Jennifer Siebel Newsom testifies against Harvey Weinstein - Los Angeles Times

Jennifer Siebel Newsom took the basal Monday astatine Harvey Weinstein’s intersexual battle proceedings and accused the fallen Hollywood mogul of raping her 17 years agone successful a Beverly Hills edifice suite erstwhile she was a struggling actor.

In grounds to a assemblage successful downtown Los Angeles, Siebel Newsom wept and astatine times wailed arsenic she shared graphic details of what she recalled arsenic a convulsive battle that lasted much than an hour. The rape “destroyed maine emotionally,” she told the jury.

“This was hell,” she said arsenic her husband, Gov. Gavin Newsom, waited successful a country down the hallway aft the tribunal declined to let him into the courtroom to perceive his wife’s testimony.

As the proceedings entered its 4th week, Siebel Newsom became the seventh pistillate to attest that Weinstein utilized his power to isolate them successful edifice rooms and battle them successful Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Puerto Rico oregon Toronto. The details of Siebel Newsom’s allegations had not been publically disclosed earlier her testimony.

Weinstein, 70, is serving a 23-year situation condemnation for a sex transgression conviction successful New York. The existent proceedings stems from alleged intersexual assaults successful Los Angeles country hotels betwixt 2004 and 2013.

Siebel Newsom said that erstwhile she met Weinstein astatine the Toronto International Film Festival a fewer weeks earlier the assault, she was a 31-year-old histrion and filmmaker who saw him arsenic “the apical of the industry.” At the time, she said, she had not yet met her husband, past the politician of San Francisco.

Asked by a authoritative to place Weinstein successful the courtroom, Siebel Newsom covered her look successful her hands, sniffled and wiped distant tears earlier pointing to him astatine the defence table.

“He’s staring astatine me,” she said.

Harvey Weinstein appears successful tribunal astatine the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center successful Los Angeles connected Oct. 4.

(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)

At the movie festival, she testified, she was speaking with friends astatine a barroom erstwhile she noticed that “everybody benignant of backed away” arsenic Weinstein walked up to her and introduced himself.

“I felt similar the Red Sea was parting,” she recalled. “I don’t cognize whether it was deference oregon fear.”

She said she recovered Weinstein some charming and intimidating, but she was flattered that helium seemed funny astir her budding career.

On a travel to Los Angeles a fewer weeks later, she said, Weinstein stopped by her West Hollywood location to present a gift, a publication astir MGM co-founder Louis B. Mayer, and invited her to conscionable with him the adjacent time astatine the Peninsula Hotel successful Beverly Hills to sermon her aspirations.

She expected to conscionable him successful the edifice bar, she said, truthful she was confused and hesitant erstwhile a Weinstein adjunct summoned her to his lavish suite. As she waited for him determination connected a couch, she noticed a vessel of champagne successful a bucket. That made her much tense — “It felt a small spot similar a date,” she testified — but she decided to stay.

“You don’t accidental nary to Harvey Weinstein,” she said. Asked by the authoritative wherefore not, she responded: “Because helium could marque oregon ruin your career.”

Once Weinstein wrapped up his gathering and joined her connected the couch, Siebel Newsom said, she expected to speech with him astir movie projects she hoped to prosecute successful India oregon Africa, but helium seemed uninterested. He told her helium wanted to get “more comfortable” and stepped away, past called retired from beyond a darkened hallway, “Can you assistance me?”

Siebel Newsom said she recovered Weinstein bent implicit successful a bathrobe successful a brightly lit bathroom. He was masturbating, she testified, and grabbed her and tried to get her manus connected his penis.

“I conscionable retrieve physically trying to backmost away,” she said, recalling that she repeatedly told him, “Please don’t.”

She said helium came toward her and groped her breasts, but she kept backing distant successful a lengthy “cat and mouse” astatine the bath door. “I was conscionable delicately trying to get away,” she said.

She described herself arsenic “rattled” and “panicked,” saying she was crying and trembling arsenic helium got her connected a sofa and tested antithetic tactics to coerce her into sex. He mentioned respective actresses, she testified, and “tried to archer maine that this is the industry.”

She said she coiled up sharing the trauma of losing her sister erstwhile she was a miss to effort to get him to spot her arsenic “a human, not an object.”

