Women are partly to blame for showbiz sex scandal, says Sir Ian McKellen: Star claims some actresses tell directors they will sleep with them to win roles

Sir Ian McKellen says actresses in the 1960s pitching for work would write DRR - directors rights respected - on their headshots as a coded offer of sex for parts.

Speaking to a packed Oxford Union on December 6, the 78-year-old veteran of stage, screen and television responded to a request for his take on the Harvey Weinstein scandal - after refusing to comment in depth on allegations against Kevin Spacey - saying he hoped "we are going through a period which will help to eradicate it [harassment] all together".

He then shared an anecdote from his early days in the theatre that suggested women were as much to blame for the problem as men.

"From my own experience... when I was starting out in the early '60s, the director of the theatre I was working at showed me some photographs he got from women who were wanting jobs, they were actors, some of them had at the bottom of their photograph DRR - directors' rights respected. In other words, if you give me a job, you can have sex with me," McKellen said.

"That was commonplace from people who proposed that they should be a victim. Madness. People have taken advantage of that and encouraged it and it absolutely will not do."

McKellen said "people taking advantage of their power is utterly reprehensible anywhere it happens, within the family ... in the workplace, doesn't have to be the theatre, doesn't have to be Hollywood, it could be the local shop. It could be parliament, wherever it happens, it won't do. People must be called out, and it's sometimes very difficult for victims to do that."

However he also called for honesty to mitigate the number of false allegations. "I assume nothing but good will come out of these revelations, even though some people get wrongly accused - there's that side of it as well. Honesty. Honesty. Honesty."

McKellen worked with Spacey during his tenure as artistic director of the Old Vic in London.

More than 20 allegations against Spacey have come to light after actor Anthony Rapp accused the Oscar winner of groping him when he was just 14.

Administrators at the prestigious theatre had called for people to come forward with allegations about Spacey from his time at the Old Vic.

LGBTQ activism and McKellen's personal stance on labels and coming out made up the majority of the hour-long talk, along with his thoughts the popularity of his most enduring role - Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings.

McKellen ended the talk with one of Gandalf's most famous lines: "You shall not pass!"