Weinstein accuser insists in tearful outburst: 'He did that to me'

NEW YORK (AP) — 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.

“He was the one who raped me, not the other way around,” Miriam Haley told jurors.

“That is for the jury to decide,” Weinstein lawyer Jennifer Bonjean responded.

“No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me,” 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’s 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: “Let’s behave, both of you.”

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 retrial, which is happening after an appeals court overturned Weinstein's conviction at an earlier trial. Haley's testimony at that 2020 trial took just one day.

Haley alleges that Weinstein assaulted her after inviting her to stop by his apartment. She had worked briefly as a production assistant on the Weinstein-produced TV show “Project Runway,” 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: “No, no — it’s not going to happen.”

Haley and two of her friends 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’s 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 “weird” 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: “I was, you know, busy struggling,” she explained.

“You removed your clothes, right?” 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’t want but didn’t fight.

“You didn’t say, ‘Like, hey, what you did to me the other night wasn’t cool?’” Bonjean asked.

“No,” said Haley, reiterating that she “went numb” 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.

“The other stuff is neither here nor there. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t sexually assaulted,” 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 lawsuit against Weinstein. 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.

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Friday, May 2, 2025 in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Friday, May 2, 2025 in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Friday, May 2, 2025 in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Friday, May 2, 2025 in New York. (Jefferson Siegel /The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Friday, May 2, 2025 in New York. (Jefferson Siegel /The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Miriam Haley returns to the courtroom at before Harvey Weinstein's retrial in state court in Manhattan on Friday, May 2, 2025 in New York. (John Angelillo/Pool Photo via AP)

Witness Mimi Haley arrives to testify in the case against former film producer Harvey Weinstein at state court in Manhattan, Thursday, May 1, 2025 in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP)

MARTIGNY, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland will hold a memorial service Friday, part of a national day of mourning to honor the 40 people who were killed in an Alpine bar fire earlier this month during a New Year's celebration.

An additional 116 people were injured, many of them seriously, when the fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar on Jan. 1.

Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out since 2019.

The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.

Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.

As part of the national day of mourning, church bells across Switzerland will ring for five minutes, beginning at 2 p.m. local time Friday, and a minute of silence will be held.

The Rome prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the Crans-Montana fire, alleging manslaughter and arson, Italian media reported Thursday. An autopsy has been ordered for five of the six Italian victims and has been delegated to the prosecutors' offices in Milan, Bologna, and Genoa, where the bodies of the victims have been returned.

The Paris prosecutor’s office Monday announced that it was opening a probe to assist the Swiss investigation and make it easier for families of French victims to communicate with Swiss investigators. Nine French citizens were killed, the youngest of them aged 14, and 23 others were injured.

The owners of the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana, where the deadly fire happened on New Year's Day, Jacques und Jessica Moretti from France, center, arrive with their lawyers Patrick Michod, Yael Hayat and Nicola Meier, to be auditioned by the Valais public prosecutor's office in Sion, Switzerland, Friday, January 9, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Plaques bearing flags representing Switzerland, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, France, and Turkey are placed along with flowers and candles to honor the victims of the fire at the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

Mourners gather around flowers and candles to commemorate the victims of the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge's fire, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

FILE - A child watches as an adult places a candle outside the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)