Harvey Weinstein

Welcome to the Harvey Weinstein Podcast on Filtered, a daily podcast where we bring you the day's evidence and the witness testimony verbatim, just as it's spoken in court using transcripts and voice actors, re-enacting the testimony you will hear what happened that day in court. I'm Anne McElhenny. And I'm Philip McElhenny here and we're going to get straight into the opening day's evidence. It was a day of shocking evidence, but not for reasons you might think. First of all, let's just remind you of what this case is all about. In a case that basically launched the Me Too movement, the movie producer Harvey Weinstein faces two charges of rape and one of a criminal sex act. He also faces two charges of predatory sexual assault, which carries the most severe punishment of a possible life sentence. Prosecutors will also argue Weinstein displayed a pattern of predatory behavior and they'll be calling four other witnesses who they say will help prove a pattern of behavior. But Weinstein is not facing charges connected to that behavior. That's right. So we were in court all day to day and it was, I have to say, a lot more dramatic than I'd even anticipated. And we heard, so what we heard today, right film was we heard opening statements from the prosecution and then that was followed on quite quickly by opening statements from the defense. And the most shocking thing I think today, one of the most shocking things today was the cold weather. Oh yeah. So we were there from about 10 to five. We lined up outside the court in Lower Manhattan and it was sub-zero temperatures and there were 20 people ahead of us. And there were 20 people ahead of us at that stage. By the time that we actually, you know, so we actually lined up for about four hours before we got into the court. And I tell you, it got very, very cold out there. So that was, yeah, that was the first shocking thing that happened. But then we got into, but then we got into the, got into the court. And as I said, we started with the prosecution laying out, I mean, obviously extremely disturbing narrative, very, very extraordinary stories, dreadful, dreadful stories, repeated stories, which had this pattern that she kept talking about, this pattern of predatory and she used the word predatory, predatory sexual. And she called Harvey Weinstein a predator. She called him a monster, she called him. But then, the then the defense followed her. So the prosecutor was a system district attorney, Megan Haast. And the Weinstein, one of Weinstein's defense attorney, Dan Spoby, he was called, he was called Damon Sheronis. But you know, there could not be a clear gap between the two sides. So it was interesting, we had, you know, Ms. Haast who basically talked a lot about her truth. You know, in terms of talking about the victims, she talked about her truth. And it was very interesting. We had very quickly demon Sheronis, Sheronis, came on and said basically, no, this is not about her truth. This is only about that truth, the truth. Sorry, I may wish we have a problem with the old THS. So, and what? You couldn't really have summed up the case better. This is a story of her truth versus that truth. And Ms. Haast also was very, I mean, she was, she was, she used a lot of highly colorful language. She was Dickensian in terms, she had a scene that she described of one of the victims who looked down at her shoes that were worn and old. And she constantly contrasted, this woman with her worn torn and old shoes contrasted to the rich and tightened, the tightened. She talked about this predator. And she also talked about women entering a gingerbread cottage, but not seeing the oven. Yeah, she did. Yeah, she did. But what was, I think what, I think, you know, you might be hearing kind of a certain tone here in the way we're talking. But I think what we noticed, what was really quite extraordinary walking into the court and hearing all of this from Ms. Haast. And then, you know, to be followed up by Mr. Sheronis, who started to quote real facts completely, you know, really impossible to deny facts, facts, including emails from these alleged victims asking after these alleged attacks that they would like to see Harvey Weinstein again, that they loved him, one of them describing in a diary to herself that he was a casual boyfriend. She didn't like to be a booty call, but, you know, she called him a casual boyfriend. And in fact, actually at one stage, I don't remember that moment, Phil, Mr. Sheronis said, you know, to the jury, look, excuse me if it sounds like an answer to everything. Because at one point, it certainly felt like that. We're going to begin by listening to one of the very first moments from the case. And again, just to remind you here, what we've done is we have actors reenacting verbatim from the court testimony. So they're reading the actual words that were spoken today. And these are the words that were said in court today by prosecutor Megan Haast. And she's describing Harvey Weinstein's public persona and lifestyle before moving on to describe the crimes he's charged with and word of warning, you know, much of what a lot of what was said in court today contains some graphic details, so please be advised. So we're at a warning to that. So let's hear the actual words spoken by Ms. Haast today. Thank you. During this trial, you are going to learn that the defendant was a savvy New York City businessman, that he was a famous, powerful Hollywood producer, living a lavish lifestyle that most of us will never know. And you'll come to learn, most of us will not want to know. But the evidence, both from the witness stand and from exhibits admitted during the trial, while also show that that man was a sexual predator and a rapist. That in the winter in 1993, 1994, when the defendant was starting to gain power in Hollywood, he violently and forcibly raped and orally sexually assaulted Annabella Shioria, a young actress from Brooklyn who up until that point, her star appeared to be on the rise. Over 10 years later, in the summer of 2006, the defendant, now a powerful man in Hollywood, forcibly orally sexually assaulted Miriam Hale, a former producers assistant from Europe, struggling to make it in the production side of the industry. And seven years after Miriam, in the early spring of 2013, the defendant, now 61 years old, and a Titan Hollywood, violently raped Jessica Mann, a 27-year-old aspiring actress from a dairy farm in Washington state. Different women from different places, decades apart, yet the same crime. At the end of this trial, the evidence will be clear that the man seated right there was not just a Titan in Hollywood. He