Harvey Weinstein is under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department after an Italian model-actress accused him of rape.
“#LAPD Robbery Homicide Div has interviewed a potential sexual assault victim involving Harvey Weinstein in 2013. Investigation ongoing,” the LAPD tweeted on Thursday, October 19, and also confirmed to Us Weekly.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the 38-year-old woman, who has asked to remain anonymous because she is afraid of retaliation and concerned for her children’s privacy, met with detectives for more than two hours on Thursday morning. She claimed the producer, 65, sexually assaulted her at Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel in February 2013. (He is also under investigation by the New York Police Department and London’s Metropolitan Police following previous allegations.)
The model-actress alleged to the Times that Weinstein showed up “without warning” in the lobby of the hotel before making his way upstairs to her room. “Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked,” she claimed. “He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do. He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me.”
The Oscar winner allegedly left nearly an hour later and “acted like nothing happened,” according to the woman. “I barely knew this man. It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. It sickens me still. … He made me feel like an object, like nothing with all his power.”
The Times reported that the woman is well-known in Italy, where she has appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue and starred in Italian films. She now lives in California with her three children. The alleged rape falls within the state’s 10-year statute of limitations for the crime and could “open the door to a prosecution if the evidence exists,” defense attorney Dmitry Gorin told the newspaper.
More than 40 women, including actresses Asia Argento and Angelina Jolie, have come forward with accusations of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct against Weinstein since The New York Times published a blistering exposé earlier this month. The former executive was subsequently removed from his film studio and is seeking treatment at a facility in Arizona. In a previous statement to Us, Weinstein’s spokesperson said he “unequivocally denies any allegations of non-consensual sex.”
