A Los Angeles actress testified on Monday that after she was lured to a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013 under the guise of having Harvey Weinstein read one of her scripts, the disgraced movie producer and since-convicted rapist sexually assaulted her in a bathroom.
The woman, who was identified in court as Jane Doe 2, told Los Angeles Superior court jurors that in February 2013, she was invited to the Montague Hotel by a Mexican model to talk to Weinstein about job opportunities and a script she had been working on. Instead, she said the model trapped her and Weinstein inside a hotel room bathroom, where he immediately “took off his clothes.”
“I was disgusted. I had never seen a big guy like that naked. I actually laughed nervously and thought, ‘No, no, no,’” Jane Doe 2, who was 23 at the time of the assault, said.
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Despite her verbal pleas for Weinstein to stop, she said, the now 70-year-old groped her breasts and masturbated. During the assault, she claimed, Weinstein was talking to her about “movie stuff” while she remained frozen in fear. She said that after several minutes—and blocked attempts to touch her vagina—Weinstein eventually ejaculated on a towel and promptly left the bathroom.
When asked Monday to describe Weinstein’s body during the assault, Jane Doe 2 said the toppled titan “was really hairy and there was moles on his body.”
“His penis was disgusting. It looked like it had been chopped off and sewn back on, like something wasn’t right about it,” she added, noting that she did not see his testicles—which have been a focal point throughout Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including rape, in his second-crimes trial. Prosecutors allege that between 2003 and 2013, Weinstein sexually assaulted five Los Angeles women. At least eight women—including Jane Doe 2—are set to testify against Weinstein to show his alleged pattern of predatory behavior and power to ensure their silence.
Defense attorneys for Weinstein say these accusers knowingly had “transactional sex” with their once-powerful client—and are now changing their version of events out of embarrassment.
During cross-examination, Weinstein’s lawyer grilled Jane Doe 2 about her allegations—and several inconsistencies between her time on the stand and her previous interviews with police. As defense Alan Jackson questioned how Weinstein would be able to undress as quickly as Jane Doe 2 described, she mentioned that the swift action isn’t that uncommon in modeling.
“Does Mr. Weinstein strike you as a model?” Jackson asked.
“No, but he’s definitely a monster,” Jane Doe 2 answered.
Earlier on Monday, Jane Doe 2 stressed to jurors that she was terrified of Weinstein—and what would happen after the alleged assault.
Specifically, she said she feared “that he would hurt me, or send someone to hurt me, or ruin my career, or make my life hell.”
When Weinstein’s lawyer pressed Jane Doe 2 further about her fear about not going to the police—the model revealed that she believed “he could have me killed.”
“I didn’t know what he was capable of,” she added.
On Friday, when she began her testimony, Jane Doe 2 testified that she first met Weinstein at an Oscars party in February 2012, shortly after she had moved to Los Angeles to work as a model and actress. Then 22, she said she met model and actress Claudia Salinas at the dinner and they immediately hit it off. There, she said, she told Salinas that she was “working on a script for a movie.”
About a year later, Jane Doe 2 said that out of the blue Salinas called her about setting up a meeting about her script with Weinstein.
“I thought that it was really exciting for me, because somebody of such importance in the film industry was taking an interest in my script,” she added, noting that the meeting was supposed to be at the bar at the Montage hotel.
Weinstein eventually joined her and Salinas, though she said he was mostly on his phone as two others were discussing her script. She said he mentioned that she should be on America’s Next Top Model—which she dismissed.
Suddenly, she said, Weinstein claimed he had to go upstairs to get ready for an event later with Quentin Tarantino—and asked Jane Doe 2 and Salinas to join him to finish their conversation.
She said after the trio went upstairs, she saw Salinas close the bathroom door behind her and Weinstein. In Weinstein’s New York trial—where he was convicted of similar crimes—Salinas denied her involvement in the alleged assault. Soon after, Jane Doe 2 said, Weinstein quickly jumped into the shower to rinse off before assaulting her.
“Everything happened so fast,” she said. “I was very numb. I felt like I was outside of my body watching what was happening, I couldn’t move. I was frozen. I was so scared.”