was a rapist, sexually assaulting these women when they refused to comply with his desires and his orders, and then using his power and prestige in the entertainment industry to ensure their silence. You will learn that during the course of this trial, these women internalize their trauma for years, and in Annabella's case, even decades. And in fact, although strangers to one another, they will each describe to you their fear, their shame, their humiliation, that each wrestled with following their violent encounters with the defendant. The prosecution, mishast, then described the alleged sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein on actress Andrea Schiura. Weinstein is not charged with assaulting Schiura, but the prosecution are using her claims to show an alleged pattern of predatory behavior. You may know Schiura from starring in the sopranos and the movie Copeland. Again, I would say that some of the allegations in this description from her contain graphic details. Annabella Schiura was raised in Brooklyn, and she's an actress still living and working in Brooklyn. She's been part of the actress' union since the late '80s, and starred in numerous movies, including The Hand That Rocks, The Cradle, Jungle Fever, and Copeland. In the early '90s, Annabella was introduced to Harvey Weinstein in Los Angeles at an industry event. At the time, Annabella was not even aware of who Harvey Weinstein was. But when Annabella was ready to leave, Harvey was there, and he offered her a ride home with his driver or to the hotel. Annabella accepted and the two drove to the hotel and discussed a little bit about the industry. At the end, Harvey Weinstein gave Annabella his card, told her to reach out if she came across any scripts he might be interested in. Sometime later, Annabella sent a script written by a friend to Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein liked the script, and he agreed to produce it on the one condition that Annabella play a role in it. Now, Annabella, you'll learn, was not drawn to the character or the script, and quite frankly was worn out after back-to-back projects. She attempted to decline, but Harvey Weinstein insisted, and she reluctantly agreed not wanting to disappoint her friend. The evidence will show that Annabella had passed a first test. She could be bullied into accepting a part. After agreeing, the defendant informed her that he wanted her to start filming immediately after her prior project was wrapped. Annabella was exhausted, was emotionally drained, and physically after having done two different projects, she asked Harvey Weinstein to push the project a few months. Harvey Weinstein refused, and threatened to sue her if she backed out. Annabella, feeling trapped and overmatched, did the movie. You will hear that at that point, the defendant made his next move. Knowing Annabella was struggling and vulnerable, he sent her a care package. The package contained a few old movies, some popcorn, and a bottle of volume. Exhausted and overworked, Annabella started using the volume to help her sleep, so she could manage the demanding schedule of the filming yet another moving. Exhausted and overworked, Annabella started using the volume to help her sleep, so she could manage the demanding schedule of filming yet another movie. The evidence will show Annabella unwittingly passed another test. After the movie wrapped, unbeknownst to Harvey Weinstein, Annabella managed to wean herself off the volume using homeopathic pills. Meanwhile, following the movie, Annabella became part of Miramax's circle. She attended several events, dinners, and such throughout the city. It was one such dinner in the winter season spanning 1993, 94 at an Irish restaurant and bar in Lower Manhattan, that Annabella's world came crashing down. That night when Annabella got up to leave, the defendant claimed he was headed out as well and offered to drop her off at her apartment in Grammarcy Park. Annabella accepted not thinking much of it. She had been driven home by Harvey's drivers before. The ride again was uneventful, and Annabella went to her apartment located in this beautiful building on Grammarcy Park in New York City. She went to her apartment and got ready for bed. Annabella wearing a nightgown very special to her, gifted by a relative from Italy, had time to get into bed. There was a knock at the door, not expecting anyone. Annabella opened the door cracked to see who it was. Before she had time to ask him why he was there, the defendant, this man, at the time, back in 1993, 94, pushed past the 110-pound Annabella. This man, close to six feet tall and close to 300 pounds. He appeared to Annabella to be casing her apartment, trying to make sure nobody else was there. And once he was satisfied, he began unbuttoning his shirt. Annabella, who had never, never feigned any romantic or sexual interest in that man before, began to panic. She told him to get out. She told him no. But Harvey Weinstein was undeterred. The defendant started backing her into her bedroom. For a second Annabella thought she might be able to flee to the bathroom, but the defendant grabbed her and pushed her onto the bed. He pinned her arms above her head, and despite her verbal and physical attempt to stop him, he continued to hold her down, inserted his penis into her vagina and raped her. Annabella remembers at some point giving up the fight, and just hoping it would end. Harvey Weinstein pulled his penis out of her vagina and ejaculated on her leg and nightgown. That nightgown gifted by a relative from Italy. The nightmare for Annabella did not end there. The defendant proceeded to perform oral sex on her, putting his mouth on her vagina. Annabella remembers not having any fight in her, as he continued to forcibly sexually assault her. But her body was not able to endure anymore, and she began violently shaking. The defendant had finally had enough, and he left her emotionally and physically destroyed, passed out on the floor in her bedroom. The next thing she remembers is waking up on the floor with the nightgown around her waist. Annabella will tell you she was shocked and traumatized. The sanctity of her home had just been violated. She didn't know what to do. She was frightened. This terrible event happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly. Her body had reacted by shutting down, but her mind was reeling. What should she do? Call the police? She was not even sure when somebody you know comes into your home and assaults you that it is still rape. But she knew this man. He was already by the 90s and imposing figure in the entertainment industry. What to do? Annabella barricaded