California governor’s wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom testifies that Harvey Weinstein raped her
Jennifer Siebel Newsom testifies that Harvey Weinstein raped her. The California governor's wife was the fourth woman to testify in a Los Angeles court.
- A horrible experience!
- Jennifer Siebel Newsom testifies that Harvey Weinstein raped her.
- The California governor’s wife was the fourth woman to testify in a Los Angeles court.
Filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, claimed that US producer Harvey Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005. She testified in the trial being held in Los Angeles. Siebel Newsom was the fourth woman to testify in a Los Angeles court against Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York for a series of sexual assaults. He now faces eleven other charges.
According to local media reports, the filmmaker told the court on Monday that she met Weinstein during the Toronto Film Festival, when she was 31 years old, at a bar with friends from the industry. He asked to see her later to continue their conversation and she felt she «had to meet him» for advice or because she thought Weinstein had a «genuine interest» in discussing her work.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom was targeted by Harvey Weinstein
It wasn’t until September 2005 that Weinstein contacted Jennifer Siebel Newsom again. The documentary director explained that the producer showed interest in discussing her film projects, which led her to accept his invitation to the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. She does not remember if it was Weinstein or his assistant who asked the rest of the people present to leave the room, at which time, according to her testimony, he crouched down wearing a bathrobe and asked her: «Can you help me?»
Gavin Newsom’s wife recalled that at that moment «he was touching himself» and later grabbed her and took her to the bedroom, where, she claimed, he raped her. «I don’t know how it happened,» the filmmaker apologized through tears. She also admitted that she did not see «the clues» and didn’t know how to escape from that situation (Filed as: Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of the California governor, testifies that Harvey Weinstein raped her)
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is one of Weinstein’s anonymous whistleblowers
On cross-examination, defense attorney Mark Werksman suggested instead that Jennifer Siebel Newsom had consensual sex with the producer because she wanted him to help her career. Weinstein’s lawyers stressed that Gavin Newsom accepted campaign contributions from the producer despite allegations of rape.
The filmmaker stated that the governor returned the funds as soon as he realized that something had happened. Siebel Newsom is one of Harvey Weinstein’s anonymous whistleblowers according to court documents cited by CNN (With information from EFE). Filed as: Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of the California governor, testifies that Harvey Weinstein raped her
Weinstein’s lawyer pressured the filmmaker
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has faced questioning from one of Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers about why her description of a 2005 encounter during which she says the filmmaker raped her has been expanded since she first spoke to prosecutors.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Mark Werksman, pressed Siebel Newsom about what frequent nightmares she described having about meeting Weinstein in a Beverly Hills hotel suite. “Have you had a hard time discerning what happened in a nightmare and what really happened in a room at the Peninsula Hotel?” asked the lawyer. “No, no,” Siebel Newsom replied.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom: “This is very painful”
She explained that the new elements of her testimony, some of which she said under oath for the first time on Monday, were the result of having more time to process what happened: «As we get closer to this and it becomes more real, my need to clarify and be more detailed has increased,” said Siebel Newsom. “I had everything in a box, and little by little I have been sharing little by little, because this is very painful.”
As Werksman kept going back to the transcripts of her initial conversations with prosecutors in 2020, Siebel Newsom said she did not believe her initial conversations with police and prosecutors would lead to charges: “I offered to speak to detectives initially to support other women, not to be here on the witness stand,» said Siebel Newsom. With information from EFE and AP.