Jessica Mann, the last of three women to take the stand in the New York retrial of Harvey Weinstein, told the jury Monday that what started as a reluctant but consensual sexual relationship with the disgraced movie mogul eventually spiraled into instances of rape.
A cosmetologist and hairstylist, Mann said she was in her mid-20s and had just moved to Los Angeles to try to launch an acting career in late 2012 when she met Weinstein at a party, where she said the producer – then in his early 60s – took an interest in her career, the Associated Press reported.
She said follow-up meetings included professional discussions but descended into boundary-testing, beginning with a request for a massage, which she agreed to despite that she was not attracted to Weinstein.
She said Weinstein took her to awards-season parties – to which she wore dress from her high school prom – and first refused his initial sexual advances when she went up to his Beverly Hills hotel room in 2013 to discuss a script.
Eventually, she let him perform oral sex on her that night after he told her he wouldn’t let her leave without letting him “do something,” the AP reported. In subsequent encounters she agreed to more, which left her feeling “defiled.”
“I just decided to have a relationship with him,” she said. “I’m sorry if that’s a bad decision. I just did. I also just wanted to buy time because I really didn’t know how to handle it.”
Now 73, Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains he never assaulted anyone.
Mann said over time, she entered into a regular relationship with Weinstein, in part because she worried that rebuffing him would lead to professional consequences, but also because in that context she hoped maybe the sex “would feel different.”
“I just thought that maybe it would take the pain away,” Mann, now 39, testified through tears. Mann has told prosecutors that Weinstein raped her in 2013, but had not yet testified to details of that encounter as of midday Monday.
She was expected to continue her testimony this week, and was also yet to face cross-examination from Weinstein’s lawyers.
Defense attorney Arthur Aidala said during opening statements that Mann’s relationship with Weinstein was mutually beneficial, and that she hoped she could fast-forward to an acting career if she agreed to sleep with him.
Weinstein’s initial conviction in New York was thrown out by an appeals court over what was ruled to be improper “prior bad acts” testimony. He is charged with raping Mann and with forcing oral sex on two other women, both of whom have testified, in 2006.
Weinstein’s conviction in a California court, which allowed New York authorities to hold him while he awaited retrial, is going through the appeals process.
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