herself in her apartment. She called her brother, but she didn't have the courage to tell him what happened. She was scared. She was alone. Ultimately, Annabella did not call the police. Nor did she remember telling anybody for years. She simply tried to move on. She thought if she ignored it, if she tried to push it down, she could convince herself it never happened and maybe just maybe her life could go back to how it was before. Before that man violently and sexually assaulted her. Miss Hass said Andres Kiora internalized the trauma, began to drink heavily and indulged in self-harming behavior. However, she did later accept a role in a movie produced by the Weinstein company. She did claim by the way that when she did accept that role, she didn't realize that it was a mirror-max film. And I think as we know later that becomes an issue for the for the for the defense because it seems very unlikely that somebody who was as experienced as actresses she was didn't look at who was producing a film. It's like how could you end up in a movie and not know actually who was making the movie? The former confident on top of the world actress got very thin, very sad, losing her carefree personality and at some point started drinking and even more sadly, cutting herself. Her power as a person had been stripped away the day the defendant violently raped her. The evidence will show that despite her protest, despite her fight, despite her body revolting, Harvey Weinstein felt he was entitled to take what he wanted from Annabella, forcing her to live in terror of him for decades. In fact, Annabella will tell you, less than a year after he violently raped her, the defendant sought her out in London, where she was filming a movie called The Innocent Sleep. Annabella was so terrified that she had the producer move her to a different hotel. Annabella hoped that was the end and she continued to do what she was doing, acting with the exception of trying to avoid Miramax films. That was until 1997 when she did the movie Copland, a film Annabella committed to do before she realized it was a Miramax movie. Thankfully, Annabella didn't have any run-ins with Harvey Weinstein on the set. But then she went to the Cannes Film Festival to promote the movie in France and found she had been placed in a hotel room next door to the defendant. Early one morning, Annabella opens the door expecting her makeup people. But to her horror, she found Harvey Weinstein standing there in his underwear, a bottle of baby oil in one hand, and a movie tape in the other. Annabella petrified quickly reacted. She ran to the back of the room and began hitting the call buttons by the bed. To Annabella's relief, defendant left. Her success in stopping that encounter did not mitigate the terror she felt for the defendant, nor did it heal the damage the defendant caused when he violently raped her some years ago. In fact, it took close to 25 years before she was able to confront her nightmare and tell her story. The evidence will show that Harvey Weinstein, meanwhile, became an even bigger figure in Hollywood and began making connections with powerful people in politics. His power and connections serving as a powerful tool to silence Annabella. And while Annabella continued her life in terror, the defendant simply moved on. But then it turned to Miriam Haley. Yes. Miriam Haley is an actual alleged victim of Harvey Weinstein's and that he is charged with these thoughts. All right. She's one of the ones that he's charged with rather than skewer of which is something which goes to character or past bad acts. A pattern. So turning to Miriam Haley, Ms. Haas described how she met Weinstein at the Cannes Film Festival, where she was looking for work. Weinstein invited her to the Weinstein suite, where he talked about her working on project runway, the fashion reality show in producers and Manhattan. So however, according to Ms. Haley, the conversation started to turn from professional to something much darker. So let's hear prosecutors' description of how the conversation turned. Harvey Weinstein began focusing on her appearance, making comments about her legs. The defendant then misdirected and manipulated things even more, asking Miriam to give him a massage. Miriam, thinking quickly and not wanting to offend, suggested maybe he should call the front desk and ask for a masseuse. The defendant explained, "Oh, no, that's not what I had in mind." And then offered to give Miriam a massage. Miriam left feeling humiliated and dejected. She refused the massage and thought that her opportunity was over. This man she thought was interested in maybe helping her out, giving her an internship, was really only interested in her pretty face and body. Take a second to imagine that. You aren't rich or well connected and the happiness you just felt. To imagine that you are taking a meeting with someone who has for a mentor taken an interest in your talent, only to be smacked down with the reality that you are a nobody to him. Assistant District Attorney Mast explained that despite rejecting Weinstein's advances, Haley was offered an accepted a job on project runway. And after the project ended, she had a meeting with Weinstein where he praised her work ethic and told her she was well-liked on set. He also bought her a book about filmmaking and invited her to fly with him to Paris. But she declined wanting to quote, "keep the relationship professional." But she did later accept an invitation to accompany him to the premiere of The Clerks 2 movie in Los Angeles. So the Assistant District Attorney again, Mast, who is obviously prosecuting here, said this was just an example of, and I'm air quotes here, the wealthy, powerful Harvey Weinstein was manipulating the relationship. And then she went on. The ADA went on. That's the Assistant District Attorney again, went on to describe how Harvey Weinstein allegedly raped Miriam. We should warn you again that this account contains very graphic details. On July 10, 2006, in the late evening, the defendant, having just returned from Paris, sent a car to pick Miriam up and take her to his apartment. The driver brought her up to the apartment, which the elevator opened directly into a large loft-like apartment, and Miriam found herself alone with the defendant in this huge loft apartment. The two sat on the couch opposite ends and chatted while the TV was on. The conversation again was friendly and comfortable. That was until the defendant dramatically changed without warning the tenor of that conversation. The defendant who, again, at this point was close to 300 pounds, lunged towards the 115-pound Miriam and began trying to