Anais Gutierrez
Harvey Weinstein is being sued under sex trafficking laws by a British actress. Kadian Noble filed on Monday, claiming Weinstein groomed her in London and then assaulted her in Cannes.
Currently, Weinstein is under investigation by the NYPD, the LAPD, the Beverly Hills Police and UK police.
Noble is putting in all her guns against Weinstein
Aspiring actress Kadian Noble filed a federal suit against Harvey Weinstein, accusing him of violating sex trafficking laws by luring her to a hotel room in Cannes in 2014, where he allegedly assaulted her.
According to Noble, she met Weinstein in London, three months before the alleged assault. She alleges that on that occasion Weinstein told her that he had a film role in mind for her and when he said: “it will be good for you.”
“Harvey was a legend. He was someone that I thought was going to make my dream a reality,” Noble said.
She says this experience has broken her. “I’m not the same person, you know. I’ve had to have counseling. Just so much. But I’ve had to keep it to myself. I’ve kept it to myself,” Noble said.
The alleged assault happened during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Weinstein invited her to his room at the Le Majestic Hotel in Cannes, on the pretense of casting her in a movie.
Noble alleges that once they got to the room Weinstein started massaging her and then groped her breasts and buttocks. He then trapped her in the bathroom and forced her to masturbate him until he ejaculated on the floor. “I still can hear the rattle from his belt, like him undoing his belt while he had grip of me,” Noble said.
“It seemed like it went on forever and he basically took, just completely touched me inappropriately and got me to put — force my hand in places.”
During the incident, Weinstein allegedly told her, “everything will be taken care of for you if you relax.” Noble’s suit was filed by attorney Jeffrey Herman, who also represents another Weinstein plaintiff, Dominique Huett. Noble is also suing Weinstein’s brother, Bob, and the Weinstein Company for covering up Harvey’s behavior.
“Harvey wasn’t acting alone. Harvey wasn’t allowed and enabled to do what he did to Kadian and other women without help,” said Noble’s attorney, Jeff Herman.
The federal lawsuit claims Weinstein engaged in sex trafficking by traveling from the US to London and France, where the alleged assault took place.
Weinstein response to Noble
In response to Noble’s suit, Weinstein’s representative issued a statement that has been used several times to respond to similar allegations:
“Mr. Weinstein denies allegations of non-consensual sex. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances,” it said.
Since accusations started surfacing in October, more than 100 women have come forward with similar stories and accusations of sexual misconduct or unwanted advances from the Hollywood tycoon. The accusations go from various degrees of bullying and degrading behavior over the past 40 years, from intimidation to rape.
Monday’s allegations emerged after the Directors Guild of America (DGA) confirmed that Weinstein had resigned from the association. Weinstein’s resignation follows president Thomas Schlamme announced disciplinary charges against the tycoon.
“This isn’t about one person. We must recognize sexual harassment is endemic in our society, and painfully, in our industry. We believe that every individual has the right to a safe workplace,” the DGA announcement said.
“For far too long, many have not spoken out — directors, agents, crew, executives, performers, producers, writers. This shameful code of complicity must be broken.”
In a career spanning six decades, Weinstein has participated in over 300 movies.
His resignation from the DGA comes after he’s already been expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the Oscars, and has resigned from the Producers Guild of America.
Weinstein also parted ways with The Weinstein Company, the production house he and his brother Bob co-founded and was suspended by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Civil claim against Weinstein in London
Meanwhile, Noble’s suit is the second Weinstein got on Monday, with a civil claim against the Hollywood mogul for a series of assaults in 2000, being filed in the U.K.
Lawyer Jill Greenfield represents the accuser, who previously worked for Weinstein, and has filed applied for an anonymity order.
The accuser’s claim “is for damaged for personal injury, expenses, consequential loss including aggravated and exemplary damages and interest arising out of a series of sexual assaults inflicted” by Weinstein during her employment, according to the claim form.
The companies are also listed as the accuser sees they are “vicariously liable.”
In November, London’s Metropolitan Police Service, also known as Scotland Yard, confirmed its 12th report against Weinstein received through its Child Abuse and Sexual Offenses Command’s Operation Kaguyak investigation.
Source: Time
