Dakota Johnson says Alfred Hitchcock 'terrorized' grandmother Tippi Hedren and 'ruined' her career

• Dakota Johnson appeared on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast.
• Johnson said director Alfred Hitchcock "ruined' her grandmother Tippi Hedren's career.

Dakota Johnson discussed her grandmother Tippi Hedren's experience in Hollywood, saying director Alfred Hitchcock "terrorized" Hedren and "ruined" her career.

During an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast with host Scott Feinberg, Johnson, 32, said that Hedren encouraged her to pursue a career in Hollywood despite her own struggles.

"She's always been really honest and firm about standing up for yourself. That's what she did," Johnson told the outlet. "Hitchcock ruined her career because she didn't want to sleep with him, and he terrorized her. He was never held accountable."

Hedren, 91, worked with Hitchcock on his 1963 film "The Birds" and again the following year in "Marnie." In her 2016 memoir, Hedren claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Hitchcock, who died in April 1980.

In her memoir, Hedren accused Hitchcock of attempting to force her to kiss him in the back of a limo once. Hedren also claimed the director engaged in nonconsensual contact in her dressing room on the set of "Marnie."

"[Hitchcock] put his hands on me. It was sexual, it was perverse. The harder I fought him, the more aggressive he became," Hedren wrote.

In 2012, Hedren told BBC that working on Hitchcock's sets was like being in "a mental prison."

On the "Awards Chater" podcast Johnson continued, saying that it is "completely unacceptable for people in a position of power to wield that power over someone in a weaker position, no matter the industry."

"It's hard to talk about because she's my grandmother. You don't want to imagine somebody taking advantage of your grandmother," Johnson added.

Johnson said that Hedren encouraged her and her mother, Melanie Griffith, to stand up for themselves.

"I think the thing that she's been so amazing for me and with my mother is just like, no you do not put up with that shit from anybody," Johnson said. "She would say it in a far more eloquent way. She's such a glamorous movie star, still."

Representatives for Dakota Johnson and Tippi Hedren did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.