An adolescent actress and screenwriter claimed that during a business meeting with Harvey Weinstein in 2013, the former Hollywood producer sexually attacked her by undressing himself, groping her breasts, and masturbating.
Lauren Young, who testified against Harvey Weinstein in a criminal case in New York in the year 2020, took the stand in the rapist’s criminal case that is currently being heard in Los Angeles last Friday, and her testimony will continue through Monday.
In the trial that took place in New York, she was summoned as a witness by the prosecution as an uncharged witness for “prior bad acts.” However, in the trial that is now taking place, the claims that she is making entail a charge of sexual battery by constraint.
In spite of the fact that Weinstein has already been found guilty of rape and sexual assault in New York, where he was given a sentence of 23 years in prison for his crimes, the trial in Los Angeles is based on 11 entirely new charges that have nothing to do with the case that was brought against him in New York. However, Weinstein is presently pursuing an appeal of the conviction in New York.
Young claimed that she was confronted by Weinstein in a hotel toilet, where he then proceeded to unzip her clothing and attack her without her will, while she was shouting, “No, no, no.”
She explained the whole happening to the jury that she had gone to the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills, California, in order to meet with Weinstein in the lobby of the hotel to discuss a potential screenplay.
Claudia Salinas, a lady who had previously met Young at a dinner for the entertainment business the year before, was the one who scheduled the meeting and told Young that she knew Harvey Weinstein and could help link her to other people who could be interested in her screenplay.
Young claims that after a short conversation with Weinstein and Salinas that took place downstairs at the Montage, she was invited to come upstairs, and she felt that the meeting would continue in a professional manner.
She was led by Salinas into a room that turned out to be Weinstein’s hotel suite when she was brought upstairs, and after she had been brought into the bathroom stall, Salinas shut the door and left her alone with Weinstein. When she was brought downstairs, Salinas led her into a room that turned out to be Weinstein’s hotel room.
Young expressed to the jury her shock by saying she was “in disbelief.” She went on to say, “This was a girl I thought was my new friend… I simply couldn’t believe that she would do anything like that to me — another woman.
Young, adding further, said that Weinstein suddenly went undressed, hopped in a shower, and barred her from leaving the room via the door as he was masturbating and reaching for her breast.
She said in her testimony that Weinstein then attempted to grasp her vagina, but she used her hands as a barrier to prevent him from entering her while he was pushing his hands beneath her dress. She said that Weinstein then pushed his hands farther underneath her dress.
“I was disgusted,” Young told the jury. “I had never seen a big guy like that naked.” She said she was around 115 pounds, and thought Weinstein could have been 300 pounds. “I was really frail and he was a really big man,” she added.
“I wanted to run, but I didn’t think I could,” Young added. “I couldn’t fathom what was happening to me.”
Young said she backed up toward the sink to try to get away from Weinstein, but he kept talking to her and rambling, as if nothing was wrong. “He said, ‘It’s okay, we’re just going to talk,’” and then told her that other actresses do this and “this is how I know you can act.”
He approached her and unzipped the back of her dress as she attempted to evade him by turning away from him and walking away. Young, who was feeling emotional at the time, recounted the incident to the court, saying, “He was grabbing my breasts and jerking off and squinting at me with this look,” Young told the jury, getting a bit teary. “He was just masturbating and groping me… I was in complete shock… I was really grossed out by his body and the look he was giving me.”
The prosecution, Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson, brought the dress that Young was wearing on the night of the alleged assault into the courtroom and displayed it for the jury. Young is the defendant.
He also questioned her about Harvey Weinstein’s genitalia since she had drew a picture of Weinstein’s body for the police after describing how his testicles were aberrant. He did this because she had told the police that Weinstein’s testicles were abnormal. “His penis was so disgusting,” Young said. “It looked like it had been chopped off and sewn back on… I didn’t see a full sack… I literally just saw a penis.” She added, “I wasn’t trying to look at it, but it was something I hadn’t seen before.”
Harvey Weinstein with an ALL TIME bad dick. He’s gotta have the WOAT Dick, right? Sounds like this thing went through a meat grinder & then they just threw it back on. Like it went thru the Play Doh spaghetti maker.
Also Harvey No Sack has his balls in his thighs? Just GROSS https://t.co/yWJh68J5j2 pic.twitter.com/EzcIeRZ41k
— KFC (@KFCBarstool) November 8, 2022
The subject of Harvey Weinstein’s genitalia has been brought up many times over the course of the trial. Representatives from both the prosecution and the defense have questioned female witnesses by asking them to describe the testicles that have been surgically removed from Weinstein.
Young said that Weinstein disregarded her “no” and continued to finish, at which point he ejaculated into a towel that was lying on the floor of the restroom. She was in the restroom at the time, and she remembers reaching for the door, but Weinstein stood in the way. She recalled wondering at the time, “How am I going to get out of here safely?”
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In her testimony, she said that “Everything happened so fast,” she said on the stand. “I was in so much shock… I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.” She felt “numb” and like she was “outside my body, like I couldn’t move. I was frozen,” she told jurors.
When she exited from the washroom after the incident, she noticed Salinas and “shot her an evil look” because she had the impression that Salinas had “roped me in on something.” Young started crying as soon as she got inside her vehicle. Almost soon, she proceeded to inform two of her other close pals about what had taken place.
During the previous week’s proceedings in the case, one of those friends, a musician by the name of Ryan Beatty, provided testimony to support her account. Young testified in front of the jury that she was unsure whether or not she should contact the police because she was aware of Harvey Weinstein’s prominence and was unsure of whether or not the authorities could assist her. She said in her testimony, “I knew he had a lot of power,” she testified. “I was so paranoid and so scared.”
Young never saw Weinstein again. But Barbara Schneeweiss, an official at The Weinstein Company, had brought Young into their offices for a meeting the day after the alleged attack that took place in 2013. Schneeweiss, who began her career as Weinstein’s assistant and rose through the ranks at The Weinstein Company to become an executive producer on “Project Runway,” has been mentioned in the testimony of numerous women on both of Weinstein’s trials.
These women have all explained that she assisted in coordinating business meetings with Weinstein that resulted in them being accused of being assaulted by him. Young claimed to the jury that she attended that meeting with Schneeweiss out of “fear of retaliation.” She explained that after Weinstein allegedly assaulted her, she feared that he would call her agency and tell them to drop her as a client because she believed he would tell them that Weinstein was responsible for the assault. Young explained, “I didn’t know if not going [to the meeting] would be worse,” Young said. “I was so scared.”
Following the encounter, Schneeweiss followed up with Young through email, but Young never replied to her messages. Young said while on the stand, “Barbara said to send her headshots and I didn’t,” Young said on the stand. “I thought she was involved.” A few days after the attack, she was also extended an offer to attend one of Harvey Weinstein’s Oscar parties; however, she declined the invitation.
In 2018, Young reported the claimed assault to the police by calling a hotline. This finally led to her being summoned as a witness in the New York trial.
When asked about his decision to come out in 2018, Young replied, “At that point, other people were coming out and I felt safe to do so,” Young explained of coming forward in 2018. “I wanted to prevent it from happening to anyone else.”I said to myself.
