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Weinstein Told an Accuser ‘This Is How the Industry Works,’ She Says Weinstein Accuser Says He Told Her, ‘This Is How the Industry Works’
(about 3 hours later)
Harvey Weinstein met Dawn Dunning, an aspiring actress and a waitress from Ohio, at an upscale lounge in New York City’s meatpacking district. The women were young aspiring actresses waiting tables in New York when they met Harvey Weinstein in the early 2000s.
The Hollywood producer took interest in her as an actress, she said on Wednesday after taking the witness stand at Mr. Weinstein’s rape trial. They met several times to discuss her career, she said. Dawn Dunning, a waitress from Ohio, met the influential producer at an upscale lounge in New York City’s meatpacking district. Tarale Wulff was Mr. Weinstein’s waitress at an another exclusive lounge in Lower Manhattan.
But then, Mr. Weinstein invited Ms. Dunning to a hotel in TriBeCa to meet people in the film industry. During a conversation in a bedroom, she said, he suddenly slipped his hand up her skirt and touched her genitals. He offered to help both women with their acting careers, luring them to what they thought were business meetings. But each took the witness stand on Wednesday at Mr. Weinstein’s rape trial to describe how, once they were alone with Mr. Weinstein, he sexually assaulted them instead.
He quickly apologized, she recalled, and she never reported the incident to the police, because she wanted “to pretend it didn’t happen.” Then, she agreed to a second meeting at a hotel, lured with the promise of a talk about movie scripts. Ms. Dunning testified that at one meeting, Mr. Weinstein suggested she agree to a threesome with him and one of his assistants to advance her career, telling her, “This is how the industry works.” Ms. Wulff said Mr. Weinstein had also dragged her into a secluded part of the club where she worked and masturbated in front of her.
Mr. Weinstein answered the door in a bathrobe and suggested that Ms. Dunning agree to a threesome with him and one of his assistants to advance her career. Ms. Dunning said she laughed, thinking it was a joke. Ms. Dunning and Ms. Wulff were the latest accusers to testify against Mr. Weinstein at his trial in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Choking back tears, Ms. Dunning said her encounters with the producer happened in 2004, and Ms. Wulff said Mr. Weinstein attacked her the following year.
A total of six women are testifying against Mr. Weinstein at the trial, which is widely seen as a defining moment in the #MeToo movement.
Before his steep fall from grace, Mr. Weinstein was an powerful producer, known for his aggressive style, who reshaped the independent movie industry with Oscar winners like “Shakespeare in Love” and Pulp Fiction.”
But since 2017, when The New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés, more than 90 women have accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual misconduct, touching off a global reckoning over the kind of harassment women have endured for centuries at the hands of powerful men. Prosecutors have brought criminal charges against him in only a handful of instances in Los Angeles and New York City.
Mr. Weinstein has not been criminally charged in connection with the allegations from Ms. Dunning and Ms. Wolff, but Justice James A. Burke has ruled prosecutors can use their testimony to demonstrate what they say is Mr. Weinstein’s history of sexually assaulting women.
Mr. Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts, including rape and predatory sexual assault. Those charges stem from allegations that he forcibly performed oral sex on Miriam Haley, an assistant for “Project Runway,” in 2006 and raped another woman, Jessica Mann, in 2013. Ms. Haley told the jury on Monday that Mr. Weinstein had physically held her down and assaulted her in his Manhattan loft.
Last week, the actress Annabella Sciorra, best known for her role in “The Sopranos,” told the jury that in the winter months of either 1993 or 1994, Mr. Weinstein pushed his way into her own apartment in New York and raped her.
Ms. Sciorra’s account is mentioned in the indictment to support a charge of predatory sexual assault, which requires prosecutors to prove that Mr. Weinstein committed a serious sex crime against at least two women. The state’s statute of limitations bars her allegation from being charged on its own as a crime.
The trial has asked the jury of seven men and five women to consider complicated questions of consent and power dynamics in professional relationships. Mr. Weinstein’s lawyers have argued that all the sexual encounters were not only consensual but also transactional. The women, they have said, agreed to sex in the hope Mr. Weinstein might give them work.
Ms. Dunning, who is now a costume designer, said that Mr. Weinstein struck up a conversation with her at the now defunct PM Lounge where she waited tables, expressing an interest in her as an actress. They met several times to discuss her career, she said. He occasionally made inappropriate remarks.
