Trial of Harvey Weinstein: "I don't wish this on anyone", testifies a former aspiring actress

The facts they describe are prescribed, but their testimony could weigh very heavily at the trial of Harvey Weinstein. On Wednesday, two women came to describe to the New York court abuses of which they accuse the deposed producer. Facts which are not prosecuted as such because they are too old, but which could support the count of "predatory sexual assault", the most dangerous for the accused because liable to life imprisonment.

Last week, actress Annabella Sciorra had already given powerful testimony on an alleged rape that occurred 25 years ago, demonstrating the age of an operating mode made of seduction, violence and power.

The first to speak on Wednesday, Dawn Dunning came to complete this sketch, adding the springs on which it is based: shame and amazement. Costumer aged 40, the young woman repeats it several times, almost still incredulous today: "There had never been any alert, no warning sign ..."

In 2004, she was still just a very young woman when she crossed paths with Harvey Weinstein. An unexpected chance for this aspiring actress, crowned with a few victories during beauty contests in her native Ohio, waitress in a nightclub while waiting for better. And, one evening, here is the most prominent producer of the moment, boss of Miramax, seated at one of the tables for which she is responsible. "I didn't want to believe it, but my boss came to confirm that it was him ...", she says. A small miracle that does not stop there, since Weinstein's assistant, before leaving, takes her number and calls her a few days later.

Expertly orchestrated packaging

Facing the prosecutor who questions him, Dawn Dunning, chestnut hair falling on her elegant jacket, answers very precisely. She describes a skillfully orchestrated conditioning, made of an apparently sincere interest of Harvey Weinstein for his career, which she soon believes to be his pygmalion. This is how he talks to her about possible roles, gives her a first try. Over the months, the producer invites her to previews, provides him with tickets to a musical on Broadway, invites him to dinner with his fiancé at Robert de Niro's restaurant, himself being accompanied by his wife.

PODCAST. The fall of an untouchable film producer

One day when Weinstein is in New York, his assistant brings Dawn Dunning to a hotel where the team has set up its offices. Weinstein leads her into the bedroom. "He put his hand under my skirt," she describes, her voice suddenly tottering. However, there were people right next to it… ”“ Did you have a discussion of a sexual nature? Asked the prosecutor, anxious to remove any ambiguity. "Did you have an equivocal behavior? ". " No. No ... I never felt insecure with him ... There had been a few comments on my physique, but it was not much compared to what I could hear in the club where I worked " , she insists.

Newsletter - The essentials of the news

I'm registering

Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more

She feels the producer's hand go up again, into her panties, then begin to penetrate it. Petrified, it takes several seconds to react. "I got up suddenly, and he started to apologize. He talked a lot, saying that it would never happen again, but that we shouldn't make a big deal out of it. ”

"You'll never get there, that's how it works in this business!" "

The defense accuses him of never having spoken of this specific incident, even though it has multiplied the interviews since the revelations on Harvey Weinstein. I was ashamed, I didn't want to be a victim… ”, she says. Why then have you accepted another appointment a month later, supports the defense?

READ ALSO> Weinstein lawsuit: who are the two complainants who accuse the ex-producer?

Dawn Dunning is now in tears. This episode is more well known: the young woman is this time led directly to her room by the assistant of the producer, under a false pretext. Harvey Weinstein opens him in a robe and, in a peremptory tone, shows him a small table covered with contracts. “He told me that I would have the roles if I accepted a threesome with his assistant. I laughed, thinking he was joking. ” But the accused is furious. "You'll never get there, that's how it works in this business!" How do you think the other actresses got there? Shouts the producer, citing Charlize Theron and Salma Hayek in particular.

Frightened, the young woman flees, planting there the producer outside of him and his assistant, "white as a cloth".

"Just give me a minute"

A tale that resembles that of Tarale Wulff. This 43-year-old model was also a waitress, caressing the hope of becoming an actress. One evening in 2005, while Weinstein is in his bar, sitting at the regulars' table, she says that he compliments her on her appearance. Learning that she is an actress, he takes her by the arm and takes her, she thinks, to present her to her team.

She finds herself in fact apart, in a part of the bar under construction. "I said I had to go back to work, and then I saw his shirt move up and down. He was masturbating… ”says the young brunette woman. "Just give me a minute," allegedly replied the accused. Tarale Wulff leaves but, fearing reprisals from her boss, a friend of Weinstein, keeps the incident for herself. A few days later, however, Miramax's office called her back for an audition. No sooner arrived, scenario in hand, we advise that a car awaits him. Direction: the producer's apartment.

"He said, don't worry, I've had a vasectomy ."

Her memory is now lacking. She remembers a banal conversation, being taken by the arms, pushed on a bed, the producer suddenly sprawled on her. "I told her I couldn't," she said simply. He replied: Don't worry, I did a vasectomy. At this precise point, I said to myself that it would be easier to wait for it to finish… ”

Prosecutor's questions do nothing. Tarale Wulff, the broken voice, is sorry, but she has no more specific memories - a classic symptom of trauma linked to sexual assault, said a psychiatrist cited by the prosecution last week. "All I know is that he penetrated and raped me," she concludes, looking dejected.

The producer's lawyers make it their honey during a long cross-examination, implying that it could have been manipulated by the prosecution, or even motivated by money or celebrity. They did the same with Dawn Dunning that morning. "I have nothing to gain from testifying," replied the latter. On the contrary I waste time, money ... It is the most difficult thing of my whole life, but it is the truth. And I don't wish that on anyone. "