Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer, reportedly brought up the names of two famous actresses, Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz, during an alleged sexual assault on a teenage aspiring actress. The victim, who was only 16 at the time, claimed that Weinstein used these big names to pressure her into submission.
According to reports from The Post and Page Six, the young actress, Kaja Sokola, 39, gave powerful testimony in a Manhattan courtroom. She said that when she resisted Weinstein and raised her voice to scream, he became upset and told her she needed to “work on her stubbornness.” During this encounter, Weinstein allegedly told her to listen to him if she wanted to have a successful career like Paltrow and Cruz, both of whom he claimed to have helped launch.
Sokola described feeling overwhelmed, ashamed, and blaming herself for putting herself in such a vulnerable position. She told NBC News, “I’d never been in a situation like this. I felt stupid and ashamed, and like it’s my fault for putting myself in this position.”
To give some background, Weinstein produced the 1998 hit film Shakespeare in Love, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow and won her several major awards, including the Oscar for Best Actress. Penélope Cruz also won an Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2009, a film produced by Weinstein. Despite these connections, Cruz has denied ever being harassed by Weinstein, saying in 2017, “Harvey was a complicated person, everyone knew that. We had discussions on a work level but never in other situations.”
In her testimony, Sokola recounted that Weinstein took her to his Soho loft under the pretense of a business lunch and asked her to take off her clothes. She said Weinstein told her, “This has to stay between us,” adding to the pressure and fear she experienced.
During the trial, while Sokola shared what she described as “the most horrifying moments” of her life, Weinstein reportedly showed no emotion, sitting silently in his wheelchair.
Weinstein was convicted in 2020 but had that conviction overturned in April 2024, and this recent testimony is part of ongoing legal battles related to his past abuses.
