'I just wanted to die': Harvey Weinstein accuser recounts 'humiliating' details of bathroom rape
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: An actress and model reportedly identified as Jane Doe 1 testified against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is facing 11 charges of rape and sexual assault, during the first day of his rape trial on October 24. She alleged that Weinstein, 70, showed up at her hotel room during an Italia Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2013. He allegedly first asked her for a massage, and then grabbed and forced her to perform oral sex as he reportedly had problems maintaining an erection, reports DailyMail.
According to BBC, the woman, who was the first to take the stand on the first day of the trial following opening statements from Weinstein’s legal team, said, “I was crying, choking.” He allegedly grabbed her by the hair and shoved her face toward his genitalia. The woman, who had been living in Rome, since 2013 traveled to Los Angeles to attend the Italia Film Festival, where she was expected to "work red carpets." She told she met Weinstein in Rome prior to this, where he reportedly invited her to his hotel room but she declined. At the film festival, she saw Weinstein in a VIP room but they "barely" spoke. However, when she got back to her hotel room, she got a call from the front desk who transferred it to Weinstein and he insisted to meet. When he got into her room, they had a small talk before he allegedly removed his jacket and asked for a massage, reports DailyMail.
RELATED ARTICLES
The witness further told, “I was continuing to ask him to go because I was realising it was something awkward and I was missing my English a lot, she said and added that Weinstein then made a comment about the size of her breasts, and tried opening her robe." She also reportedly said that her poor English may have given an impression to Weinstein that she was interested in him. But further stressed by saying that she was trying to explain that she would not have sex "because I have three kids," reports DailyMail.
LA superior court Judge Lisa Lench adjourned the court on the first day as the first witness sobbed while describing the assault. The testimony continued the next day on October 25. The woman narrated, "I was panicking with fear. I was kind of hysterical through tears." She reportedly said he pulled her to the bathroom, where he masturbated in front of a mirror while touching her and demanding she looks at their reflection, as reported by Daily Beast. "I remember how he was looking in the mirror and he was telling me to look at him. I wish this never happened to me." "I wanted to die. It was disgusting. It was humiliating, miserable. I didn't fight," she said as per reports and further explained, "My understanding was that he's somebody powerful so it's better I not talk because it could be bad for me."
Following the alleged incident, the witness started drinking heavily and had only shared about the assault with one other person before the trial. And in 2017, when she allegedly went again to Italia Film Festival with her daughter, Maria, she saw Weinstein. "He was looking at me. He was looking at Maria. I saw his eyes … I remembered his eyes. It was like I lived the situation again and again," she said.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to 11 sexual assault charges stemming from eight women's claims made between 2004 and 2013. Following about two weeks of jury selection, a jury of nine men and three women is hearing the Los Angeles case. The trial will likely last until late November.