Woman Alleges Harvey Weinstein Raped Her and 'Threatened Her Life' If She Told Anyone: Docs
A woman who alleges she was raped in 2013 by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in her hotel room following a Hollywood film festival says she delayed telling anyone because he “threatened her life” if she did, according to newly released documents.
The allegation, and the unnamed woman’s response to it, both are detailed in paperwork filed Monday in Los Angeles County, where the prosecutor announced four new felony sexual assault charges involving two alleged victims on the same day Weinstein went to trial in New York on unrelated sexual assault claims.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges. Juda Engelmayer, a spokesman for Weinstein, did not immediately respond to a request from PEOPLE for a comment to the California charges.
“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them,” District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement announcing the charges. “I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them. It is my hope that all victims of sexual violence find strength and healing as they move forward.”
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According to paperwork filed by the Los Angeles DA’s office, an alleged victim identified only as “Jane Doe 1” says that on February 17, 2013, she returned to her hotel after attending a Hollywood film festival that Weinstein also attended. Weinstein later knocked on her hotel room door, and after she allowed him in and they spoke briefly, Weinstein allegedly “attacked Jane Doe 1, forcing her to orally copulate him, digitally penetrating her vagina and raping her,” states a document seeking to establish the terms for Weinstein’s bail on the charges.
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The document continues: “Jane Doe 1 alleges that she delayed disclosure of this assault, in part, because the defendant threatened her life if she disclosed.”
On February 19, 2013, the second woman, identified as “Jane Doe 2,” agreed to attend a business meeting with Weinstein at a west Los Angeles hotel, where they spoke briefly in a common area before Weinstein allegedly “convinced” the woman and her female acquaintance to accompany him to his hotel suite, prosecutors allege.
Doe 2 “unwittingly followed him into the hotel bathroom,” according to the document, and after her acquaintance shut the door behind her, “Jane Doe 2 was unable to open the door,” alleges the document.
It further alleges: “The defendant took off his clothes, showered briefly and then positioned himself between Jane Doe 2 and the door. While naked, he moved towards her, keeping himself between her and the door and preventing her from leaving. She laughed from shock as the defendant took down her dress. He turned her around and held her in place by her breasts as he masturbated until he ejaculated on the floor. Once he ejaculated on the floor, he allowed Jane Doe 2 to leave.”
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In denying prior allegations made against Weinstein, a spokesman for Weinstein previously told PEOPLE in a statement, “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”
The California claims resulted in filing of one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint, according to the DA’s office. Arraignment will be scheduled for a later date.
If convicted of those charges in California, Weinstein could face up to 28 years in state prison. Prosectors have requested that bail be set at $5 million, after arguing that Weinstein’s financial resources make him a flight risk.
In the New York trial, which unfolds as a pivotal moment in the #MeToo movement propelled by allegations against Weinstein that went public in October 2017, a judge’s opening instructions Monday were to be followed by an estimated two weeks of jury selection, reports The New York Times. The trial itself could last two months.
But almost none of the more than 80 women to have come forward about Weinstein’s alleged behavior will take the stand in the Manhattan courtroom. Instead, the charges against him there — two counts of rape, one count of criminal sexual act and two counts of predatory sexual assault — are based on the accusations of only two women, according to The Washington Post.
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But the high stakes are obvious for all his alleged victims who seek validation following criminal investigations that began with reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker. Actresses who have spoken out about Weinstein include Rose McGowan, Annabella Sciorra, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston and Daryl Hannah.
In May, an attorney announced a $44 million settlement that would see Weinstein compensate women who have sued him for alleged sexual misconduct while settling a pending civil-rights lawsuit by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, reported the Los Angeles Times.
And ahead of the New York trial, 25 women — not including those whose accusations will be heard at that trial — issued a statement Friday saying the trial is “critical to show that predators everywhere will be held accountable,” reports the Post.
“Thanks to the courage of so many women who risked everything to come forward — this ugly facade came down and [Weinstein] finally faced a public and professional reckoning for his actions,” said the statement.
Weinstein faces life in prison if convicted on all charges in New York.
