Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted a 16-year-old mannequin inside his Soho condominium — after which bragged to her about serving to enhance the careers of Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz, a court docket heard Wednesday in the beginning of his Manhattan retrial.
The disgraced movie producer’s youngest accuser, Kaja Sokola, was recognized as the brand new witness set to confront Weinstein, 73, in Manhattan Supreme Courtroom after his prior conviction on the top of the #MeToo motion was tossed on attraction.
The onetime Miramax mogul held the Poland native down and forcibly carried out oral intercourse on her “whereas she cried and stated ‘Please don’t do that’” in 2006, Manhattan Assistant District Legal professional Shannon Lucey instructed jurors throughout opening statements.
He first allegedly assaulted Sokola in 2002, when she was simply 16, after she agreed to fulfill him for lunch, the prosecutor stated.
Weinstein then had his driver take them to his condominium, the place he invited her up below the guise of simply needing to seize “some papers,” Lucey stated.
When inside, the “Pulp Fiction” producer demanded that {the teenager} take off her shirt — saying “That is what occurs within the trade” — after which sexually assaulted her, the prosecutor stated.
After the assault ended, Weinstein name-dropped Paltrow and Cruz earlier than giving Sokola a sick phrase of purported recommendation — that she “wanted to work on her stubbornness,” Lucey stated.
The accused serial intercourse pest was wheeled into the courtroom in a wheelchair Wednesday morning. He sat on the protection desk sporting a navy swimsuit, white shirt and tie because the trial kicked off, following greater than every week of jury choice that ended with a panel of seven ladies and 5 males being chosen.
Because the prosecutor described the alleged wicked assaults, he sipped calmly from a glass of water.
Sokola, now in her mid-30s, is predicted to testify at trial, alongside two different ladies, Jessica Mann and Miriam “Mimi” Haley, who say Weinstein lured them into his net with the promise of advancing their careers earlier than sexually assaulting them.
He’s accused of raping Mann and forcing oral intercourse on Haley. Each ladies additionally testified at Weinstein’s 2020 trial.
“The defendant needed their our bodies, and the extra they resisted, the extra forceful he received,” Lucey stated.
The fallen Hollywood kingpin “had monumental management over these working in TV and movie as a result of he determined who was in, and who was out,” she stated.
“He used these dream alternatives as weapons.”
Even after the 2002 assault, Sokola continued reaching out to Weinstein in hopes of launching an appearing profession, the prosecutor stated. The Oscar-winning producer “held the golden ticket: an opportunity to make it, or not.”
In 2006, Weinstein received Sokola a job as an additional on the movie “Nanny Diaries,” the place she received an opportunity to fulfill A-list solid members Scarlett Johannson and Alicia Keys, jurors heard.
At some point on set, Weinstein crept up on her and whispered in her ear, ‘You’re getting particular remedy,” the prosecutor stated.
That April, Weinstein, then 54 years outdated, invited the then 19-year-old as much as his resort room, once more with a false pretense — this time claiming that they’d “see some scripts,” the jury heard.
As soon as inside, the “Shakespeare In Love” producer ordered her to take away her garments, Lucey stated.
Weinstein then pressed her onto the mattress and carried out oral intercourse on her regardless of her cries for him to cease, the prosecutor stated.
The accused sicko masturbated throughout the encounter, and when he was completed, nonchalantly instructed her, “See that wasn’t so dangerous,” jurors heard.
Weinstein is barely charged with the 2006 incident — and faces as much as 25 years if convicted of a “forcible”prison sexual act — although jurors will hear Sokola testify concerning the earlier episode as nicely.
Sokola didn’t go public together with her allegations till after 2017, when Weinstein emerged because the poster boy of the the worldwide reckoning in opposition to sexual harassment often known as the #MeToo motion.
She filed a lawsuit in opposition to Weinstein in 2019 that was settled in 2023 for an undisclosed quantity, court docket data present.
Weinstein has pleaded not responsible and denies sexually assaulting anybody.
His protection lawyer, Arthur Aidala, claimed in his personal opening assertion that the ex-studio boss had merely engaged in consensual “mutually useful relationships” with ladies who willingly participated in a quid professional quo.
“He will get them auditions, he will get them jobs. And in return, they idiot round with him. They fooled round with him consensually,” Aidala instructed jurors.
“All these years later, it turns into an issue,” he added.
Actors Tarale Wulff and Daybreak Dawning, who testified in opposition to Weinstein at his first trial in 2020, noticed the proceedings from a packed courthouse gallery.
Weinstein was individually convicted of rape in California after an Italian mannequin testified that he threw himself on her after showing uninvited outdoors her resort room throughout an Italian movie competition in 2013.
He’s presently being housed at Bellevue Hospital after convincing a choose to quickly switch him from Rikers Island, the place he claimed he was not getting correct remedy for his numerous well being illnesses.
Weinstein faces as much as 25 years in jail within the Manhattan case on two counts of first-degree prison sexual act, and 4 years in jail on a cost of third-degree rape.
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