Earlier this month, Ronan Farrow dropped another bombshell report about the allegations against Harvey Weinstein. The newest installment revealed that Bob Weinstein had taken $600,000 out of his own personal bank account to pay off two women who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault. This tidbit flew in the face of Bob Weinstein’s repeated claims that he had no idea about the extent of his brother’s behavior. Bob’s claims of innocence and ignorance are about to be further scrutinized, for he and Harvey are being sued under a federal sex trafficking statute by an actress who claims Harvey sexually assaulted her in Cannes, France.
According to according to Variety, actress Kadian Noble was told by Harvey Weinstein that he could launch her career. During a meeting in his hotel room, Weinstein allegedly attacked her:
Kadian Noble alleges that Weinstein invited her to his room at the Le Majestic Hotel in Cannes in February 2014, on the pretense of casting her in a movie. Once there, she alleges that Weinstein started massaging her and then groped her breasts and buttocks. According to the suit, Weinstein then trapped her in the bathroom and forced her to masturbate him until he ejaculated on the floor.
During the act, Weinstein allegedly told her, “everything will be taken care of for you if you relax.”
The suit also names the Weinstein Company as a defendant and cites an alleged codeword used by staff to describe actress who traded sex with Harvey Weinstein “in exchange for a role or a position in an upcoming project.” TMZ has more about the particular statute in question:
The suit alleges a violation of the sex trafficking statute, which prohibits people from recruiting people to engage in a sex act through means of force, threats of force, fraud or coercion in interstate or foreign commerce. The theory is that Weinstein dangled false promises of stardom to obtain sexual gratification.
Since the statute of limitations for sex trafficking is 10 years, more lawsuits against Weinstein could be filed if this proves to be a viable legal strategy. You can see the full lawsuit at Variety.