Harvey Weinstein denies offering acting jobs in exchange for sex
Disgraced former Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein is denying he admitted to The Spectator that he offered acting jobs to women in exchange for sex.
An aspiring actress says she was a 16-year-old virgin when disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her in New York, according to an amended Manhattan federal racketeering lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The woman, a former model from Poland identified only as Jane Doe in the court papers, said that after agreeing to meet for a business lunch in 2002, Weinstein instead took her to his Soho apartment.
“…Weinstein wasted no time in aggressively and threateningly demanding sex,” the suit alleges. He told the distraught starlet that if she wanted to be an actress she had to give in to his perverted desires.
“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 suit alleges.
“He then took off his pants and forcibly held Jane Doe while taking her hand and making her touch and massage his penis,” the filing states.
Weinstein allegedly became enraged when the terrified teen objected and refused to let her leave — but eventually relented, the suit says.
The underage catwalker had just met Weinstein three days earlier at a soiree for her modeling agency Next.
After picking her up in his car for what she thought was a business lunch, she told him she was only 16, the papers say.
The pervy producer pursued the model for the next decade, getting her an extra role in the “Nanny Diaries” in 2004 — but she continued to resist his demands for sex.
In a 2008 after-hours meeting in his Greenwich Street office to arrange for her to sign with the modeling agency Marilyn, Weinstein spotted Christina Aguilera on a nearby TV and allegedly said, “‘Wow, I’d really like to f--k that p---y’ then unzipped his pants and began touching his penis,” the filing states. Jane Doe fled the room.
But later she continued to discuss her career with Weinstein, including trying out for “Project Runway.”
Weinstein “ensured she never received work” because she refused to hop into bed with him, she alleges. The abuse and harassment left her depressed and exacerbated her anorexia, the suit says.
She is the 10th victim to join the class action lawsuit against Weinstein, the Weinstein Company and Miramax, accusing them of assault, battery and racketeering.
The women all claim that Weinstein lured them to hotels and auditions under the guise of furthering their careers and sexually assaulted or raped them.
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The suit, filed by firm Hagens Berman, says that the companies, which it calls the “Weinstein Sexual Enterprise,” were aware of the producer’s alleged illegal conduct and enabled it by threatening victims and paying them off.
In September, a federal judge instructed three women — Melissa Thompson, Caitlin Dulany and Larissa Gomez — to consolidate their suit with six other class-action plaintiffs —Louisette Geiss, Katherine Kendall, Zoe Brock, Sarah Ann Thomas, Melissa Sagemiller and Nannette Klatt.
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The new complaint, filed Wednesday, added plaintiff Jane Doe, describing her disturbing allegations for the first time.
Weinstein’s civil lawyer, Elior Shiloh, declined to comment.
“I have not seen the amended complaint so it’s hard for me to respond substantively, but based on everything I know, it would appear to me that there is no truth to this allegation whatsoever,” said Weinstein’s criminal defense lawyer, Ben Brafman.
This article originally appeared on Page Six.
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