Harvey accuser lodges lawsuit
AN actress has filed suit against The Weinstein Company, alleging Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her and that the company had enabled his behaviour.
Dominique Huett charges in her suit – the first to be filed since the Weinstein scandal broke earlier this month – that the now-disgraced movie mogul lured her to his room at the Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills in November 2010.
She says she was there to discuss her career, but that Weinstein insisted she give him a massage. She initially refused, but he was relentless and she ultimately agreed. Weinstein then suggested that he perform oral sex on her, the lawsuit states.
“Again, Weinstein displayed persistence and would not take ‘no’ for an answer,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit charges The Weinstein Company (TWC) was complicit in the abuse the entertainment mogul allegedly committed, in that it had known for years of his “repeated acts of sexual misconduct with women”.
“In particular, (TWC) was aware of Weinstein’s pattern of using his power to coerce and force young actresses to engage in sexual acts with him,” the lawsuit says.
It adds that armed with this knowledge, TWC “should have known that Weinstein was unfit and that this unfitness created a particular risk to others”.
Ms Huett’s lawyer Jeff Herman said the statute of limitations does not apply in the case given that his client was unaware of Weinstein’s history of misconduct until the scandal broke this month.
Dozens of women have come forward to accuse the producer of sexual misconduct, including Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan.
The suit came on the same day a former Weinstein Company production assistant said Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted
(TWC) SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT WEINSTEIN WAS UNFIT AND THAT THIS UNFITNESS CREATED A PARTICULAR RISK LAWSUIT ALLEGATION
her. Mimi Haleyi claimed Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006. She was in her 20s at the time.
Ms Haleyi described Weinstein holding her down at his New York apartment.
“He was extremely persistent and physically overpowering,” Ms Haleyi said.
A representative for Weinstein said: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied.”
Among the dozens of women who have claimed Weinstein sexually harassed them, several have said Weinstein raped them. Police in Los Angeles, New York and London are investigating rape allegations.