In a new Instagram post, actress Jena Malone revealed she was sexually assaulted during the filming of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part Two, the fourth and final installment of the popular dystopian franchise. Part Two was filmed back to back with Mockingjay—Part One between September 2013 and June 2014.
Malone, who played Johanna Mason in three of the Hunger Games movies, does not name her alleged assailant, but says it was someone she worked with.
“This photo was taken right after I wrapped Mockingjay – Part Two and I had to say goodbye to everyone on set,” Malone wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her standing in a sunlit field. “We were shooting in a beautiful estate in the countryside of France and I asked the driver to let me out in this field so I could cry and capture this moment. Even tho this time in Paris was extremely hard for me, was going thru a bad breakup and also was sexually assaulted by someone I had worked with, I was so full of gratitude for this project, the people I became close with and this amazing part I got to play.”
“I wish it wasn’t tied to such a traumatic event for me but that is the real wildness of life I guess,” her caption continues. “I’ve worked very hard to heal and learn thru restorative justice, how to make peace with the person who violated me and make peace with myself. It’s been hard to talk about The Hunger Games and Johanna Mason without feeling the sharpness of this moment in time, but I’m ready to move thru it and reclaim the joy and accomplishment I felt. Lots of love to you survivors out there. The process is so slow and non linear.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Lionsgate and Malone for further comment.
Actress Willow Shields, who played Primrose Everdeen (younger sister of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen) in the Hunger Games films, commented on Malone’s post: “This post has me at a loss of words. I understand and I hope that though the process is so slow you are okay Jena.”
Also in the comments section of her post, Malone responded to someone who remarked how the unnamed individual who allegedly assaulted the actress “got to walk away with no repercussions.” Malone replied, “That’s not true. I used restorative justice to allow healing and accountability and growth with the other person. It was a hard process but one i believe truly helped me move thru some of the hardest parts of the grief.”
