That Time James Cameron Almost Fought Harvey Weinstein at the Oscars

The "Titanic" director told Vanity Fair in a new interview that he took a swing at Weinstein at the 1998 Academy Awards -- with one of his Oscars.

"I remember almost getting in a fight with Harvey Weinstein and hitting him with my Oscar," said Cameron, who dominated the Oscars that year with his blockbuster romantic disaster movie, which earned 11 of those coveted gold trophies.

But according to Cameron, Weinstein was saved by the bell once the music started to play and the show returned from commercial break.

"The music had started to play to get back in our seats," Cameron said. "The people around us were saying, 'Not here! Not here!' Like it was okay to fight in the parking lot, you know, but it was not okay there when the music was playing and they were about to go live."

The altercation allegedly had to do with the way Weinstein's former production company, Miramax, treated Mexican director and writer Guillermo del Toro when he was working on 1997 science fiction movie "Mimic." Since then, Del Toro has become a household name for cinephiles thanks to hits including "Pan's Labrynth," "Hell Boy" and "Pacific Rim." This year he's already got Oscar buzz for his new movie "Shape of Water."

"Harvey came up glad-handing me, talking about how great they were for the artist, and I just read him chapter and verse about how great I thought he was for the artist based on my friend's experience, and that led to an altercation," Cameron said.

Looking back, Cameron believes there are a lot of people that "would've preferred I had played through on that one."

Weinstein is currently at the center of Hollywood's widespread harassment scandal. The famed movie produced -- who has been accused of raping actresses Rose McGowan and Asia Argento, as well as harassing Ashley Judd and dozens of other women -- is facing a civil lawsuit in the U.K. for an alleged rape.

In response to the allegations, Weinstein's lawyer issued the following statement: "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. Mr. Weinstein obviously can't speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance."