Harvey Weinstein saga takes new civil and criminal twists
The Harvey Weinstein scandal, which turns one month old Thursday, shows no sign of slowing. Just one day after London police announced they were investigating 11 incidents involving seven women, police in California have announced a new investigation.
The latest developments:
Canadian actress plans to sue Weinstein and Disney
A Toronto actress is launching a $ 4 million lawsuit against Weinstein, accusing the movie mogul of sexually assaulting her while she was shooting a movie in Toronto in 2000, the To
ronto Sun and CBC News reported. Her lawsuit, which echoes allegations from other women, claims Weinstein’s assistant, Barbara Schneeweiss, called the actress and set up a meeting with Weinstein at the Sutton Place Hotel. Once alone with the actress, Weinstein allegedly asked her if she liked massages, exposed himself to her and performed oral sex on her without her consent. Once she was able to free herself, she left the hotel and told her agent.
The lawsuit claims the actress, identified as Jane Doe, returned to Weinstein’s suite after he insisted there had been a misunderstanding, and once in his room, “he threw his weight onto her and tried to stick his tongue down her throat.”
In addition to Weinstein, Doe is suing Schneeweiss, now the vice president of production and development for film and television at The Wein- stein Company, claiming she knew of and facilitated Weinstein’s behavior. She is suing Miramax and its owner at the time, the Walt Disney Co. ( He and his brother, Bob, formed The Weinstein Company in 2005.)
Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister told USA TODAY “We have not seen the suit.”
In late October, actress Dominique Huett, filed suit against The Weinstein Company, claiming negligence for knowing about Weinstein’s sexual misdeeds dating back decades and failing to do anything about it.
USA TODAY has reached out to Disney for comment.
Beverly Hills police begin investigations
The Beverly Hills Police Department announced it has launched criminal investigations over complaints received about Weinstein and writer/ director James Toback.
In a statement posted late Tuesday to the department’s Facebook page, Lt. Elisabeth Albanese said police had “received multiple complaints involving Harvey Weinstein. The cases are under investigation.” An identical statement was issued about Toback.
Toback denied any wrongdoing.