Weinstein raped me in 1994 at age 17, woman says in lawsuit
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who says Harvey Weinstein raped her when she was 17 is among four plaintiffs in a new lawsuit against the imprisoned movie mogul, the latest court action accusing him of decades of vile sexual behavior.
The woman, now 43, alleges Weinstein forced her to disrobe, demanded she perform oral sex on him and raped her in a hotel room in 1994 during what she thought would be a meeting about helping her break into the entertainment business, according to her allegations in the lawsuit filed Thursday in New York City.
The woman, now living in Tennessee, alleges that Weinstein was nearly naked when she walked into the room and that he threatened her after the rape. She says that he made her hand over her driver’s license and told her that she’d never act in films and that he would have associates harm her and her family if she told on him.
Weinstein’s lawyer said the disgraced film producer — now serving 23 years in prison for a February rape conviction — intends to defend himself against the claims in the new lawsuit, some of which date back even earlier.
Lawyer Imran Ansari said some of the claims may be barred by the statute of limitations, though the woman alleging she was raped when she was 17 is suing in state court under New York’s Child Victims Act, which opened a window for people to sue over sexually abuse they say they endured as children, sometimes decades ago.
A former model who says Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16 sued him in December under the act, saying she didn’t want to be included in a proposed global settlement that would split $25 million among various accusers because the compensation wasn’t enough and because it didn’t hold Weinstein and his enablers accountable.
In Thursday’s lawsuit, another woman alleges Weinstein jammed his tongue into her mouth and fondled her breasts and vagina as he pinned her against a hotel door at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 1984.
The woman, now 70 and living in Ecuador, alleges a friend who worked with Weinstein told her she should keep quiet or be blackballed from the industry.
The two other plaintiffs are a woman, now 38 and living in New York, who alleges Weinstein raped her during a supposed business meeting at a Manhattan apartment in 2008; and a woman, now 35 and living in Hungary, who says he forced her to perform oral sex on him in a hotel suite.
