Harvey Weinstein Faces 3 New Accusers, All Former Fashion Models

One former model told the L.A. Times she had to fight off a naked Weinstein with a broken bottle

Harvey Weinstein
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Three former fashion models have stepped forward to accuse former Hollywood heavyweight Weinstein of sexual misconduct, according to a new report in the L.A. Times.

Former Brazilian model Juliana De Paula told the L.A. Times Weinstein groped her and forced her to kiss other models at his New York City loft a decade ago. When De Paula went to leave, she said she had to fend off a naked Weinstein with broken glass.

“He looked at me and he started to laugh,” said De Paula. “I was shocked. I was completely in disbelief.”

Model Samantha Panagrosso told the paper that Weinstein made inappropriate sexual advances towards her at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, rubbing her legs in the hotel pool. After she spurned him, Panagrosso said Weinstein pointed at another model nearby.

“Look at her, I’m going to have her come to my room for a screen test,” Panagrosso said Weinstein told her.

And former model Zoë Brock told the L.A. Times that Weinstein invited her to a party in a hotel outside the Cannes Film Festival in 1998 and soon found herself alone with the executive, who was naked and begging for a massage.

She said she declined, but eventually agreed to let him give her one. “But I couldn’t handle his hands on me, so I bolted out of there, and bolted into the bathroom and locked the door,” she said. She had to hitch a ride back into the city, she said, adding that he apologized and offered to make her a “star.”

Through his spokeswoman, Sallie Hofmeister, Weinstein has “unequivocally denied” any allegations of nonconsensual sex. As for Brock Panagrosso’s accounts, Hofmeister told the L.A. Times, “Their recollection of events differs from that of Mr. Weinstein.”

Weinstein is no stranger to the fashion world. He invested in clothing brand Halston and put money into Marchea, the high-end women’s line run by his now-estranged wife, Georgina Chapman.

And he was executive producer on the hit TV show “Project Runway” — a vehicle his former employees said he was obsessed with creating. “He kept asking: ‘Where’s my model show?’” one ex-worker told The Times. “He wouldn’t drop it.”

As Weinstein’s ties to the fashion world continued to grow tighter after marrying Chapman in 2007, creating another realm in which he could exert power over up-and-coming women.

“Now we have Harvey Weinstein married to the designer, who is able to put her dresses on … anybody in Hollywood,” former modeling agent Julia Samersova told the L.A. Times. “Yes, it is really that simple. Who is going to say no to the wife of Harvey Weinstein?”

 

Weinstein’s career has been in freefall since the first allegations of sexual assault and harassment emerged earlier this month from female accusers who now number more than 50 over the course of decades.

He was fired from The Weinstein Company that he co-founded and faces expulsion from multiple industry groups, including BAFTA, the Television Academy and AMPAS. He also faces criminal investigations in New York, London and Los Angeles.

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