NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 One of Harvey Weinstein 's accusers broke down in tears and cursed on the witness stand Friday as a defense lawyer questioned her account of the former Hollywood mogul forcing oral sex on her nearly two decades ago.
鈥淗e was the one who raped me, not the other way around,鈥 Miriam Haley told jurors.
鈥淭hat is for the jury to decide,鈥 Weinstein lawyer Jennifer Bonjean responded.
鈥淣o, it鈥檚 not for the jury to decide. It鈥檚 my experience. And he did that to me,鈥 Haley said, using expletives as tears began streaming down her face.
Judge Curtis Farber halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Haley, her eyes red and face glistening, did not look at Weinstein as she left the witness stand.
Haley, 48, was testifying for a fourth day at Weinstein鈥檚 rape trial. Questioning resumed after the break, with Haley composed but frustration sometimes flickering in her voice.
By midafternoon, the judge grew impatient with contentious cross-talk and extraneous comments from Haley and the attorney. Farber pounded his fist on the bench at one point and banged his gavel at another, telling them: 鈥淟et鈥檚 behave, both of you.鈥
Farber later said it was the first time in 13 years that he'd used the gavel.
Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting Haley and another woman, Kaja Sokola, and raping a third, Jessica Mann. Mann and Sokola also are expected to testify.
Weinstein denies the allegations. His lawyers argue that his accusers had consensual encounters with a then-powerful movie producer who could advance their careers.
Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is the first accuser to testify at the , which is happening after an appeals court at an earlier trial. Haley's testimony at that 2020 trial took just one day.
Haley assaulted her after inviting her to stop by his apartment. She had worked briefly as a production assistant on the Weinstein-produced TV show 鈥淧roject Runway,鈥 and his company had booked her a flight to Los Angeles the next day to attend a movie premiere.
She testified earlier in the week that Weinstein backed her into a bedroom and pushed her onto a bed, holding her down as she tried to get up and pleaded: 鈥淣o, no 鈥 it鈥檚 not going to happen.鈥
Haley and testified that she told them soon after that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. She maintains she was never interested in any sexual or romantic relationship with Weinstein but still wanted his help professionally.
Weinstein, 73, listened with his hands clasped against his chin as Haley reiterated she never had romantic feelings for him and never wanted any sexual contact with him.
Bonjean questioned why Haley would agree to go to Weinstein鈥檚 apartment after being put off by some of his prior behavior, including what she described as him barging into her home as he sought to persuade her to go to Paris with him.
Haley said she thought it would be 鈥渨eird鈥 to refuse the invitation to his Manhattan loft, since his company had paid for the L.A. flight she was taking the next day.
Haley and grew emotional when asked just how her clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly yanked out a tampon and performed oral sex on her. Haley said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn't recall the details: 鈥淚 was, you know, busy struggling,鈥 she explained.
鈥淵ou removed your clothes, right?鈥 Bonjean soon asked, leading to Haley's tearful and cutting response.
Later, Bonjean continued to press her about the alleged July 2006 assault and its aftermath, including a time a couple of weeks later when Haley has said she had sex with Weinstein that she didn鈥檛 want but didn鈥檛 fight.
鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 say, 鈥楲ike, hey, what you did to me the other night wasn鈥檛 cool?鈥欌 Bonjean asked.
鈥淣o,鈥 said Haley, reiterating that she 鈥渨ent numb鈥 during the hotel encounter.
Haley stayed in continued, sporadic contact with Weinstein for about three years afterward, according to testimony and documents. At times, she asked him for work, premiere tickets and financial backing for an online TV show she was trying to launch.
鈥淭he other stuff is neither here nor there. It doesn鈥檛 mean that I wasn鈥檛 sexually assaulted,鈥 Haley said.
Bonjean also queried her about her continued interactions with Weinstein and his assistants, about her frequent travels and famous acquaintances at the time, and about her 2020 . It ended in a $475,000 settlement.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted unless they give permission to be identified. Haley, Mann and Sokola have done so.
