If we documented every sexual assault charge against movie producer Harvey Weinstein, we’d never have time to write about anything else at The Hollywood Gossip.
But the accusation leveled against Weinstein this afternoon by a former production assistant named Mimi Haleyi seems worth mentioning because it’s just so appalling.
And disgusting, to be honest.
An ex-employee of the Weinstein Co., Haleyi sat alongside attorney Gloria Allred in New York City on Tuesday and told the press that she met Weinstein at the 2004 premiere of The Aviator.
Two years later, at the Cannes Film Festival, Weinstein invited Haleyi to his hotel room to supposedly discuss business.
After “a few minutes of normal conversation,” he attempted to convince Haleyi to give him a massage, she explained.
But she declined and left the room.
“By that time I was crying, as I felt completely humiliated and stupid for having been excited about meeting with him,” Haleyi said.
Following this incident, Weinstein actually asked Haleyi to work on one of his television shows. After this jobs ended, he asked her to go to Paris with him.
This seemed like a “romantic” request, Haleyi said today, so she turned it down.
Angered that she would say no to him (twice, no less), Weinstein allegedly showed up to Haleyi’s apartment in New York and “physically forced himself in through the door, pleading with me to come to Paris,” she said.
But she did not give in.
After Weinstein returned from France, Haleyi said she wanted to “maintain a good relationship” with the producer, so she agreed to meet him at his Manhattan apartment.
They watched TV for a few minutes, but soon “he was all over me, making sexual advances,” she said, adding:
“I said, ‘I am on my period. There is no way this is going to happen. Please stop.’ He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Weinstein is then accused of backing Haleyi into what looked like a child’s bedroom.
“He held me on the bed, I tried to get him off me but … he was extremely persistent and physically overpowering,” she said.
“He orally forced himself on me while i was on my period. He even pulled my tampon out. I was mortified. I was in disbelief and disgusted.”
After the alleged assault, Haleyi said Weinstein rolled over on his back and asked: “Don’t you feel like we’re so much closer now?”
No, she replied.
Earlier this month, a New York Times article detailed eight separate settlements Weinstein had arrived at with women who accused him of sexual misconduct.
Since this article went viral, countless others in Hollywood have shared their Harvey Weinstein stories.
And many sound eerily similar to this one, with women saying Weinstein would invite them to his hotel room under the guise of business… only to force himself on them in various ways.
A spokeswoman for Weinstein has previously said that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied” by him.
As of this writing, 54 women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault or harassment.
