Accuser says Weinstein raped her, likens former producer to 'Jekyll and Hyde'

By Brendan Pierson

 

Film producer Harvey Weinstein and his legal team leave the New York Criminal Court after a hearing for Weinstein's sexual assault trial in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Gaia Squarci

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A onetime aspiring actress told a Manhattan jury on Friday that Harvey Weinstein raped her in a hotel room while she was in an "extremely degrading" relationship with the movie producer.

 

The woman, Jessica Mann, said she told no one about what had happened.

 

"I was so embarrassed," she said, crying on the witness stand.

 

Mann likened Weinstein to "Jekyll and Hyde," saying he could be charming in public but often showed frightening anger when they were alone.

 

"If he heard the word 'no,' it was like a trigger for him," she said.

 

On cross-examination, Weinstein's lawyers suggested that Mann stayed with him to further her Hollywood career.

 

Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to raping Mann and to sexually assaulting another woman, Mimi Haleyi. Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

 

Weinstein, who produced films including “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has denied any nonconsensual sex.

 

The trial is widely seen as a milestone in the #MeToo movement, in which women have accused powerful men in business, entertainment, media and politics of sexual misconduct.

 

Mann, now 34, testified that she met Weinstein in late 2012 or early 2013 at a party in Los Angeles and that he told her he was interested in her as an actress.

 

Weinstein later invited her and her friend to a hotel suite in Los Angeles, Mann testified. When they arrived, Mann said, Weinstein pulled her into a bedroom, leaving her friend outside.

 

There, she said, Weinstein told her to sit on the bed and performed oral sex on her. Mann said she pretended to have an orgasm so he would stop.

 

Weinstein is not charged with a crime in connection with that encounter.

 

Mann said she then entered into a relationship with Weinstein.

 

"I entered into what I thought was going to be a real relationship with him and it was extremely degrading from that point on."

 

When Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi asked her why she stayed in a relationship, Mann, often crying, said there was "no short answer."

 

"One of the aspects initially was that I had had a sexual encounter" with him, she said. "That wasn’t something I could undo. That really confused me and hurt me."

 

She said she engaged in oral sex with Weinstein during the relationship but never had intercourse with him until he raped her at a hotel in Manhattan in 2013.

 

She said she wrote "flattering" emails during her relationship with Weinstein but that those were driven by fear.

 

Mann said that eventually, at a Los Angeles hotel, she told Weinstein she had a boyfriend and wanted to end the relationship. She said Weinstein screamed at her, “You owe me one more time,” dragged her into a bedroom and raped her again.

 

Weinstein is not charged in connection with that encounter either.

 

Burke instructed the jury that Mann’s testimony about her encounters before and after the alleged rape in New York could only be used as evidence of Weinstein’s intent and whether Mann consented in that New York encounter. He said it could not be used as evidence of a propensity by Weinstein to commit rape.

 

On cross-examination, Donna Rotunno, one of Weinstein's lawyers, aggressively questioned Mann's account and repeatedly suggested she chose to have sex with Weinstein to advance her career.

 

"You were manipulating Mr. Weinstein so you’d get invited to fancy parties, correct?" she asked.

 

"I was not manipulating him," Mann answered.

 

Rotunno asked Mann whether, in 2013, she thought Weinstein might cast her in a movie, and Mann said she did.

 

"You were going to continue to do whatever you had to do to make that happen?" Rotunno asked.

 

"I wouldn’t put it that way," Mann said.

 

The cross-examination is expected to continue on Monday.

 

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; writing by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Dan Grebler and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-01

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"sit on the bed and performed oral sex on her" like she could not bite? scream?  and she 'told no one'?  Weinstein is a creep and no doubt a predator but...

I've been very impressed by his acting abilities and use of props, that walking frame is a masterstroke

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Mann likened Weinstein to "Jekyll and Hyde," saying he could be charming in public but often showed frightening anger when they were alone.

Waiting for a psychiatrist to claim he suffers from dual personalities. Harvey Weinstein and Mr Sickperv.

Lock him up, throw away the key. 
 

After his trial of course... 

 

though to be safe I would also lock him up during the trial and let him out for court days. 
 

The key can be thrown away later. 

 

Edited February 1, 20206 yr by Bluespunk

The Stein’s don't seem to be so lucky these days ????

Rotunno asked Mann whether, in 2013, she thought Weinstein might cast her in a movie, and Mann said she did.

 

"You were going to continue to do whatever you had to do to make that happen?" Rotunno asked.

 

"I wouldn’t put it that way," Mann said.

 

Would she be complaining if she had a successful movie career?

13 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Rotunno asked Mann whether, in 2013, she thought Weinstein might cast her in a movie, and Mann said she did.

