Shamed moviemaker Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted an aspiring actress at the Cannes film festival three years ago after inviting her to his hotel room to discuss her career, according to a new lawsuit.
Kadian Noble, who lives in the United Kingdom, claims Weinstein told her he was considering her for a film role when he asked her to join him inside his room at the Le Majestic Hotel during the annual French festival in 2014.
She obliged, and while they were inside, Weinstein allegedly groped her without her consent and “forced her hand to masturbate him” against her will, according the legal complaint filed by attorney Jeff Herman and obtained by the New York Daily News.
“(Weinstein) recruited and enticed a young aspiring actress … with the promise of a film role, knowing that he would use means of force, fraud or coercion to cause her to engage in a sex act in his hotel room,” the lawsuit claims.
In the court documents, Noble’s team claims she was showing Weinstein her acting reel when the filmmaker began massaging her shoulders. He then put her on the phone with an unidentified producer for his movie studio, The Weinstein Company, who allegedly told her they’d work with her as long as she was “a good girl” who did “whatever he wished.”
The lawsuit claims Weinstein, 65, then groped Noble’s breasts and backside, despite her demanding he stop, after dragging her into the bathroom. He blocked her from exiting, and ultimately began masturbating in front of her before placing her hand on his genitals and forcing her to continue, the lawsuit alleges.
Weinstein’s brother Bob — whom he co-founded his production studio with — is also named in the lawsuit, which alleges Bob was either aware of his brother’s alleged misconduct, or was “in reckless disregard of the facts.”
When asked for comment by the Daily News, a rep for Harvey Weinstein issued a general statement: “Mr. Weinstein denies allegations of non-consensual sex,” the statement reads. “Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”
A rep for The Weinstein Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Noble filed the legal complaint as a violation of the federal sex trafficking statute. The federal law defines sex trafficking as a person being recruited, obtained or solicited to perform a sex act that is “induced by force, fraud, or coercion,” according to the human trafficking hotline’s website.
Noble is seeking unspecified damages in her lawsuit.
“(Noble) has suffered severe injuries and emotional distress, pain and suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, inability to lead a normal life, shame and humiliation,” the civil filing claims.
Noble’s allegations are the latest in a wave against Weinstein, who in the past the two months has been accused of sexually harassing, sexually assaulting or raping dozens of women in incidents spanning decades.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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