After 45 minutes, helium forced her into the bedroom, she testified, and kept groping her breasts done her covering arsenic helium masturbated, utilizing her “like this blow-up doll” arsenic she continued crying, shaking and resisting.

Siebel Newsom cried loudly arsenic she answered a prosecutor’s questions astir what occurred successful the bedroom. She was wearing a wrapper dress, her favourite for auditions, she recounted, and Weinstein reached into it. “He inserted his fingers successful my vagina,” she testified. “I’m shaking. I’m crying. He knows this is not consent astatine all.”

Weinstein, she said, inserted portion of his penis wrong of her and performed oral enactment connected her, and she kept reasoning she could drawback a disease.

“I was acrophobic of him putting his assemblage into my assemblage and hurting me.” she testified. She said she yet decided she needed to marque “pleasure noises” and masturbate him.

“I conscionable did it to marque it stop,” Siebel Newsom said. “I conscionable wanted to get the f— retired of there. Excuse my language. I’m sorry, I conscionable wanted to get out.”

Weinstein past suggested that they mightiness beryllium woman and boyfriend, she said, and “I conscionable thought I was going to propulsion up.”

“He conscionable said, ‘What would it beryllium similar introducing me’ to my dad?” she told jurors. “And I conscionable thought, ‘Oh my God, this is truthful disgusting, truthful wrong.’"

Siebel Newsom initially appeared anxious to attest Monday morning, but was besides visibly nervous. At 1 point, she paused and told the court, “Sorry, I conscionable request to instrumentality a heavy breath.”

The women successful the lawsuit are testifying anonymously. The Times does not sanction victims of intersexual battle unless they person spoken retired publically oregon asked to beryllium identified. Siebel Newsom accused Weinstein of maltreatment successful a 2017 Huffington Post essay that ran conscionable days aft large media outlets began publishing accusation astir rape accusations against the Miramax co-founder. Her engagement successful the Los Angeles proceedings was not wide known until The Times reported it past month.

Siebel Newsom archetypal reported the 2005 rape to constabulary successful 2020, astir 3 years aft different women’s allegations against Weinstein triggered the #MeToo movement. She acknowledged sending him affable nonrecreational emails successful the years aft the incident.

“I had a career,” she said. “I tried to enactment what happened successful a box.”

Siebel Newsom besides said she erstwhile had 1 of Newsom’s campaigns solicit a $500 donation from Weinstein, which her hubby returned.

Weinstein is charged with 11 counts of rape and intersexual artillery stemming from accusations made by Siebel Newsom, identified successful tribunal arsenic Jane Doe 4, and 4 others. All but 1 of the women person testified.

Prosecutors person made nary notation of Jane Doe 5 passim their presumption of evidence. Weinstein’s defence squad has asked L.A. County Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench to disregard the 4 counts related to her accusation if she is not going to testify. Lench has declined to bash so, and Thompson has not commented connected the woman’s presumption successful the case.

Two sources with nonstop cognition of the concern said the prosecution is having “witness availability issues” with Jane Doe 5, arsenic she lives extracurricular the state and cannot beryllium brought to tribunal via subpoena. The sources spoke connected the information of anonymity successful bid to speech candidly astir the situation.

If convicted successful Los Angeles, Weinstein would look a de facto beingness sentence.

Weinstein has denied wrongdoing. His attorneys, Mark Werksman and Alan Jackson, person aggressively questioned his accusers during cross-examination. Werksman has said the assaults described by Jane Does 1 and 2 ne'er happened and claimed immoderate of the different accusers, including Siebel Newsom, engaged successful “transactional sex” with Weinstein to beforehand their Hollywood careers.

“The accusers successful this case, women who willingly played the crippled by the rules that applied backmost then, they volition travel into this courtroom now, with their lawyers successful tow, and assertion they were raped and sexually assaulted,” Werksman said during his opening statement. “They person to prevarication to themselves … to marque what they did consensually backmost past look similar it was forced upon them.”

In 1 of the trial’s astir stunning moments, Werksman besides said Siebel Newsom was engaging successful revisionist past by casting herself arsenic a victim. Otherwise, helium said, she would beryllium “just different bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get up successful Hollywood.”