Harvey Weinstein has broken his silence to respond to accusations that he raped actress Rose McGowan 20 years ago.

Speaking through his lawyer, the film mogul offered alleged correspondence to prove the claims were false: emails from Oscar-winning actor Ben Affleck, and McGowan's former manager Jill Messick.

Affleck had previously said he believed the claims that Weinstein had raped McGowan at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997 - an alleged event which she details in her new autobiography Brave.

In the emails cited by Weinstein's lawyer and sent a few months before the Weinstein claims were made, Affleck allegedly says he had no information regarding any sexual assault.

"She never told me nor did I ever infer that she was attacked by anyone," the cited emails from Affleck says.


"Any accounts to the contrary are false. I have no knowledge about anything Rose did or claimed to have done."

:: Weinstein: The women behind the claims

Image: Harvey Weinstein and actress Rose McGowan at the 2007 premiere of Grindhouse

Another email used by Weinstein's lawyer as a defence was sent by McGowan's former manager who, after the alleged 1997 incident, said she had spoken to McGowan.

"When we met up the following day, she hesitantly told me of her own accord that during the meeting that night before she had gotten into a hot tub with Mr Weinstein," Messick's email reads.

"She was very clear about the fact that getting into that hot tub was something that she did consensually and that in hindsight it was also something that she regretted having done."

Weinstein's lawyer said: "As a general matter, Harvey Weinstein and his attorneys have refrained from publicly criticising any of the women who have made allegations of sexual assault against Mr Weinstein despite a wealth of evidence that would demonstrate the patent falsity of these claims.

"Watching the 'performance' by Rose McGowan as she looks to promote her new book however, has made it impossible to remain quiet as she tries to smear Mr Weinstein with a bold lie that is denied not only by Mr Weinstein himself, but by at least two witnesses."

McGowan has already responded to Weinstein's lawyer on Twitter, writing: "F*** you you f****** douche bag loser from hell. You will burn. You will be an empty suit coffin. You go fall off the planet you f***."

McGowan reportedly reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein but later spoke out, saying she had been "silenced for 20 years" and had been "harassed" and "maligned".

Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 80 women, has vehemently denied any allegation of non-consensual sex.

Sky News tried to contact Ben Affleck for comment, without response.