An actress at the centre of Harvey Weinstein's repeatedly retried rape case testified for the third time that the former movie mogul trapped her in a New York City hotel room and assaulted her, ignoring her pleas not to do anything sexual.
Jessica Mann, 40, recounted the harrowing experience in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday before a jury of seven men and five women who are tasked with determining whether to once again convict the felon of raping her in March 2013.
The 74-year-old disgraced producer's prior conviction for her rape charge was overturned in 2020, and in a second trial last year, the jury deadlocked on that count - at which point the judge ordered a new trial.
In her testimony on Tuesday, Mann said she was visiting New York in March 2013 and had planned a morning meal with friends and the producer - who arrived early and got a hotel room at a DoubleTree hotel in Midtown Manhattan over her objections.
He then allegedly injected his penis with medication that produced an erection and raped her.
'I said "no" over and over, and I tried to leave,' Mann told the jurors, between tears. 'He just treated me like he owned me.'
As she spoke, Weinstein was seen shaking his head, putting his head in his hands and speaking to his lawyers, according to The New York Times.
Weinstein denies sexually assaulting anyone and is appealing sex crime convictions stemming from other women's accusations on both US coasts. His attorneys haven't yet had their chance to question Mann at this retrial but have argued that everything that happened between the two was consensual.
Background of the Relationship
Mann said she met Weinstein at a Los Angeles-area party in early 2013, when he told her he was 'interested in her look.' She had done some acting work but was hoping for a big break.
Their subsequent get-togethers bounced between professional advice, invites to glitzy industry events and advances that Mann said made her uncomfortable but that she didn't refuse, though she had an emotional 'meltdown' during an episode involving Weinstein and another woman.
Still, Mann decided to have a consensual sexual relationship with the then-married producer. She explained Tuesday that she had been taught to expect such behaviour from men and thought she might feel better about it if she was in a relationship with Weinstein.
Sometimes, she said, the then-studio boss was charming and made her feel validated; other times she felt demeaned by his discussions of sexual practices. And 'if he was told no or something, it was just like this monster side came out' of a demanding man who flaunted his Hollywood influence.
The Day of the Alleged Assault
It was early on in that relationship, Mann said, that Weinstein surprised her by showing up ahead of a planned breakfast with her and others in New York City on March 18, 2013. She said she protested Weinstein's booking the hotel room and tried to tell an employee they 'didn't need a room' as she was 'pleading' with the employee with her eyes not to let Weinstein book a room.
Yet the hotel attendant still let him check in, and Mann said she accompanied Weinstein to the room to sort things out privately. But once inside the room, Mann said Weinstein barked at her to undress.
'I was begging him' to stop, Mann said, sobbing. 'I tried to open the door twice with all my strength and he was... slamming it.'
'He trapped me in this room and he kept telling me to "undress now." When I didn't, he grabbed both my arms,' she continued, claiming that 'no was a big trigger' for Weinstein, and upsetting or refusing him in any situation would spark anger.
'That was really scary, so I remember just like kind of like - just shutting down and giving up, because I had been fighting and arguing. So I obeyed,' by undressing and lying on the bed, she testified.
After a trip to the bathroom, where Mann said she later found a used syringe for an erectile-dysfunction drug, Weinstein returned and raped her, she said.
Mann told no one at the time. She went through with the planned breakfast, accepted Weinstein's invitation to extend her trip, attend a movie screening and have tea with him and his daughter. 'I just wanted everyone to act like everything was normal,' she said.
Courtroom Tensions
Jurors watched intently, several with pens poised to take notes, as Mann spoke and became emotional on the stand. At one point, both the judge overseeing the case and the prosecutor questioning her asked Mann whether she would like to take a break. At first, she remained adamant that she wanted to continue, explaining: 'I don't like going in and out.'
But when she started to be questioned about her relationship with Weinstein following the encounter, Mann became flustered and frustrated. That created tension inside the courtroom, as defence attorney Marc Agnifilo criticised her inability to recall major details, telling the court it was 'unacceptable' that she could not identify basic timeframes, locations or dates.
He also argued that she 'can't even answer the court's questions,' according to Los Angeles Magazine. Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg then responded that Mann was simply 'shutting down' after testifying for a third time about the alleged assault 'in front of her rapist,' pointing directly at Weinstein in the courtroom. Agnifilo objected to the gesture, prompting a rebuke from the judge, who ordered a five-minute break.
The two previous times Mann has testified, she left the stand to collect herself in the middle of her testimony. Last year, when she walked by Weinstein, she also looked directly at him and pointed a finger at him before pointing at her tear-streaked face. Five years before, in her original testimony, Mann could be heard screaming from the back room after she left the courtroom.
Aftermath and Defence Arguments
Following the alleged assault, Mann continued to have consensual sexual encounters and friendly email exchanges with Weinstein, with messages including 'miss you,' that no one 'understands me quite like you' and 'I love you, always do. But I hate feeling like a booty call.'
But after Mann began dating someone she loved, she sought to stop sexual contact with Weinstein, emailing him that she needed to 'respect the relationship.' His reply message was cordial. But in person, Weinstein allegedly became enraged on learning her then-boyfriend was an actor, according to Mann.
'You owe me one more time!' Weinstein shouted before raping her again in a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, she told jurors, as she has before. He never has been charged with any crime related to that allegation.
It was only in 2017, when the first accusations of sexual assault against Weinstein surfaced, that Mann finally told others he had attacked her. 'I thought it was just me,' she told jurors last year, adding: 'It was the first moment in my life that I realised that this is who he was and I just, like - it was a paradigm shift that it wasn't my fault.'
Hotel Employee Testimony
Mann's testimony on Tuesday came just one day after she claimed she was worried about crossing Weinstein. 'He told me that he has friends in this town and you don't want to make him your enemy,' she told jurors, recalling that he said: 'My friends go far; my enemies don't step foot in this town.'
Jurors have also heard from Rothschild Capulong, the DoubleTree employee who checked Weinstein into the hotel that day. He said on Monday he had a 'gut feeling' of concern for Mann's safety, saying she 'looked unhappy,' 'discontent' and like she didn't want to be there - prompting him to email the hotel's department heads and send security to the floor where Weinstein's room was located.
Capulong also said he remembered feeling 'intimidated' by Weinstein, who he said was 'looming' over the counter and 'rushing' him through the check-in process.
But Weinstein's attorneys have argued that his relationship with Mann was entirely consensual and 'mutually beneficial' to Mann. 'Harvey was the opportunity she had always been looking for,' defence attorney Jacob Kaplan argued in opening statements.
The defence team also claims there was a period of time that March 2013 morning when Weinstein was in the bathroom and was not blocking the hotel room door - giving Mann a chance to escape before the alleged rape occurred. The fact that she didn't, they argue, proves she chose to have sex with him.
Prosecutors, however, maintain that Mann was under Weinstein's complete control and was being pressured and forced into sexual encounters with him that she did not want to have, alleging he took advantage of her as a vulnerable young woman with a history of abuse.
Mann is expected to continue testifying in court on Wednesday.
