I showed Weinstein photos of my children but he still raped me
Actress reveals herself as victim of sex attack that led to disgraced film mogul’s latest jail term
‘I want my life back. I’m Evgeniya. I’ve been raped. This is my story’
A SIBERIAN actress has revealed that she was raped by Harvey Weinstein and said she showed him pictures of her children in a vain attempt to stop the attack.
Evgeniya Chernyshova, 43, was referred to as “Jane Doe 1” in Weinstein’s recent trial in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of charges including forcible rape against her.
Weinstein, 70, will serve that sentence after completing a 23-year term for another sex offence in New York, increasing the likelihood he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Ms Chernyshova, who has three children, revealed her identity in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
She told the magazine: “I’m tired of hiding.
“I want my life back. I’m Evgeniya, I’ve been raped. This is my story.”
Ms Chernyshova told how she won a beauty contest in Siberia, which led to her becoming a model.
She ended up living in Italy, got married, and began winning acting roles, before first meeting Weinstein at an industry event in Rome.
Later, at Oscars week in 2013, she again met Weinstein at a film festival event in honour of Al Pacino at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
When she went back to her hotel room afterwards, Weinstein appeared and began knocking loudly on the door, she told the Hollywood Reporter.
She felt embarrassed and wanted him to stop so she opened it.
Ms Chernyshova told the magazine: “And that is the thing I have regretted for the last 10 years, that I did open this door.”
Weinstein said he just wanted to talk but then “something clicked, like a change in his eyes,” she said.
“I was continuing to show my kids’ pictures, to try to convince him that, ‘I have kids, please do not do that.’
“But he did what he did. He assaulted me in the bedroom, and then he dragged me to the bathroom and he raped me there.”
After the attack, Ms Chernyshova suffered depression and separated from her husband, who later died.
The actress said she told only a small number of people about the attack, including her priest.
In 2017, her daughter Maria, who was then aged 16, told her that she had been sexually assaulted.
At that point, they both decided to report their cases to police.
Ms Chernyshova was the first prosecution witness in the Los Angeles trial, and gave evidence for three days.
Following the sentencing, she decided to waive her anonymity.
She said: “I thought it [being anonymous] was a good decision to protect my kids.
“But it was a horrible decision for myself because I’ve been cut off from everyone. It isn’t right to go through this hell alone.”
Ms Chernyshova now runs a floral design business in Beverly Hills.
Weinstein’s lawyers have said they plan to appeal against his conviction and sentence in the Los Angeles trial. Weinstein was acquitted of sexual battery involving a second woman.
The jury did not reach a verdict on charges relating to alleged assaults against two more women, one of whom was identified by her lawyers as Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is now the wife of Gavin Newsom, the governor of California.