A massage therapist collapsed on the witness stand at Harvey Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial, where she described being sexually assaulted by the disgraced producer and was afraid to talk about it until she told one of her other clients, Mel Gibson.
The masseuse, identified only as Jane Doe 3, said Weinstein, 70, groped her in a bathroom after one of her appointments and masturbated in front of her.
She said she was “young and naive” at the time and felt like she couldn’t tell her authorities or her fiancé, but when Gibson announced he was working with Weinstein, she told him what happened.
Weinstein faces 11 counts of rape and sexual assault in the trial and has pleaded not guilty, saying all encounters were consensual.
The first attack allegedly happened after a massage session with Weinstein in a Montage hotel bathroom in 2010.
Jane Doe 3 said Weinstein masturbated in front of her and fondled her breast after a massage session in 2010 and said they were “close friends” when she asked him why he did it
“He was trying to normalize what he did to me. He made me feel like making it awkward was weird, like masturbation was something everyone does,” the accuser said of Weinstein
Weinstein faces 11 counts of rape and sexual assault at the Los Angeles trial and is currently behind bars after being convicted of assault in New York
As we were about to wash our hands in the bathroom, the movie mogul barged in naked and started masturbating before pinning her against a wall and groping under her shirt.
“He was very aggressive towards me. He pushed me against the wall. That’s when he started putting his hand under my bra and feeling my breasts,” she said.
She said the relentless attack continued, although she clearly begged him to stop, saying: “That’s not appropriate.”
“I was scared, I thought I was about to be raped,” she said.
After he was done, the masseuse asked him, “Why did you do this to me?” to which he replied, “We are close friends now, you have full access to me. I want to get you a book deal to write about massage.’
“He was trying to normalize what he did to me. He made me feel like making it awkward was weird, like masturbation was something everyone does. Basically, he was humiliating me like my reaction wasn’t normal,” she said.
Weinstein offered her a book deal, which eventually fell through, and she was afraid to tell the police for fear she would lose her other “high-end” clients for reporting the attack.
“I blame myself for not doing more. I blame myself because I just wish I had done more,” she added.
Jane Doe 3 and Weinstein had more massage sessions, and at a later one he again masturbated “about six feet from her” and asked her to watch him.
When actor Mel Gibson told Jane Doe 3 that he was working with Weinstein, she freaked out and told him about the attack, which led to him testifying against him at trial
Jane Doe 3 said the attack happened after a massage session at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills in 2010
“That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to come forward. Because it’s embarrassing,’ she said.
But when actor Mel Gibson said he was going to work with Weinstein, she freaked out.
“I freaked out, I started saying how could you ever want to work with this man, why would you ever want to work with this person? He asked what happened,” said Jane Doe 3.
“I was in shock and started crying. He was the first person I finally opened up to about what had happened. I told him he sexually assaulted me but I didn’t want to go into all the details, I was embarrassed and humiliated,” she said.
Gibson asked if she wanted to report the attack to the police or speak to a lawyer, but Jane Doe 3 said she was overwhelmed because “it was the first time I’ve opened my mouth and told anyone about it verbally”.
Gibson will support her allegations, although Weinstein’s attorneys have indicated they will question Gibson about his past anti-Semitic and racist remarks.
Judge Lisa B. Lench said Gibson could not be cross-examined about these incidents, but the defense could ask whether Gibson had any motivation against Weinstein because he was Jewish.
Weinstein’s attorneys argued against allowing Gibson to testify, saying what he learned from the woman when he had her massage him did not constitute a “new complaint” from the woman under the law under which Gibson is testifying would.
A “fresh complaint” under California law allows evidence of sexual assault or other crimes to be presented if the victim reported it voluntarily and relatively quickly after the incident to another person.
Gibson did not recall the timing of the exchange, but prosecutors will use another witness, Allison Weiner, who recalls speaking to both Gibson and the woman in 2015.
Judge Lench said Gibson’s testimony will depend on how the prosecutor describes her exchanges with him when she takes the stand, and that she could opt out at this point.