(Bloomberg) -- It wasn’t sexual assault, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers argue in his defense, just the casting couch, with benefits for everyone who took a seat.
But as prosecutors start calling women to testify that the fallen Hollywood power broker drew them into his orbit with promises of roles before attacking them, that same casting couch M.O. could send him to prison for the rest of his life.
“He started yelling at me, ‘You’ll never make it in this business! That’s how this industry works!”’ one of the women, Dawn Dunning, said Weinstein told her.
Wednesday’s testimony in his New York state rape trial started with two women whose testimony is designed to show a pattern of predation. Weinstein, 67, is charged with rape and predatory sexual assault involving two other women, one of whom testified on Monday that he “lunged” at her -- on an actual couch, in his Manhattan loft -- and then got her into a bedroom where he attacked her.
Weinstein maintains that any sexual encounters were consensual. His lawyers point to emails from accusers, some affectionate in tone even after the alleged attacks, that they hope will convince the jury that the incidents were mutually beneficial. Prosecutors are using Wednesday’s witnesses to establish a modus operandi that could persuade the panel of seven men and five women to convict Weinstein.
Read More: Weinstein Trial Draws NYC Gawkers to Glimpse a #MeToo Reckoning
Dunning, the first witness, told the jury she was an aspiring actor in 2004 when Weinstein invited her to a hotel suite in Tribeca for a screen test. While his employees were frantically working in the main room, Dunning testified, she was ushered into an adjacent bedroom where she found the producer sitting on a bed.
He invited her to sit next to him as they discussed the role, she said, then suddenly put his hand up her skirt and below her underwear, inserting his fingers in her.
“I stood up and I was in shock,” Dunning told the jury, her voice quavering. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen. He started talking really fast. He was saying, ‘It’s not a big deal. Do not make a big deal about this.’”
Dunning, 40, fought back tears as she testified, saying she “rationalized” the incident, noting Weinstein’s power in Hollywood.
“I was embarrassed,” she said. “I wanted to pretend like it never happened. I didn’t want to be a victim.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey
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