Former assistant allowed to tell of Harvey Weinstein ‘hotel attack

Rowena Chiu, 48, was working for Miramax studio when she alleges he tried to force himself on her at the Venice Film Festival.

Harvey Weinstein appears in a Los Angeles court this month. Picture: AFP

A British former assistant to Harvey Weinstein who alleges that the disgraced producer attempted to rape her in 1998 has been granted permission to give evidence at his Los Angeles trial.

Rowena Chiu, 48, was working for Weinstein’s Miramax studio when she alleges he tried to force himself on her at the Venice Film Festival. The former Hollywood mogul denies the incident

Weinstein, 70, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in New York, is standing trial in California facing similar charges related to five women. He has pleaded not guilty and insists that the encounters either never took place or that they were consensual.

Chiu is an “uncharged witness” in the case: her allegations do not form part of the charges against Weinstein in Los Angeles. Rather, her evidence will show the jury a pattern of behaviour in how he abused women, prosecutors said.

Weinstein’s lawyers fought against Chiu being allowed to testify, arguing it would be prejudicial to their client. However, Lisa Lench, the judge in the case at Los Angeles superior court, sided with the prosecution and said the testimony would be more “probative” than “prejudicial”. Chiu welcomed the news she would be allowed to testify. “After nearly quarter of a century, my testimony will finally be heard in court,” she tweeted. “I feel both terrified and vindicated in equal measure.”

Weinstein allegedly attacked Chiu in a hotel room in Venice during a late-night meeting ostensibly to discuss scripts. He is said to have requested a massage from the former assistant, before pushing her against the bed. Chiu managed to escape and told Zelda Perkins, her colleague at Miramax, who confronted Weinstein the next day. Chiu agreed to a settlement of £125,000 ($224,000) that required her to sign a non-disclosure agreement and Weinstein allegedly continued to abuse women for the next two decades.

Weinstein has been wheeled into court in downtown Los Angeles for each day of the trial.

The first accuser to give evidence was an actor and model who recalled the night he allegedly raped her in Beverly Hills. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe 1, said she was visiting Los Angeles from Italy during Oscars week in 2013 when Weinstein turned up at her hotel room unannounced and raped her. Another of the women who will testify is the wife of the California governor Gavin Newsom. Jennifer Siebel Newsom was an aspiring actor when she was allegedly raped by Weinstein in 2005.

In his opening statement this week, Mark Werksman, for Weinstein, accused the women of willingly sleeping with the producer to advance their careers. He said “transactional sex” was common in Hollywood and Weinstein had committed no crime.

The Times