Weinstein's #MeToo rape retrial opens with added allegations from a former model

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein ’s #MeToo retrial opened Wednesday, giving a new jury a fresh look at familiar rape and sexual assault allegations — plus a newly added claim from a former model.

For the first time, prosecutors publicly identified Kaja Sokola and detailed her account of what unfolded between her and the Oscar-winning movie producer in the early 2000s. He is criminally charged with forcing oral sex on her in 2006, but she also accused him in a civil lawsuit of groping her against her will four years earlier, when she was 16.

Like the two other accusers in the case, Sokola alleges a complex series of encounters and reactions — being sexually assaulted, yet staying in touch, wary of Weinstein but wanting to remain on good terms with a power broker who dangled the possibility of an acting career.

“Why did the defendant hold this level of power and control in the eyes of these three women? … It’s because Harvey Weinstein defined the field,” prosecutor Shannon Lucey told jurors in an opening statement. “He knew how tempting promises of success were. He produced, he choreographed, he therefore directed, their ultimate silence for years.”

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty, and defense lawyer Arthur Aidala countered by portraying the accusers as willing partners in a showbiz quid pro quo.

“The casting couch is not a crime scene,” Aidala told the majority-female jury. He compared prosecutors’ allegations to the preview of a movie that “falls flat on its face.”

The 73-year-old Weinstein, seated in the wheelchair he now uses because of health problems, didn't look at Lucey or the jury during her presentation. But Weinstein watched intently as Aidala outlined his defense.

The retrial is happening because New York's top court last year threw out Weinstein's conviction, which in 2020 was a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. The high court found that the previous trial judge allowed prejudicial testimony about allegations separate from the charges.

Weinstein’s retrial is playing out at a different cultural moment than the first. #MeToo, which exploded in 2017 with allegations against Weinstein, has evolved and ebbed.

When Weinstein’s first trial began, chants of “rapist” could be heard from protesters outside. This time, there was none of that.

Sokola’s lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, has called Weinstein’s retrial a “signal to other survivors that the system is catching up — and that it’s worth speaking out even when the odds seem insurmountable.”

While this jury won't hear about the allegations that got the first conviction thrown out, the panel is expected to hear from Sokola. After the high court sent the case back for retrial, prosecutors added a criminal sex act charge based on her allegations.

The Polish-born Sokola met Weinstein in 2002 after traveling alone to New York for a modeling trip at age 16, according to prosecutors. She alleges he invited her to lunch to discuss potential acting jobs but detoured to his apartment and demanded she take off her shirt if she wanted to make it in the movie business. Then, Sokola alleges, Weinstein fondled her while making her touch his genitals.

Over the next few years, Sokola stayed in contact with Weinstein, even after telling him off for allegedly groping her in a car around 2004, Lucey told jurors. She said Weinstein arranged for Sokola to be an extra in the 2007 rom-com “The Nanny Diaries,” and she invited him to lunch to impress her visiting sister.

After the lunch, he asked Sokola to check out some scripts in his Manhattan hotel room, ordered her to undress, held her down on a bed, and performed oral sex on her while she tearfully implored him not to do so, Lucey said.

In the weeks after, Sokola was photographed with Weinstein and a third person at an event, and his company wrote her an acting-school recommendation, the prosecutor said. Lucey told jurors that power imbalances often “cause victims to behave in ways that laypersons possibly might not expect."

After other allegations emerged against Weinstein in 2017, Sokola sued. Prosecutors said she received $3.5 million in compensation.

Aidala said the accusers were “trying to take advantage of Mr. Weinstein when he was at the top,” then benefited from making allegations amid his downfall.

Outside court, Sokola's attorney decried Weinstein's defense as full of “victim blaming” and “rape myths.”

In addition to the charge related to Sokola, Weinstein is being retried on a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on then-production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006, and a third-degree rape charge for allegedly assaulting then-aspiring actor Jessica Mann in 2013.

Weinstein’s 2020 acquittals on predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape charges still stand.

After the attorneys’ statements, testimony started Wednesday with details of Weinstein’s high-flying workdays around 2006. Witness Stefan Sterns — who was then one of Weinstein's assistants — expounded on the producer's reputation as a Hollywood kingmaker, recalled dropping him off to meet Haley in a hotel lobby and remembered seeing her name on a call log.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley, Mann and Sokola have done.

Attorney Gloria Allred speaks to reporters outside Manhattan criminal court during a break in Harvey Weinstein's retrial, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney Gloria Allred speaks to reporters outside Manhattan criminal court during a break in Harvey Weinstein's retrial, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Tarale Wulff enters court following a break during Harvey Weinstein's retrial at Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney Imran Ansari leaves court for a break during Harvey Weinstein's retrial at Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney Gloria Allred leaves court for a break during Harvey Weinstein's retrial at Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney Gloria Allred returns to court following a break during Harvey Weinstein's retrial at Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan in his retrial on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 in New York. (Steven Hirsch /New York Post via AP, Pool)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan in his retrial on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 in New York. (Steven Hirsch /New York Post via AP, Pool)

Tarale Wulff arrives for Harvey Weinstein's retrial at the Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Tarale Wulff, second from left, Dawn Dunning, third from left, and attorney Lindsay Goldbrum, second from right, arrive for Harvey Weinstein's retrial at Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan as jury selection continues in his retrial on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan in his retrial on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 in New York. (Steven Hirsch /New York Post via AP, Pool)

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, center, walks through Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, the day of Harvey Weinstein's retrial in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, center, walks through Manhattan criminal court on the day of Harvey Weinstein's retrial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney Arthur Aidala, lead attorney for Harvey Weinstein, center, arrives at Manhattan criminal court for Weinstein's retrial, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney Arthur Aidala, lead attorney for Harvey Weinstein, center, arrives at Manhattan criminal court for Weinstein's retrial, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan as jury selection continues in his retrial on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in New York. (Steven Hirsch /New York Post via AP, Pool)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said.

Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure," Gisler said.

Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

Officials called the blaze an “embrasement généralisé,” a firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.

“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.

“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.

The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.

In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.

The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.

The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.

The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.

Crans-Montana is one of the top race venues on the World Cup circuit in Alpine skiing and will host the next world championships over two weeks in February 2027.

In four weeks’ time, the resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers for their last events before going to the Milan Cortina Olympics, which open Feb. 6.

Crans-Montana also is a premium venue in international golf. The Crans-sur-Sierre club stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course with stunning mountains views.

From left, Mathias Reynard, State Councillor and president of the Council of State of the Canton of Valais, Stephane Ganzer, State Councillor and head of the Department of Security, Institutions and Sport of the Canton of Valais, Frederic Gisler, Commander of the Valais Cantonal Police, Beatrice Pilloud, Attorney General of the Canton of Valais and Nicole Bonvin-Clivaz, Vice-President of the Municipal Council of Crans-Montana during a press conference in Lens, following a fire that broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

A skier walks in the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

A banner stating that fireworks are prohibited due to the risk of fire is pictured near the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)