Kaia Falcon

Filmmaker Harvey Weinstein is already serving a prison sentence for harassment, and many Hollywood stars have testified against him and have been harassed himself. However, it is too early to think that the list of the king’s victims is closed. Rolling Stone cites the testimony of another woman who suffers from Weinstein. Kaia Sokola says she was abused by a producer when she was just 16, making her the youngest victim of Weinstein. She sued herself in 2019 and now for the first time tells her story in detail.

In September 2002, Kaia Sokola, an aspiring model, came to New York from her native Poland. 16-year-old Kaya, who dreams of being an actress at one of the parties, met Weinstein. She was 50 at the time and at the height of her power and influence. She lived separately from her parents for the first time.

– admits Sokola, now 35 years old.

Three days later, Weinstein called him, made an appointment, and got him in a chauffeur-driven car. He brought them to Weinstein’s home in Soho. According to Sokola, within minutes of entering the apartment, Weinstein raped her and then ejaculated on the floor. Terrified, she tried to run away, but the man blocked her path and held her in place by her arms. To normalize the situation, Weinstein insisted that what had just happened was normal business for him, and cited Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz as women whose careers he had helped. According to Falcon, she gave him breakup advice when she let go of her hands: she needed to work on her stubbornness.

Kaia Falcon

Sokola’s case is unique not only because she is Weinstein’s youngest known accuser, but also because her civil suit against the disgraced producer was one of the last. Most post-2005 division litigants settled in bankruptcy cases related to Miramax’s collapse amid Weinstein’s disgrace, and nearly all civil cases prior to 2005 were exempted from statute of limitations. But in 2019, New York passed the Child Victims Act, which opened up the possibility for underage victims of sexual abuse to sue their abusers.

At the same time, Weinstein’s lawyer, Imran H. Ansari, says his client “categorically and definitively” denies Sokola’s allegations. The lawyer further argues that “the chronology of events, supported by other evidence, including witness statements, would refute Sokola’s allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.” A spokesperson for Weinstein said he bought an apartment in Soho, where the attack took place only in 2005, according to Sokola. Weinstein’s lawyer also gave an affidavit from Helga Rose Samuelson, former assistant to photographer Marco Glaviano:

What’s even more interesting is that the Falcons’ lawsuit directly targeted Disney, Miramax’s former parent company, which came out unscathed from the Weinstein scandal despite Weinstein’s entire operating expenses from 1993-2005.

Kaia Sokola 17 years old (photo from court documents)

The lawsuit alleges that Miramax had paid compensation to several women who were victims of sexual harassment and violence by Harvey Weinstein, and that Disney knew or should have known about these payments because it controls Miramax’s finances, which should prompt additional investigation.

Disney has yet to comment on Falcon’s claims, but Walt Disney’s granddaughter Abigail Disney said the studio should not stay silent.

said.

Abigail, who is also a producer and philanthropist, said Harvey’s actions were well known to everyone.

He told Rolling Stone.

The Falcons’ lawsuit, which also identifies Bob Weinstein and Miramax as defendants, states that Disney hired and paid salaries many people who contributed to Weinstein’s “predatory behavior.”

It’s worth noting that Harvey’s brother and friend, Bob Weinstein, has repeatedly tried to sue, but all claims have been dismissed by the court.

Sokola claims that in the years following the attack on her at her Soho apartment, Weinstein promised to help her career and did enough to keep her on the hook. He got her to star in the popular program Project Runway, produced by Weinstein’s company, and gave a good word for her, saying that he had this girl’s friend in a cast and that “everything possible should be done for her.” “

In the fall of 2005, Weinstein made another promise to her, saying that the famous actress had a role for her in a movie in which she was involved in a major project. It was The Nanny Diaries, filmed in the spring of 2006, starring Scarlett Johansson. Weinstein promised that the girl would have a major role, but Sokola was overkill.

But Weinstein also gave Sokola a letter of recommendation for Lee Strasberg Actors Studio. Rolling Stone reviewed a June 20, 2006 letter written on Weinstein’s letterhead and signed by former Weinstein executive Kelly Carmichael, who is now a successful filmmaker like The Eyes of Tammy Faye and 355. The proposal draws attention to Kaya’s “talent, determination and hard work” and calls him a “talented player”.

Sokol remembers.

Kaia Falcon

All this time, Falcon struggled to deal with the guilt and shame about the incident at his Soho apartment. He blamed himself. He developed anxiety, long-term depression, and severe eating disorder. She quit modeling at the age of 23.

model is known.

For the next ten years, Sokola kept the Weinstein affair secret and only shared some details of her experience with a DNA Model Management tracker. Returning to Poland, she graduated with a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw and began practicing in Poland as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of eating disorders and addictions. When the Weinstein scandal broke in 2017, that scout sent him a link to an article that contained evidence of Gwyneth Paltrow’s harassment and intimidation by the producer.

Stocks of Sokola.

It took another two years before New York City passed the Child Victims Act, which allowed Falcon to sue. However, the case is progressing slowly amid the backlog of cases in the courts due to cutbacks during curfews.

Falcon hopes he can bring Weinstein and his associates to justice in his case.

says Kaya.

In 2018, Sokola anonymously filed her claims in a class action suit, but later filed her own personal lawsuit because she felt that reaching a settlement and paying compensation to some victims by the now-bankrupt The Weinstein Company studio did not allow Weinstein to take it. responsibility. In addition, the alleged “accomplices” of the producer went unpunished.

Sokola said in 2019.

There is no official data on the financial requirements of the old model. Sokol’s lawyers also said they hope their case will encourage other victims to withdraw from the settlement.

The Weinstein scandal erupted in 2017 after the New York Times investigation was published. The revealing report has kicked off the #MeToo era in Hollywood since Weinstein was accused by more than 80 women, from Oscar-winning actresses to assistants.

Weinstein, 70, is currently serving a 23-year sentence in Los Angeles and awaits trial on 11 additional charges. He was also charged with two counts of indecent assault on a woman in London in August 1996.