grope and kiss her. Miriam pushed him away and jumped up trying to distance herself. She told him again she wasn't interested in anything sexually, but the evidence will show that the defendant was undeterred. He had already made his determination after analyzing Miriam's behavior and reactions over the past several months, that Miriam was someone he could sexually assault without recourse. He kept pulling her towards him and she kept trying to pull away repeatedly, telling him it wasn't going to happen. I'm not interested. No. Nothing worked. Miriam found herself heading back into the bedroom. Again, a 115-pound Miriam was no match for the 300-pound Harvey Weinstein. She was forced to go where he was directing her. Once pushed back into the bedroom, he pushed her onto the bed, put his weight on top of her and held her down. Miriam went into panic mode. She kept saying no. She kept trying to get up, even telling the defendant that she was on her period. Nothing worked. Harvey Weinstein continued to ignore her desperate pleas and he easily resisted her attempts to get away. Miriam started to realize that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. She started to realize that she was going to get raped or even worse with no way out and fearful that he might get even more violent. For a moment, she thought about whether or not she could hurt him enough to make a run for it, to the elevator and get out. Then she thought about that driver that physically escorted her up to that apartment. What if he was still there? What if he was in on it? Miriam ultimately decided to just check out. She tried to endure the violent sexual assault. Harvey Weinstein was perpetrating on her. Harvey Weinstein put his mouth on her vagina. Miriam again begged him to stop, telling him she had a tampon in. Harvey Weinstein simply yanked it out and continued forcibly orally sexually assaulting Miriam Hale. Miriam can't remember how she got out of the apartment. The next thing she remembers after the defendant yanking out her tampon and forcibly orally sexually assaulting her is being on the street looking to see if that driver was in fact still there. She didn't see the driver and she frantically hailed a cab to take her home. When Miriam went home, she nervously told her roommate and her roommate encouraged her to call the police, but Miriam got even more scared. She didn't feel she was any match for Harvey Weinstein. She was a nobody on a visitor's visa who had no right to even work in the United States who had gone to his apartment. She had nothing, no family, no home, no money. He was a titan in the entertainment industry with powerful political connections. Despite this incident, the prosecutor also detailed her Miriam later agreed to meet Weinstein at a tobacco hotel where she was again ripped and you should be warned there will be graphic details in this description. Walking to that tobacco hotel to meet him, looking down at her shoes, old and worn. Miriam felt the weight of her situation. She didn't know what to do about what happened to her at the hands of someone who had everything. There she was, complying, going to meet a man who had just weeks earlier violently sexually assaulted her, leaving her feeling vulnerable and helpless. Miriam Halle saw no way out as she walked in. Those old shoes back to the man who assaulted her. When she arrived at the hotel an assistant not Harvey Weinstein was waiting in the bar. Feeling somewhat relieved because the assistant was there, she went with the assistant up to the hotel room where the assistant told her Harvey Weinstein had asked her to meet. But once in that hotel room, Miriam was instantly and again trapped with the monster in her nightmare. Miriam will tell you that she doesn't remember much about that incident except for Harvey Weinstein's voice demanding her to get undressed and get onto the bed. She knows Harvey Weinstein had intercourse with her that he put his penis in her vagina and that he ejaculated. He knew she didn't want to but she didn't fight like the first time. She just laid there motionless like a dead fish and let him violate her. Let him degrade her. The pinnacle being when he told her she was a whore and a bitch. Ladies and gentlemen, you will hear Miriam. You will hear her sad protestations. That's not what I am Harvey. That's not what I am. She thought when she went that she could somehow take some power back. But she was dealing with a sexual predator. She left feeling ashamed, stupid and worthless. Miriam will tell you that just as Harvey Weinstein had predicted, just as he planned, even after that second encounter, she didn't manage to completely cut Harvey Weinstein out of her life. However, defense attorney Damon Sheronis had a very different description of the relationship being Miriam and Harvey Weinstein. Yeah, I mean, you know, you had a situation where the alleged attack rape happened on July the 10th, 2006 and then you had basically churneros bringing everyone, you know, bringing the jury through, you know, a very, very detailed timeline of what happened after that, you know, including trips together from here, from place to place, an account of a consensual sexual encounter on July the 26th, so say what's that 16 days later, a time when, and then August the 2nd, she flew to London with a ticket that Weinstein had bought for her. She went, she pitched a TV show. Yeah, she called Trash TV. Yeah. And in fact, and then wrote an email to him and thanked him for his support. She then got in touch with him in May and asked him for tickets for a show. She met him again then and actually approached him when he was in Cannes in May of 2007. And, you know, so there's this long, you know, we're going to hear, we're going to hear all of this, but there's a very long detailed description of, you know, event after event after event after this alleged rape where there seems to be this a huge amount of friendly contact and very friendly contact, including by the way, there's an email that I just wanted to just, you know, mention from, actually from 2009, so a few years later, you know, a very, very loving email which they put up on the screen today and we got to see it, you know, which had a, you know, the sign off was peace and love, you know, and you know, she was hoping that she would go to get more work of them and she said, you know, and by the way, my cat needs feeding. And then- That's a lot to be a yoga teacher, a lot of support from- And you want to support from that? And then as again, as the, you know, you're going to hear this in a moment, but again, as the defense, you know, said, you know, 3,000 days after that, after this, all