Yahoo Movies Harvey Weinstein accused of sexually assaulting aspiring actress, then 16
Harvey Weinstein has been sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 2002. Kaja Sokola, who anonymously joined the class-action suit against the producer last year, has come forward and identified herself in a new filing.
Sokola, now 33, filed a civil complaint in New York on Thursday against Harvey, Yahoo Entertainment can confirm. She is also accusing Robert Weinstein (Harvey’s brother), Disney and Miramax of enabling the disgraced producer and is suing for negligence.
According to the complaint, Harvey asked Sokola to lunch after she was introduced to him at an event associated with her agency. He said he wanted to help her with her prospective acting career. "Several days later, Harvey Weinstein picked Sokola up with his company-provided car and driver. But instead of taking her to lunch, as promised, Harvey Weinstein took Sokola without her consent to his apartment," the documents state. "He would not let her leave until after he terrified and sexually abused her."
Sokola issued a statement Thursday through her attorneys.
"When I was 16 years old, I came to New York from Poland to work as a model and to try to become an actor, which had been my childhood dream. Not long after I arrived in New York, I was sexually abused by Harvey Weinstein. I have been living with the trauma of that day ever since," she declared.
"I originally filed my case under a pseudonym as part of a class action against Harvey Weinstein, his companies, and associates. But I cannot accept the proposed 'global settlement' as fair or just," she continued. "There is no accountability for the perpetrators, insufficient compensation for all of the victims, and millions of dollars going to people that I believe enabled Weinstein."
Last week, it was reported that Harvey reached a tentative settlement for $25 million with his accusers in the class-action suit. The New York Times claimed that under the agreed upon conditions, Harvey was not required to admit wrongdoing or pay anything to his accusers himself. Nearly half of the sum will purportedly go towards legal costs for Harvey, his brother Robert and other former members of their company’s board.
Sokola said she is filing her own lawsuit against Harvey under New York’s Child Victims Act, which also names his brother, Miramax and Disney "each of whom could have — and should have — stopped Harvey Weinstein before he made me another of his victims."
She continued, "I have long since moved on from modeling and, because of Harvey Weinstein, gave up on my dreams of acting. I am grateful to do important work as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. As part of my professional education and experience, I have learned that some wounds never fully heal. Memories of sexual abuse are like a scar after a burn, but because the injury is to the psyche, it is invisible to everyone except the victim. By revealing my own scar, I hope to encourage others to speak up about their own experiences.
"I know that this lawsuit cannot erase the pain that I have been living with for 17 years," Sokola concluded. "But I do hope to achieve at least some measure of justice that has still been denied to Harvey Weinstein’s many victims."
A rep for the Shakespeare in Love producer has not commented on the new lawsuit. However, Harvey's former lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, denied Sokola's accusations in 2018 when she previously came forward as "Jane Doe."
"This claim is preposterous," Brafman said at the time. "Like so many other women in this case who have already been exposed as liars, this latest completely uncorroborated allegation that is almost 20 years old will also be shown to be patently false."
Sokola's lawyers, Douglas H. Wigdor and Kevin Mintzer, also released a statement on Thursday and condemned the proposed $25 million settlement. According to the reported terms, 18 of Harvey's alleged victims in the class-action suit will split $6.2 million, with no individual getting more than $500,000.
"While others may have decided to settle, albeit under some of the most offensive and one-sided terms, we hope that the filing of this complaint encourages other victims and the New York Attorney General to join us as we continue our efforts at holding Harvey Weinstein and his enablers accountable," they tell Yahoo Entertainment. "Kaja Sokola, who was sexually abused by Harvey Weinstein when she was only 16 years old, is entitled to justice, and we intend to see that she gets it."
Harvey has been accused of sexual misconduct, harassment and/or assault by over 80 women. He has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex and has maintained his innocence ahead of his rape trial in New York. Last week, he gave a bizarre interview to the New York Post and insisted he's a champion of women.
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