“Boardwalk Empire” actress Paz de la Huerta has filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, saying that the disgraced producer raped her twice and sought to destroy her career in retaliation against her.
In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, de la Huerta said that she encountered Weinstein in December 2010 at a Manhattan lounge, where they were both attending a party for The Weinstein Company film “Blue Valentine.”
The suit said that Weinstein, the actress’ neighbor at the time, offered her a ride home and “insisted on” coming up to her apartment to avoid discussing business and personal matters in her public lobby.
“Once inside of de la Huerta’s apartment, Weinstein made warnings to de la Huerta about harm to her career if she did not submit to sex, then forced himself on de la Huerta and raped de la Huerta,” the suit reads. “Defendant Weinstein taunted Plaintiff by relaying that he would be calling her.”
Later in December, the suit says that de la Huerta decided to confront Weinstein and “consumed a very large quantity of alcohol out of fear and depression, thereby rendering herself unable to consent to any disputed sexual encounter.”
“Plaintiff, by then barely able to stand, did confront Weinstein, again waiting at the lobby of her home when she returned home. Plaintiff told Weinstein to leave, to which Weinstein ‘hushed’ her and insisted that they speak in a private place, promising that they would be able to resolve this discussion in her apartment,” the suit reads.
“Weinstein then forcibly entered the apartment without consent and again forced himself on Plaintiff by performing unconsented vaginal intercourse through overpowering physical force,” the suit says. “Weinstein left immediately after he raped Plaintiff, leaving Plaintiff in a state of absolute shock, humiliation, embarrassment, and pain, as well as losing consciousness because of progressive absorption of the ingested alcohol.”
According to the suit, de la Huerta confronted Weinstein in 2011 in an encounter at the Four Seasons hotel during which Weinstein wore “an opened bathrobe thereby prominently exposing his penis to Plaintiff in a taunting manner.”
“Plaintiff told Defendant Weinstein to stop stalking and harassing her and quickly left the vicinity of Weinstein’s room feeling embarrassed, scared, shocked and humiliated,” the suit reads. “She noted that Weinstein appeared angered by her rejection and denunciation.”
De la Huerta goes on to say that she was terminated from the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” and says that “retaliatory action by Weinstein played a critical role in the termination.”
In a statement to TheWrap, Weinstein’s attorney Benjamin Brafman said, “It is our understanding that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office carefully reviewed Ms. De la Huerta’s claims of sexual assault by Mr. Weinstein many months ago and made a conscious decision to reject her as a complainant for obvious reasons. We also believe that her newly minted version of events, including her new California claims are equally preposterous and unfortunately, the product of an unstable personality with a vivid imagination.”
Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, and has denied the accusations. He’s awaiting trial on five felony charges in New York stemming from accusations of sexual misconduct against two women; a sixth criminal charge was dropped last month.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.