NEW YORK — One of Harvey Weinstein‘s accusers broke down in tears and cursed on the witness stand Friday as a defense lawyer questioned her account of the former Hollywood mogul forcing oral sex on her nearly two decades ago.
“He was the one who raped me, not the other way around,” Miriam Haley told jurors.
“That is for the jury to decide,” Weinstein lawyer Jennifer Bonjean responded.
“No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me,” Haley said, using expletives as tears began streaming down her face.
Judge Curtis Farber halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Haley, her eyes red and face glistening, did not look at Weinstein as she left the witness stand.
Haley, 48, was testifying for a fourth day at Weinstein’s rape trial. Questioning resumed after the break, with Haley composed but occasional flickers of frustration in her voice.
Bonjean continued to press her about specifics she did and did not recall from the alleged July 2006 assault and about its aftermath, including a time a couple of weeks later when Haley has said she had sex with Weinstein that she didn’t want but didn’t fight.
“You didn’t say, ‘Like, hey, what you did to me the other night wasn’t cool?’” Bonjean asked.
“No,” said Haley, reiterating that she “went numb” during the hotel encounter.
Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting Haley and another woman and raping a third. He denies the allegations and his lawyers argue that his accusers had consensual encounters with a then-powerful movie producer who could advance their careers.
Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is the first accuser to testify at the retrial, which is happening after an appeals court overturned Weinstein’s conviction at an earlier trial. Haley’s testimony at that 2020 trial took just one day.
Haley alleges that Weinstein assaulted her after inviting her to his apartment to, as she put it, “just stop by and say hi.” She had worked briefly as a production assistant on the Weinstein-produced TV show “Project Runway,” and his company had booked her a flight to Los Angeles the next day attend a movie premiere.
She testified earlier in the week that Weinstein backed her into a bedroom and pushed her onto a bed, holding her down as she tried to get up and pleaded: “No, no — it’s not going to happen.”
Haley and two of her friends testified that she told them soon after that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. She maintains she was never interested in any sexual or romantic relationship with Weinstein, despite his past overtures, but wanted his help getting jobs in show business.
Zeroing in on the alleged assault, Bonjean on Friday questioned why Haley would agree to go to Weinstein’s apartment after what the witness described as previous “bizarre” and “overwhelming” behavior, including his barging into her home weeks earlier as he sought to persuade her to go to Paris with him.
Haley said she didn’t have a reason to turn down Weinstein’s request to stop by his apartment, thought it would be impolite to refuse, and didn’t fear for her safety, even after his earlier behavior.
Haley grew emotional as Bonjean asked just how Haley’s clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly yanked out a tampon and performed oral sex on her. Haley said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn’t recall the details: “I was, you know, busy struggling,” she explained.
“You removed your clothes, right?” Bonjean soon asked, leading to the fractious and tearful exchange.
Earlier, Bonjean had focused on Haley’s trip to Los Angeles at the expense of Weinstein’s then-company. “Did you just think he was just being generous?” the defense attorney asked.
Haley said she accepted partly because she wanted to “get back in his good books” after turning down the earlier invitation to Paris, and the Los Angeles trip seemed more appropriate because she’d be traveling on her own and could also visit a friend there.
“You wanted to appease him, make him happy, make him like you?” Bonjean asked.
“Well, that, too,” Haley said.
Weinstein’s retrial includes charges related to Haley and another accuser from the original trial, Jessica Mann, who alleges a 2013 rape. He’s also being tried, for the first time, for allegedly forcing oral sex on former model Kaja Sokola in 2006.
Mann and Sokola also are expected to testify.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted unless they give permission for their names to be used. Haley, Mann and Sokola have done so.