these loving emails on October- October 2017, in her efforts to remain anonymous, apparently, she gets in touch with Gloria, I'll read, to tell her truth. So, you know, there- there's an incredible, as I said, I think I said, I said that earlier, the general said, said to the jury, you know, apologizing, really. If it seems like I've an answer for everything, you know, I'm sorry, but you know, this is just the stuff that we have here. So, let's hear, let's hear from- from Damon Chernross now describing this series of interactions between Harvey and Maryam. So, this is an actor, reading the actual words of Damon Chirona's as stated today in the court. What you will see is that in 2004, Miriam meets Harvey at the aviator premiere. When she meets Harvey Weinstein, it is nothing big, not a huge deal. Somebody she meets and she knows who he is. But what the state told you was that Miriam meets Harvey and asks him for a job. Then what happens? He invites her to the majestic hotel and according to Miriam, Miriam goes there. They have a conversation, and Harvey asks for a massage or says things that are inappropriate, and Miriam runs out crying. Then they tell you, lo and behold, somebody from Harvey's office reaches out to Miriam to offer her a job in New York. I'm going to tell you now, when you see the cross-examination of Miriam, you will know that did not happen. That is not how it went down. But in an event, Miriam then goes to New York to work on project runway. This was not manipulation. She actually got a job when the production was already running. She started working there. Then on June 27th of 2006, the state talked to you about a meeting that occurred at the Mercer Hotel. According to the people, this was just part of the trap, part of the trick. All of this is manipulation. What you will hear is that they had a conversation there. She will tell you it was a wonderful conversation. He was charming to her. They were talking about the industry. Then towards the end of that month, Miriam will tell you Harvey came over to her apartment where she was staying and barged in and begged her to go to Paris. But you will see as the cross-examination unfolds, that is not likely. But remember what the state told you? That Miriam says you have a horrible reputation with women and Harvey gets offended and he leaves. That is what Miriam will say. Then she did not want to go to Paris because she did not want to be alone with Harvey Weinstein. That is what the state told you. On July 10th 2006, according to Miriam, Harvey calls her up and says you can come to my apartment by yourself. Miriam goes. Now you will see that as somewhat inconsistent with her rebuking this Paris invitation. I'll leave it to you to decide the relevance of it. What you'll hear is that in between the Paris invitation and the allegation of sexual assault at the Soho apartment, Harvey Weinstein offers to fly her out to California and it is not to go to the clerks premiere, members of the jury. You'll see why he flies her out there. You'll see her friend was pregnant and she asked to be flown out there and he flew her out there. And you'll know that because she was there for two weeks. She was not there for the one day the clerks premiere was running. She goes there. On July 10th, Miriam will testify Harvey attacked her. He lunged at her. The same Harvey she's going to tell you at the majestic he didn't do anything. When she wanted to shut him down at the apartment, all she had to say was you have a horrible reputation with women. Miriam will tell you there was a violent incident at the Soho apartment. But what is extremely important, members of the jury, is that you look at all the events. You will hear the next day Miriam flies to LA with the Weinstein ticket. And she comes back two weeks later. And when she's in LA, you will see she had contact with the Weinstein company, contact with Harvey Weinstein's assistant. When she comes back, she goes to the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Now this is going to be an extremely important part of this case. Because what Miss Hast just told you is Miriam didn't think she had any options. Apparently nobody in this case had any. She thinks Miriam didn't have options. Even though she will tell you that she was sexually assaulted days before she goes to the Tribeca Grand, what will be very important about that date. It's Miss Hast just told you Miriam remembers Harvey grabbing her and calls her names. That never happened. You will see when Miriam was first question about that. She didn't remember much of anything that happened at the Tribeca Grand. When she talked about it a second time, she said we had sex. It was not forced. But I don't remember any of the details. Then you will hear about a year later, as this case was getting closer to trial, Miriam changed her story. She said I remember it. He grabbed me. He called me these names. Pay very close attention to how the story changes and it always changes to hurt Harvey. You'll see that. Always changes to hurt Harvey. But that is not real. That is not what happened. And you'll see what the state did not tell you in the opening statement. This is interesting. You heard that at this point, Miriam was trying to avoid Harvey. What we are going to show you is that on July 31st, a few days after the consensual sexual encounter at the Tribeca Grand, Miriam calls Harvey's office to see if I can go. What you will see is Harvey Weinstein paid for a ticket for her to fly to London. She did not mention that to anybody, but that is what happened. The person she did not want much to do with. She was trying to navigate flights. Miriam to London a few days after the sexual encounter at the Tribeca Grand. Then you are going to see over the course of about a year. In September of 2006, Miriam reaches out to Harvey and is assistant about seeing him in London. You'll hear Miriam said, "Dan, I heard you and Harvey are in London. I tried to change my flight to get there to see you. That is what she tries to do." Then in February of 2007, Miriam pitches Harvey a TV show. She pitches them a show called Trash TV. And she sends an email to Harvey's assistant and it says, "Tell Harvey I wrote this myself. I really want him to read it. I really want him to look at it." And you'll hear not only did Harvey look at it. Harvey met with her, had a conversation with her. Harvey tried to help her. And she sends him a very nice email talking about how he's always supported her. That is what really happened. That is what you are going to see in this case. It is not going to be this predator-pray dynamic the state so badly wants you to believe. You will see