Weinstein tried to pull me into bed, says British ex-assistant
HARVEY WEINSTEIN’S British former assistant has told how the disgraced mogul sexually harassed her when they were alone in hotel rooms.
Zelda Perkins signed a non-disclosure agreement in 1998 and was paid £125,000 in damages after negotiations that she said left her “broken”.
But she has now decided to break the agreement and speak publicly about her former boss.
She told the Financial Times: “He went out of the room and came back in his underwear. He asked me if I would give him a massage. Then he asked if he could massage me.” Ms Perkins declined but said Weinstein would frequently be naked in a hotel room and ask her to stay while he bathed.
“This was his behaviour on every occasion I was alone with him.
“I often had to wake him up in the hotel in the mornings and he would try to pull me into bed.”
At the 1998 Venice Film Festival, a colleague came to her “white as a sheet, shaking and in a very bad emotional state” after “something terrible had happened” with Weinstein, she said.
Ms Perkins said she tried to get the woman to go to the police but she was too upset. They later made contact with lawyers in London, which led to a settlement of £250,000, divided between them, and non-disclosure agreements, after negotiations with Allen and Overy, a firm then acting on behalf of Weinstein.
Ms Perkins called the process of reaching the agreement “incredibly distressing”.
She underwent days of questioning, including a 12-hour session with Weinstein’s lawyers that ended at 5am.
“I was made to feel ashamed for disclosing his behaviour and assault. I was pretty broken after the negotiation.” Weinstein’s representative said: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied. Mr Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.” Under non-disclosure agreements those who sign them could be forced to repay their financial settlements plus damages and legal fees.
But Ms Perkins told the Financial Times: “Unless somebody does this there won’t be a debate about how egregious these agreements are.”
The Weinstein Company, the New York studio co-founded by Weinstein, is under investigation by Eric Schneiderman, the state’s attorney general.
He launched the civil rights investigation yesterday, saying: “No New Yorker should be forced to walk into a workplace ruled by sexual intimidation, harassment, or fear. If sexual harassment or discrimination is pervasive at a company, we want to know.”
He will seek from the studio all documents, records and correspondence related to complaints of sexual harassment or discrimination.
Meanwhile, George Clooney has disclosed that Amal, his high profile human rights lawyer wife, faced sexual harassment in the legal world.
Without going into details, Clooney said: “This isn’t just showbiz, it’s everywhere. My wife says she’s faced those exact kinds of situations in law. It needs to be addressed.”