Jamie Lee Curtis Feels Mother Janet Leigh Would Not Have Condoned #MeToo

Jamie Lee Curtis got together with Melanie Griffith recently, as the two bonded over "staying sane" in Hollywood while having celebrity mothers. Melanie Griffith is the daughter of Tippi Hendren, known most for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's "Birds". And for speaking out against Hitchcock and his alleged sexual assault on her.

Curtis, meanwhile, is the daughter of Janet Leigh, who also worked with Hitchcock on the hit "Psycho" but never hinted at any such behavior on Hitchcock's part. And Curtis might have a clue, as to why...

They are not alike, the two. Griffith has a southern drawl and speaks in an intensely feminine way. Jamie Lee Curtis is almost tomboyish in contrast and the two have been friends for a while, although, in a way, their mothers were competitors. Alfred Hitchcock was known for his fixation on actresses, and it was only after he was finished with Tippi Hendren that he focused on Janet Leigh.

And while Hendren spoke out about Hitchcock's behavior, there was no statement ever by Janet Leigh. Hendren mentioned in her book, "Tippi", "I’ve never gone into detail on this, and I never will. I’ll simply say that he suddenly grabbed me and put his hands on me. It was sexual, it was perverse, and it was ugly, and I couldn’t have been more shocked and repulsed. The harder I fought him, the more aggressive he became. Then he started adding threats as if he could do anything to me that was worse than what he was trying to do at that moment.”

In her conversation with Curtis, Griffith said, "My mom sort of became Hollywood royalty later, but she was an anomaly and didn’t last long with Hitchcock. That was a sad story. You know, she was of the #MeToo movement, and it was not accepted at that time. She was shunned and he made sure that she was shunned."

To this Curtis said, "I don’t think Janet would ever have acknowledged anything, because, from her standpoint, she was just grateful. That was very much her take. I think she would have looked at it as 'That was just the way it was.'". Curtis continued saying that had something serious happened, her mom might have spoken up but she was "nothing but grateful to Hitchcock and Alma [Reville, Hitchcock’s wife]" for making her a star.

Curtis had more to say about her mother, although she also felt that it was not her place to do so, considering her mother was long gone. But she still felt that Leigh would not have been on board with the #MeToo movement.

Said Curtis, "I don’t think Janet would have ever acknowledged if there was any bad behavior. She was, it’s a bad term, but kind of Pollyannaish about the industry. I think the #MeToo movement would have really upset her. It’s not fair to unpack that, because she’s dead and I’m going to put words in her mouth, but knowing her, I think she would not say that he misbehaved in any way."