The disgraced movie mogul has been hit with multiple sexual misconduct allegations, but it's the first time he is facing accusation of assaulting an underage girl.
- Dec 20, 2019
AceShowbiz - Former teenage model Kaja Sokola has accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, filing a lawsuit against the disgraced movie mogul in New York on Thursday, December 19.
The Polish native, who is now 33, alleges in the papers that in 2002 - when she was just 16 years old - Weinstein had promised to take her out to lunch but instead took her back to his Manhattan apartment "without her consent" and assaulted her. While the former movie boss has been accused of sexual misconduct by over 70 women, this is the first case which alleges he assaulted a minor.
In the files, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Sokola claimed Weinstein "aggressively and threateningly demanded sex" and "instructed her take off her clothes" and "to touch herself." In addition, a pant-less Weinstein is alleged to have forced the teenager to touch his penis, despite her protestations, and "grabbed at her breasts."
"(Weinstein) made clear that refusing his sexual demands would mean giving up the opportunity to make it in Hollywood," the papers continued.
Sokola, who is now 33 and working as a clinical psychologist in Poland, added that the alleged abuse had led to her suffering from "long-term depression, anorexia and difficulty in maintaining healthy relationships with men."
"This traumatic day has been etched in Sokola's mind every day thereafter, and it has caused her immense emotional pain and suffering, even seventeen years later and long after she gave up her dreams of acting or working in the entertainment industry," the suit continued.
Sokola was originally part of the class-action lawsuit against Weinstein, which saw accusers paid a $25 million settlement, but said she could not "accept the proposed 'global settlement' as fair or just."
"There is no accountability for the perpetrators, insufficient compensation for all of the victims, and millions of dollars going to people that I believe enabled Weinstein...," she said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. "I know that this lawsuit cannot erase the pain that I have been living with for 17 years. But I do hope to achieve at least some measure of justice that has still been denied to Harvey Weinstein's many victims."
Sokola, who also filed the lawsuit against Harvey's brother Bob Weinstein, Weinstein's former studio Miramax, and its previous owner Walt Disney Co., is seeking compensatory, punitive, and exemplary damages.
Weinstein will be heading to trial on January 6, 2020. He is pleading not guilty to all charges against him.
