Film mogul Harvey Weinstein will not face criminal charges stemming from a hot Italian model’s claim that he molested her in his Tribeca Film Center office last month, the Manhattan DA said Friday.
“This case was taken seriously from the outset, with a thorough investigation conducted by our sex crimes unit,” said Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for DA Cyrus Vance Jr.
“After analyzing the available evidence, including multiple interviews with both parties, the criminal charge is not supported.”
Accuser Ambra Battilana, 22, had refused to cooperate with authorities for four days after she initially reported to police that she was groped by Weinstein on March 27.
Instead, Battilana and her manager were working behind the scenes with one of Weinstein’s top aides to “cut a deal” to get her into one of his flicks, sources said.
“She didn’t want to be interviewed by the Manhattan DA’s Office. But once it became apparent that the movie role was just a pipe dream, then she went forward with the criminal case,” a source has said.
Battilana was finally interviewed by Manhattan prosecutors on April Fools Day at the NYPD Special Victims Squad’s offices in East Harlem.
Sources said her former lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, dumped the case because he was uncomfortable with Battilana’s machinations and did not appear to be a “serious victim.”
This story first appeared in the NY Post.
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