Georgina Chapman Stayed with Selma Actor David Oyelowo After Harvey Weinstein Scandal Broke

A surprising person came to Georgina Chapman’s aid after decades of sexual harassment allegations against her husband Harvey Weinstein rocked the world.

The fashion designer, 42, is profiled for the first time since the scandal in Vogue, where Selma actor David Oyelowo — her friend of 25 years — reveals he let her escape to his Los Angeles home.

“I kind of found myself in a first-responder capacity,” Oyelowo said in the article. “My wife and I were right there with her two kids, and this catastrophe was unfolding in real-time across the globe, literally your worst nightmare in terms of a marriage, in terms of the future of your kids and your business. And none of this was your own doing and yet you are entirely lumped into it.”

He continues about his close friend, “The thing that was the most difficult to witness was that she quite rightly took the stance of not going out there and defending herself, because there was just too much white noise and too much bile headed in her general direction. She felt, How dare I raise my head and say, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m suffering too?’ ”

The two met when Chapman was 18 and was checking out a college to attend in Northern England when she bumped into Oyelowo. Though neither ended up enrolling in the college’s drama program, they stayed in touch as their respective careers began to blossom.

Chapman even invited the British actor to meet Weinstein when the two were dating. Chapman and Weinstein married in 2007 and have two children together, ages 7 and 4.

“I was in my car on Mulholland Drive, and I got a call from George,” Oyelowo recalled. “She said, ‘Come to Shutters on the Beach; I want you to meet my new boyfriend.’ George was there, and the very famous producer Harvey Weinstein was there, and I was still waiting for the boyfriend to emerge until it sort of became evident: Oh, this is who she meant! And I will be 100 percent honest with you: I was very skeptical. But as time went on, as they got married, had children, there was no way of denying that this was a genuine couple.’”

Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman

Gisela Schober/Getty

On Oct. 10, Chapman announced she was leaving Weinstein after 11 years of marriage in light of his sexual misconduct allegations. “My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered,” she said in a statement to PEOPLE.

In January, a source told PEOPLE that Weinstein will pay out an estimated $15 to 20 million to the designer per their divorce agreement. Chapman and Weinstein have not filed in court, despite reaching a settlement.

The producer has been accused of sexual misconduct by over 60 women since The New York Times and The New Yorker documented decades of alleged sexual misconduct and sexual assault involving a number of women in detailed, Pulitzer-prize winning articles in October.

A spokesperson for Weinstein previously told PEOPLE in a statement that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”

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