Judge permits Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant to testify in sexual assault case

One more woman will be allowed to testify in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial by the judge.

According to Variety, Rowena Chiu, a former assistant of the former Hollywood producer will soon be testifying against Harvey in court. Chiu will testify in the trial as a supporting, uncharged witness, so the accusations made against Weinstein do not originate from her testimony. But in order to establish a pattern of behaviour over time, supporting witnesses (also referred to informally as “#MeToo witnesses”) will testify during the trial, as per Variety.

Although Chiu will be referred to in the case as just “Rowena C.,” Variety has used her full name because she has discussed her accusations in the past in a number of media interviews, including a lengthy one with Variety in 2020. (To protect the identities of the female witnesses, the charged witnesses are referred to as “Jane Does,” while the uncharged witnesses are identified by their first names and last initials. However, some women have chosen to reveal their true identities to the media.)

According to Variety, Following the #MeToo movement, Chiu previously came forward with accusations against Weinstein. She had only met Weinstein twice before she claims he tried to rape her on a business trip in 1998 at the Venice Film Festival; she worked as an assistant at Miramax in the 1990s.

She claims that while they were discussing scripts in a late-night meeting, Weinstein asked her to massage him, pushed her up against the bed, and removed her tights before she was able to flee. Weinstein disputes that the assault ever took place, as per Variety.

Chiu confided in her colleague Zelda Perkins, who was 25 at the time, soon after the alleged incident. Together, the two women took their dispute with Miramax to the next level, retained legal counsel, and were coerced into signing an NDA in exchange for a monetary settlement. They required Miramax to include provisions in their settlement that they hoped would shield other women from his conduct at work.

Chiu kept quiet for more than 20 years out of concern for her family’s safety. She finally spoke out in a New York Times op-ed in 2019. Following Weinstein’s conviction, after a jury found him guilty of rape and sexual assault in his New York case in 2020, Chiu violated her NDA to conduct a lengthy interview with Variety.