A woman who testified on Monday said that former American producer Harvey Weinstein raped her in a hotel room during the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) in 1991, repeating the act 17 years later.
According to a witness, Weinstein raped her again in 2008 in the same hotel room during TIFF.
The woman said she was a 24-year-old aspiring actress at the 1991 festival and didn’t know who the then-producer was until she met him at a party.
Speaking as a witness at a trial in Los Angeles, California, the plaintiff said she first fell in love with Weinstein when they talked about books and movies.
“We got along very well. He was very smart. We had a great conversation,” he recalled.
The witness said they both left the party for a glass of wine at a nearby café and then went to Weinstein’s room at the Four Seasons Hotel.
“It all happened very, very, very quickly. I was shocked. It was so unexpected,” he claimed, saying that the former producer took off her skirt, threw a towel over her and told her that his wife “loved it.” “
Serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York, Weinstein, 70, pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of sexual assault involving five women in Los Angeles and denied having sex without consent.
The former producer is not charged with the alleged attacks described in today’s testimony.
The woman, along with three others, is allowed to testify so prosecutors can show Weinstein’s penchant for the crimes he’s accused of.
The witness also recalled that he did not see the former producer again until 2008, when he was 41 and temporarily living at the Four Seasons Hotel with her husband and children.
The woman mentioned that she ran into Weinstein again during TIFF that same year.
“I stopped bleeding. I was very angry. (…) I wanted to confront him,” he pointed out.
When Weinstein’s assistant came to his room to make an appointment, the woman agreed.
Once in the room of a former producer, a woman asked: “What is it like to be in front of the only woman who told you no?”.
After the assistant was fired, according to the woman, Weinstein grabbed her breasts and masturbated in front of her before releasing her.
The woman said she didn’t tell anyone about the second rape for years because of “sheer embarrassment.”
“I was in shock. So confused, so confused (…) I never wanted to go through something like that again,” she said.
This testimony seems to be the first in which his story is told publicly.
Like other witnesses, the woman told her story quickly and in simple language, but she was asked to come back and provide more descriptive and more complex details, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
Weinstein’s lawyers are due to cross-examine the witness Tuesday afternoon.
