A chauffeur has described ferrying around crying aspiring actresses in Cannes for disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, saying he felt like he was driving them “into the lion’s mouth”.

Mickael Chemloul also claimed the Hollywood producer flew into a rage and attacked him when prostitutes failed to meet them near an exclusive bar in the French Riviera.

The French driver said much of his work between 2008 and 2013 was driving young actresses and models for Weinstein, who has had a meteoric fall from grace since dozens of women came forward to accuse him of sexual assault and harassment.

Harvey Weinstein with Gwyneth Paltrow, one of the stars to accuse him of sexual harassment (Yui Mok/PA)

“I had the impression of driving poor, innocent people, innocent women, taking them into the lion’s mouth and couldn’t say to them, ‘Watch your step, it’s dangerous’,” Mr Chemloul, 56, told French news channel BFM TV.

“One that left the biggest impression on me was a woman who was a fan of his, who loved him, who had followed him for years.

“She gave her body, her soul, everything to this man because he promised her castings and to make a film which was never shot.”

Mr Chemloul, who described comforting the crying women leaving Weinstein’s company, separately told newspaper Nice-Matin that in July 2013 the producer turned violent when two prostitutes did not turn up near Saint-Tropez’s Club 55.

“He became crazy and laid into me. From the moment he raised a hand to me, there was no doubt of me ever working for him again,” he said.

Harvey Weinstein (PA)The powerful Hollywood producer is said to have preyed on women for decades (PA)

Of the dozens of offences the 65-year-old is accused of, at least one is said to have taken place in the French Riviera.

Actress Asia Argento told The New Yorker, in a piece published days after a bombshell investigation by The New York Times, that he forcibly performed oral sex on her at the Hotel du Cap in 1997 after being lured there under false pretences.

Weinstein, who has “unequivocally denied” allegations of non-consensual sex, is also being investigated by British police after women made five allegations against him spanning from the late 1980s to 2015.

He stepped down from the board of The Weinstein Company on Tuesday after the studio he co-founded more than a decade ago sacked him from his role as a chairman.

Bob WeinsteinBob Weinstein has also been accused of sexual harassment (Chris Pizzello/AP)

US broadcaster Spike is also investigating claims his younger brother, Bob Weinstein, sexually harassed Amanda Segel, a former executive producer of sci-fi series The Mist.

A lawyer for the 62-year-old producer claimed she made “false and misleading assertions”, adding there is “no way in the world” his client is guilty of sexual harassment.