that May of 2007, Miriam reaches out to Harvey. At this point, she's not even in New York. There is no control over Miss Hela at this point. There is no control over what she will do. She reaches out to Harvey and requests premier ticket for movies in Cannes. And Harvey tries to accommodate her. You will see in May of 2007 they connect again at the Cannes Film Festival. And you'll see in May of 2008, Miriam and Harvey have phone calls and she sees Harvey at the Cannes Film Festival. Remember, this is the Harvey that the people want you to believe violently sexually assaulted her on July 10th of '06. But what you will see is Miriam sees Harvey and walks up to him and says, "How are you doing? I've not seen you in a while. What's going on?" Harvey has no control over her. Harvey has no power over her. On June 27th of 2008, you will see Miriam contacts Harvey, sends him an email. She reminisces with him. I have not seen you in a while. Remember that summer in 2006 at the Mercer Hotel when we had a great conversation and I told you the Adam's family would make a great Broadway play. Aren't I a total genius? Harvey says, "Yeah, you're a genius. Good to hear from you. That is not a predator and prey. That is the truth about what their relationship was." You will see that. Miriam would brag about her friendship with Harvey. She would give him scripts over the years from her friend. She would drop his name as somebody she was close with. That will be the evidence in this case. The last time Miriam reaches out to Harvey was in 2009. She says, "Dear Harvey, I've not seen you in so long. How are you?" Listen, I'm saving up to become a Kundalini yoga teacher. I want to do announce myself available for work if you happen to buy any chance, have anything shooting in London. I'll be your runner, whatever. I really appreciate any leads. My cat needs feeding. Either way, I hope you are super well, peace and love. Miriam. These are the type of conversations you will hear between Harvey and Miriam. Harvey then does not hear from Miriam for over 3,000 days. You will hear Miriam reads the paper and people reach out to her. Who knows she has a relationship with Harvey Weinstein. And Miriam will tell you, when she reads the paper, she wanted to remain anonymous. She didn't want to tell anybody what happened. You will see that in her bid to remain anonymous. She hires Gloria Allred, one of the most well-known, outspoken attorneys who is a plaintiff's attorney. Somebody who sues people for money. That is what it is. The next victim we hear about is Jessica Mann, who we are told was brought up in an evangelical church on a dairy farm in Washington, state. She was naive and moved to LA at 25, was the proverbial struggling actress when she met Harvey Weinstein at a party. So let's hear Prosecutor has described the meeting and how Jessica Mann had a friendly relationship with Mr. Weinstein. And also let's hear Prosecutor has to make some rather unflattering remarks about Mr. Weinstein's appearance. In the beginning of 2013, when Jessica met the defendant, she had been living in LA for a few years. She had made a few friends, was sharing an apartment with another aspiring young actress named Toleta. She had gone on tons of auditions and even had small parts in commercials and independent films. In some, she was a starving actress in LA. In early February of that year, Oscar season, Jessica and Toleta went to an industry party, something Jessica tried to do when she had the opportunity in order to network. At the time, Jessica, although having lived in LA for a few years, had not lost her naivete. In fact, even though she was working hard to get small acting jobs, she didn't yet know who Harvey Weinstein was or even his stature in the industry. While at the party, she approached the defendant who was talking to her friend Toleta. She introduced herself and the two exchanged some banter about the fact she didn't even know who he was. Ladies and gentlemen, you will be able to evaluate Jessica Mann. You will be able to determine whether the defendant, at that point, sensed the newness of his next victim. Later that night, she was getting ready to leave the party. Harvey Weinstein sought her out and got her number. He claimed he was interested in her, interested in learning more about her as an actress. Jessica gave him her number, thinking this was a good networking opportunity. Certainly not thinking anything remotely, sexual or romantic. After all, the defendant at this point was old enough to be her father, significantly overweight and sloppy looking. But for Harvey Weinstein, you will learn that Jessica had passed an initial test. So then they had a meeting. Yeah, she was brought in for a meeting with Harvey Weinstein assistant. He took her to buy some books. Jessica said she felt not only lucky, but she felt truly blessed according to the prosecutor. But again, according to the prosecutor, this was a secret addition, not as an actress, but as a victim. So they continued to meet during one hotel meeting. Weinstein said he was annoyed and wanted to go to his room where he asked to give her a massage. She declined but agreed to give him one and rubbed some oil on his back. Despite feeling bullied and manipulated, this is according, again, according to the prosecution today, Mann said she continued to meet Weinstein and could hardly believe Harvey was interested in her as an actress. However, Jessica Mann says he eventually raped her in a hotel room. Let's hear prosecutor has described the attack. And again, we'd like to warn you that the details are very graphic here indeed. At one of those parties, she and Toleta saw the defendant and he asked them to meet him at the hotel bar after the party for a drink. In the lobby, Harvey Weinstein pretended to be interested in the two girls' acting career, telling Toleta she needed to lose a little weight and telling Jessica she needed to fix her skin. Then he claimed he claimed he had a movie that would be perfect for these girls and not just small parts. He claimed the leads. And you will hear during this trial, this was in reality a ruse to get these young women into his web. In fact, you will hear evidence of just how disingenuous that comment was when the actual facts during this trial are revealed. It will clearly illustrate for you just how manipulative and conniving the defendant was with these two young women and particularly Jessica. These were not mutual adult relationships. These young women were pawns being pushed around by the defendant. They thought they had gotten the attention of a big Hollywood producer. They thought they got their big break that he respected