Model tells of boasts he’d slept with A-list stars in bid to bed her
AN ITALIAN model told last night how she was subjected to a series of ‘sleazy and predatory’ sexual advances by Harvey Weinstein, who boasted he had slept with several A-list actresses – and even summoned Nicole Kidman in the middle of the night to ‘prove’ his power over leading film stars.
Samantha Panagrosso claimed she was harassed by the producer on a yacht during the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, culminating in an alleged sexual assault as he tried to force himself on her.
And during one bizarre incident, he got down on his hands and knees at a dinner party and pretended to be her dog.
Ms Panagrosso, now 44, spoke of her experience for the first time, joining dozens of women who have also complained of sexual harassment by Weinstein.
The model, who lives in Paris, said she had been asked to stay on a yacht owned by a friend of Weinstein during the festival. The producer was invited to join them.
‘From the moment he walked on to the boat I could see him leeringly appraising my body,’ she said. ‘Weinstein was sitting next to me, making salacious comments about wanting me and doing nothing about preventing the other guests from hearing.
‘He was grossly overweight, sweaty and wearing a T-shirt with his stomach protruding from it. I found him repulsive.’
Ms Panagrosso said that previously Weinstein had tried to force himself on her in the pool at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and boasted he could easily ‘get what he wanted’ from another model who was also there. That model later went to his room for a ‘screen test’, Ms Panagrosso claimed.
She also described how Weinstein ‘made constant sexual comments’ during dinner one night on the yacht.
‘I was firm in my rejection of his advances,’ she said. ‘He told me he could make me a star but I had no interest in becoming an actress so there was nothing he could offer me that could make him seem appealing.
‘It didn’t seem to matter. It was as if my saying no just made him more excited. Suddenly he got down on his hands and knees and told everyone, “Look, I’m Sam’s dog.” Everyone was laughing but I felt deeply uncomfortable.’
She said Weinstein later ‘named several A-list actresses he claimed had willingly slept with him’. ‘I told him I didn’t believe him, so he said “Okay, I’ll prove it”, took out his phone and called Nicole Kidman,’ she revealed.
‘It was late at night but he asked her to come to the boat and she did. They walked off by themselves and when they returned, he told me they’d kissed.
‘I don’t believe it was true or anything took place, or had ever taken place, but the fact she appeared at his command shows how powerful he was. In the film world, he was the puppet-master and everyone was his puppet.’
Ms Panagrosso claimed the producer turned up in her cabin on another night with baby oil and medicine after she complained of feeling unwell.
‘I couldn’t believe his arrogance,’ she said. ‘He pushed me on to the bed and put his hands all over me, including my breasts. He is a massive, strong guy and I was trying to push him off but I couldn’t.’
Frightened, she told him to stop and he left. When she told friends about the assault, they shrugged and said: ‘That’s Harvey.’
‘Everyone was complicit,’ she added. ‘The imbalance of power between men and women in so many industries has gone on too long. There’s strength in numbers and by standing together, women can start to change that.’
‘He was overweight, sweaty and repulsive’