitter to comment on the controversy, praise women coming forward and call out those she believes should have done more to expose the producer's actions.