Former actress Jessica Mann told a court that Harvey Weinstein “treated me like he owned me” as she gave tearful testimony while accusing the former producer of rape.
Weinstein, 74, was first found guilty in 2020 of raping Mann and forcing oral sex on former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley.
That New York conviction was later thrown out by the state’s highest court, prompting a retrial that ultimately ended with a hung jury. The judge then ordered the case to be tried again. Jurors had convicted him again on the charge involving Haley.
Weinstein is now facing a third Manhattan trial and has pleaded not guilty.
Mann, who previously worked as an actress, described two alleged sexual encounters involving Weinstein. On the stand, she became emotional as she again recounted her allegation that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013.
“I said ‘No’ over and over, and I tried to leave,” Mann said before demonstrating to jurors how she claims Weinstein restrained her, pinning both wrists with “so much force”.
She testified that during a 2013 trip to New York, she had planned to meet friends for breakfast, but Weinstein appeared. Mann said he arrived early and arranged a hotel room, and that she went with him to the room where she alleges he injected his penis with medication to produce an erection before raping her.
“He just treated me like he owned me,” she said.
Mann told the court that breakfast with friends went ahead afterwards and that she did not disclose the alleged assault at the time.
“I was not ready to talk about it,” she told the jury.
She also explained that she felt anxious about angering Weinstein.
“He told me that he has friends in this town and you don’t want to make him your enemy. My friends go far; my enemies don’t step foot in this town.”
Mann, 40, further testified about what she called a “full-on breakdown” after Weinstein allegedly attempted to pressure her into a threesome with Italian actress Emanuela Postacchini at a Beverly Hills hotel in February 2013.
She said she fled to a bathroom and cried.
Her rape allegations center on the claimed Midtown Manhattan hotel attack.
Mann also described a period when she says she had a consensual relationship with Weinstein because she believed it might become a “loving relationship”, adding that his status and influence in the entertainment industry affected her choices.
She told jurors that Weinstein’s demeanor could change sharply when he did not get what he wanted.
“Harvey told me a lot of stories about just how powerful he was and the things he did,” she said.
According to Mann, Weinstein claimed he was in an “open relationship” with his then-wife, Georgina Chapman, when their relationship began.
“He just always name-dropped everybody all the time,” she said. “It was just the part of the reality of who he is. He is not a normal person. I was not in a relationship with a normal person.”
Weinstein’s legal team has pointed to emails between him and Mann as evidence of what they describe as a caring connection. Mann has countered that she was attempting to navigate what she described as an influential and volatile personality.
Weinstein has also been convicted of rape in California, where he received a 16-year prison sentence.