As Harvey Weinstein’s youngest accuser moves through with her lawsuit, mentioning Disney, the granddaughter of the Walt Disney Firm’s co-founder has accused the company of covering up the wrongdoing.
flamboyant heiress When Disney controlled Weinstein’s Miramax company from 1993 to 2010, Abigail Disney said that “Harvey was an open secret” in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Kaja Sokola, who claims Weinstein sexually attacked her in his New York apartment in September 2002 when she was barely 16 years old, was the subject of a long article written by Abigail Disney.
Sokola submitted one of the final remaining complaints of misconduct against Weinstein in 2019; the complaint also accuses Disney of neglecting to look into or take action against Weinstein.
Abigail Disney, who received her wealth from the business her grandfather started but has regularly criticised in the past, did not hold back in her most recent comments.
It wasn’t even a secret, you know. Everyone was aware of what Harvey stood for, and that was great as long as everyone accepted it as the normal course of business, she told Rolling Stone.
Nobody had the moral courage to speak up and say, “Well, not here,” said the speaker. That’s not how we operate here.
Disney has to do more, in my opinion.
Even if all you did was stand back and watch things happen while you did something bad, it was still wrong.
Additionally, you must accept responsibility, the heiress continued.
In her case, Sokola also specifically names Disney, claiming that the company “paid settlements to many women who were victims of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and abuse during the period Disney controlled Miramax.”
According to the complaint, “Disney knew or should have known about these payments based on Disney’s control over Miramax finances, which should have spurred more inquiry and investigation.”
A request for comment from DailyMail.com was not immediately answered by Disney.
Despite its long-standing relationship with the movie mogul, the corporation came out of the Weinstein scandal almost untouched.
Sokol, though, claims that she intends to use her lawsuit to bring Weinstein and his alleged supporters responsible.
She said, “Nobody’s untouchable right now,” adding, “I would question, “Was it worth it?” of people close to Weinstein.
Because I have no reason to doubt that they were aware.
I’m interested to know whether Harvey still sees himself in the mirror and thinks, “All these b***hes,” or if he has any kind of understanding of what he has done.
One of the few lawsuits against Weinstein that is still outstanding is Sokola’s.
The majority of Weinstein’s lawsuits were resolved collectively in 2019 bankruptcy proceedings.
Although the statute of limitations had passed, Sokola decided to pursue her claim under a New York provision that provided a brief window for suing over accusations of child sexual assault.
Sokola, who is now 35 and a psychologist in Poland, claims that she first encountered Weinstein when she moved to New York as a child model and for the first time lived independently of her parents.
She claims they first met at a NEXT Model Management event when she was 16 and he was 50.
According to Sokola, who spoke to Rolling Stone, “People at the event stated, “This is the king of Hollywood, and he can make anything happen.”
He told her, “If you want to be an actor, I think you have promise and I’d like to have lunch with you to talk about it.”
Of course, I’ve heard advice to avoid eating out. Your beverages may include a variety of medications. A lunch, though, looked secure, she said.
Weinstein’s chauffeur picked her up a few days later and dropped the two of them off at his SoHo apartment, according to the claims in her complaint.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstein pushed her to take off her clothing in the apartment as he “grabbed at her breasts” and then ejaculated on the floor.
She claims that after that, he attempted to stop her from leaving his house and then threatened to ruin her career.
The complaint claims that Harvey Weinstein made it apparent that denying his sexual demands would result in forfeiting the chance to succeed in Hollywood.
Weinstein’s lawyers have vehemently refuted Sokol’s claims for years, labelling them “preposterous” and “patently untrue” in remarks to DailyMail.com.
According to Weinstein’s current agents, who spoke to Rolling Stone, the claimed incident took place in 2005, three years after Weinstein even purchased the SoHo flat that was the subject of the complaint.
According to lawyer Imran H. Ansari, “a timeline of events, corroborated by other evidence, including witness testimony, will refute Ms. Sokola’s allegations of sexual abuse as a minor, which statutorily required to be alleged in her complaint in order to sue Mr. Weinstein under the Child Victims Act and not be time-barred due to the passage of the statute of limitations.”
A New York jury found Weinstein guilty of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual conduct in the first degree in 2020 on accusations that came from different complaints.
In that instance, Weinstein, who is now 70, is now serving a 23-year jail term. He is presently being detained in Los Angeles as new accusations are brought against him.
In California, Weinstein is charged with 11 felonies for allegedly assaulting five women; he denies the allegations. October has been scheduled for his trial there.
He was also accused with an indecent assault on a lady in London in 1996 in Britain in June.
Considering that UK authorities would have to choose whether to request his extradition while he is already serving a significant term in the US, it is uncertain if that case would ever get to trial.
Nearly 90 women have accused Weinstein of harassment or assault in total, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Salma Hayek.