Canadian actress sues Harvey Weinstein and Disney over alleged sexual assault

By Sam Barsanti  |  November 1, 2017 | 10:05pm
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As reported by Deadline, an unnamed “actress-model” from Canada has filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein and others, claiming that he sexually assaulted her two times in 2000. The anonymous woman is reportedly one of the people who spoke with The New York Times for its initial piece on the allegations against Weinstein, and a statement given to the Toronto Sun claims that Weinstein invited her to meeting at a hotel room when she was just starting out her movie career. After casually mentioning massages, he allegedly “pushed her onto the bed,” took out his penis, and “held her down by her wrists.”

She says she got away after that, but after talking to her agent and taking some pleading phone calls from Weinstein, she decided it would be best for her career if she gave him a chance to apologize. She returned to the hotel, and as soon Weinstein got her alone, he allegedly “thew his weight onto her and tried to stick his tongue down her throat.” She pushed him away and got out again, and though her career started to improve after that, she thought it was “humiliating and demoralizing” to think that it could’ve been because of what allegedly happened with Weinstein.

In addition to Weinstein, the lawsuit names Miramax, The Weinstein Company, Disney (which used to own Miramax), and Barbara Schneeweiss—who was Weinstein’s assistant at the time and is now an executive at The Weinstein Company. The lawsuit claims that Schneeweiss was aware of what Weinstein was allegedly doing and helped facilitate it.

 
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