Harvey Weinstein bragged about sleeping with Jennifer Lawrence after another actress rejected his advances, a lawsuit alleges.
The latest allegation against the film producer emerged in court documents on Friday, with an unnamed woman claiming he forcibly performed oral sex on her.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, Weinstein pushed the unnamed actress to the ground during a meeting at his office in 2013 before sexually assaulting her.
When she rejected his advances, Weinstein is alleged to have asked, “Do you even want to be an actress?”, adding “I slept with Jennifer Lawrence and look where she is; she has just won an Oscar.”
Lawrence issued a statement on Friday denying she had had a sexual relationship with Weinstein.
She said: “My heart breaks for all the women who were victimised by Harvey Weinstein.
“I have never had anything but a professional relationship with him. This is yet another example of the predatory tactics and lies that he engaged in to lure countless women.”
The latest accuser, listed in legal documents as Jane Doe, is suing both Weinstein and The Weinstein Company, the film studio he founded with his brother Bob. She alleges sexual battery and discrimination.
A representative for Weinstein said the lawsuit was “malicious” and that the movie mogul is “embarrassed” for Lawrence who has “sadly been dragged into this ugly attempt at defamation”.
They said: “This lawsuit was filed and updated strategically with no notice given or any attempt to reach out to Mr Weinstein’s attorneys for one reason; It was meant to embarrass Mr Weinstein and garner unchecked media attention.
“There is absolutely no truth to the malicious claims made in this lawsuit, and we are reviewing our options with an eye on filing for an immediate dismissal. Mr Weinstein is embarrassed for Ms Lawrence with whom he has only had a professional and respectful relationship, who has sadly been dragged into this ugly attempt at defamation.
“This filing further proves that anyone can say whatever they want in a lawsuit for maximum shock value, to defame and debase, without having to offer any facts or reality.”
It comes after a group of Weinstein accusers attempted to block him from bringing his private emails into the public eye.
Weinstein has asked a bankruptcy court in the US state of Delaware to allow him to recover files from The Weinstein Company.
He wants to use the emails in his defence against sexual assault charges in New York. But, his accusers from a separate civil case, are trying to block the move due to concerns over confidentiality.
They have asked a judge to block him from releasing the material to “the media (or any other third party)” after alleging Weinstein’s lawyers told them he “intended to unleash these emails in the media to sway the court of public opinion”.
Weinstein’s civil lawyer, Scott Cousins, accused the women of “doing all they can to prevent the truth from coming out”.
Mr Cousins added: “This strategy will not bode well, as they are going behind the bankruptcy court’s back which has sole jurisdiction over these emails and the plaintiffs know it.
“To claim sexual assault and then take such measures to prevent the truth from being heard speaks volumes of their motives.”
Weinstein is next due in court on December 20.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here