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Ex actress testifies in graphic detail how Harvey Weinstein raped her

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Jan Ransom, The New York Times

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/tvpatrol/01/26/20200201-harvey-weinstein.jpg"/><figcaption>Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at New York Criminal Court for his sexual assault trial in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 31, 2020. Lucas Jackson, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>NEW YORK—Jessica Mann met film producer Harvey Weinstein at a party after she had moved to Los Angeles from a dairy farm in Washington state to pursue acting. The Hollywood mogul seemed to take an immediate interest in her career.Mann, who came from a religious family, at first considered Weinstein’s attentions a “blessing” from God. But soon, she testified at Weinstein’s trial on Friday, he began pressuring her for sex.It started with a request for a massage. Then, she said, he forced oral sex on her during a meeting about a movie role. She faked an orgasm, she said, “to get out of it.”Weeks later, Mann said the producer raped her in a Midtown Manhattan hotel after injecting his penis with a medication. She said he physically blocked her from leaving the room and forced her to undress. “I was very angry inside and very scared,” she said. “I gave up at that point.”For several hours, Mann, 34, described to a jury in graphic detail her tortured and “extremely degrading” relationship with Weinstein.Weinstein, who is known for Oscar-winning films like “Shakespeare in Love,” had manipulated her from the start, she said, dangling the possibility of work, then coercing her into a sexual relationship.Mann said she had agreed to a few sexual encounters with Weinstein before the attack, though she never had intercourse with him.She was not physically attracted to him, she said, but felt pity after seeing him naked. His genitals appeared to be abnormal, she said, and his body had a foul smell.“When I first saw him naked, I was filled with compassion, absolute compassion,” she said. “It seemed his anger came from a place of shame.”Weinstein’s lawyers have argued that Mann had a romantic relationship with the producer that lasted for years after the alleged assault and benefited her professionally. They have pointed to dozens of friendly emails Mann sent to Weinstein expressing affection and love for him.On cross-examination, Weinstein’s lawyer, Donna Rotunno, suggested that Mann had not been raped but had consented to the sex to advance her career.“You had a choice to walk right out of that hotel room and never see Harvey Weinstein again, isn’t that right?” Rotunno asked.“That could have been death to any attempt of a career,” Mann replied.In legal terms, rape can — and often does — occur within consensual relationships, such as an abusive marriage. Some victims choose — or are forced by circumstances — to maintain outwardly friendly relationships with their attackers.Mann is the fifth accuser to take the witness stand against Weinstein in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan. He has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts, including rape, criminal sexual act and predatory sexual assault, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.A total of six women have agreed to testify that Weinstein assaulted them. The indictment stems from allegations from three of them: Mann; Miriam Haley, who says he forced oral sex on her in 2006; and Annabella Sciorra, an actress who has accused him of raping her in 1993.Prosecutors have won permission to call three other women to testify about the way Weinstein attacked them to establish a pattern of behavior, even though he was not charged with crimes in those cases.The trial was one of the most highly anticipated proceedings in recent memory, seen by many as an important moment in the #MeToo movement, which was set in motion in October 2017, when, after years of whispers, several women went public with their allegations that Weinstein had sexually harassed or assaulted them.Mann said she met Weinstein at an engagement party in the Hollywood Hills either in 2012 or 2013.Over the next several weeks, he cultivated a friendship with her, she said. He took her to a bookstore on Sunset Boulevard where he bought her four books, telling her it was important to understand film history. Then there was the dinner at an Italian restaurant with his assistant, where Weinstein said he wanted to “plug” Mann “into his system.”They met again at a bar at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, where the producer suddenly asked about Mann’s personal life, upbringing and father’s finances, she said. She told him she had grown up poor in a trailer park.He became irritated when guests at the bar recognized him, and he asked to move the conversation to his hotel suite. There he asked her to give him a massage, and she said she reluctantly agreed. Weinstein, she said, had “a lot, a lot of blackheads” on his back, she recalled.Within the month, they met again at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, where the producer told Mann and a friend that they would make “perfect leads” in the film “Vampire Academy.” He invited them to his hotel suite to review the scripts, but when Mann expressed concern, he said, “I am a harmless old man.”Once in the suite, Mann said, Weinstein separated her from her friend, pulled her into a bedroom, shut the door, told her to get on the bed and performed oral sex on her.“The more I fought, the angrier he got,” she said.After that encounter with Weinstein, Mann said she decided to “be in a relationship” with him. But their sexual trysts were degrading, she said. “It would be him wanting to see me and just needing a fix like a drug addict,” she said.She said she tried a couple of times to end the relationship, but she stayed in contact with Weinstein, partly out of fear for what he could do to her and to her family.On March 18, 2013, Mann asked Weinstein to a breakfast meeting with her and two friends in Manhattan, she said. The producer showed up early and checked into the hotel.Mann began questioning Weinstein about why he had a room in the hotel, since he had an apartment in Manhattan. He warned her not to embarrass him. They continued the conversation in his hotel room, where Weinstein demanded she take off her clothes, she said. She protested. He shut the door to the room and blocked her from leaving.Weinstein disappeared into the bathroom for a moment and returned with an erection and raped her. “That’s when he put himself inside of me,” Mann said, crying.Eight months later, Mann said Weinstein attacked her again when she tried to tell him that she could not have sex with him anymore because she had a boyfriend. She gave him the news at the Peninsula hotel, where she was working as a hair stylist.He was furious to learn her boyfriend was an actor, she said. He ripped her from a chair, dragged her into a room and threw her onto a bed, screaming “You owe me one more time,” she said. She testified that she said, “No, please no,” but he tore her clothes off, scratching her legs, and said, “I don’t have time for games.”She said he placed his mouth on her vagina, then climbed on top of her and penetrated her with his penis. She said she passed out and woke to find his penis in her mouth.Later he apologized, she said, telling her: “I just find you so attractive. I couldn’t resist. We’re friends right?”

Jessica Mann at first considered Weinstein’s attentions a “blessing” from God. But soon, she testified at Weinstein’s trial on Friday, he began pressuring her for sex.

Jessica Mann at first considered Weinstein’s attentions a “blessing” from God. But soon, she testified at Weinstein’s trial on Friday, he began pressuring her for sex.

Ex actress testifies in graphic detail how Harvey Weinstein raped her

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Ex actress testifies in graphic detail how Harvey Weinstein raped her

Jan Ransom,

The New York Times

Published Feb 01, 2020 06:08 PM PHT

Read More:

Harvey Weinstein

MeToo

Jessica Mann

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