 

"You were going to continue to do whatever you had to do to make that happen?" Rotunno asked.

 

"I wouldn’t put it that way," Mann said.

 

Would she be complaining if she had a successful movie career?

If everything she says is true, does it matter? 

4 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

I've been very impressed by his acting abilities and use of props, that walking frame is a masterstroke

 

I have to assume you're being ironic, right?  Cos the very first time I saw him stumbling along with a walker I laughed out loud.

He's probably the very last person in New York you'd expect to be using a walker.....A masterstroke would be a pair of crutches and really filthy ragged clothes and down-at-heel shoes...and anything else (matted hair?) to make him look like a tramp.

So it's all "he said, she said", happened years ago when she made no complaint, no evidence at all.

Why is he even in court?

Edited February 1, 20206 yr by BritManToo

How can this man (or monster) possibly get a fair trial, having already been found guilty in the court of public opinion?

 

Whether he's guilty or not, the prosecution had better come up with something more convincing than this witness's testimony for a conviction.

 

From her evidence, there has seldom been a more willing "victim" of the Hollywood casting couch.

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

Rotunno asked Mann whether, in 2013, she thought Weinstein might cast her in a movie, and Mann said she did.

 

"You were going to continue to do whatever you had to do to make that happen?" Rotunno asked.

 

"I wouldn’t put it that way," Mann said.

 

Would she be complaining if she had a successful movie career?

Probably. Ask rose mcgowan. Shes not too impressed.

6 hours ago, BobBKK said:

"sit on the bed and performed oral sex on her" like she could not bite? scream?  and she 'told no one'?  Weinstein is a creep and no doubt a predator but...

..are they sympathy calipers he has?

1 hour ago, blazes said:

 

I have to assume you're being ironic, right?  Cos the very first time I saw him stumbling along with a walker I laughed out loud.

He's probably the very last person in New York you'd expect to be using a walker.....A masterstroke would be a pair of crutches and really filthy ragged clothes and down-at-heel shoes...and anything else (matted hair?) to make him look like a tramp.

..looks like he forgot to shave too..adds to the 'poor-me syndrome', don't you think?

6 hours ago, BobBKK said:

like she could not bite?

What would she bite?

25 minutes ago, Salerno said:

What would she bite?

Some guy sticks his **** in my mouth and he would know. Apart from the fact she did nothing, said nothing etc. the guy is an obvious predator (probably one of 100s in those 'casting couch' days) and many a young actress gave 'favours' for movie parts. But, at the end of the day, he took it to extremes  and is paying the price in this #MeToo PC world.

  

1 minute ago, BobBKK said:

Some guy sticks his **** in my mouth and he would know.

 

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Weinstein told her to sit on the bed and performed oral sex on her.

 

9 minutes ago, Salerno said:

  

 

 

"She said she engaged in oral sex with Weinstein during the relationship"  one can assume it was two-way

3 hours ago, Sujo said:

Probably. Ask rose mcgowan. Shes not too impressed.

If he looked like Brad Pitt maybe a different story.

Edited February 1, 20206 yr by giddyup

4 hours ago, sucit said:

If everything she says is true, does it matter? 

The outcome certainly matters to an aspiring actress.

8 hours ago, BobBKK said:

"sit on the bed and performed oral sex on her" like she could not bite? scream?  and she 'told no one'?  Weinstein is a creep and no doubt a predator but...

That’s exactly what this is about. Weinstein used to be extremely powerful in Hollywood. One word and your career was either severely damaged or in the case of an aspiring/unknown actress over! It’s an open secret and more or less the norm in Hollywood. So it’s either you bend to their will or your work a regular job, and then it all comes down to just how bad you want that acting job/potential fame! 

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

The outcome certainly matters to an aspiring actress.

I was assuming she eas telling the truth in my comment

 

So if she was famous, he raped her.

 

If she was not famous, he raped her.

 

What exactly is your point? Is one of those rapes somehow "better" than the other one or something? 

1 hour ago, sucit said:

I was assuming she eas telling the truth in my comment

 

So if she was famous, he raped her.

 

If she was not famous, he raped her.

 

What exactly is your point? Is one of those rapes somehow "better" than the other one or something? 

Allegedly raped her. Or have you made your mind up?

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

Allegedly raped her. Or have you made your mind up?

Rhetorical question?

49 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Allegedly raped her. Or have you made your mind up?

Man, I said in the original comment "assuming she is telling the truth". But maybe you already knew that, just did not want to answer the question?

9 hours ago, sucit said:

Man, I said in the original comment "assuming she is telling the truth". But maybe you already knew that, just did not want to answer the question?

I don't assume in this case. Too many women jumping onto the gravy train.