New York [US]: One more woman may be allowed to testify in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial by the judge.
According to Variety, Rowena Chiu, a former assistant of the former Hollywood producer, will quickly be attesting in opposition to Harvey in court. Chiu will testify within the trial as a supporting, uncharged witness, so the accusations made in opposition to Weinstein no longer originate from her testimony. But to establish a sample of behaviour over time, supporting witnesses (also referred to informally as “#MeToo witnesses”) will testify during the trial, as per Variety.
Although Chiu can be referred to inside the case as just “Rowena C.,” Variety has used her complete name because she has discussed her accusations within the beyond in a number of media interviews, which includes a lengthy one with Variety in 2020. (To defend the identities of the female witnesses, the charged witnesses are referred to as “Jane Does,” while the uncharged witnesses are diagnosed via their first names and ultimate initials. However, some ladies have selected to reveal their authentic identities to the media.)
According to Variety, Following the #MeToo movement, Chiu previously came ahead with accusations in opposition to Weinstein. She had best met Weinstein two times earlier than she claims he tried to rape her on a commercial enterprise ride in 1998 at the Venice Film Festival; she labored as an assistant at Miramax in the Nineteen Nineties.
She claims that we were discussing scripts in the late-night meetings, and Weinstein requested her to massage him, pushed her up against the mattress, and removed her tights before she was able to flee. Weinstein disputes that the attack ever befell, as according to Variety.
Chiu confided in her colleague Zelda Perkins, who was 25 at the time, soon after the alleged incident.
Together, the two women took their dispute with Miramax to the subsequent level, retained legal counsel, and were coerced into signing an NDA in trade for a financial agreement. They required Miramax to encompass provisions of their settlement that they were hoping would defend other girls from his behavior at work.
Chiu saved quiet for extra than 20 years out of challenge for her circle of relatives’s protection. She, in the end, spoke out in a New York Times op-ed in 2019. Following Weinstein’s conviction, after a jury determined him guilty of rape and sexual assault in his New York case in 2020, Chiu violated her NDA to conduct a lengthy interview with Variety.
