In a remarkable interview recorded in January 2017, obtained by the Observer and published for the first time, McGowan sheds more light on the allegation while explaining that she never reported the rape to the police because a criminal lawyer advised her that she was unlikely to win. “Also, I didn’t want his name next to mine in my obituary; his name doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as mine when I’m dead,” she said…

“They blame the victim, they do all that shit. People are bred to be scared. They are bred to put fear into people and that’s what they do, they’re bred to put fear into the publishers and lawyers and they overreach it, and I’m going to do what I can and come out as hard as I can,” she said.

Although the interview took place ten months ago, McGowan correctly predicted that women in the industry would come forward with claims of rape, sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact. “You can’t really keep information any more,” she said, referring to the allegations directed at Bill Cosby, who faces numerous accusations of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault and sexual misconduct stretching back to the 1960s.