Content warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault, and may be distressing for some readers. If you need support, please call the sexual assault helpline on 1800 010 120.
Over 80 women have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, from unwanted touching to rape. Weinstein is currently facing court in New York for charges relating to just two of those women: Jessica Mann and Mimi Haleyi.
The disgraced Hollywood producer, whose trial is seen as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement, is facing five felony counts, including predatory sexual assault and rape.
If the jury of seven men and five women find the 67-year-old guilty, he will face life in prison. Weinstein denies all allegations, maintaining they were consensual relations.
In court, a total of six women will testify against Weinstein. Four women are not pressing criminal charges, but are instead there to demonstrate his alleged pattern to relentlessly abuse the dreams of aspiring actresses.
Here are the allegations of all six women against Harvey Weinstein.
Lauren Young
Lauren Young was a 22-year-old model and aspiring actress when she met Harvey Weinstein in 2012.
The producer was intrigued by a script Young was writing about her own life, and planned to meet with her and his friend at a bar in Beverly Hills.
Weinstein asked Young and his associate, Claudia Salinas, to go upstairs with him. Young alleged Salinas then shut the bathroom door, trapping her in a bathroom with Weinstein.
“I felt so trapped and I was in shock and started to back up away from him,” Young alleged in Manhattan Supreme Court today.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. I was just really worried that he was going to hurt me.”
Prosecutors say that Weinstein undid her dress, before masturbating and ejaculating onto the floor.
“I’m saying ‘no, no, no’ and he’s carrying on with normal conversation – ‘This is what all the actresses do to make it,'” she testified.
Young did not speak to Weinstein again after this encounter. She also didn’t call the police because Weinstein “has power”.
During her testimony, Young agreed with previous claims about Weinstein’s genitalia, adding that he had “a disgusting-looking penis”.
“It had looked like it had been cut and sewn back on – not a normal-looking scar from circumcision,” she said.
“Something didn’t look normal. I remember noticing I didn’t really see balls in the sack. I just see like, you know, a penis.”
Jessica Mann
Three of the five charges against Weinstein relate to Jessica Mann.
Jessica Mann was 27 years old and an aspiring actress when she met Harvey Weinstein in 2012 at a party in Los Angeles. The two stayed in touch to discuss Mann’s acting career.
Weinstein later invited her and her friend to a hotel suite in Los Angeles, Mann testified in court. When they arrived, Weinstein pulled her into a bedroom, leaving her friend outside.
There, she said, Weinstein told her to sit on the bed and performed oral sex on her. Mann said she pretended to have an orgasm so he would stop - Weinstein is not charged with a crime in connection with this specific encounter.
Mann said she maintained a relationship with Weinstein after this. "It was extremely degrading from that point on," she testified.
Mann said she engaged in oral sex with Weinstein during the relationship but never had intercourse with him until he raped her.
On March 18, 2013, Mann and Weinstein planned a breakfast meeting at a Manhattan hotel, the jury heard.
He allegedly persuaded Mann to go to her hotel room with him. When they arrived, Mann said he used an erectile enhancer before raping her.
"If he heard the word 'no', it was like a trigger for him," she said. Jessica Mann told Weinstein's New York trial she told no one about what had happened.
"I was so embarrassed," she said, crying on the witness stand as she gave evidence.
In her testimony, Mann also alleged that Weinstein urinated on her, had very poor hygiene and used erectile dysfunction medication. She also said she believed he was intersex as it appeared like he had no testicles.
"The first time I saw him fully naked, I thought he was deformed and intersex… He does not have testicles and it appears like he has a vagina," she said.
On Monday, jurors were shown naked photos of Weinstein as evidence in court - the images will not be available to the public. There are, however, sketches of what the jurors allegedly saw.
Marta Dhanis, a journalist who is covering the Weinstein trial, reported, "A few jurors reacted to the nude pictures: 2 women winced in disgust and one white man raised his eyebrows."
When asked if they were naked photos of him, Weinstein reportedly responded: "No, it was Playboy."
When Jessica Mann was asked about Weinstein's hygiene by prosecutor Joan Illuzzi, she explained: "It was very bad. He smelled like shit — excuse me, sorry, like poop. He just was dirty."
On Monday, Mann also recounted Weinstein allegedly giving her a 'golden shower'.
