The retrial of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for allegedly raping former actress Jessica Mann saw the now-40-year-old recount the harrowing ‘threesome’ she was forced to have with the jailed producer and an Italian starlet. Mann, who has been testifying against Weinstein for the last three days, broke down on the witness stand several times as she recounted the incident which happened at the Doubletree Hotel in Midtown on March 18, 2013.
Mann’s case came up for retrial due to a series of legal switchbacks. First, Weinstein's 2020 conviction was overturned for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Weinstein was retried in Manhattan last year. He was again convicted of sexual assault in connection with another sexual assault allegation, but the second jury was deadlocked on the rape charge tied to Mann, leading to the third New York case now on trial.
Mann told the court that the 2013 incident came not long after Mann had met Weinstein in Los Angeles. She assumed him as her mentor, leading her to believe she’d been discovered. During her first visit to New York City, Mann was staying at a hotel on Lexington Ave. and 51st St. where Weinstein turned up early.
Mann told the court that she came down to Weinstein in the lobby in a frenzy, trying to deter him from booking a room. “And then he got upset, and he pulled me aside,” she testified. “He was grabbing me, and he said, ‘Don’t embarrass me in public.’”
She said she obeyed Weinstein, who took her to the room where the situation turned violent. “It was like he didn’t care to listen,” Mann said. “I remember feeling angry, and I tried to leave, and I tried to open the door twice with all my strength. He kept slamming it. So now he’s trapped me in this room, and he kept telling me to ‘Undress now!’, and then when I didn’t, he, he — he grabbed both my arms,” she said.
“He just treated me like he owned me.”
She then went on about how she had “a full-on breakdown” when Weinstein allegedly tried directing her to have a threesome with Italian-born actress Emanuela Postacchini at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel in February 2013. Mann claimed she panicked and ran into a bathroom.
She told the court that she had a consensual relationship with Weinstein at one point because she felt that it could lead to a “loving relationship”.
Mann also testified about the second assault later in 2013, when she claims the Hollywood producer raped her after she told him that she had found true “love” with an actor. She added that she fell unconscious under his weight at the time.