But then, Mr. Weinstein invited Ms. Dunning to a boutique hotel in TriBeCa to meet people in the film industry. During a conversation in a bedroom, she said, he suddenly slipped his hand up her skirt and touched her genitals.
He quickly apologized, she recalled, and told her “not to make a big deal about it.” She said she never reported the incident to the police, because she wanted “to pretend it didn’t happen.” Later, she agreed to a second meeting at a Manhattan hotel where they were supposed to talk about movie scripts.
But Mr. Weinstein answered the door wearing only a bathrobe and suggested that Ms. Dunning agree to a threesome with him and one of his assistants in exchange for roles in three movies including “The Derail.” Ms. Dunning said she laughed, thinking it was a joke.
“He got really angry and started screaming at me, ‘You’ll never make it in this business. This is how the industry works. This is how all the great actresses made it,’” she said. She added: “He was like a big guy towering over me and I was really scared.” She fled the hotel.“He got really angry and started screaming at me, ‘You’ll never make it in this business. This is how the industry works. This is how all the great actresses made it,’” she said. She added: “He was like a big guy towering over me and I was really scared.” She fled the hotel.
Ms. Dunning was the third accuser to testify against Mr. Weinstein at his trial in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Choking back tears, she said her encounters with the producer occurred in 2004. A day or so later, Ms. Dunning received a call from Mr. Weinstein’s assistant, but she hung up the phone. She said she never spoke to the producer again.
In all, six women are testifying against Mr. Weinstein at the trial, which is widely seen as a defining moment in the #MeToo movement. Mr. Weinstein was an influential producer who reshaped the independent movie industry with Oscar winners like “Shakespeare in Love” and Pulp Fiction.” But since 2017, more than 90 women have accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual misconduct. He has been charged with sex crimes in Los Angeles and New York. Ms. Wulff, 40, who is now a model, said she met Mr. Weinstein at Cipriani’s Upstairs SoHo, a members-only lounge owned by the producer’s friend, Giuseppe Cipriani. After learning that Ms. Wulff was an actress, Mr. Weinstein said he was interested in helping her and suggested she make an appointment with his office, she testified.
Mr. Weinstein has not been criminally charged in connection with his encounter with Ms. Dunning, but Justice James A. Burke has ruled prosecutors can use her testimony to demonstrate what they say is Mr. Weinstein’s pattern of sexually assaulting women. Later that night, Mr. Weinstein grabbed her by the arm and led her up upstairs to a secluded area in the lounge, she said.
A second woman, Tarale Wulff, a model and former aspiring actress, has accused Mr. Weinstein of raping her in 2005. She was expected to testify in the afternoon. Like Ms. Dunning, Ms. Wulff’s allegations are too old to support a criminal charge under state law, but prosecutors hope her testimony will demonstrate a pattern. She testified that she told the producer she had to get back to work. “He said, ‘one sec, one sec,’ and I noticed his shirt started moving — he had on a white shirt — and I realized he was masturbating under his shirt.” She said she threw her towel and rushed past him.
Mr. Weinstein, 67, is accused of a total of five felony counts, including rape and predatory sexual assault. The charges stem from allegations that he forcibly performed oral sex on Miriam Haley in 2006 and raped another woman, Jessica Mann, in 2013. Ms. Haley told a jury on Monday that Mr. Weinstein forced oral sex on her in his Manhattan loft. Ms. Mann is expected to also share her account this week. Prosecutors have said that Ms. Wulff was expected to testify on Wednesday afternoon about the alleged rape inside Mr. Weinstein’s apartment.
Last week, the actress Annabella Sciorra, best known for her role in “The Sopranos,” told the jury that Mr. Weinstein pushed his way into her own apartment in New York and raped her in the winter months of either 1993 or 1994.
Ms. Sciorra’s account is mentioned in the indictment to support a charge of predatory sexual assault, which requires prosecutors to prove that Mr. Weinstein committed a serious sex crime against at least two women. The state’s statute of limitation bars her allegation from being charged on its own as a crime. The predatory sexual assault charge is the most serious charge against Mr. Weinstein, exposing him to a possible sentence of life in prison.
Mr. Weinstein has denied the allegations. His lawyers have said that the encounters were consensual and transactional. The women, they said, wanted to advance their own careers.