Weinstein lawyers question his accuser at rape retrial

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers have made clear they plan to interrogate his accuser in his rape case, exploring his conflicting emotions and complicated past with the former Hollywood power broker.

This is the third time Jessica Mann has to answer questions from her lawyers in a New York court. But different lawyers are defending the former studio boss, whose downfall strengthened the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct.

Weinstein’s attorney, Teny Geragos, began questioning Mann, tapping into her complicated feelings about Weinstein during a rocky relationship that included some consensual sexual intercourse.

During earlier questioning by prosecutors, Mann said that despite the rape allegation, he loved “some part of her” because she could be kind and encouraging about his personal struggles and professional dreams, and that the pair had “some very human moments” together.

“What did he do for you that made a part of you really love him?” Geragos asked.

“It was a validation,” Mann said.

When Geragos asked about “human moments,” Mann said she once slapped Weinstein, thinking he was inviting it as a sex game, but then told her, “Jess, that’s not you.”

“So, while you were talking about the approval you received and the human moments you shared with Harvey, you slapped him?” Geragos asked.

Mann said he was instead referring to her words, “this is not you.”

Geragos asked Mann about his early interactions with Weinstein.

Weinstein, 73, is on trial for the third time, accused of raping Mann at a New York hotel in March 2013. Weinstein was first convicted in 2020, but an appeals court overturned that verdict. At his first retrial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the rape charge.

Mann also alleges that Weinstein raped her again in late 2013 or early 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. He has not been charged with any crime related to this allegation.

Mann, 40, admitted accepting her sexual advances from time to time, but said the two rapes took place when she protested and begged him to stop.

Weinstein’s lawyers argue that everything that happened between the pair was consensual and part of a supportive, caring relationship. They say Mann benefited from being with an Oscar-winning producer, but they later blamed her amid the #MeToo protests in 2017 and 2018.

Mann and Weinstein met at a party in the Los Angeles area in early 2013. At the time, Weinstein was a financially struggling hairdresser and an actor aiming to make it big in show business.

Weinstein, then married, invited her to a bookstore and soon took her to dinner at a hotel in Beverly Hills.

After dinner, Weinstein invited her to his hotel room, where Mann testified he pressured her to take off his shirt and allowed her to give him a massage. Instead, he said, he rubbed her back to “de-escalate” the situation.

Geragos suggested Mann may have left the room.

“Theoretically. Because I could do a lot of things,” Mann replied.

The alleged rape took place weeks after the dinner.

Mann is expected to appear in court again on Friday.

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