LAPD has officially launched an investigation after an Italian model/actress met with Los Angeles police detectives to provide details of the 2013 incident.
- Oct 20, 2017
AceShowbiz - Amid mounting sexual harassment allegations against him, Harvey Weinstein is officially under investigation over rape accusation by an Italian model/actress. The accuser met with Los Angeles police detectives on Thursday, October 19 to provide a detailed account of the incident that took place at a hotel in 2013.
The 38-year-old actress, who remains anonymous out of fear of retaliation and in order to protect her children, is described as being "well-known in Italy, where she appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue and as an actress in Italian films," according to the Los Angeles Times.
The accuser told the Los Angeles Times that the incident occurred at the Beverly Hills hotel after she attended the 8th annual Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest in February 2013. The accuser said Weinstein invited her up to his hotel room, but she declined.
Later, he showed up "without warning" after midnight in the lobby of her hotel. He asked her to come up to her room, but she said no and offered to meet him downstairs. Soon, he was knocking on her door.
"He ... bullied his way into my hotel room, saying, 'I'm not going to [have sex with] you, I just want to talk,' " the woman recalled. "Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked."
She said Weinstein repeatedly bragged about his power and influence and told her not to fight him. The accuser said she cried and begged to go away, but "he grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do." She added, "He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me."
When he left, he told her she was very beautiful and that she could work in Hollywood. "He acted like nothing happened," the woman said. "I barely knew this man. It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. It sickens me still. ... He made me feel like an object, like nothing, with all his power."
After the incident, Weinstein invited her to parties at his house, but she did not attend. The woman said she told a priest, a friend and a nanny about the incident. As for why she comes forward with the allegation now, she said, "I feel responsible that I didn't talk for years, I feel responsible that I didn't react that night and I didn't call the police, I feel responsible that I wasn't brave enough." She added, "All these years I've been thinking why I didn't call the police immediately. I regret that I opened the [hotel] door."
The alleged incident falls within California's 10-year statute of limitations, which means Weinstein could face up to eight years behind bars under state law if he's proven guilty.
Responding to the LAPD's announcement, Weinstein's representatives said, "Mr. Weinstein obviously can't speak to anonymous allegations, but he unequivocally denies allegations of non-consensual sex."
