Harvey Weinstein upon arriving in court in New York on January 27, 2020. – Erik Pendzich / REX / SIPA
If more than 80 women accused the movie tycoon of harassing or sexually assaulting them, Harvey Weinstein, who claims that his sexual relations were all consented, is not prosecuted
in a New York criminal court only for two incidents. One of them concerns former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, who claims to have been sexually assaulted in July 2006.
On Monday, the fourth day of the debates, the forties delivered her version of the evening in Harvey Weinstein’s apartment in Soho, where the producer had asked him to come to greet him. She described an affable man suddenly changing, without warning signs. “He was kissing and fiddling with me” when the conversation was “normal” a few seconds earlier, she said. When I was standing, “I was walking backwards because he was pushing me with his body,” she said.
Cornered, she said she found herself in a child’s room, with drawings hanging on the wall. “During all this time, I expressed to him that I did not want that,” she explained. The producer would have pushed her on the bed, and “every time I tried to get up, he would push me again,” she said, letting out sobs. One of Hollywood’s most powerful men allegedly cunniledus after removing his tampon, she said. “I was trying to escape, but I realized it was useless,” she said, the producer weighing about three times his weight. “I closed my mind. “
“I thought to myself that going to the police was not an option for me,” said the elegant brunette, as she was working in New York without a work visa and was facing deportation from the United States. The one who changed her last name since the publication of the first revelations about the producer also said she feared this man of “power” and “contacts”.
A “consensual relationship” for defense
The former production assistant, who has left the film industry, said that she had sex with Harvey Weinstein about two weeks after the alleged assault. Was this a sexual assault? asked one of the defense lawyers, Damon Cheronis, during cross-examination. “I couldn’t resist,” replied Mimi Haleyi, annoyed, adding that Harvey Weinstein had grabbed her and thrown her onto a bed.
During cross-examination, Damon Cheronis produced a deluge of emails and pages from Mimi Haleyi’s own agenda to show that she had remained in contact with her alleged attacker several years after the alleged events. “I’m really upset that I missed you,” she wrote to Harvey Weinstein’s assistant after the powerful producer visited London in an email dated September 2006, two months after the incident. presumed.
A few months later, she met the producer in London, where she lived, to tell him about a TV show project. “As a friend would show it to a friend?” Asked Damon Cheronis. “No, as one person would show to another who has a lot of professional experience,” replied Mimi Haleyi, who never seemed destabilized by defense questions.
The lawyer then went on to a new email, dated 2008, in which she signs “Lots of Love”. “It’s a common way to sign,” said Mimi Haleyi. “You had a consensual relationship with Mr. Weinstein,” said the lawyer, a statement denied by the applicant. “You were friends with Mr. Weinstein,” he continued. “I had a professional relationship with Mr. Weinstein,” she replied. “He never sexually assaulted you!” Interjected Damon Cheronis in a final trip to the jury, a few moments before the witness of the day was thanked by judge James Burke. “This is not true,” she immediately replied.
After Mimi Haleyi’s testimony, and that last week, of actress Annabella Sciorra, the third highly anticipated woman at the trial is Jessica Mann, who claims to have been raped in 2013 by Harvey Weinstein. The latter risks life.
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