By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ, Related Press
NEW YORK (AP) — A former mannequin tearfully testified Thursday that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years previous, calling it probably the most “horrifying thing I ever experienced” to that time.
Kaja (KEYE’-ah) Sokola, an aspiring actor on the time, advised jurors at Weinstein’s #MeToo retrial that the onetime film honcho put his hand inside her underwear and made her contact his genitals at a Manhattan residence in 2002.
Sokola stated she noticed Weinstein’s eyes — “black and scary” — gazing her in a rest room mirror because it occurred.
Kaja Sokola arrives at Manhattan prison court docket earlier than Harvey Weinstein’s trial on Thursday, Might 8, 2025 in New York. (AP Picture/Adam Grey)
Afterward, she stated, he advised her to maintain quiet about what had occurred, touting that he’d made the careers of A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz and that he might assist her Hollywood goals come true.
“I’d never been in a situation like this,” Sokola testified, as riveted jurors scribbled notes. “I felt stupid and ashamed and like it’s my fault for putting myself in this position.”
Weinstein just isn’t charged with any crime in reference to the alleged assault, which Sokola first detailed in a lawsuit a number of years in the past. The timing put it exterior the statute of limitations for prison costs.
Sokola is testifying as a result of Weinstein is charged with forcibly performing oral intercourse on her at a Manhattan resort 4 years later, across the time of her twentieth birthday. Prosecutors say it occurred after Weinstein organized for Sokola to be an additional within the movie “The Nanny Diaries.”
Harvey Weinstein seems in state court docket in Manhattan for his retrial on Thursday, Might 8, 2025 in New York. (Steven Hirsch /New York Submit by way of AP, Pool)
Sokola reported the allegation to authorities a number of days into Weinstein’s first trial in 2020, however was not part of that case. Prosecutors added her to the retrial, becoming a member of two girls who testified within the first case, after his conviction was overturned final 12 months.
Weinstein, now 73, appeared down and away from Sokola as she recounted the sooner allegation, urgent his left thumb and index finger in opposition to his face like a protect.
Sokola testified that she first met the then-studio boss at a Manhattan restaurant in 2002, three or 4 days earlier than the alleged assault. Through the quick chat, she stated, Weinstein requested her if she wished to be an actress.
A couple of days later, she stated, he invited her to lunch — ostensibly to speak about appearing — however as a substitute took her to an residence, the place led her right into a bed room after which a rest room, instructed her to take her high off and assaulted her.
“He told me to take my clothes off and I didn’t want to do that. I was panicking,” Sokola testified. “And then he said that if I want to be an actress, that’s what actors do in films, so I should get used to it. If a director says you have you take your clothes off, you have to take your clothes off. I was scared. I was scared of him.”
Sokola averted taking a look at Weinstein as she walked to the witness stand — testifying for a second day after detailing on Wednesday her upbringing in Poland, entrée into modeling and her skilled profession as a psychotherapist and creator who just lately launched a movie manufacturing firm. She peered briefly at Weinstein when requested Thursday to level him out in court docket.
Weinstein has pleaded not responsible and denies sexually assaulting anybody.
His legal professionals contend that his accusers consented to sexual encounters with him in hopes of getting film and TV alternatives, and the protection has emphasised that the ladies stayed involved with him for some time after the alleged assaults. The ladies, in the meantime, say the then-producer used the prospect of present enterprise work to prey on them.
Sokola sued Weinstein after trade whispers about his habits towards girls grew to become a refrain of public accusations in 2017, fueling the #MeToo motion in opposition to sexual misconduct. Prosecutors have stated Sokola finally acquired $3.5 million in compensation.
Prosecutors have stated they started investigating Sokola’s claims in 2020 however set the inquiry apart after Weinstein was convicted. They revived the investigation after New York’s highest court docket reversed his conviction.
Weinstein’s legal professionals fought unsuccessfully to maintain Sokola out of the retrial, accusing prosecutors of “smuggling an additional charge into the case” to attempt to bolster different accusers’ credibility.
One of many others, Miriam Haley, testified final week that Weinstein pressured oral intercourse on her in 2006. The third accuser within the case, Jessica Mann, is anticipated to testify later.
The Related Press usually doesn’t title sexual assault accusers with out their permission, which Haley, Mann and Sokola have given.
Initially Printed: Might 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM EDT
