For the first time since he has been accused of rape and sexual harassment, video images have been published showing the inappropriate behavior of film producer Harvey Weinstein.
The images were provided by Melissa Thompson and published by Sky News. Thompson came into contact with Weinstein in 2011 at the age of 28, when she wanted to sell her company’s statistical service to The Weinstein Company.
Thompson agreed with the Weinstein team in his office in New York. According to her, it was the intention that the meeting would be with several people, but it turned out to be only Weinstein. He requested that bystanders be left alone and then locked the door.
“I think he was playing a cat-and-mouse game with me to see how far he could go,” Thompson said in an interview with Sky News. “He felt how he could play me, where my weaknesses are.”
The images show that Thompson does not immediately reject Weinstein’s advances. “I do not think I intentionally encouraged him,” she says now. “I think it was a combination of self-confidence and naivety that led to this dynamic. (…) I did not want to ruin the discussion.”
Thompson would then have been raped by Weinstein
According to Thompson, Weinstein took her to a hotel room shortly after this meeting, where he would have raped her.
Thompson decided to go to the hotel with Weinstein because she was assuming they would make the deal around there. She says that the film producer told her they would meet in the hotel lobby. That turned out not to be the case and in the hotel room he would have raped her.
Thompson has now filed a lawsuit against Weinstein because she accuses him of rape. Benjamin Brafman, the Weinstein lawyer, says that the images do not show that he has shown inappropriate behavior. “The video shows that it does not show any compelling behavior, but that it is flirted by both parties”, says his statement. Brafman states that Thompson is only out for money.
There are several lawsuits against Weinstein
Since The New York Times published a large article about Weinstein last October, about 70 women have already been reported as victims of the producer. Police teams from London and New York have launched investigations following the allegations.
In New York, there are currently three lawsuits against Weinstein from three actresses claiming to have forced them into sex in 2004, 2006 and 2013. The producer has stated in all three cases to be innocent.