Brad Pitt sacred away Harvey Weinstein: Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow has credited former boyfriend Brad Pitt for protecting her from Harvey Weinstein's predatory behaviour and said the disgraced producer backed off as the actor "scared" him away.

In May, Paltrow had revealed that Pitt had threatened to kill Weinstein after she told him of the alleged sexual harassment she experienced at the hands of the disgraced producer.

"I am so grateful to Brad. Because he leveraged his power and fame to protect me - when I was no one - and he scared Harvey.

"And if it hadn't been for him, I don't know if I'd have gotten fired, or what. But instead, Harvey was like, 'OK, let's put it behind us'. I think he wanted to keep Brad on side," she told Marie Claire UK.

Paltrow said Weinstein had made sexual advances towards her when she was first signed on to star in Emma and Shakespeare in Love.

The disgraced media mogul had asked the actor for a massage while the two were alone in a hotel room.

Pitt confronted the producer when the three attended the opening of Hamlet on Broadway in 1995.

Paltrow was one of the biggest names to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment and abuse a year ago after the expose by The New York Times and New Yorker magazine.

More than 100 women have since accused Weinstein of impropriety ranging from sexual harassment to assault and rape.