Who is Lisa Pekar? Actress alleges Harvey Weinstein forced her to strip down and perform oral sex
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A former actress has come forward for the first time accusing disgraced Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room in 2001. Lisa Pekar alleged that Harvey Weinstein made her strip down to just a pair of red stilettos for a "supposed" audition before forcing her to perform oral sex.
Harvey Weinstein turned himself in for sexual assault in February 2020, after multiple sexual assaults and rape claim igniting the #MeToo movement. Lisa Pekar claims the alleged incident with Harvey Weinstein led to a speaking role in Gwyneth Paltrow film 'View From The Top.' However, Weinstein's spokesperson has denied the latest allegations claiming Weinstein is ready to take a polygraph to prove his innocence.
READ MORE
Mia Thornton responds to ‘RHOP’ star Wendy Osefo claiming she offered her oral sex
Who is Lisa Pekar?
Lisa Pekar was working as a hostess at the now-celebrity restaurant Ago when she was spotted by Miramax Italy producer Fabrizio Lombardo who told her she looked like Monica Bellucci. Lombardo introduced Pekar to Weinstein at the Miramax Oscar party in 2001 and she described Weinstein as a "gentleman" and "kind, courteous and full of information." Months later Pekar was at an audition when Weinstein called claiming to have another role for her. The pair met up in a hotel room, where he had a bottle of champagne waiting. She told him she was expecting to audition for a speaking role.
Pekar said, "He laughed and said I didn’t need to read for this role. I only needed to take off my shirt." "He said he needed to see my breasts, and he assured me that getting naked gets an actress noticed. I decided to trust him. I grew up a ballerina and model. Getting naked in front of other people came with the territory," reported Wrap. After Pekar took off her top and bra, he asked her to remove her skirt as well. She said, "I knew he needed to see if my thighs were fat. He asked me to turn around. I complied, in my thong and stiletto red heels. He confirmed I was beautiful but needed to lose 10 pounds. I was about to ask if I could get dressed but before I could, he disrobed."
Pekar alleged that she was forced onto her knees by Weinstein to perform oral sex before Weinstein started "yanking me up by my hair" and "trying to pull me onto his lap like a deviant santa." Pekar claims she explicitly told him "no." She alleged that he was "smashing my face into his mangled mess of genitalia." And days after the incident, Weinstein's assistant offered Pekar a role opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in her critically-panned 2003 romantic comedy 'View From The Top' about an ambitious flight attendant. However, Pekar soon realized she only had one line in the movie, adding her role was originally meant to be more prominent.
She claims the alleged assault "ended" her career prompting her to shift her focus to producing and writing. Pekar's IMDb page shows no acting roles or makes no reference to her role in 'View From The Top'. She only has a handful of writing and producing credits. Pekar then recounts another incident when she met Weinstein at the Cannes Film Festival when she was with her producing partner. Weinstein then asked the pair to meet, and Pekar agreed because she was too ashamed to tell her partner about the previous incident. However, when they arrived Weinstein was in his robe and immediately "stuck his tongue down" her friend's throat prompting them to leave the room at once. Pekar claimed she was "frozen, appalled, and ashamed" that "her silence had affected someone else."
Pekar claims she only came forward now after being made aware that Weinstein's appeal for shorter sentencing has been approved to be tried by a court even after being found guilty of rape. Weinstein's spokesman Juda Engelmayer said, "Harvey obviously knows Fabrizio Lombardo and many of the details of the places, events, films, and people mentioned are well known to him and by now, many others too," reported Daily Mail. He said that Weinstein does not believe the accusation is true. "The fact is that this narrative is so similar to others it is therefore easy enough to suggest to some that it is a valid recollection, yet it is also possibly being conveniently repurposed for other reasons. Harvey said he did not do this and is willing to take a polygraph to prove it," added Engelmayer.