Harvey Weinstein Accused of Sexual Assault, 'New Yorker' Report Reveals

Multiple women have accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, according to a report Tuesday from The New Yorker, published just days after a New York Times piece detailed decades of accusations of sexual harassment.

"Three women––among them [Italian actress Asia] Argento and a former aspiring actress named Lucia Evans—told me that Weinstein raped them, allegations that include Weinstein forcibly performing or receiving oral sex and forcing vaginal sex. Four women said that they experienced unwanted touching that could be classified as an assault," Ronan Farrow wrote.

Weinstein rejected the allegations of sexual assault to the magazine, with a spokeswoman saying, "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied.

"Mr. Weinstein obviously can't speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual."

The piece in The New Yorker features harrowing details of alleged assault and New York Police Department audio––never before heard by the public––that seemingly catches Weinstein suggesting he had improperly touched a woman named Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. (Audio is embedded below.)

The article reports that Weinstein's alleged mistreatment of women was well known in his workplace––he was just fired the Weinstein Company––and that many feared speaking out because the producer was vindictive and held great influence. He was about as powerful as any person in Hollywood––he has won dozens of awards and helped create films like The King's Speech, Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting, as well as many others.

The stories shared by women in The New Yorker go into detail about the alleged assaults from Weinstein. Argento told the magazine that after she reluctantly agreed to giving the producer a massage, Weinstein forced her legs open and performed oral sex on her. Argento said she told him to stop but Weinstein "terrified [her], and he was so big" and that she eventually faked enjoying the incident so it would end.

Evans described Weinstein allegedly forcing her to perform oral sex despite her saying no. "I said, over and over, 'I don't want to do this, stop, don't.'"

The piece in The New Yorker goes into great detail describing the struggle of these and other women. As Farrow notes, it raises the stakes of the allegations against Weinstein, since the article in the Times alleged harassment but not assault and rape.

The fallout of the Times report was swift, and many in Hollywood––women especially––have spoken out against Weinstein. The Times story opened with actress Ashley Judd detailing an assault allegedly carried out by Weinstein and went on to detail some 30 years of reports of inappropriate behavior. In total, The New Yorker reported it spoke with 13 women who alleged sexual assault or harassment and that the stories "corroborate and overlap with the Times's revelations."