Harvey Weinstein raped industry acquaintance in 2000 presidential debate, lawsuit claims

Disgraced Hollywood magnate Harvey Weinsten, who is facing a new lawsuit over sexual assault by a new accuser, had allegedly raped an acquaintance from the industry during the 2000 presidential debate.

The new lawsuit claims that the anonymous accuser who has taken legal action under the name of Jane Doe V, had met the infamous producer back in 1984’s Cannes Film Festival after being introduced by her then-boyfriend.

The Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit revealed that Weisntein had first maintained his distance from her for the first few years, out of respect for her boyfriend.

However, upon their second meeting in 1992, the now-55-year-old woman had been single, which is something Weinstein had noticed, after which he had started to take interest in her career.

The court documents claim the interest in her career soon turned into “unwanted sexual advances.” She claims to have met Weinstein thrice with his behavior being inappropriate in each of their meetings.

Their final meeting is when the accuser was allegedly raped by the producer. She details that she was invited by Weinstein to his room at The Peninsula Beverly Hills for a drink to celebrate after he had sold Miramax to Disney in 1993.

It was then that the alleged incident had occurred which led to “severe emotional distress” for the actor.

Imran Ansari, the civil lawyer of Weinstein claimed that his client “intends to defend against the claims filed anonymously against him. Some of these claims, including those alleged to have occurred decades ago, may be barred by the applicable statute of limitations, and not subject to any exceptions under the law, as this plaintiff does not appear to be a complainant in Mr. Weinstein’s criminal case.”