A dancer who was a body double in Harvey Weinstein’s 2004 film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights entered Thursday in Weinstein’s sexual assault lawsuit in Los Angeles. Ashley M., one of the so-called “prior misconduct” witnesses, gave a harrowing account of a hotel encounter with Weinstein during production of the 2003 Miramax movie in Puerto Rico that ended with Weinstein allegedly masturbating her.
It marked the fourth day of testimony at the trial, in which Weinstein faces a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison if convicted on grand jury indictments of four counts of rape, four counts of forced oral intercourse, one count of forcible sexual penetration, plus one count of sexual assault by restraint and sexual battery.
Ashley M, who is not a charged victim in the case, testified that she was 22 years old and met Weinstein on the set of the film. After leaving her alone for a private chat, she said something about a “naked massage,” according to pool reports of her testimony. After she told Weinstein that she was engaged, she said that he said that she had done things like nude massages with Gwyneth Paltrow and that it would be good for her career.
She says that she tried to find a way out of the situation. “I had to be on set, which I was… so I thought I could go on set. She replied and said that I am the one in charge here, everyone responds to me, ”she says.
She described him as “aggressive” and it “scared” her.
Weinstein told her that he would wait for her to take her to the hotel. Ashley M testified that she called her fiancé and her mother and said that she was “scared” that she only had access to the set and that he would wait for her there.
Weinstein was outside the entrance to the set when she returned, along with his assistant at the time, Bonnie Hung. “At that moment, I felt better knowing that she wasn’t alone,” Ashley M testified about seeing another woman.
Ashley described Weinstein as “very aggressive and like he was ordering me to go over to Bonnie and get in the car,” which she described as like a limousine.
Said Ashley: “I gave her a look like, can you help me with my eyes? She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be with you the whole time, he just wants to talk.’ about future projects. ”
“This girl looks me right in the eye and I’m not alone and I feel more comfortable,” says Ashley M..
At the hotel, the three of them went up to a room.
“I walked in and he walked in and… And then Bonnie closed the door behind us,” she said.
“Oh no. What do I have to do?” Ashley M. says that she went through her mind.
“Harvey started to get aggressive and eventually pushed me onto the bed,” he testified. “He just said a lot of things and he pushed me and ended up taking off my shirt and clothes, my bra.”
“It’s not like we’re having sex, it’s just bare fondling,” he said, Weinstein said.
“I had no idea what to do, I was scared,” she testified, according to reports from the group.
She said he told her to stop, but “I just remember thinking, what am I going to do? She should run for him, but she knew he was really big and she knew Bonnie was most likely out there, so she didn’t know what to do.”
Describing herself as “hysterical”, she said she was crying when this happened.
She testified that Weinstein began to straddle her and then began to masturbate after removing his clothes. “She just said it’s okay, it’s not like we’re having sex. And then she ejaculated on me, on my breasts and something on my face.”
“I was really thankful that I wasn’t raped. I remember thinking, and I remember drying off, I got dressed real quick and I left real quick.”
He later testified that he called his mother and told her “what happened, but no graphic details.” She also called her fiancé and said, “Harvey masturbated and I was upset.” She said that she didn’t tell her fiancé that she was actually broken up.
Ashley M. never reported the assault, saying, “I felt at the time that everyone was scared for their careers and stuff. Nobody helped me at dinner, so why should they help me now?
Court resumes on Friday.
