Witnesses testified at the New York trial, Harvey Weinstein pushed, seized and attacked

It was the summer of 2006, the night before they were scheduled to go to the Los Angeles premiere, Harvey Weinstein invited Miriam Haley to his apartment in Soho.

She told jurors Wednesday in Manhattan that Ms. Haley worked as a production assistant on one of Mr. Weinstein’s TV shows for three weeks.

She said, but he shouted as she sat on the sofa next to him. He overwhelmed her with kisses and groping. He followed as she rejected his progress and stood up, she recalled, and continued to “catch me and push me with his body.” She was returned to the bedroom and fell to the bed, and he forced her to retreat every time she tried to get up.

“At that moment, my brain was calculating what my best action was for me,” Ms. Haley said sometimes through tears. “I decided to do the smartest thing I wanted to do – the safest, but check it out, put it over and leave.”

It was the second day of his testimony to Ms. Haley, who was questioned at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She was the first to testify, and their allegations were at the center of Mr. Weinstein’s retrial in New York.

Mr. Weinstein, 73, was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Last year, the Supreme Court in New York overturned the conviction, saying in a 4-3 ruling that Mr. Weinstein was denied a fair trial when prosecutors were allowed to call witnesses saying he beat them, but his allegations were not supported by physical evidence and were not the basis of any allegations.

The court ordered a new trial and he faced charges of first-degree criminal conduct and third-degree rape again. The lawsuit is based on a complaint from Ms. Haley, who serves as a TV production assistant, and aspiring actress Jessica Mann. Mr. Weinstein was also recently charged with sexual assault on Kaja Sokola, a model who accused him of assaulting her in a Manhattan hotel in 2006.

Mr Weinstein pleaded not guilty and his lawyer said his interactions with all women were voluntary. There he was convicted of a similar crime and he also faced a prison in California.

Ms. Haley’s testimony is expected to last for several days. She will be cross-examined by a defense team that has told the transcript of her interaction with Mr. Weinstein.

Mr. Weinstein sat and listened as she spoke on Wednesday, sometimes with his left arm behind a wheelchair.

Ms. Haley said in 2006 that she was worried that the action of the clumsy producers could shift from force to violence. When she told him she was in her time and stuffed it into the tampon, he found it and “pulled it out,” she forced her mouth to rest on her vagina.

She thought: “I was raped. That’s the truth,” she told the jury.

She said Ms. Hayley first met the former Hollywood Titan at a 2004 premiere in London, when she lived. Two years later, she reconnected with Mr. Weinstein of France.

She said she saw him at the Cannes Film Festival and asked him if there were any opportunities for the New York production company Weinstein. She said Mr Weinstein invited her to a hotel for what Ms. Hayley thought was a business meeting. There, she said, he commented on her legs and asked her to massage.

She told jurors Tuesday that the interaction embarrassed her and she started crying as she left the hotel.

Throughout her testimony, Ms. Haley was asked whether she felt romantic or sexually attractive to Mr. Weinstein at the time, and she repeatedly refused. “I always made it clear that I wasn’t interested in him,” she testified Wednesday.

She said Mr. Weinstein did find a post on her reality show “Project Runway.” But his progress continued, she said. She said she worked at the end of the season, about two to three weeks and paid in cash.

During this time, Ms. Haley testified that she had some meetings and interactions with Mr. Weinstein, which made her feel respected. Others shaking, she said.

She said at some point in 2006, after she refused to invite him to a private jet fashion show with him to Paris, she said. She said he broke into the Manhattan apartment without notice after calling her and sending messages repeatedly. She told the juror that he continued to ask her to accompany him on a trip.

Eventually, she told him, “I’ve heard of your reputation for women” and tried to get him out. She said Mr. Weinstein left, looking “offensive” and feeling frustrated.

After these episodes, Ms. Haley still meets Mr. Weinstein the day she bought her tickets for Los Angeles.

Last week, Ms. Haley’s former roommate told jurors that Ms. Haley looked “very shaky, upset, and scared”.

Elizabeth Entin said Ms. Hayley’s behavior changed in weeks and months.

Ms Ending said she had “a lifelong passion” before. Ms Ending said she spent more time in the bedroom after meeting Weinstein, “it seemed to be a lot less.”

Ms Haley told jurors Wednesday that she felt disgusted, embarrassed and distrustful after the July episode ended. She said she decided not to contact the police because she felt Mr. Weinstein was too powerful and worried that the police would focus on the fact that she worked without a proper visa.

She said a few weeks later, she agreed to meet Weinstein at a hotel, thinking they would speak in the bar. But when she arrived, she was told to meet him upstairs in a room where he pulled her to the bed and dating her while she was “lying there like a dead fish.”

Ms Hayley said she was still in touch with Mr Weinstein and asked to meet him to sign an email with comments like “A lot of love” – which Mr Weinstein’s lawyer emphasized in the last trial, as evidence of a friendly relationship.

Ms Haley said on Wednesday she felt trapped and hoped to gain at least some professional benefits from her ordeal.

“I’m eager to work,” she said.

In 2017, after learning about Mr. Weinstein’s allegations of sexual misconduct, she decided to tell her story.

Ms Haley said: “It feels more important because it’s not just me, I do want to support others.”