their abilities and talents. He was the old lady in the gingerbread house, luring the kids in, missing the oven behind. Harvey Weinstein told Jessica and Toleta to come up to his hotel room that night. He claimed he had the script up there to give them for these leads. Jessica hesitated. She remembered what happened the last time she had gone to Harvey Weinstein's hotel room. She even mustered up the courage to tell the defendant, "Oh no, I know what that means." To which he instantly manipulated her feelings, making her feel stupid and silly, "Oh me? I'm just a harmless old man." Ladies and gentlemen, over the course of the testimony presented on that witness, Dan, you will come to see that the man seated on that side of the courtroom, despite what your eyes are looking at, is not a harmless old man. Jessica relented and the defendant acted. Rather than handing them the script that he had promised, he told Toleta to wait in the living room area and he and Jessica would just be a minute. He then grabbed Jessica by the arms and pulled her into the bedroom and shut the door. Once alone in the bedroom, the defendant, still holding her arms, began kissing her and backing her further into the bedroom. She tried to get away, both physically and verbally. But like Miriam, the 105-pound Jessica was no match for the close to 300-pound defendant. She too switched to negotiating, but Harvey Weinstein had already made his calculation. She had already passed his test. He forced her onto the bed, held her down, put his mouth on her vagina and orally sexually assaulted her. Jessica, like Miriam, realizing there was nothing she could do. Faken orgasm, hoping that would end it. When he did finally stop, Harvey Weinstein acted like she wanted it, asking her how it was. While simultaneously reminding her of the power he wielded in the industry, she claimed it was great and said she really had to go. He let her out, she grabbed Toleta and got out of the hotel room. According to ADA Haast, this is when Jessica Mann made the decision that, quote, ultimately led her to feeling suicidal and that decision was that she would have some kind of relationship with the defendant and had continued to see him and had additional sexual contact with him. She tried to, according to the prosecutor, she tried to put it on a briefcase but was dying inside the jury heard. Shortly afterwards, this led her to being raped by Harvey Weinstein before a breakfast meeting at the Double Tree Hotel on 51st Street in Lexington, Avenue in Manhattan. Let's, let's your prosecutor has described the jury and again, we warn you that this contains very graphic details. Jessica will tell you that at that point she had very little real-world experience. She also had no family she could rely on and no friends she felt comfortable telling. Toleta, you will learn, was happy to use her friend to her, for her own advancement and encouraged Jessica to have a relationship with Harvey Weinstein. And Jessica was up against a seasoned predator who dominated the industries. She was working. Moreover, Jessica was so embarrassed, so humiliated, after being so happy about getting this opportunity, not just for herself, but for her friend Toleta. She was instantly reduced to Harvey Weinstein's rag doll. Now she was in a hole trapped and very much alone. Jessica made a decision, a decision that had disastrous consequences for her, a decision that ultimately led her to feeling suicidal years later. She decided to try to have some sort of relationship with the defendant. And over the next few months and in the end sporadically for a few years, she continued to see him and had additional sexual encounters with him. You will learn that Jessica Mann felt trapped. She felt like there was no way to get out without suffering her friends, her career, or worse, physical harm. She could do this, she thought. Maybe he really does think I'm talented and special. I don't know how to get out of it, and I don't know who can spare me. Maybe I could just grin and bear it. And grin and bear it is what she did. But he became more demanding, more demanding and violent, more violent and disgusting, so disgusting. Jessica tried to put on a brave face, pretending to the world like nothing was wrong, all the while you will learn she was dying inside. On the morning of March 18, 2013, an hour or so before the meeting was scheduled to take place. Jessica received a call from Harvey Weinstein, informing her that he was downstairs. Jessica feeling anxious about the early arrival tried to stall. Thomas, who was still passed out after a late St. Patrick's Day night in New York City, and Talita had not yet arrived at the hotel, but eventually she went downstairs to face him to her horror. Harvey Weinstein was down at the reception desk at that hotel, checking into a hotel room in New York City, the place he lives. Jessica confronted him, demanding to know why he was getting a hotel room. She was panicked like seeing her parents come home drunk because she knew what was coming next. The defendant became angry, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her aside, warning her not to embarrass him in the lobby of that hotel, telling her they would finish their conversation in private. Now, once in the hotel room, Jessica picked up where she had left off in the lobby, anxiously asking the defendant why he had a room, reminding him that Talita was on her way and that they had a breakfast meeting. Jessica repeatedly attempted to open the door and the defendant who was standing above her with his hand on the door repeatedly slammed it shut. Harvey Weinstein became angry. He demanded she take off her clothes. She refused. He became louder, more aggressive. He grabbed her and began to physically undress her. Again, realizing the futility and the danger of the situation and the danger of resisting Jessica man relented and got undressed. He ordered her onto the bed and then he disappeared for a moment into the bathroom. He came back out. He got on top of her and he raped her, forcing his penis into her vagina. Jessica just laid there. When he finished, he got off of her and told her to get dressed. Jessica distraught, disgusted and horrified ran into the bathroom to collect herself. There she saw a needle in the garbage can and panicked even more. Harvey Weinstein had not even bothered to use protection and there was a needle and with it what she assumed to be an exchange of bodily fluid. She looked at the label of the wrapper that was also in the garbage can and later googled it. To her horror, she realized that he injected his penis with the medication in order to get an erection. Jessica got