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Kaja Sokola, a former model from Poland, testified Thursday at Harvey Weinstein‘s retrial in Manhattan, alleging that the disgraced movie mogul sexually assaulted her in 2002 and 2006.
Sokola recounted the alleged 2006 assault, which occurred when she was 19 years old — just days before her 20th birthday. Prior to the alleged incident, Sokola and her older sister met Weinstein for lunch at a restaurant on the ground floor of a Tribeca hotel. Sokola said she wanted to prove to her sister that she knew a “real producer” who could help her acting career.
At one point, Weinstein mentioned he had scripts upstairs in a hotel room, so Sokola took the elevator up with him while her sister remained in the restaurant. When District Attorney Shannon Lucey asked if she had any intention of engaging in anything romantic or sexual with Weinstein in the hotel room, Sokola simply responded, “No.”
When they entered the hotel room, Sokola recalled that Weinstein pushed her onto the bed, causing her to land in a seated position. “I was trying to resist — to not fall down on the bed completely,” she told the courtroom.
However, Sokola ended up on her back after Weinstein pushed her onto the bed a second time. She then said that he took off her boots, stockings and underwear while she told him, “Please don’t. Please stop. I don’t want this.” According to Sokola, Weinstein didn’t listen to her and instead pinned her to the bed, adding, “I couldn’t move under him.”
Weinstein had also pushed her dress up. “He forced himself on my vagina and he raped me,” Sokola said, clarifying that his tongue and mouth were on her vagina.
Sokola said she wasn’t kicking or punching him, but was trying to push him away and was unable to because of his weight. She said she “felt completely numb” in the moment. “My hope just died,” she said, referring to how she felt when she realized she couldn’t get out of the situation.
After Weinstein finished allegedly performing oral sex on Sokola, the ex-model said he told her, “You see? That wasn’t so difficult.” She then got dressed and took the elevator down to the ground floor to meet her sister. She noted that she didn’t have any movie scripts or other paperwork with her, and that there had never been any discussion about an actual script.
Sokola also mentioned that she had no bruises or scratches on her body, and that her stockings had no holes or tears.
Sokola said she didn’t tell her sister what had happened in the hotel room, explaining that she had just introduced her to the man she believed could launch her acting career — and that she cared deeply about her sister’s and father’s opinions.
“I tried to pretend that nothing ever happened,” Sokola said. She added that she blamed herself for what occurred, mainly her own “stupidity” for putting herself in that situation.
Earlier on Thursday, Sokola recalled meeting Weinstein for the first time at an event in 2002, when she was 16 years old. She gave him her phone number so they could have lunch to discuss her aspirations in film. However, several days later, he brought her to his SoHo apartment instead.
Sokola recounted that they were alone in his apartment, and she followed him into a bathroom after he told her to. When asked by the prosecution why she complied, Sokola responded that she didn’t know what to do, explaining that she was only 16 and “alone with a man for the first time.” She tearfully added, “He was so many years older than me.”
Sokola sobbed as she told the courtroom, “I felt stupid, and I felt ashamed.” She explained that, before entering the bathroom with Weinstein, she had removed her top and was left wearing only a bra, jeans and underwear.
“He told me to take my clothes off, and I didn’t want to do that. I was panicking,” Sokola testified. She said Weinstein told her that actors are sometimes asked to appear nude in films and that she should “get used to it” if she wanted a career in the industry. Once inside the bathroom, she recalled that Weinstein’s pants and underwear were pulled down to his knees.
Sokola then described what occurred in the bathroom, noting it was the “most horrifying thing” she’d ever experienced up to that point in her life. “He put a hand up my vagina — under my underwear — and he took my hand and put it on his penis,” she said.
Despite the 2002 encounter, Sokola said she had contact with Weinstein again in 2004, hoping he could still help with her acting aspirations. During that meeting, which took place in his car, she said he attempted to put his hands on her breasts. In early 2006, he offered her a role as an extra in the film “The Nanny Diaries,” which involved a full day of shooting (Weinstein was not present on set). Later that year, her next interaction with him was during the lunch meeting at the Tribeca hotel with Weinstein and her sister.
Weinstein is charged with two counts of committing a “criminal sexual act” in the first degree and one count of third-degree rape, following accusations by Sokola, former TV production incident Miriam Haley — who testified last week — and actor Jessica Mann.
Weinstein is not facing charges for the alleged 2002 assault involving Sokola. Her testimony about that incident is being introduced to showcase that Weinstein had a “propensity or predisposition” to commit the crimes for which he is currently on trial, Judge Curtis J. Farber explained to the jury on Thursday, including the alleged 2006 assault involving Sokola.
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