Justice continues to close in on Harvey Weinstein, ever since he surrendered himself to the New York police on May 25 (before being released on bail). Now, one more survivor accusing him of rape is adding her story to the legal battle.
CNN reports that Melissa Thompson joined the three other women who filed a class-action lawsuit against the infamous, disgraced Hollywood producer. Before the new charges, he already stood accused of first and third degree rape, as well as first degree criminal sexual act.
SEE ALSO:Asia Argento: 'I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes'Though Thompson's story sounds very similar to the litany of other allegations brought to light by women over the past seven months, it adds a fresh layer of (alleged) insidiousness from Weinstein's lawyer.
Thompson says that back in 2011, she pitched Weinstein on a tech marketing idea. Then, he allegedly raped her in his New York hotel room. Years later, Thompson says she suspects lawyers Ben Brafman -- who currently represents Weinstein -- and Alex Spiro manipulated her into giving them audio and video evidence of Weinstein's behavior.
Back in 2017, when the first wave of accusations against Weinstein were reported by The New York Times and The New Yorker, Thompson says a mutual friend put her in contact with Spiro. She was lead to believe he was part of the team defending Weinstein's victims.
Tweet may have been deleted
Only after sharing the evidence with Spiro did she realize that he worked at Brafman's firm, which was representing Weinstein. Both lawyers deny the story as Thompson describes it.
In statements given to CNN, Braufman claimed the firm "never represented Melissa Thompson," and that he "personally never met with her or any of the other women named in the lawsuit." Spiro alleges that he "never met with Mr. Weinstein nor did he have any responsibility whatsoever in connection with our representation of Mr. Weinstein in any matter."
Spiro's statement also notes: "I never have and I never would represent Harvey Weinstein, I left the Brafman firm well before Brafman ever represented Weinstein, and, in fact, I represent one of the key victims, but Ms. Thompson has never been a client."
As for Brafman, he left room to walk back his own claims, saying that ifSpiro ever hadspoken with or met these women, he'd done so on his own time after leaving Brafman's firm for another.
Actress and alleged Weinstein rape survivor Rose McGowan in the 'Non Una Di Meno' (Me Too) march in RomeCredit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty ImagesThe lawsuit not only accuses Harvey Weinstein of criminal activity, but also his enablers: brother Robert Weinstein, The Walt Disney Company, Miramax, and Weinstein Company board members (among others).
Again, the complaints echo what several other survivors have already been saying, which is that the parties listed above participated in a "decades-long campaign to squelch complaints or illegally procure the silence of victims, witnesses and others."
According to The New York Times, Weinstein is scheduled to appear in a Manhattan Criminal Court on July 30. But even if the grand jury indicts him there, it's only the first proceeding in the long road to an actual trial.
TopicsSocial Good
(责任编辑:百科)
The five guys who climbed Australia's highest mountain, in swimwear
'Breaking Bad' stars honor the late Robert Forster in moving tributes
A YouTuber and a U
Beto O'Rourke wants to remind you that he really loves punk and his wife
Researchers create temporary tattoos you can use to control your devices
SINGAPORE -- Getting stuff done at the bank often involves having to waste part of your day standing
...[详细]Ruin some childhoods this Halloween with the 'Sexy Mr. Rogers' costume
Maybe this is Tom Hanks' fault.If you turn up to a Halloween party looking for the helpers — t
...[详细]Oxford English Dictionary gets a major Star Wars update
The Force is strong with the Oxford English Dictionary. That's thanks to an update to its list of wo
...[详细]Bitcoin and Ethereum dive deep, is Bakkt to blame?
After remaining fairly stable at around $10,000 for several months, the price of Bitcoin plummeted b
...[详细]5 people Tim Cook calls for advice on running the biggest company in the world
It's only fitting that the leader of the biggest company in the world has a pretty impressive list o
...[详细]Taylor Swift called out Trump for ignoring her Equality Act petition at the VMAs
Taylor Swift opened the 2019 VMAs with a performance of her single "You Need To Calm Down" -- in whi
...[详细]TikTok will be mercifully free of political ads
TikTok, that oasis of hilarious teens and terrifically absurd videos, will be one of our only politi
...[详细]Justin Trudeau apologizes for wearing brownface in old yearbook photo, calls it racist
Not for the first time this year, a politician has apologized for a racist photo discovered in an ol
...[详细]Nancy Pelosi warns colleagues after info hacked
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned fellow Democrats on Saturday to change their cellphone num
...[详细]Apple’s new iPhone 11 is so pretty in person. About that bump, though…
Apple just made its best iPhone even more appealing.If the iPhone XR has been Apple's most popular i
...[详细]Here's George Takei chilling in zero gravity for the 'Star Trek' anniversary

CDC advises people to not use e
