Women confront Harvey Weinstein at New York comedy event, as he is branded ‘Freddy Krueger’

Warning: video footage contains strong language

A female comedian was heckled and booed at an acting talent showcase in New York when she protested against the appearance of Harvey Weinstein in the audience.

Two other women were apparently thrown out of the Downtime bar after confronting the disgraced movie mogul and challenging those in the room to speak up.

Weinstein, who has been accused of a string of rapes, arrived at the bar with his entourage on Wednesday to watch Actor’s Hour, a monthly event dedicated to aspiring comedy and acting talent.

An Instagram video posted by an audience member showed comedian Kelly Bachman making a number of comments about Weinstein’s presence, including a comparison to Freddy Krueger, the villain in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

“I didn’t know we had to bring our own mace and rape whistles to Actor’s Hour,” Bachman said on stage to boos from patrons. Later in the video, women can be heard cheering her.

Separate footage posted to Instagram by Zoe Stuckless, a non-binary actor who uses they/them pronouns, showed them confronting Weinstein and shouting: “No one’s really going to say anything?”

They are then ushered out of the bar. “I’ll get out of here, that’s fine, I am happy to leave, but nobody is going to say anything?” they said. “I’m going to stand four feet from a f***ing rapist, and no one is going to say anything?”

Amber Rollo, a comedian and friend of Bachman’s, claimed that she was also ejected from Downtime after confronting Weinstein.

Rollo told BuzzFeed News: “Other people are questionable; he’s the worst of the worst. I thought we all knew that.”

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Alexandra Laliberte, the organiser of Actor’s Hour, told BuzzFeed News that Weinstein had appeared at her events before, that she did not have a security team and that she did not want to turn Weinstein away from her bar. “I welcome all walks of life into my space,” she said.

Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct, including rape and assault, by more than 80 women. He denies all the allegations.

Last month, Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno claimed that her client’s “whole life has been ruined”, and that he “will pay the biggest price there is” regardless of the outcome of a trial that is due to occur next year.

Weinstein’s trial on rape charges is scheduled for January and will take place in New York.