Weinstein relationship ‘complicated’

A key accuser in Harvey Weinstein’s trial testified yesterday that he raped her twice, once bellowing, ‘‘You owe me!’’ as he dragged her into a bedroom.

The first time, the heavyset Hollywood tycoon, pictured, trapped her in a New York hotel room in March 2013, angrily ordered her to undress and then raped her, the 34-year-old woman told jurors.

Still, she kept in touch, she said, sending Weinstein flattering emails, because ‘‘his ego was so fragile’’ and it ‘‘made me feel safe, worshipping him in this sense . . . I wanted to be perceived as innocent and naive’’.

Then, eight months later at a Los Angeles hotel where she was working as a hairdresser, Weinstein raped her again, she said. He apologised afterwards.

The woman’s testimony, which is set to continue on Tuesday, is a pivotal moment in the rape case against the oncepowerful movie producer who became one of the #MeToo movement’s top targets.

Weinstein, 67, is charged in New York with the March 2013 rape and also with sexually assaulting another woman in 2006. A conviction could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.

He has insisted that any sexual encounters were consensual. His lawyers aim to raise doubts about the rape accuser’s credibility by seizing on her complicated history with him.

Asked why she didn’t break off contact with Weinstein at the first sign of trouble, the woman said she didn’t want to offend him. Defence lawyer Donna Rotunno asked whether it was really because the woman ‘‘wanted to benefit from the power he had’’. The woman responded that her relationship with the then-married Weinstein was more complicated than that.