“MIRACLE”
“He told me that I was prettier than Natalie Portman,” she said.
She added that Weinstein’s apparent interest in boosting her career, including buying her books on acting, initially seemed like a “miracle.”
The 40-year-old’s testimony – much of which echoed what she said in the 2020 and 2025 cases – was emotional and she took occasional pauses as her voice broke.
Dale Margolin Cecka, director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic at Albany Law School, told AFP there could now be a fourth trial on Mann’s accusations.
“Mann would have to go through the entire process again. The district attorney has 30 days to decide whether to re-try (Weinstein),” Cecka said.
“(He) knew his team could paint Ms. Mann as a ‘romantic partner’ and plant doubt,” Cecka added, while noting: “These women can still bring civil claims.”
The Oscar-winning Weinstein, 74, is already serving a 16-year prison term in a California case for the rape of a European actress more than a decade ago. He is appealing that conviction.
He is also appealing a conviction on charges that he sexually assaulted movie producer Miriam Haley.
In 2017, blockbuster investigations by The New Yorker and The New York Times laid bare a series of claims by young women that triggered an avalanche of allegations from more than 80 complainants and prompted the global MeToo movement.