dressed. She put on, she did her best to put on a happy face and she went downstairs with the defendant to meet her friends. According to ADA hast, Jessica man started working as a hair stylist and in November 2013 she cut Weinstein's hair and told him about her boyfriend. This seemed to enrage Weinstein. Again, hast gave the jury a graphic description of the rape that allegedly followed. You will learn from Jessica that even after she was forcibly raped by the defendant, she continued some semblance of a relationship with him for years. The dynamics changed. Jessica got smarter, more adept at avoiding sexual situations, but keeping him from thinking she was outright rejecting him. She would say nice things, pretend to really want to see him and then claim something came up and avoid the actual encounter. Largely, she navigated the situation successfully with the significant exception that occurred some months after the rape in New York City. Jessica at the time was working as a hair stylist at the peninsula and she was cutting his hair in his room at the peninsula and she told him about her boyfriend. The defendant once again became the predatory monster he is. He grabbed Jessica by the arms, ripped her from the chair and dragged her into the bedroom, all while screaming at her that she owed him one more time. Jessica pleaded, but the interaction turned violent. He demanded she take off her clothes and she resisted, curling up to the top of the bed and curling up in a fetal position. But the defendant would not relent. He ripped her jeans off so forcibly it left scratch marks in some areas breaking the skin along her thighs. Jessica will tell you the moment she curled up into that ball at the top of the bed, she lost her voice. She lost her ability to fight, to resist. Harvey Weinstein so effectively manipulated and secured this young Christian from the dairy farm in his mental grip that even after that violent encounter. Jessica, man, we'll tell you how she continued to navigate, continued to say nice things, continued to pretend she wanted to see him and make excuses not to. So Phil, I mean, you know, one of the was extraordinary with them with the Jessica man story was we obviously heard these awful, really awful descriptions were very, very, very detailed, very disturbing. Then we heard the defense and you're sort of sit there thinking, what can they do? Can they possibly do? But then they come up with all this stuff. So after these violent, extremely violent, very disturbing descriptions that we'd heard, turns out Jessica, man, is emailing Weinstein repeatedly after these, wanting him to meet her mother, for example, on one occasion, writing to him and saying to him, you know what, it's my birthday next month. Are you going to come back to LAMB here for my birthday? I love you. I love you in an email. Describing them also as a casual boyfriend in an email. Yeah. Yeah. And in fact, it's actually, it's worse than an email actually feeling because what she did was, you know, the way on your phone, you know, some people don't have a diary, do the way on your phone you might have a place where you can put notes. So in a note, so a note to herself, basically. So actually, some form of a diary, she wrote that Harvey Weinstein was a casual boyfriend to her, like, you know, and another email to Weinstein just, I don't want to be your booty call anymore. And she had regrets because she had a new boyfriend, but she was seeing Harvey Weinstein on the side. I mean, there was an enormous amount of extremely damning evidence against Jessica Mann in terms of her allegations, including, by the way, that a police officer here, a detective here in New York City, told her when this all, when all blew up and everything, he said to her, "Look, delete any messages that you have that you think might, you know, might be this might, might make you look bad," or whatever. Any photographs as well. Was she the one also who had the the paper calendar and scored out the dates? I'm not sure about that. I don't have that in front of me right now, film. But I do have a thing that Jessica did as well. And again, just to remember, by the way, that the prosecution spent a lot of time mentioning that she was like from a dairy farm. There was a lot of this dairy farm stuff being talked about, evangelical Christian. However, let's put this into a little bit of context because we also heard that Jessica Mann had texted a friend of hers and said, "Okay, and for those of you, you know, like, obviously this is going to, this podcast is going to be full of certain language that's offensive for people, but here's what she texted to her friend. I blew a Hollywood producer who could ruin your career. This is not, doesn't sound very much like the kind of language that you'd hear from us. Yeah, well, I mean, I think that the prosecution realized those difficulties and they're going to produce academics who will say that this is a standard behavior for rip victims. The defense said, "Appealed to the jury's common sense and, you know, and the truth." Let's see how it goes. I mean, one of the things you're just mentioning there, Phil, about the prosecution are going to be heavily reliant on this doctor, Ziv, who is a forensic psychiatrist and who has sort of made a career really of this defense idea of, you know, that sending letters that I love you, I love you, after you've been ripped is actually totally normal and in fact, actually is, in fact, almost proof of the fact that you were ripped. However, again, with the defense here, I thought it was really interesting when they came up with the fact today that this forensic psychiatrist, who they're going to be relying on very, very heavily, has never spoken to any of the victims and has not examined any of the evidence. Yes, yes. So that actually she's talking in a kind of an academic way, you know, divorced really from the reality of these particular cases. Let's see, we have to go on though, because this podcast has gone on too long. It's just so much interesting stuff today. But we're looking forward to tomorrow. Let's see how this forensic psychiatrist matches up against what the defense said. The dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens. They said it four times of emails and communications that they have that challenge that narrative. And we look forward to talking to you guys tomorrow. And tomorrow, by the way, is an explosive day, huge day in the trial tomorrow, because we have Annabella, Annabella, Annabella, Skiora, who most of you guys know from, from the sopranos will be in the witness stand tomorrow. So we look forward to talking to you tomorrow. Bye now. Bye.