Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old model in New York in 2002, according to a class-action lawsuit.
“He then took off his pants and forcibly held Jane Doe while taking her hand and making her touch and massage his penis,” court documents said, according to multiple news outlets.
The anonymous woman, who at the time was an aspiring model and actress, reportedly moved to the US from Poland. The woman claimed she met Weinstein at an event, and then three days later, went to his apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan for what she believed was a business lunch.
The woman claimed she informed Weinstein she was only 16-years-old before entering his apartment.
Weinstein allegedly promised he would acquire a role for the woman in a movie, but never delivered after she rejected his sexual advances, BuzzFeed News said, citing the complaint.
The court filing went on to allege that Weinstein “threatened and pressured” the woman. Weinstein allegedly also claimed “that he had ‘made’ the careers of Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow, and that neither would be working without him.”
Read more: Harvey Weinstein says he offered acting jobs ‘in exchange for sex’ in since-retracted interview
Weinstein was said to have obtained her a role as an extra in the “Nanny Diaries” in 2004, but had also “ensured she never received work” because she rejected his advances, according to court documents.
Ben Brafman, Weinstein’s attorney, described the allegation as “preposterous” and “patently false.”
The woman’s claim is included in a growing class-action lawsuit in which at least 10 women claim that Weinstein attempted to “engage in unwanted sexual conduct.”
“Plaintiffs and members of the [lawsuit] had or wanted to have careers or wanted to make deals in the entertainment industry and correctly understood that Weinstein was a powerful force in the entertainment production world,” the class-action lawsuit said in June.
“At all times, Plaintiffs and the Class operated under duress and the credible and objective threat of being threatened or blacklisted by Weinstein and major film producers … if they refused Weinstein’s unwanted sexual advances or complained about his behavior,” the lawsuit added.
The disgraced Miramax cofounder was indicted in July after a grand jury in New York voted to charge him with two counts of predatory assault, with each charge carrying a minimum 10-year sentence. Weinstein faces six charges that includes rape in the first and third degree.
“If you are a survivor of the predatory abuse with which Mr. Weinstein is charged, there is still time to pursue justice,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in July.
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