"We were in the shower," she recalled. "He wanted to shower first, which was beneficial to me, and he asked me to come into the shower and then he said to me, ‘Have you ever had a golden shower?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And then I felt him peeing on me."
Weinstein's defence lawyer Donna Rotunno asked Mann if she left the shower, to which she said no.
"I was in shock by it, it was gross," Mann tearfully explained. "I turned into the corner of the shower and just looked away."
Jessica Mann was let off the stand after experiencing a panic attack during cross-examination. It came after being questioned for five hours by Weinstein's lawyer Donna Rotunno. She walked off the stand wiping away tears.
In relation to Mann's allegations, Weinstein is charged with first and third degree rape, and predatory sexual assault.
Mimi Haleyi
Mimi Haleyi is a former production assistant of Harvey Weinstein. She asked the movie mogul for work upon seeing him at the Cannes Film Festival in March 2006. He employed her, working on the set of Project Runway.
One night in 2006, Haleyi went to Weinstein's home in New York City for a meeting.
"At some point, fairly soon into meeting him there, he kind of came towards me and lunged at me," Haleyi testified. "I got up from the sofa and said, 'Oh, no, no, no.'"
Haleyi recalls Weinstein taking her to his bedroom, despite her objection.
Haleyi testified that she told the producer she had a tampon in, at which he point he jerked it out of her vagina. He then allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Haleyi.
A former roommate of Haleyi has corroborated her account, saying she told Haleyi at the time that the encounter "sounds like rape".
In relation to Haleyi, Weinstein is charged with one count of criminal sexual act and predatory sexual assault.
Annabella Sciorra
Harvey Weinstein's alleged abuse against actress Annabella Sciorra is outside the statute of limitations in New York. Hence, he is not facing criminal charges in direct relation to her testimony.
However, Sciorra alleges she too was raped by Harvey Weinstein.
Sciorra was a rising actress when she knew Weinstein in the early 1990s. In the winter of 1993 or 1994, Sciorra testified the movie mogul offered to take her home after having dinner at a restaurant.
After dropping her off, Sciorra heard a knock at the door. It was Weinstein, she testified. He allegedly forced his way inside.
After checking to see if anyone was home with her, Sciorra says Weinstein raped her.
"I was trying to get him off me," Sciorra tearfully recounted in her testimony. "I was punching him, kicking him. He got on top of me and he raped me."
Sciorra said she confronted Weinstein about the rape weeks later. She claims his response was "threatening, and I was afraid".
There were another two incidents, Sciorra alleges, where Weinstein went to her hotel rooms uninvited.
Dawn Dunning
Dawn Dunning was 24 years old and an aspiring actress when she met Harvey Weinstein in 2004.
Dunning saw Weinstein as a mentor-figure in her life, as he took an interest in her career. In court in January, Dunning accused the former Hollywood producer of preying on her vulnerability while pushing the notion that sex could lead to stardom.
At a meeting in a Manhattan hotel, Dunning was taken to Weinstein's bedroom to talk about contracts.
Upon opening the door, Weinstein was allegedly wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
He pointed to the contracts, the prosecution said, and told her she could have the acting roles if she had three-way sex with Weinstein and his assistant.
"This is how the industry works. How do you think other actresses got ahead?” he allegedly told Dunning. She refused to partake and left.
Dunning's ex-boyfriend testified in court, saying she came home "pretty shocked, upset, angry" and "kind of overall appalled" after she claimed Harvey Weinstein offered her movie roles in exchange for a threesome.
Tarale Wulff
In 2005, Tarale Wulff was a cocktail waitress and aspiring actress.
Wulff alleged Weinstein dragged her to a secluded terrace before allegedly masturbating in front of her. Prosecutors say she fled the terrace.
In the hope of acting work, Wulff agreed to have a meeting with Weinstein at his apartment. She was led to his bedroom, where she claims he raped her.
"Tarale protested ‘No, please, I can’t,’" the prosecutor said in court. "He told her not to worry, that he could not have kids."
She never spoke to Weinstein again.
Harvey Weinstein denies all allegations against him, insisting they were all consensual.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
With AAP.
This article was originally published on February 1, 2020 and was updated on February 6, 2020.
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Top Comments
Any encounter with Weinstein could not be consensual. He looks like jabba the hutt.
LOL too right.
If Weinstein does have deformed genitalia, it goes some way to explaining (not excusing) his anger and predatory behaviour towards women.
So freaking off.