Weinstein vic has no regrets
She now helps abused women
The fashion model who first stood up to Harvey Weinstein five years ago says the verdict is already in on the disgraced movie mogul, regardless of what’s decided by the jury that begins deliberating his case in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.
For Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, the narrative is now about the dozens of victims of the 67-year-old fallen producer.
“This is not for me, but for the other women who went through more than I did,” Gutierrez told the Daily News Monday. “They’re so deeply hurt and traumatized.”
The 27-year-old catwalker considers herself fortunate Weinstein only groped her breast during a March 2015 encounter in his Tribeca office.
Gutierrez later recorded the shamed Queens native admitting to misconduct while participating in a police sting that didn’t amount to charges being filed against Weinstein, much to the chagrin of some investigators. The model and the mogul later reached an agreement to keep Gutierrez silent about the encounter.
What followed was a nasty tabloid campaign that Gutierrez said left her ostracized in the New York City social scene and cost her work in the fashion industry.
More than two years would pass before dozens of actresses including Ashley Judd, Asia Argento and Rose McGowan would detail their dealings with Weinstein, effectively outing the alleged sexual predator and starting the #MeToo movement.
Several of those accusers claim Weinstein physically overwhelmed and raped them. Gutierrez says the damage she endured was mostly to her good name.
“I feel like starting from zero, but at least I’m starting from zero, not minus a hundred,” she said.
Weinstein maintains he’s innocent.
Gutierrez later launched a podcast and teamed up with organizations including Model Alliance to help women in fashion and entertainment who have been abused by powerful men in those fields. She feels vindicated by the fact that Weinstein has been exposed.
“I proved to the world what I was saying was true,” Gutierrez said. “If I can help others I will. I have my name back.”
While she wonders why anyone would ever work with the dishonored Miramax founder again, Gutierrez said she’s steadily booking modeling gigs and has a few other projects in the works as well.
In hindsight, she wishes the period of exile that followed her speaking out against Weinstein (inset) would have been easier, but she has no regrets.
“It would have helped me a lot if those actresses spoke up (sooner), but everything happens at the right time,” she confessed.
She also understands why actors would be reluctant to speak out against Weinstein. Despite some tabloid reports, the resurgent fashionista insists she never aspired to be a movie star and didn’t think Weinstein could hurt her modeling career.
It’s Gutierrez’s hope that the toppling of the media giant, whose freedom lies in the hands of a seven men and five women jury, encourages more women to call out sexual misconduct wherever they see it. “It doesn’t just happen to me, I ( just) talk about it,” she said. “I still get catcalls on the street and its not just because I’m a model. It happens to all women on the street.”
Gutierrez will be curious to hear what becomes of Weinstein, but hasn’t been keeping track of specifics during the trial.
More than anything, she’s upset that Weinstein’s public relations fixers and their enablers were able to sideline the careers of actresses and models like herself who only wanted to make an honest living.
“I keep going and I’m happy about my life,” she said. “A lot of things I’m doing now I can do because I’m not stopped by a bad reputation.”