Woman accusing Harvey Weinstein of rape describes their complex history
[May 20, 2025]
By JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors at Harvey Weinstein 's sex crimes retrial heard
Monday from a woman who said her consensual relationship with the
ex-movie mogul descended into rape.
At times, “he validated me so much,” Jessica Mann said, but when he was
told no, “the monster side would come out.”
Mann is the last of three accusers to testify in the case, and the one
with arguably the most complicated history with Weinstein. The
73-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and maintains he
never sexually assaulted or raped anyone.
Mann, a cosmetologist and hairstylist, said she met Weinstein at a party
in late 2012 or early 2013, when she was 27 and had recently moved to
Los Angeles to try to launch an acting career.
She said he took an interest in her ambitions, and they had a few
follow-up meetings that alternated between professional talk and
boundary-pushing, particularly a request for a massage that Mann said
she reluctantly gave the ex-studio boss. Weinstein invited her to an
Oscars bash that Mann, new to Hollywood glitz, attended in her
high-school prom dress.
She said she wasn't attracted to Weinstein and initially refused his
first sexual advance, but eventually succumbed to him performing oral
sex because Weinstein said he wouldn't let her leave until she let him
“do something." Although she felt confused and “defiled,” she then
agreed to consensual encounters with the then-married man, she said.
Partly, she worried about the professional consequences of alienating a
powerful producer who had just dangled the prospect of movie roles. She
also recalled thinking that “if I was in a relationship, maybe it would
feel different,” and that “maybe he did like me."

“I just thought that maybe it would take the pain away,” said Mann, 39.
In March 2013, she traveled to New York with a friend. After the pals
made plans for breakfast with Weinstein, he showed up early and got a
room at Mann's hotel, over her protests, she said.
Weeping and wiping her eyes on the witness stand, she said she went
upstairs with Weinstein to try to avoid a public argument and told him,
“I don’t want to do this,” but he shoved the door shut as she tried to
leave.
After Weinstein demanded she undress and grabbed her arms, she said, she
“just gave up.” Mann said he then had sex with her — after, she
believes, injecting himself with an erection-promoting drug that she
later found in the bathroom trash.
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Actress Jessica Mann, left, arrives to testify in Harvey Weinstein's
rape and sexual assault trial, Monday, May 19, 2025, in New York.
(AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
 As she spoke, Weinstein quietly
consulted one of his lawyers, then looked ahead of him at the
judge's bench.
Mann told no one about the alleged rape. She said Monday that she
doubted she'd be believed and feared reprisals from the
well-connected Weinstein.
Over the ensuing months, she nudged him about a potential movie part
— he arranged an audition, which went nowhere — and told him she
appreciated “all you do for me,” according to emails shown to
jurors. She also sent him her new phone number, relayed a compliment
she'd heard about him, and asked whether he'd be in Los Angeles for
her birthday.
“I compartmentalized the part of Harvey that was hurting me," she
said, adding that he had “good sides.” Flattery and friendliness
"kept the peace,” she said, while she tried to keep a subtle
distance by politely declining some invitations or delaying
get-togethers.
She also declined a package his office wanted to send her in summer
2013, according to emails shown in court. The messages didn't
specify the packet's contents; Mann said it contained cash, and
though broke, she “wasn't for sale.”
Weinstein’s lawyers haven’t yet had their turn to question her.
During opening statements last month, defense attorney Arthur Aidala
contended that Mann had a “a mutually beneficial relationship” with
the former movie producer in hopes of “cutting the line” to an
acting career.
Once a Hollywood heavy-hitter, Weinstein became a symbol of sexual
misconduct after media reports revealed allegations against him in
2017 and fueled the #MeToo movement.
He was later convicted of various sex crimes in both New York and
California. But he’s on trial again because an appeals court found
that his New York trial was tainted by prejudicial testimony and
overturned that conviction. He’s charged with raping Mann and with
forcing oral sex on two other women, separately, in 2006.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who alleged
they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be
identified. Mann has done so.
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