Harvey Weinstein excused lewd acts as film industry norm, accusers testify
LA TimesHarvey Weinstein arrives at court Wednesday for his trial on charges of rape and sexual assault. One woman testified that Harvey Weinstein led her to a New York City hotel bed, put his hand up her skirt and fondled her genitals during a 2004 meeting about her fledgling acting career. Wulff and the woman in the alleged hotel encounter, Dawn Dunning, took the witness stand Wednesday at Weinstein’s rape trial, describing a powerful Hollywood figure they say preyed on their vulnerabilities while pushing the notion that sex could lead to film roles. Weinstein immediately appeared to take an interest in her fledgling acting career, she said, and invited her to a lunch meeting where, noting his infamous temper, she said he was “on the phone a lot yelling at people.” Several meetings followed, Dunning said, including one at a boutique hotel in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood where Weinstein was using a suite as a temporary office. Dunning said that she later agreed to meet Weinstein at a cigar bar, but that an assistant took her to a suite where the “Pulp Fiction” producer was standing in a bathrobe.