Harvey Weinstein faces several sex charges
(Picture: Getty Images)Harvey Weinstein raped the future first lady of California after luring her to his hotel bedroom for a supposed business meeting and then told her she would “feel better” after his attack, a court has been told.
Deputy district attorney Paul Thompson said Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California governor Gavin Newsom, was one of several women attacked by Weinstein who will testify against the disgraced Hollywood producer at his trial in Los Angeles.
He said each had given similar accounts of being cornered in hotel rooms and forced into sexual encounters when they were young and aspiring.
Weinstein, 70, who is already serving a 23-year sentence following his conviction in New York for sexual assaults including rape, is facing 11 further sex charges in the new Los Angeles trial. He denies the charges, claiming all of the encounters were consensual, with his lawyer saying Weinstein’s accusers had willingly taken advantage of Hollywood’s “casting couch” culture by having “transactional sex” because of his power.
But Mr Thompson said Ms Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and former actress who married the future governor in 2008, had been a “powerless actor trying to make her way in Hollywood” when she met Weinstein in 2005 and was invited to his suite at a Beverly Hills hotel to “discuss her career”.
The jury heard that Weinstein, whose aides had earlier left the room, changed into his bathrobe before calling Ms Siebel Newsom to the bathroom where he told her to “touch him” .
Mr Thompson said Weinstein switched from “pleading to aggressive and commanding” before pulling Ms Siebel Newsom to his bed and telling her “relax, this is going to make you feel better” before raping her.
He said Ms Siebel Newsom was crying and scared during the attack and had been left feeling “ashamed and confused”, as well as feeling that she had “no choice” but to remain in contact with Weinstein after the attack. The prosecutor said Weinstein had similarly lorded it over other victims, talking about women stars whose careers he had made. Mr Thompson said all the women would testify Weinstein ignored signs they did not consent, including “their shaking bodies, their crying..., their saying ‘no’.”
Weinstein, who has pleaded not guilty, was brought into court in a wheelchair.
Mark Werksman, representing Weinstein, told the court the women consented to sex to help their careers and said: “He is not Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Do you think these beautiful women had sex with him because he is hot? No. They had sex with him because he is powerful.” He claimed Ms Siebel Newsom was “just another bimbo”.
The trial continues.
