New Harvey Weinstein accuser says mogul sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and a virgin
A former model says Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old and a virgin, then derailed her acting career because she refused his repeated attempts to have sex with her.
The woman, named in court filings only as Jane Doe, became the 10th accuser to join a class action racketeering and sex trafficking lawsuit against the disgraced Hollywood mogul.
“Weinstein told Jane Doe, starting when she was 16 years old, that she could not be successful without engaging in unwanted sexual contact with him; he was the sole gatekeeper to the industry, and she would have to give him sexual favors in exchange for becoming an actor,” the woman alleged in an amended complaint filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.
The accuser, who moved from Poland to the U.S. with dreams of becoming an actress, met Weinstein at an event with her modeling agency, Next, in September 2002, according to court filings. They exchanged contact info, and three days later, Weinstein called her, telling her that he and his driver would pick her up for lunch.
Instead, his driver dropped her off at Weinstein’s SoHo apartment, where he “wasted no time in aggressively and threatening demanding sex.”
“Weinstein threatened and pressured Jane Doe, saying that he had ‘made’ the careers of Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow, and that neither would be working without him,” the lawsuit alleges. “He intimated that Jane Doe would never work as an actress unless she acquiesced to his demands.
“He then took off his pants and forcibly held Jane Doe while taking her hand and making her touch and massage his penis.”
Weinstein’s “demeanor became intense, as if he was hunting prey,” the lawsuit said. Doe tried to leave, and the two started screaming at each other before he finally let her leave — but not before admonishing her about her “stubbornness,” the lawsuit claims.
He pursued her for several years, getting her a role as an extra on the “Nanny Diaries,” and setting her up with a meeting with a talent agency, all the while pressuring her, the lawsuit claims.
In one after-hours meeting at Weinstein’s Greenwich St. office in 2008, the mogul offered to help sign her with the modeling agency Marilyn.
She ran out after he unzipped his pants and started pleasuring himself to a performance by Christina Aguilera on a TV screen, the lawsuit alleges. “Wow, I’d really like to f--- that p---y,” he said, according to court papers.
They kept in touch for about three more years, and Weinstein at one point tried to set her up with a tryout for ‘Project Runway,” the lawsuit alleges.
Weinstein’s criminal defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, trashed the allegations as lies on Wednesday. ““This claim is preposterous. Like so many other women in this case who have already been exposed as liars, this latest completely uncorroborated allegation that is almost 20 years old will also be shown to be patently false,” he said.
Weinstein’s civil lawyer, Elior Shiloh, didn’t return a message seeking comment.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s office declined to comment on whether prosecutors are speaking to the accuser or considering charges.
With Shayna Jacobs
